Bill Text: CT SB00840 | 2011 | General Assembly | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: An Act Concerning Educational Activities For Participants In The Jobs First Program.

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-03-04 - Favorable Change of Reference, House to Committee on Appropriations [SB00840 Detail]

Download: Connecticut-2011-SB00840-Comm_Sub.html

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General Assembly		Raised Bill No. 840
January Session, 2011		LCO No. 2446
		*_____SB00840HS_APP030211____*
Referred to Committee on Human Services
Introduced by:
(HS)

AN ACT CONCERNING EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES FOR PARTICIPANTS IN THE JOBS FIRST PROGRAM.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Subsection (c) of section 17b-112 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2011):

(c) A family who is subject to time-limited benefits may petition the Commissioner of Social Services for six-month extensions of such benefits. The commissioner shall grant not more than two extensions to such family who has made a good faith effort to comply with the requirements of the program and despite such effort has a total family income at a level below the payment standard, or has encountered circumstances preventing employment including, but not limited to: (1) Domestic violence or physical harm to such family's children; or (2) other circumstances beyond such family's control. The commissioner shall disregard ninety dollars of earned income in determining applicable family income. The commissioner may grant a subsequent six-month extension if each adult in the family meets one or more of the following criteria: (A) The adult is precluded from engaging in employment activities due to domestic violence or another reason beyond the adult's control; (B) the adult has two or more substantiated barriers to employment including, but not limited to, the lack of available child care, substance abuse or addiction, severe mental or physical health problems, one or more severe learning disabilities, domestic violence or a child who has a serious physical or behavioral health problem; (C) the adult is working thirty-five or more hours per week, is earning at least the minimum wage and continues to earn less than the family's temporary family assistance payment standard; [or] (D) the adult is employed and works less than thirty-five hours per week due to (i) a documented medical impairment that limits the adult's hours of employment, provided the adult works the maximum number of hours that the medical condition permits, or (ii) the need to care for a disabled member of the adult's household, provided the adult works the maximum number of hours the adult's caregiving responsibilities permit; or (E) the adult is actively engaged in adult basic education, vocational education, another educational activity, skills training or subsidized employment included in an employment plan approved in connection with the Jobs First program. Families receiving temporary family assistance shall be notified by the department of the right to petition for such extensions. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, the commissioner shall not provide benefits under the state's temporary family assistance program to a family that is subject to the twenty-one month benefit limit and has received benefits beginning on or after October 1, 1996, if such benefits result in that family's receiving more than sixty months of time-limited benefits unless that family experiences domestic violence, as defined in Section 402(a)(7)(B), P.L. 104-193. For the purpose of calculating said sixty-month limit: (I) A month shall count toward the limit if the family receives assistance for any day of the month, and (II) a month in which a family receives temporary assistance for needy families benefits that are issued from a jurisdiction other than Connecticut shall count toward the limit.

Sec. 2. Section 4-165c of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2011):

No cause of action or liability shall arise against the state, any of its agencies or subdivisions, or any state official, employee or agent, for failure to comply with the provisions of section 4-67y, 10-215h, 17b-4a, 17b-112i, [17b-112j,] 17b-749l, 17b-790b, 17b-800a or 19a-59g.

Sec. 3. Section 17b-112j of the general statutes is repealed. (Effective July 1, 2011)

This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1	July 1, 2011	17b-112(c)
Sec. 2	July 1, 2011	4-165c
Sec. 3	July 1, 2011	Repealer section

HS

Joint Favorable C/R

APP