H.B. No. 779
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to AFDC benefits for certain families.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 31, Human Resources Code,
1-5 is amended by adding Sections 31.0125, 31.013, and 31.014 to read
1-6 as follows:
1-7 Sec. 31.0125. COMMUNITY WORK EXPERIENCE PROGRAM.
1-8 (a) Subject to the availability of appropriations for client
1-9 support services, the department by rule shall develop and
1-10 implement a community work experience program in accordance with
1-11 federal law as a part of the job opportunities and basic skills
1-12 (JOBS) training program under Part F, Subchapter IV, Social
1-13 Security Act (42 U.S.C. Section 682).
1-14 (b) In adopting rules under this section, the department
1-15 shall:
1-16 (1) establish the criteria for determining which
1-17 recipients of financial assistance under this chapter who are
1-18 eligible to participate in the JOBS training program will be
1-19 required to participate in the community work experience program;
1-20 (2) ensure that participation in the community work
1-21 experience program will not result in the displacement of an
1-22 employee from an existing position or the elimination of a vacant
1-23 position;
1-24 (3) ensure that the community work experience program
2-1 will not impair an existing service contract or collective
2-2 bargaining agreement;
2-3 (4) ensure that an entity or agency that enters into
2-4 an agreement with the department under this section provides to a
2-5 participant, without paying the participant a salary, job training
2-6 and work experience in certain areas within the entity or agency;
2-7 (5) require that each entity or agency that enters
2-8 into a cooperative agreement with the department under this section
2-9 identify positions within the entity or agency that will enable a
2-10 participant to gain the skills and experience necessary to be able
2-11 to compete in the labor market for comparable positions; and
2-12 (6) amend the service delivery system of the JOBS
2-13 training program to require a participant in the JOBS training
2-14 program who is unemployed after completing the JOBS readiness
2-15 activities outlined in the participant's employability plan,
2-16 including job search, to participate in the community work
2-17 experience program.
2-18 (c) To implement the community work experience program, the
2-19 department shall enter into written nonfinancial cooperative
2-20 agreements with entities that receive funds under a federal Head
2-21 Start program and with state agencies, including institutions of
2-22 higher education or other entities of state government. To be
2-23 eligible to enter into a contract under this section, the entity or
2-24 agency must employ at least 250 persons. The department and the
2-25 entity or agency may waive this requirement by mutual agreement.
2-26 (d) The department and an entity or agency that enters into
2-27 an agreement under this section must establish participation
3-1 requirements for the entity or agency under the community work
3-2 experience program. The requirements must be contained in the
3-3 agreement.
3-4 Sec. 31.013. INTERIM STUDY. (a) The department shall
3-5 conduct a study on the use of time limited receipt of AFDC benefits
3-6 as a mechanism for moving AFDC recipients toward self-sufficiency.
3-7 The department shall submit a report to the 74th Legislature on the
3-8 use of this concept by other states including any available
3-9 evaluation data or statistical information relating to its
3-10 effectiveness. To the extent information is available the report
3-11 shall include findings relating to the following:
3-12 (1) the concept's fiscal impact;
3-13 (2) impact on other support services, such as child
3-14 care;
3-15 (3) impact on geographic areas with high unemployment
3-16 rates;
3-17 (4) expansions of education and job training programs
3-18 to more adequately prepare AFDC recipients for work which have been
3-19 coupled with the implementation of time limited benefits;
3-20 (5) exemptions to time limited assistance which may
3-21 have been granted; and
3-22 (6) information about federal efforts or requirements
3-23 related to implementation of time limited AFDC benefits.
3-24 (b) The department shall cooperate with any legislative
3-25 committee studying welfare or other income support programs and
3-26 policy.
3-27 (c) The department shall report the findings on the above
4-1 research to the legislature by January 1, 1995.
4-2 Sec. 31.014. TWO-PARENT FAMILIES. (a) The department shall
4-3 provide financial assistance, in accordance with department rules,
4-4 to a two-parent family if the primary wage earner parent is
4-5 registered in the job opportunities and basic skills (JOBS)
4-6 training program under Part F, Subchapter IV, Social Security Act
4-7 (42 U.S.C. Section 682), or is registered with the Texas Employment
4-8 Commission.
4-9 (b) A family is eligible for assistance under this section
4-10 without regard to:
4-11 (1) the number of hours worked per month by the
4-12 primary wage earner parent; or
4-13 (2) the work history of the primary wage earner
4-14 parent.
4-15 (c) An adult caretaker of a child younger than three years
4-16 of age is exempt from the requirement of Subsection (a).
4-17 SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 31, Human Resources Code,
4-18 is amended by adding Section 31.0135 to read as follows:
4-19 Sec. 31.0135. PARENTING SKILLS TRAINING. (a) The
4-20 department, in cooperation with the Central Education Agency, shall
4-21 develop a parenting skills training program to assist a recipient
4-22 of assistance under this chapter, including a child who receives
4-23 assistance on behalf of a dependent child.
4-24 (b) The department shall require that a child who is in
4-25 school and who is receiving assistance under this chapter on behalf
4-26 of a dependent child receive parenting skills training.
4-27 SECTION 3. Subchapter A, Chapter 31, Human Resources Code,
5-1 is amended by adding Section 31.0051 to read as follows:
5-2 Sec. 31.0051. MINOR PARENT RESIDING WITH RELATIVES. If the
5-3 department determines based on documentation provided that a minor
5-4 caretaker who is receiving financial assistance and services under
5-5 this chapter on behalf of a dependent child benefits from residing
5-6 with an adult family member who is also receiving assistance under
5-7 this chapter, the department shall provide assistance and services
5-8 to both persons as if they were living separately.
5-9 SECTION 4. The changes in law made by Section 31.014, Human
5-10 Resources Code, as added by this Act, apply only to a two-parent
5-11 family that becomes eligible to receive financial assistance under
5-12 that section on or after the effective date of this Act.
5-13 SECTION 5. The change in law made by Section 31.0051, Human
5-14 Resources Code, as added by this Act, applies only to a person
5-15 receiving financial assistance and services under Chapter 31, Human
5-16 Resources Code, who is residing, on or after the effective date of
5-17 this Act, with a family member who is also receiving assistance and
5-18 services under Chapter 31, Human Resources Code.
5-19 SECTION 6. If before implementing Sections 31.0051, 31.0125,
5-20 31.013, 31.0135, and 31.014, Human Resources Code, as added by this
5-21 Act, the Texas Department of Human Services determines that a
5-22 waiver or authorization from a federal agency is necessary for
5-23 implementation, the department shall request the waiver or
5-24 authorization and may delay implementing those provisions until the
5-25 waiver or authorization is granted.
5-26 SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
5-27 SECTION 8. The importance of this legislation and the
6-1 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-2 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-3 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-4 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.