By: Nelson, Shapleigh S.B. No. 589
      West
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
employment programs and participation in those programs by certain
parents who are not TANF recipients.
       BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
       SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 31, Human Resources Code,
is amended by adding Section 31.0021 to read as follows:
       Sec. 31.0021.  DEFINITION OF NONRECIPIENT PARENT.
(a)  Except as provided by Subsection (b), in this chapter,
"nonrecipient parent" means an adult or minor parent who is not a
recipient of financial assistance but who is living with the
person's child who is a recipient of financial assistance.
       (b)  "Nonrecipient parent" does not include:
             (1)  a minor parent who is not the head of household;
             (2)  a person who is ineligible for financial
assistance because of the person's immigration status; or
             (3)  a parent who cares for a disabled family member
living in the home if the family member does not attend school
full-time and the need for the care is supported by medical
documentation.
       SECTION 2.  Section 31.0095, Human Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
       Sec. 31.0095.  NEEDS ASSESSMENT.  The Health and Human
Services Commission [department] shall assist a recipient or a
nonrecipient parent in assessing the particular needs of that
person [recipient] and the person's [recipient's] family upon
notification of entry into a Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families employment program established under Part A, Subchapter
IV, Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Section 601 et seq.) [the JOBS
program]. The Texas Workforce Commission [department] and the
recipient or the nonrecipient parent shall develop an employability
plan to help the recipient or nonrecipient parent achieve
independence from public assistance granted to the recipient and
the recipient's family, or to the child of the nonrecipient parent,
as applicable.
       SECTION 3.  Subsections (a) and (f), Section 31.010, Human
Resources Code, are amended to read as follows:
       (a)  Subject to the availability of funds, the Texas
Workforce Commission [department] shall provide a recipient or a
nonrecipient parent with support services designed to assist the
recipient or nonrecipient parent and the person's [recipient's]
family to attain and retain the capability of independence and
self-care.
       (f)  In providing work skills and job readiness training, the
Texas Workforce Commission [department] shall:
             (1)  emphasize training for sustainable wage jobs;
             (2)  promote understanding of nontraditional work
opportunities for recipients and nonrecipient parents; and
             (3)  offer micro-enterprise development and
self-employment assistance in rural areas and other areas in which
jobs are scarce.
       SECTION 4.  The heading to Section 31.0121, Human Resources
Code, is amended to read as follows:
       Sec. 31.0121.  SKILLS ASSESSMENT AND DEVELOPMENT FOR CERTAIN
RECIPIENTS AND CERTAIN NONRECIPIENT PARENTS.
       SECTION 5.  Subsections (a), (b), (d), and (e), Section
31.0121, Human Resources Code, are amended to read as follows:
       (a)  The Texas Workforce Commission shall ensure that each
local workforce development board assesses the skills development
needs of recipients and of nonrecipient parents referred to the
CHOICES program administered by the board.
       (b)  If, after assessing the [a recipient's] skills
development needs of a recipient or a nonrecipient parent, a local
workforce development board determines that the recipient or the
nonrecipient parent requires job-specific training for placement
in a job paying wages that equal or exceed the self-sufficiency wage
developed for the board under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998
(29 U.S.C. Section 2801 et seq.), as amended, the board shall:
             (1)  to the extent allowed by federal law, place the
recipient or the nonrecipient parent in training activities
designed to improve employment and wage outcomes and job retention
rates; and
             (2)  ensure that the training activities under
Subdivision (1) target occupations that are in demand by local
employers.
       (d)  A recipient or a nonrecipient parent participating in
the CHOICES program who is placed in training activities under
Subsection (b) may concurrently engage in those training activities
and in work activities.
       (e)  To meet the requirements of this section, the Texas
Workforce Commission shall use CHOICES program funds and, to the
extent possible, existing funds from other training programs for
which a recipient or a nonrecipient parent participating in the
CHOICES program may qualify, including funds from:
             (1)  other training programs provided under the
Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. Section 2801 et seq.),
as amended, or their successor programs;
             (2)  the skills development fund created under Chapter
303, Labor Code; or
             (3)  the self-sufficiency fund created under Section
309.002, Labor Code.
       SECTION 6.  Subsections (a) and (c), Section 31.0126, Human
Resources Code, are amended to read as follows:
       (a)  The Texas Workforce Commission [In cooperation with the
state agency charged with primary responsibility for job training,
employment, and workforce development in this state, the
department] by rule shall develop the following programs to assist
recipients of financial assistance and services under this chapter
and nonrecipient parents in finding and retaining employment:
             (1)  a work first program that provides a participant
job readiness training and employment information and services that
will motivate the participant to find and apply for a job through
job clubs, job readiness activities, and job search activities;
             (2)  a business internship program that provides a
participant the opportunity to obtain marketable job skills through
an internship in a participating business;
             (3)  a Texas works program that:
                   (A)  is operated by a nonprofit group or local
governmental entity;
                   (B)  provides to a participant motivational and
job readiness training by placing the participant in a job for a
period of several months;
                   (C)  ensures that the participant is visited at
work and receives counseling and help in resolving any work-related
or personal problems; and
                   (D)  receives funding on the basis of participants
who are successfully hired for employment;
             (4)  a community work experience program that provides
a participant job training and work experience through a temporary
job in the public sector;
             (5)  a subsidized employment program that provides to a
participant job training and work experience through a job in the
private sector that pays the participant a subsidized salary; and
             (6)  a self-employment assistance program that
provides to a participant entrepreneurial training, business
counseling, and technical and financial assistance so that the
participant can establish a business and become self-employed.
       (c)  In adopting rules governing a program prescribed by this
section, the executive commissioner of the Health and Human
Services Commission [department] shall:
             (1)  establish the criteria for determining which
recipients and nonrecipient parents who are eligible to participate
in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families employment programs
established under Part A, Subchapter IV, Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. Section 601 et seq.), [JOBS training program] may be
required to participate in a particular program; and
             (2)  ensure that a recipient or a nonrecipient parent
who is incapable of participating in a particular program is not
required to participate in that program[; and
             [(3)  provide technical assistance to local workforce
development boards].
       SECTION 7.  Subchapter A, Chapter 31, Human Resources Code,
is amended by adding Section 31.01261 to read as follows:
       Sec. 31.01261.  PROVISION OF EMPLOYMENT SERVICES TO CERTAIN
NONRECIPIENT PARENTS. The Texas Workforce Commission shall provide
employment services, including needs assessment, job training,
postemployment, and related support services, to nonrecipient
parents to the same extent the services are provided to recipients
under this chapter.
       SECTION 8.  Subsection (d), Section 301.063, Labor Code, is
amended to read as follows:
       (d)  On request, the commission shall furnish to an agency of
the United States responsible for the administration of public
works or assistance through public employment the name, address,
ordinary occupation, and employment status of each recipient of
benefits, including each nonrecipient parent as defined by Section
31.0021, Human Resources Code, who is receiving benefits, and shall
inform the agency of the recipient's right to further benefits
under Subtitle A.
       SECTION 9.  Section 302.001, Labor Code, is amended by
adding Subdivision (3) to read as follows:
             (3)  "Nonrecipient parent" has the meaning assigned by
Section 31.0021, Human Resources Code.
       SECTION 10.  Section 302.0025, Labor Code, is amended to
read as follows:
       Sec. 302.0025.  EMPLOYMENT PLAN AND POSTEMPLOYMENT
STRATEGIES. (a)  The commission shall ensure that an individual
employment plan developed for a recipient of financial assistance
or a nonrecipient parent participating in an employment program
under Chapter 31, Human Resources Code, includes specific
postemployment strategies to assist the recipient or the
nonrecipient parent in making a transition to stable employment at
a wage that enables the person [recipient] and the person's 
[recipient's] family to maintain self-sufficiency.
       (b)  The individual employment plan must:
             (1)  consider the person's [a recipient's] individual
circumstances and needs in determining the person's [recipient's]
initial job placement;
             (2)  identify a target wage that enables the person 
[recipient] and the person's [recipient's] family to maintain
self-sufficiency;
             (3)  provide specific postemployment goals and include
methods and time frames by which the person [recipient] is to
achieve those goals; and
             (4)  refer the person [recipient] to additional
educational and training opportunities.
       SECTION 11.  Subsection (a), Section 302.0026, Labor Code,
is amended to read as follows:
       (a)  The commission and local workforce development boards
shall develop an employment services referral program for
recipients of financial assistance and nonrecipient parents who
participate in employment programs under Chapter 31, Human
Resources Code, and have, in comparison to other recipients or
nonrecipient parents, higher levels of barriers to employment. The
referral program must be designed to provide to a recipient or a
nonrecipient parent referrals to preemployment and postemployment
services offered by community-based organizations.
       SECTION 12.  Section 302.003, Labor Code, is amended to read
as follows:
       Sec. 302.003.  JOB RETENTION AND REEMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE.
The division may provide ongoing job retention and reemployment
assistance for a recipient of public assistance or nonrecipient
parent who has participated in a job training program.
       SECTION 13.  Section 302.0036, Labor Code, is amended to
read as follows:
       Sec. 302.0036.  TRANSPORTATION ASSISTANCE. (a)  To the
extent funds are available, the commission and local workforce
development boards shall provide transportation assistance to
recipients of financial assistance and nonrecipient parents
participating in employment programs under Chapter 31, Human
Resources Code, that enables the recipients and nonrecipient
parents to maintain a stable work history and attain financial
stability and self-sufficiency.
       (b)  The commission and local workforce development boards
may provide the assistance described by Subsection (a) by
implementing new initiatives or expanding existing initiatives
that provide transportation assistance to recipients of financial
assistance or nonrecipient parents for whom transportation is a
barrier to employment.
       SECTION 14.  Subsection (a), Section 302.0037, Labor Code,
is amended to read as follows:
       (a)  The commission and local workforce development boards
shall maximize the state's receipt of federal funds available to
provide transportation assistance to recipients of financial
assistance and nonrecipient parents participating in employment
programs under Chapter 31, Human Resources Code.
       SECTION 15.  The heading to Section 302.0038, Labor Code, is
amended to read as follows:
       Sec. 302.0038.  HOUSING RESOURCES FOR CERTAIN RECIPIENTS OF
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE AND CERTAIN NONRECIPIENT PARENTS.
       SECTION 16.  Subsections (a) and (b), Section 302.0038,
Labor Code, are amended to read as follows:
       (a)  The commission, in cooperation with local workforce
development boards, shall, for a recipient of financial assistance
or nonrecipient parent participating in an employment program under
Chapter 31, Human Resources Code:
             (1)  identify unmet housing needs and assess whether
those needs are barriers to the person's [recipient's] full
participation in the workforce and attainment of financial
stability and self-sufficiency; and
             (2)  develop a service plan that takes into
consideration the person's [recipient's] unmet housing needs.
       (b)  The commission by rule shall develop and implement a
program through which a recipient or a nonrecipient parent
identified under Subsection (a) as having unmet housing needs is
referred by the commission or local workforce development board to
agencies and organizations providing housing programs and services
and connected to other housing resources. To provide those
referrals and connections, the commission shall establish
collaborative partnerships between:
             (1)  the commission;
             (2)  local workforce development boards;
             (3)  municipal, county, and regional housing
authorities; and
             (4)  sponsors of local housing programs and services.
       SECTION 17.  Subsections (a) and (d), Section 302.009, Labor
Code, are amended to read as follows:
       (a)  The commission by rule shall develop a job placement
incentive program under which persons with whom local workforce
development boards contract for employment services under Chapter
2308, Government Code, are provided incentives for placing
recipients of financial assistance and nonrecipient parents
participating in employment programs under Chapter 31, Human
Resources Code, in higher-wage jobs, as determined by the
commission.
       (d)  A local workforce development board that provides a
monetary incentive under the job placement incentive program to a
person with whom the board contracts for employment services shall
require the person to use the money for expenses relating to
education, training, and support services necessary to prepare,
place, and maintain recipients of financial assistance and
nonrecipient parents in jobs paying wages that allow those persons 
[recipients] to attain self-sufficiency.
       SECTION 18.  Subsections (a) and (b), Section 302.010, Labor
Code, are amended to read as follows:
       (a)  The commission by rule shall develop guidelines under
which local workforce development boards provide postemployment
services to a recipient of financial assistance or nonrecipient
parent participating in an employment program under Chapter 31,
Human Resources Code.
       (b)  In developing the guidelines, the commission must
consider the difficulties the recipient or nonrecipient parent is
likely to encounter in acquiring additional education and training
after becoming employed.
       SECTION 19.  Section 302.011, Labor Code, is amended to read
as follows:
       Sec. 302.011.  POSTEMPLOYMENT CASE MANAGEMENT AND
MENTORING. The commission shall encourage local workforce
development boards to provide postemployment case management
services for and use mentoring techniques to assist recipients of
financial assistance and nonrecipient parents who participate in
employment programs under Chapter 31, Human Resources Code, and
have, in comparison to other recipients and nonrecipient parents,
higher levels of barriers to employment. The case management
services and mentoring techniques must be designed to increase the
person's [recipient's] potential for wage growth and development of
a stable employment history.
       SECTION 20.  Subchapter A, Chapter 302, Labor Code, is
amended by adding Section 302.015 to read as follows:
       Sec. 302.015.  PROVISION OF EMPLOYMENT SERVICES TO CERTAIN
NONRECIPIENT PARENTS. The commission shall provide employment
services, including needs assessment, job training,
postemployment, and related support services, to nonrecipient
parents to the same extent the services are provided to recipients
of financial assistance under Chapter 31, Human Resources Code.
       SECTION 21.  If before implementing any provision of this
Act a state agency determines that a waiver or authorization from a
federal agency is necessary for implementation of that provision,
the agency affected by the provision shall request the waiver or
authorization and may delay implementing that provision until the
waiver or authorization is granted.
       SECTION 22.  This Act takes effect immediately if it
receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each
house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.
If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate
effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2007.