II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 579

To amend the JOBS program in title IV of the Social Security Act to

provide for a job placement voucher program, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 20 (legislative day, MARCH 16), 1995

Mr. BREAUX (for himself and Mr. BROWN) introduced the following bill; which

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

A BILL

To amend the JOBS program in title IV of the Social

Security Act to provide for a job placement voucher

program, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Job Placement Act

5 of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. JOB PLACEMENT VOUCHER PROGRAM.

7 (a) ADDITION OF PROGRAM.—Section 482 of the So8 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 682) is amended—

9 (1) in subsection (d)(1)(A)(ii)—
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1 (A) in subclause (III), by striking ‘‘and’’ at

2 the end;

3 (B) in subclause (IV), by striking the pe4 riod and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

5 (C) by adding at the end the following new

6 subclause:

7 ‘‘(V) a job placement voucher pro8 gram as described in subsection (h).’’;

9 (2) by redesignating subsections (h) and (i) as

10 subsections (i) and (j), respectively; and

11 (3) by inserting after subsection (g), the follow12 ing subsection:

13 ‘‘(h) JOB PLACEMENT VOUCHER PROGRAM.—(1)

14 The State agency may establish and operate a job place15 ment voucher program for individuals participating in the

16 program under this part.

17 ‘‘(2) A State that elects to operate a job placement

18 voucher program under this subsection—

19 ‘‘(i) shall establish eligibility requirements for

20 participation in the job placement voucher program;

21 and

22 ‘‘(ii) may establish other requirements for such

23 voucher program as the State deems appropriate.
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1 ‘‘(3) A job placement voucher program operated by

2 a State under this subsection shall include the following

3 requirements:

4 ‘‘(A) The State shall identify, maintain, and

5 make available to an individual applying for or re6 ceiving assistance under part A a list of State-ap7 proved job placement organizations that offer serv8 ices in the area where the individual resides and a

9 description of the job placement and support services

10 each such organization provides. Such organizations

11 may be publicly or privately owned and operated.

12 ‘‘(B)(i) An individual determined to be eligible

13 for assistance under part A shall, at the time the in14 dividual becomes eligible for such assistance—

15 ‘‘(I) receive the list and description de16 scribed in subparagraph (A);

17 ‘‘(II) agree, in exchange for job placement

18 and support services, to—

19 ‘‘(aa) execute, within a period of

20 time permitted by the State, a con21 tract with a State-approved job place22 ment organization which provides that

23 the organization shall attempt to find

24 employment for the individual; and
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1 ‘‘(bb) comply with the terms of

2 the contract; and

3 ‘‘(III) receive a job placement voucher (in

4 an amount to be determined by the State) for

5 payment to a State-approved job placement or6 ganization.

7 ‘‘(ii) The State shall impose the sanctions pro8 vided for in section 402(a)(19)(G) on any individual

9 who does not fulfill the terms of a contract executed

10 with a State-approved job placement organization.

11 ‘‘(C) At the time an individual executes a con12 tract with a State-approved job placement organiza13 tion, the individual shall provide the organization

14 with the job placement voucher that the individual

15 received pursuant to subparagraph (B).

16 ‘‘(D)(i) A State-approved job placement organi17 zation may redeem for payment from the State not

18 more than 25 percent of the value of a job place19 ment voucher upon the initial receipt of the voucher

20 for payment of costs incurred in finding and placing

21 an individual in an employment position. The re22 maining value of such voucher shall not be redeemed

23 for payment from the State until the State-approved

24 job placement organization—
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1 ‘‘(I) finds an employment position (as de2 termined by the State) for the individual who

3 provided the voucher; and

4 ‘‘(II) certifies to the State that the individ5 ual remains employed with the employer that

6 the organization originally placed the individual

7 with for the greater of—

8 ‘‘(aa) 6 continuous months; or

9 ‘‘(bb) a period determined by the

10 State.

11 ‘‘(ii) A State may modify, on a case-by-case

12 basis, the requirement of clause (i)(II) under such

13 terms and conditions as the State deems appro14 priate.

15 ‘‘(E)(i) The State shall establish performance16 based standards to evaluate the success of the State

17 job placement voucher program operated under this

18 subsection in achieving employment for individuals

19 participating in such voucher program. Such stand20 ards shall take into account the economic conditions

21 of the State in determining the rate of success.

22 ‘‘(ii) The State shall, not less than once a fiscal

23 year, evaluate the job placement voucher program

24 operated under this subsection in accordance with
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1 the performance-based standards established under

2 clause (i).

3 ‘‘(iii) The State shall submit a report contain4 ing the results of an evaluation conducted under

5 clause (ii) to the Secretary and a description of the

6 performance-based standards used to conduct the

7 evaluation in such form and under such conditions

8 as the Secretary shall require. The Secretary shall

9 review each report submitted under this clause and

10 may require the State to revise the performance11 based standards if the Secretary determines that the

12 State is not achieving an adequate rate of success

13 for such State.’’.

14 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Title IV of the So15 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) is amended—

16 (1) in section 403(l)(1)(A) (42 U.S.C.

17 603(l)(1)(A)),

18 (A) in clause (ii)(II) by striking the period

19 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

20 (B) by adding at the end the following new

21 clause:

22 ‘‘(iii) with respect to expenditures made for a

23 job placement voucher program under section 482(h)

24 in a fiscal year, the greater of—

25 ‘‘(I) 70 percent; or
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1 ‘‘(II) the percentage paid to the State

2 under clause (ii)(II) plus 10 percent.’’; and

3 (2) in section 431(a)(6) (42 U.S.C.

4 629a(a)(6))—

5 (A) by striking ‘‘482(i)(5)’’ and inserting

6 ‘‘482(j)(5)’’; and

7 (B) by striking ‘‘482(i)(7)(A)’’ and insert8 ing ‘‘482(j)(7)(A)’’.

9 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

10 The amendments made by section 2 shall be effective

11 with respect to calendar quarters beginning with the sec12 ond calendar quarter beginning after the date of the enact13 ment of this Act.

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