II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1730 

To amend part A of title IV of the Social Security Act, to reward States 

for engaging individuals with disabilities in work activities, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 28, 2007 

Mr. SMITH (for himself, Mr. CONRAD, Ms. STABENOW, Ms. SNOWE, and Ms. 

COLLINS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend part A of title IV of the Social Security Act, 

to reward States for engaging individuals with disabilities 

in work activities, 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 ‘‘Pathways to Independ5 ence Act of 2007’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF MODIFIED EMPLOYABILITY 

2 PLAN FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 407(c)(2) of the Social 

4 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 607(c)(2)) is amended by adding 

5 at the end the following new subparagraph: 

6 ‘‘(E) INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES

7 COMPLYING WITH A MODIFIED EMPLOYABILITY

8 PLAN DEEMED TO BE MEETING WORK PARTICI9 PATION REQUIREMENTS.— 

10 ‘‘(i) MODIFIED EMPLOYABILITY

11 PLAN.—A State may develop a modified 

12 employability plan for an adult or minor 

13 child head of household recipient of assist14 ance who has been determined by a quali15 fied medical, mental health, addiction, or 

16 social services professional (as determined 

17 by the State) to have a disability, or who 

18 is caring for a family member with a dis19 ability (as so determined). The modified 

20 employability plan shall— 

21 ‘‘(I) include a determination that, 

22 because of the disability of the recipi23 ent or the individual for whom the re24 cipient is caring, reasonable modifica25 tion of work activities, hourly partici26 pation requirements, or both, is needVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:27 Jun 30, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1730.IS S1730

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1 ed in order for the recipient to partici2 pate in work activities; 

3 ‘‘(II) set forth the modified work 

4 activities in which the recipient is re5 quired to participate; 

6 ‘‘(III) set forth the number of 

7 hours per week for which the recipient 

8 is required to participate in such 

9 modified work activities based on the 

10 State’s evaluation of the family’s cir11 cumstances; 

12 ‘‘(IV) set forth the services, sup13 ports, and modifications that the 

14 State will provide to the recipient or 

15 the recipient’s family; 

16 ‘‘(V) be developed in cooperation 

17 with the recipient; and 

18 ‘‘(VI) be reviewed not less than 

19 every 6 months. 

20 ‘‘(ii) INCLUSION IN MONTHLY PAR21 TICIPATION RATES.—For the purpose of 

22 determining monthly participation rates 

23 under subsection (b)(1)(B)(i), and notwith24 standing paragraphs (1), (2)(A), (2)(B), 

25 (2)(C), and (2)(D) of this subsection and 


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1 subsection (d) of this section, a recipient is 

2 deemed to be engaged in work for a month 

3 in a fiscal year if— 

4 ‘‘(I) the State has determined 

5 that the recipient is in substantial 

6 compliance with activities and hourly 

7 participation requirements set forth in 

8 a modified employability plan that 

9 meets the requirements set forth in 

10 clause (i); and 

11 ‘‘(II) the State complies with the 

12 reporting requirement set forth in 

13 clause (iii) for the fiscal year in which 

14 the month occurs. 

15 ‘‘(iii) REPORTS.— 

16 ‘‘(I) REPORT BY STATE.—With 

17 respect to any fiscal year for which a 

18 State counts a recipient as engaged in 

19 work pursuant to a modified employ20 ability plan, the State shall submit a 

21 report entitled ‘Annual State Report 

22 on TANF Recipients Participating in 

23 Work Activities Pursuant to Modified 

24 Employability Plans Due to Dis25 ability’ to the Secretary not later than 


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1 March 31 of the succeeding fiscal 

2 year. The report shall provide the fol3 lowing information: 

4 ‘‘(aa) The aggregate number 

5 of recipients with modified em6 ployability plans due to a dis7 ability. 

8 ‘‘(bb) The percentage of all 

9 recipients with modified employ10 ability plans who substantially 

11 complied with activities set forth 

12 in the plans each month of the 

13 fiscal year. 

14 ‘‘(cc) Information regarding 

15 the most prevalent types of phys16 ical and mental impairments that 

17 provided the basis for the dis18 ability determinations. 

19 ‘‘(dd) The percentage of 

20 cases with a modified employ21 ability plan in which the recipient 

22 had a disability, was caring for a 

23 child with a disability, or was 

24 caring for another family member 

25 with a disability. 


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1 ‘‘(ee) A description of the 

2 most prevalent types of modifica3 tion in work activities or hours of 

4 participation that were included 

5 in the modified employability 

6 plans. 

7 ‘‘(ff) A description of the 

8 qualifications of the staff who de9 termined whether individuals had 

10 a disability, of the staff who de11 termined that individuals needed 

12 modifications to their work re13 quirements, and of the staff who 

14 developed the modified employ15 ability plans. 

16 ‘‘(II) REPORT BY SECRETARY.— 

17 The Secretary shall submit an annual 

18 report to Congress entitled ‘Efforts in 

19 State TANF Programs to Promote 

20 and Support Employment for Individ21 uals with Disabilities’ not later than 

22 July 31 of each fiscal year that in23 cludes information on State efforts to 

24 engage individuals with disabilities in 

25 work activities for the preceding fiscal 


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1 year. The report shall include the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(aa) The number of indi4 viduals for whom each State has 

5 developed a modified employ6 ability plan. 

7 ‘‘(bb) The types of physical 

8 and mental impairments that 

9 provided the basis for the dis10 ability determination, and wheth11 er the individual with the dis12 ability was an adult recipient or 

13 minor child head of household, a 

14 child, or a non-recipient family 

15 member. 

16 ‘‘(cc) The types of modifica17 tions that States have included in 

18 modified employability plans. 

19 ‘‘(dd) The extent to which 

20 individuals with a modified em21 ployability plan are participating 

22 in work activities. 

23 ‘‘(ee) An analysis of the ex24 tent to which the option to estab25 lish such modified employability 


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1 plans was a factor in States’ 

2 achieving or not achieving the 

3 minimum participation rates 

4 under subsection (a) for the fis5 cal year. 

6 ‘‘(iv) DEFINITIONS.— 

7 ‘‘(I) DISABILITY.—For purposes 

8 of this subparagraph, the term ‘dis9 ability’ means a mental or physical 

10 impairment, including substance 

11 abuse or addiction, that— 

12 ‘‘(aa) constitutes or results 

13 in a substantial impediment to 

14 employment; or 

15 ‘‘(bb) substantially limits 

16 one or more major life activities. 

17 ‘‘(II) MODIFIED WORK ACTIVI18 TIES.—For purposes of this subpara19 graph, the term ‘modified work activi20 ties’ means activities the State has de21 termined will help the recipient be22 come employable and which are not 

23 subject to and do not count against 

24 the limitations and requirements 


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1 under the preceding provisions of this 

2 subsection and of subsection (d).’’. 

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

4 this section shall take effect on October 1, 2007. 

5 SEC. 3. STATE OPTION TO EXCLUDE SSI APPLICANTS IN 

6 WORK PARTICIPATION RATE. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 407(b)(5) of the Social 

8 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 607(b)(5)) is amended by striking 

9 ‘‘at its option, not require an individual’’ and all that fol10 lows and inserting ‘‘at its option— 

11 ‘‘(A) not require an individual who is a 

12 single custodial parent caring for a child who 

13 has not attained 12 months of age to engage in 

14 work, and may disregard such an individual in 

15 determining the participation rates under sub16 section (a) of this section for not more than 12 

17 months; 

18 ‘‘(B) disregard for purposes of determining 

19 such rates for any month, on a case-by-case 

20 basis, an individual who is an applicant for or 

21 a recipient of supplemental security income ben22 efits under title XVI or of social security dis23 ability insurance benefits under title II, if— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the State has determined that an 

2 application for such benefits has been filed 

3 by or on behalf of the individual; 

4 ‘‘(ii) the State has determined that 

5 there is a reasonable basis to conclude that 

6 the individual meets the disability or blind7 ness criteria applied under title II or XVI; 

8 ‘‘(iii) there has been no final decision 

9 (including a decision for which no appeal is 

10 pending at the administrative or judicial 

11 level or for which the time period for filing 

12 such an appeal has expired) denying bene13 fits; and 

14 ‘‘(iv) not less than every 6 months, 

15 the State reviews the status of such appli16 cation and determines that there is a rea17 sonable basis to conclude that the indi18 vidual continues to meet the disability or 

19 blindness criteria under title II or XVI; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(C) disregard for purposes of determining 

22 such rates for any month, on a case-by-case 

23 basis, an individual who the State has deter24 mined would meet the disability criteria for sup25 plemental security income benefits under title 


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1 XVI or social security disability insurance bene2 fits under title II but for the requirement that 

3 the disability has lasted or is expected to last 

4 for a continuous period of not less than 12 

5 months.’’. 

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

7 this section shall take effect on October 1, 2007. 

Æ 


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