II

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1709

To authorize the Secretary of Labor to provide assistance to States for

the implementation of enhanced pre-vocational training programs, in

order to improve the likelihood of enabling welfare recipients to make

transitions from public assistance to employment, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 4, 1998

Mr. SPECTER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of Labor to provide assistance

to States for the implementation of enhanced pre-vocational training programs, in order to improve the likelihood of enabling welfare recipients to make transitions

from public assistance to employment, 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 Preparation and

5 Retention Training Act of 1998’’.
2

•S 1709 IS

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 Congress finds that—

3 (1) training programs carried out under the

4 Job Training Partnership Act (29 U.S.C. 1501 et

5 seq.) that include a pre-vocational component have

6 had placement success rates that are better than the

7 success rates of programs under that Act that lack

8 that component;

9 (2) a need exists for skills training to enable in10 dividuals who are welfare recipients to make transi11 tions into unsubsidized employment that provides ca12 reer potential and enables the individuals to achieve

13 economic self-sufficiency;

14 (3) current Federal law does not adequately ad15 dress the tremendously deleterious effect of unfavor16 able environmental and cultural factors on the abil17 ity of such individuals to obtain and retain gainful

18 employment;

19 (4) a need exists for a Federal commitment to

20 the development of pre-vocational training programs

21 that focus on—

22 (A) improving the job readiness of individ23 uals who are welfare recipients;

24 (B) preparing the individuals psycho25 logically and attitudinally for employment;
3

•S 1709 IS

1 (C) teaching the individuals learning and

2 other appropriate skills; and

3 (D) placing the individuals—

4 (i) in permanent unsubsidized employ5 ment; or

6 (ii) in skill training centers and, on

7 completion of the skill training, in perma8 nent unsubsidized employment; and

9 (5) community-based organizations—

10 (A) have provided such pre-vocational

11 training programs to disadvantaged popu12 lations, with demonstrable success; and

13 (B) should receive additional Federal as14 sistance to enable the organizations to enhance

15 the ability of the organizations to provide the

16 training programs in communities with large

17 populations of welfare recipients and enable the

18 organizations to provide the training programs

19 to additional welfare recipients.

20 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

21 In this Act:

22 (1) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

23 the Secretary of Labor.

24 (2) WELFARE RECIPIENT.—The term ‘‘welfare

25 recipient’’ means an individual receiving assistance
4

•S 1709 IS

1 under a State program funded under part A of title

2 IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et

3 seq.).

4 (3) WELFARE TRANSITION PROGRAM.—The

5 term ‘‘welfare transition program’’ means a voca6 tional training program conducted by or at the di7 rection of a State as part of a State program de8 scribed in paragraph (2).

9 SEC. 4. GRANTS TO STATES.

10 (a) GRANTS.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may make

12 grants to States to enable the States to assist com13 munity-based organizations in implementing en14 hanced pre-vocational training programs for eligible

15 individuals.

16 (2) GRANT PERIOD.—The Secretary shall make

17 the grants for periods of 1 year.

18 (b) STATE PLANS.—To be eligible to receive a grant

19 under this section, the State shall submit an application

20 to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con21 taining such information as the Secretary may require. At

22 a minimum, the application shall contain—

23 (1) a State plan describing the pre-vocational

24 training programs to be carried out in the State

25 with funds made available through the grant; and
5

•S 1709 IS

1 (2) in particular, information describing the

2 manner in which the State will ensure that an ap3 propriate community-based organization in the State

4 will carry out a pre-vocational training program for

5 incarcerated persons described in section 5(b)(2)(B),

6 in accordance with section 5(b)(3)(B).

7 (c) AWARD OF GRANTS.—In awarding grants under

8 this section, the Secretary shall take into consideration the

9 needs of economically distressed urban and rural areas in

10 the States, as determined by the Secretary.

11 SEC. 5. ASSISTANCE TO COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZA12 TIONS.

13 (a) ASSISTANCE.—

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives a

15 grant under section 4 shall use the funds made

16 available through the grant to provide financial as17 sistance to community-based organizations, to enable

18 the organizations to implement the pre-vocational

19 training programs referred to in section 4.

20 (2) ASSISTANCE PERIOD.—The State shall

21 make the assistance for periods of 1 year.

22 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—A community-based organi24 zation that receives financial assistance under this

25 section shall use the assistance to implement a pre-
6

•S 1709 IS

1 vocational training program, through which the or2 ganization shall provide pre-vocational training and

3 placement services to eligible individuals.

4 (2) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS.—To be eligible to

5 receive services through a pre-vocational training

6 program under this Act, an individual shall

7 (A) be a welfare recipient who—

8 (i) is enrolled in a welfare transition

9 program; or

10 (ii) is eligible to be enrolled in, but

11 has not participated in, a welfare transi12 tion program; or

13 (B) be a person who is incarcerated in a

14 Federal, State, or local prison, and will be re15 leased from the prison within a reasonable pe16 riod, as defined in regulation by the Secretary.

17 (3) PRE-VOCATIONAL TRAINING.—

18 (A) WELFARE RECIPIENTS.—An organiza19 tion selected by a State to implement a pre-vo20 cational training program for eligible individ21 uals described in paragraph (2)(A) shall—

22 (i) provide pre-vocational training,

23 through job training centers, designed to—

24 (I) as quickly as practicable, en25 able the individuals to overcome the
7

•S 1709 IS

1 effects of inadequate educational prep2 aration and unfavorable environ3 mental and cultural factors, in order

4 to prepare the individuals for employ5 ment;

6 (II) improve the job readiness of

7 the individuals;

8 (III) prepare the individuals psy9 chologically and attitudinally for em10 ployment; and

11 (IV) enable the individuals to de12 velop learning skills, communication

13 and computational skills, punctuality,

14 health and personal maintenance

15 skills, job seeking skills (including

16 interviewing skills), basic literacy,

17 skills required for receipt of a second18 ary school diploma or its equivalent,

19 professionalism, and responsiveness

20 for authority; and

21 (ii) on completion of the pre-voca22 tional training, place the individuals—

23 (I) in permanent unsubsidized

24 employment; or
8

•S 1709 IS

1 (II) in skill training centers that

2 provide superior skill training for po3 sitions that are quickly obtainable

4 and, on completion of the skill train5 ing, in permanent unsubsidized em6 ployment.

7 (B) INCARCERATED PERSONS.—An organi8 zation selected by a State to implement a pre9 vocational training program for eligible individ10 uals described in paragraph (2)(B) shall provide

11 the pre-vocational training described in sub12 paragraph (A)(i) in the Federal, State, or local

13 prison involved and provide the placement serv14 ices described in subparagraph (A)(ii)(II).

15 (4) LIMITS.—The organization shall provide not

16 less than 2 weeks and not more than 3 months of

17 pre-vocational training to an eligible individual

18 through the program. The organization shall not

19 provide more than $1200 in services under the pro20 gram to an eligible individual.

21 (5) SPECIAL RULE.—No organization may

22 charge a fee to an eligible individual for services

23 under the program, if the individual is a citizen or

24 resident alien.
9

•S 1709 IS

1 (6) COORDINATION.—A community-based orga2 nization providing placement services under this sub3 section shall coordinate the services with the efforts

4 of local private sector businesses to create jobs and

5 employment opportunities.

6 (c) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive financial

7 assistance under this section, a community-based organi8 zation shall submit an application to the State at such

9 time, in such manner, and containing such information as

10 the Secretary may require.

11 SEC. 6. MONITORING.

12 The Secretary shall monitor the effectiveness of pro13 grams carried out under this Act by collecting information

14 on—

15 (1) the percentage of program participants who

16 are placed in employment after that participation;

17 (2) the percentage of the participants who are

18 retained in employment after that participation; and

19 (3) the economic impact of the employment of

20 the participants.

21 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

22 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out

23 this Act $50,000,000 for fiscal years 1999 and 2000.

Æ