I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3616

To amend the Job Training Partnership Act to provide for the establishment

of standards to ensure long-term economic self-sufficiency for participants

in adult training programs carried out under part A of title II of

that Act, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 11, 1996

Ms. WOOLSEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities

A BILL

To amend the Job Training Partnership Act to provide for

the establishment of standards to ensure long-term economic self-sufficiency for participants in adult training

programs carried out under part A of title II of that

Act, 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 ‘‘Self-Sufficiency Stand5 ard Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—
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1 (1) the principle objective of programs under

2 part A of title II of the Job Training Partnership

3 Act (29 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) is to move economically

4 disadvantaged adults into permanent, unsubsidized

5 employment that pays a wage that enables such

6 adults to achieve long-term economic self-sufficiency

7 for themselves and their dependents;

8 (2) current measures of success of such pro9 grams do not accurately assess the degree to which

10 participants achieve long-term economic self-suffi11 ciency;

12 (3) in order to ensure that such programs re13 sult in long-term economic self-sufficiency for par14 ticipants, performance standards must focus both on

15 the wage and benefits a participant receives relative

16 to the participant’s family size and needs, and on

17 the duration and stability of the participant’s em18 ployment; and

19 (4) the wage and benefits needed to achieve

20 long-term economic self-sufficiency will vary by fam21 ily size and local market conditions governing prices

22 of essential goods and services.

23 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—

24 (1) to provide for the establishment and use of

25 local economic self-sufficiency standards tables to ac-
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1 curately measure the effectiveness of adult training

2 programs carried out under part A of title II of the

3 Job Training Partnership Act (29 U.S.C. 1601 et

4 seq.); and

5 (2) to provide grants to States to develop dem6 onstration and exemplary programs to increase the

7 number of participants under such programs who

8 are trained and placed in jobs that yield long-term

9 economic self-sufficiency using the local economic

10 self-sufficiency standards tables.

11 SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF ECONOMIC SELF-SUFFICIENCY.

12 Section 4 of the Job Training Partnership Act (29

13 U.S.C. 1503) is amended by adding at the end the follow14 ing new paragraph:

15 ‘‘(41) The term ‘economic self-sufficiency’

16 means the ability of an individual to meet the follow17 ing basic needs for the individual and such individ18 ual’s family:

19 ‘‘(A) Housing.

20 ‘‘(B) Child care.

21 ‘‘(C) Adult dependent care.

22 ‘‘(D) Food.

23 ‘‘(E) Transportation.

24 ‘‘(F) Health care.

25 ‘‘(G) Work-related expenses.’’.
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1 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF ECONOMIC SELF-SUFFICIENCY

2 STANDARDS FOR ADULT TRAINING PRO3 GRAMS.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 106(b) of such Act (29

5 U.S.C. 1516(b)) is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing new paragraph:

7 ‘‘(9) ECONOMIC SELF-SUFFICIENCY STANDARDS

8 FOR ADULT PROGRAMS.—

9 ‘‘(A) FORMULA DEVELOPED BY THE SEC10 RETARY.—(i)(I) Not later than 6 months after

11 the date of the enactment of this paragraph,

12 the Secretary shall develop and publish in the

13 Federal Register a proposed formula which

14 measures the minimum amount of wages and

15 employment benefits that a participant enrolled

16 in a program under part A of title II should re17 ceive after termination from such program to

18 ensure the long-term economic self-sufficiency

19 of such participant.

20 ‘‘(II) The Secretary shall provide for public

21 review and comment of the proposed formula

22 described in subclause (I) within the 60-day pe23 riod beginning on the date such formula is pub24 lished in the Federal Register. Not later than

25 4 months after the end of such 60-day period,
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1 the Secretary shall develop and publish in the

2 Federal Register a final formula.

3 ‘‘(ii) The Secretary shall base the formula

4 described in clause (i) on appropriate factors,

5 which shall include—

6 ‘‘(I) the participant’s family size and

7 composition, including the number and age

8 of dependent adults and children;

9 ‘‘(II) 100 percent of the average hous10 ing costs, which shall be based on the fair

11 market rental in effect for the market area

12 in which the participant resides, as estab13 lished by the Secretary of Housing and

14 Urban Development pursuant to section

15 8(c) of the United States Housing Act of

16 1937;

17 ‘‘(III) 100 percent of the average

18 child care costs (differentiated by the age

19 of each child), which may be based on the

20 actual cost of such care established under

21 section 402(g)(1)(C)(i)(I) the Social Secu22 rity Act or the applicable local market rate

23 established under clause (ii) of such sec24 tion;
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1 ‘‘(IV) 100 percent of the average

2 adult dependent care costs, which may be

3 based on local surveys or the local average

4 of such costs;

5 ‘‘(V) 100 percent of the average

6 health care costs, which shall include costs

7 incurred for full family health care cov8 erage (including premiums, deductibles,

9 and co-payments), and which may be based

10 on local surveys or the local average of

11 such costs;

12 ‘‘(VI) 100 percent of the average

13 transportation costs, which may be based

14 on local surveys or the local average of

15 such costs;

16 ‘‘(VII) 100 percent of the food costs,

which shall be equal to 1 17 ⁄3 of the official

18 poverty line (as defined by the Office of

19 Management and Budget, and revised an20 nually in accordance with section 673(2) of

21 the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of

22 1981 (42 U.S.C. 9902(2)); and

23 ‘‘(VIII) 100 percent of the average

24 work-related costs, which shall include the
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1 cost of uniforms, tools, and other appro2 priate work-related costs.

3 ‘‘(iii) The Secretary shall also designate,

4 from among the needs identified through the

5 needs assessment conducted under this Act,

6 those needs which shall be used by a service de7 livery area to develop the summary needs table

8 under section 104(b)(14)(B).

9 ‘‘(B) LOCAL ECONOMIC SELF-SUFFICIENCY

10 STANDARDS TABLES DEVELOPED BY SERVICE

11 DELIVERY AREAS.—(i) Not later than 12

12 months after the date on which the Secretary

13 publishes the final formula in the Federal Reg14 ister under subparagraph (A)(i)(II), each serv15 ice delivery area shall, in accordance with such

16 formula, develop and submit to the Governor a

17 local economic self-sufficiency standards table

18 which measures the minimum amount of wages

19 and employment benefits that a participant en20 rolled in a program under part A of title II in

21 such area should receive after termination from

22 such program to ensure the long-term economic

23 self-sufficiency of such participant.

24 ‘‘(ii) The Secretary shall provide technical

25 assistance to States and service delivery areas
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1 for the purpose of assisting such service deliv2 ery areas to develop the local economic self-suf3 ficiency standards tables under clause (i).

4 ‘‘(C) APPROVAL AND DISAPPROVAL OF

5 TABLE.—(i) Not later than 30 days after the

6 date on which the Governor receives a local eco7 nomic self-sufficiency standards table submitted

8 by a service delivery area under subparagraph

9 (B)(i), the Governor shall review such table and

10 approve or disapprove such table in accordance

11 with this subparagraph.

12 ‘‘(ii) The Governor shall approve each local

13 economic self-sufficiency standards table only

14 if—

15 ‘‘(I) such table accounts for the full

16 range of variations of family size and com17 position described in subclause (I) of sub18 paragraph (A)(ii);

19 ‘‘(II) such table accounts for 100 per20 cent of each of the costs described in sub21 clauses (II) through (VIII) of subpara22 graph (A)(ii);

23 ‘‘(III) the methodology used to deter24 mine such costs accurately represent such

25 costs; and
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1 ‘‘(IV) such table complies with all

2 other provisions of the formula developed

3 by the Secretary under subparagraph (A).

4 ‘‘(iii) If the Governor determines that the

5 table does not meet the requirements of clause

6 (ii) or is otherwise incomplete or unsatisfactory,

7 the Governor shall, before the end of the period

8 referred to in clause (i)—

9 ‘‘(I) notify the service delivery area of

10 the reasons for the failure to approve the

11 table;

12 ‘‘(II) notify the service delivery area

13 that the table may be resubmitted during

14 the period referred to in subclause (III);

15 and

16 ‘‘(III) permit the service delivery area

17 to resubmit a corrected or amended table

18 during the 30-day period beginning on no19 tification under this clause.

20 ‘‘(iv) The Governor shall review and ap21 prove or disapprove any table resubmitted

22 under clause (iii) beginning before the expira23 tion of the 30-day period beginning upon such

24 resubmission.
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1 ‘‘(D) ANNUAL UPDATES.—Each service de2 livery area shall update the local economic self3 sufficiency standards table developed by such

4 area on an annual basis and shall submit to the

5 Governor a description of the updated version

6 of such table.’’.

7 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Paragraph (3) of

8 section 106(b) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 1516(b)(3)) is

9 amended by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and inserting ‘‘In

10 addition to the standards under local economic self-suffi11 ciency standards tables developed pursuant to paragraph

12 (9), the Secretary’’.

13 SEC. 5. PROHIBITION OF INCENTIVE GRANTS TO SERVICE

14 DELIVERY AREAS THAT DO NOT HAVE IN EF15 FECT AN APPROVED LOCAL ECONOMIC SELF16 SUFFICIENCY STANDARDS TABLE.

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (7) of section 106(b)

18 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 1516(b)(7)) is amended—

19 (1) by striking ‘‘From funds available’’ and in20 serting ‘‘(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), from

21 funds available’’;

22 (2) by redesignating clauses (i) and (ii) of sub23 paragraph (D) as subclauses (I) and (II), respec24 tively;
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1 (3) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) through

2 (E) of such paragraph as clauses (i) through (v), re3 spectively; and

4 (4) by adding at the end the following new sub5 paragraph:

6 ‘‘(B) A Governor shall not award incentive

7 grants for programs under part A of title II to serv8 ice delivery areas that do not have in effect a local

9 economic self-sufficiency standards table approved

10 under paragraph (9)(C).’’.

11 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

12 subsection (a) shall take effect 2 years after the date of

13 the enactment of this Act.

14 SEC. 6. INCLUSION OF LOCAL ECONOMIC SELF-SUFFI15 CIENCY STANDARDS TABLE AND RELATED

16 REPORTS IN JOB TRAINING PLAN.

17 (a) LOCAL ECONOMIC SELF-SUFFICIENCY STAND18 ARDS TABLE.—Subparagraph (B) of section 104(b)(5) of

19 such Act (29 U.S.C. 1514(b)(5)(B)) is amended by insert20 ing ‘‘, including the local economic self-sufficiency stand21 ards table developed pursuant to subsection (b)(9) of such

22 section’’ after ‘‘section 106’’.

23 (b) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Subsection (b) of section

24 104 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 1514(b)) is amended—
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1 (1) in paragraph (12), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and

2 inserting a semi-colon;

3 (2) in paragraph (13), by striking the period at

4 the end of such paragraph and inserting ‘‘; and’’;

5 and

6 (3) by adding at the end the following new

7 paragraph:

8 ‘‘(14) procedures for the preparation and sub9 mission of an annual report to the Governor, which

10 shall include—

11 ‘‘(A) with respect to each participant who

12 has completed training under a program carried

13 out under part A of title II in the service deliv14 ery area, information relating to—

15 ‘‘(i) the type and amount of services

16 provided to such participant under the pro17 gram;

18 ‘‘(ii) the subsequent employment of

19 the participant, where appropriate, includ20 ing the amount of wages and employment

21 benefits received by the participant under

22 such employment; and

23 ‘‘(iii) the degree of long-term eco24 nomic self-sufficiency which the participant

25 has achieved as a result of the training re-
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1 ceived by the participant under the pro2 gram based upon the local economic self3 sufficiency standards table; and

4 ‘‘(B) a summary needs table which—

5 ‘‘(i) ranks and places participants into

6 at least 4 categories of equal size based

7 upon the needs designated by the Sec8 retary under section 106(b)(9)(A)(iii);

9 ‘‘(ii) includes a description of the level

10 of measurements used to place the partici11 pants into such categories; and

12 ‘‘(iii) includes a description of the de13 gree to which participants in each category

14 achieved long-term economic self-suffi15 ciency after termination from a program

16 under part A of title II.’’.

17 SEC. 7. INCLUSION OF LOCAL ECONOMIC SELF-SUFFI18 CIENCY STANDARDS TABLES AND RELATED

19 REPORTS IN GOVERNOR’S COORDINATION

20 AND SPECIAL SERVICES PLAN.

21 Subsection (b) of section 121 of such Act (29 U.S.C.

22 1531(b)) is amended—

23 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (6) and (7) as

24 paragraphs (7) and (8), respectively; and
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1 (2) by inserting after paragraph (5) the follow2 ing new paragraph:

3 ‘‘(6) The plan shall include—

4 ‘‘(A) the local economic self-sufficiency

5 standards table developed by each service deliv6 ery areas pursuant to section 106(b)(9);

7 ‘‘(B) a compilation of the reports received

8 by the Governor under section 104(b)(14); and

9 ‘‘(C) a description of goals and objectives

10 to assist participants enrolled in programs

11 under part A of title II achieve long-term eco12 nomic self-sufficiency.’’.

13 SEC. 8. DEMONSTRATION PROGRAMS TO IMPLEMENT

14 LOCAL ECONOMIC SELF-SUFFICIENCY

15 STANDARDS TABLES.

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part D of title IV of such Act (29

17 U.S.C. 1737 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end

18 the following new section:

19 ‘‘SEC. 457. ECONOMIC SELF-SUFFICIENCY DEMONSTRATION

20 GRANT PROGRAM.

21 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From funds available

23 under this part for the fiscal years 1997, 1998, and

24 1999, the Secretary shall use $1,500,000 in each

25 such fiscal year to provide grants to States to estab-
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1 lish and carry out demonstration and exemplary pro2 grams to increase the number of participants in pro3 grams under part A of title II who are trained and

4 placed in jobs that yield long-term economic self-suf5 ficiency in accordance with the local economic self6 sufficiency standards tables under section 106(b)(9).

7 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—The Secretary may provide

8 no more than 6 grants in each fiscal year under

9 paragraph (1).

10 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—The Secretary may provide a

11 grant to a State under subsection (a) only if such State

12 submits to the Secretary an application which contains

13 such information as the Secretary may reasonably require.

14 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State shall use amounts

16 received from a grant under subsection (a) to award

17 grants to service delivery areas and eligible service

18 providers described in paragraph (3) to develop and

19 test strategies to train, place, and retain participants

20 in jobs that yield long-term economic self-sufficiency

21 in accordance with the local economic self-sufficiency

22 standards tables under section 106(b)(9).

23 ‘‘(2) APPROPRIATE LEVEL OF SERVICES.—In

24 providing grants under paragraph (1), a State shall

25 ensure that each service delivery area or service pro-
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1 vider provides for an appropriate level of services, in2 cluding supportive services, to participants using the

3 relevant local economic self-sufficiency standards ta4 bles developed by the service delivery area.

5 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE SERVICE PROVIDERS.—Eligible

6 service providers described in this paragraph are

7 community-based organizations, educational institu8 tions, or any other service providers in the State

9 that have a demonstrated success in—

10 ‘‘(A) providing occupational skills training

11 to participants for high-wage jobs; and

12 ‘‘(B) ensuring that participants receive

13 supportive services in order to successfully com14 plete such training.

15 ‘‘(d) ADMINISTRATIVE AND RELATED COSTS.—In

16 any fiscal year in which a State receives amounts from

17 a grant under subsection (a), the State may retain an

18 amount not to exceed 10 percent of the grant amount to—

19 ‘‘(1) pay the administrative costs of programs

20 established and carried out under subsection (a);

21 ‘‘(2) facilitate the coordination of statewide ap22 proaches to training and placing participants in jobs

23 yielding long-term economic self-sufficiency; and

24 ‘‘(3) provide technical assistance to service de25 livery areas and service providers.
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1 ‘‘(e) SELECTION.—In providing grants to States

2 under subsection (a), the Secretary shall consider—

3 ‘‘(1) the extent to which the State has dem4 onstrated that the coordination of services provided

5 under this Act with services provided by agencies

6 and organizations addressing the basic needs of low7 income individuals, including housing, food, trans8 portation, dependent care, and health care, has re9 sulted in the prompt and efficient delivery of services

10 to participants under this Act;

11 ‘‘(2) the extent to which the State has dem12 onstrated its capability to ensure the provision of all

13 needed supportive services to participants in any job

14 training program carried out in the State for the du15 ration of such participants’ enrollment;

16 ‘‘(3) the extent of private sector involvement in

17 the development and implementation of training pro18 grams that increase opportunities for participants to

19 achieve long-term economic self-sufficiency under

20 this Act in the State;

21 ‘‘(4) the extent to which the initiatives proposed

22 by a State in its application supplement or build

23 upon existing efforts in the State to train and place

24 individuals in jobs that increase opportunities for
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1 participants to achieve long-term economic self-suffi2 ciency;

3 ‘‘(5) whether the proposed amount of the grant

4 to be provided under subsection (a) is sufficient to

5 accomplish measurable goals;

6 ‘‘(6) the extent to which the State is prepared

7 to disseminate information on its demonstration

8 training programs relating to training, placement,

9 and other services; and

10 ‘‘(7) the extent to which the State is prepared

11 to produce materials that allow for replication of

12 such State’s demonstration training programs.

13 ‘‘(f) EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall provide for

14 an evaluation of the programs established and carried out

15 under subsection (a), including evaluation of the effective16 ness of such programs in—

17 ‘‘(1) assisting participants with varying needs

18 in achieving long-term economic self-sufficiency

19 through training, placement, and other services;

20 ‘‘(2) effectively implementing the use of local

21 economic self-sufficiency standards tables to increase

22 the number of participants achieving long-term eco23 nomic self-sufficiency; and

24 ‘‘(3) developing and replicating approaches to

25 assist participants with varying needs in achieving
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1 long-term economic self-sufficiency through training,

2 placement, and other services.’’.

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con4 tents of such Act is amended by inserting after the item

5 relating to section 456 the following new item:

‘‘Sec. 457. Economic self-sufficiency demonstration grant program.’’.

6 SEC. 9. REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS.

7 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date

8 on which the Secretary provides the 1st grant to a State

9 under section 457(a)(1) of the Job Training Partnership

10 Act and biennially thereafter, the Secretary of Labor shall

11 submit to the Congress a report on—

12 (1) the extent to which States, service delivery

13 areas, and other service providers have succeeded in

14 training, placing, and retaining participants enrolled

15 in programs under part A of title II of such Act in

16 jobs yielding long-term economic self-sufficiency; and

17 (2) the effectiveness of the demonstration pro18 grams established under section 457 of such Act in

19 developing and replicating approaches to train,

20 place, and retain participants in such jobs, including

21 a summary of activities performed by grant recipi22 ents under the demonstration programs authorized

23 under such section.

24 (b) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The report described in

25 subsection (a) shall include recommendations on—
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1 (1) the need to continue, expand, or modify the

2 demonstration programs established under section

3 457 of the Job Training Partnership Act;

4 (2) legislative and administrative changes nec5 essary to increase opportunities for participants to

6 achieve long-term economic self-sufficiency; and

7 (3) legislative and administrative action nec8 essary to institutionalize the use of local economic

9 self-sufficiency standards tables as the principal

10 measure of performance for programs carried out

11 under part A of title II of the Job Training Partner12 ship Act (29 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) such that—

13 (A) the basic measure of performance for

14 such programs shall be the achievement of long15 term economic self-sufficiency resulting from

16 participation in the program;

17 (B) placements are evaluated according to

18 whether the wages and employment benefits

19 meet the participant’s particular long-term eco20 nomic self-sufficiency needs;

21 (C) both wages and the cash value of em22 ployment benefits are used to determine wheth23 er a participant has achieved the self-sufficiency

24 standard for their particular family size and

25 composition;
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1 (D) in order to ensure that participants

2 with varying needs are served equitably, the

3 placements shall be equitably distributed among

4 the categories contained in the summary needs

5 table established by the service delivery area in

6 the job training plan prepared under section

7 104(b)(14)(B) of the Job Training Partnership

8 Act; and

9 (E) incentive grants under section

10 106(b)(7) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 1516(b)(7))

11 are provided to service delivery areas based pri12 marily on the extent to which such areas exceed

13 the standards under the local economic self-suf14 ficiency standards table for such areas.

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