NY Educ L § 4607 (2021)
2021 New York Laws EDN - Education Title 6 - Special Schools and Instruction Article 93 - Career, Practical Arts, Continuing Adult Education and Vocational and Educational Guidance 4607 - Bridge to Employment, Work Tryout and Education Program.

§ 4607. Bridge  to  employment,  work tryout and education program. 1. The commissioner is hereby authorized and directed to make grants within the limits of the appropriation available for  such  purpose,  to  major education providers, as defined in the Vocational Education Act of 1963, service  delivery  area  administrative  entities  and  private industry councils as established by the Job Training Partnership  Act  (JTPA)  of 1982 in accordance with the provisions of this section, to encourage the establishment  of  a  bridge  to  employment,  work tryout and education program for certain targeted populations with businesses  with  no  more than  two  hundred  fifty  employees in any facility and no more than an aggregate of one thousand employees in the state of New  York.  Priority shall  be  accorded  to jointly developed proposals from major education providers, as defined in  the  Vocational  Education  Act,  and  service delivery  area  administrative entities. For the purposes of a statewide program, the commissioner is hereby authorized to  develop  regulations, and   to   consult   with   the  commissioner  of  labor,  to  establish administrative, program, and expenditure guidelines  and  standards  for the  work  tryout  experience  and  the  bridge  to  employment programs pursuant to this chapter. Such regulations and guidelines shall  include provisions  for  educational  services  to  meet  additional  job  skill requirements for youth or adults to continue such employment placements.   2. Any agency or organization, eligible for a grant or contract  under the  provisions  of  subdivision  one  of  this  section, which plans to establish a bridge to employment,  work  tryout  and  education  program shall  submit  an application to the commissioner on or before the first day of July of each year in which such program  is  conducted  provided, however,    that    such    application   for   the   nineteen   hundred eighty-seven--eighty-eight pilot program shall  be  filed  by  September first,  nineteen  hundred  eighty-seven.  Priority  shall be accorded to jointly developed proposals from major education providers  and  service delivery  area  administrative  entities. Such application shall include but not be limited to, at least  a  statement  of  the  purpose  of  the program,  a  detailed  estimate  of the cost of such program, a complete description of the manner in which the program will operate and how  the program  will  improve  and  expand  education  and  placement  services currently offered by the applicant, and such other  information  as  the commissioner shall require.   3.  For  the  purposes of a statewide program, the commissioner in the consultation  with  the  commissioner  of  labor  shall  evaluate   such applications,  using  as  criteria  the  merit  and value of the various programs submitted and prior experience of such agency or  agencies  and subcontracts  in provision of placement services. The commissioner shall then promulgate a  list  of  those  programs  that  have  been  selected according to regulations established by the commissioner.   4.  The  commissioner  shall determine the amount of the apportionment which shall be made to those programs  which  he  deems  to  have  merit within the amount of the appropriation therefor.   5.  A  person who seeks to participate under the bridge to employment, work tryout and education program must be:   a. (1) a secondary student who has completed an career sequence or  (2) a community college graduate who has completed  a  certificate  or associate degree program in career education and  (3) unemployed three months after completion of such education; or   b.  (1)  an unemployed adult at least twenty-one years of age or older who has completed a career education adult and/or other training program or have the necessary capacity and past employment  history  to  explore new job experiences and  (2) meet any of the following qualifications:  (i) single parent;  (ii) dislocated worker;  (iii) long-term unemployed;  (iv) displaced homemaker;  (v) older worker;  (vi) economically disadvantaged;  (vii) handicapped individuals; or  (viii)  such other individuals as the commissioner may determine to be eligible.   c. Notwithstanding any other provision of  law,  the  work  experience under  this chapter shall not affect any predetermined eligibility under the Job Training Partnership  Act  of  1982  or  any  other  appropriate educational services program.   6.  Any  agency  or  organization  designated  by  the commissioner to conduct a bridge to employment, work tryout  and  education  program  is hereby  authorized and empowered to do and perform all acts necessary or convenient to enable it to carry out the provisions of this section  and it  is  authorized  to  enter  into  a  contract  with any person, firm, association, partnership  or  corporation  whereby  such  person,  firm, association,   partnership  or  corporation  will  provide  work  tryout experience to participants enrolled in such program,  the  consideration for such contract, if it otherwise meets the provisions of this section, to  be  a  legal  charge against the agency or organization. However, no placements will be made with any person, firm, association,  partnership or  corporation where there is an industry/labor controversy, as defined in regulations of the commissioner of labor.   7. Use of funds. a. Work tryout experiences. Agencies or organizations participating in the bridge to employment,  work  tryout  and  education program  may provide to eligible participants up to one hundred hours of full-time  or  part-time  work  tryout   experiences   with   small   to medium-sized  employers  at no cost to those participating employers. No such experiences  may  last  more  than  forty  hours  with  any  single employer.  Employers  who  elect  to  retain a participant from the work tryout  experience  may  transfer  such  participants  to  a  bridge  to employment  placement  component of the program and receive full benefit of such program. Up to fifty percent of the funds  are  to  be  used  to support, administer and promote the work tryout experience program.   Notwithstanding  any  other  provision  of  law  to  the contrary, any participants in the work tryout experience who are returned back to  the program operator because of lack of skills required to retain employment shall  be  provided education and training in such skills as the program operator deems necessary and available  from  local,  state  or  federal funded training programs.   b.  Bridge  to  employment  placement.  The  remaining funds are to be utilized to provide a bridge to employment placement program with  small and  medium  employers.  Eligible  agencies and organizations serving as program  operators  may  subcontract  with  temporary   help   services, employment   and  training  agencies,  or  employers  for  placement  of participants with the following support provided from these funds:  (1) Payroll administration and program  promotion  by  the  agency  or organization  or  sub-contractor  for up to two hundred eighty hours but not more than seven weeks for each person placed in employment.  (2)  Appropriate  share  of  wages  and  fringe  benefits   for   such employment.   Employers will be responsible for payment of at least fifty percent of the  wages and fringe benefits for such employment. After seven weeks of employment the bridge to employment and education program benefits shall cease and the employer must pay all expenses.    Employers participating in  the  program  shall  not  be  required  to participate  for  any specific period of time. Participants may be hired by participating employers at any time or may be returned to the  bridge to  employment  and  education  program  operator  at  any  time  with a statement  of  circumstances and/or work related deficiencies. Continued employer  participation  in  the  program   shall   be   determined   by demonstrated transition to unsubsidized employment at levels established by the agency or organization and approved by the commissioner. However, employers who have released an excessive number of participants from the bridge  to  employment programs within the first six months of placement pursuant to commissioner regulations shall be  prohibited  from  seeking further placements from the bridge to employment program.   c.  Employment  and  training  agencies  or temporary help services or other  organizations  which  may  serve  as  subcontractors  may  charge overhead  and promotional expenses as provided in approved contracts for work tryout experience and bridge to employment programs as specified in guidelines  and/or  regulations  of  the  commissioner.  Such  agencies, services or organizations shall endeavor to serve at least fifty percent of the participants in the bridge to employment program from paragraph b of subdivision five of this section.   d.  Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, any eligible adult who is either economically disadvantaged or handicapped  shall  be eligible  for  forty additional hours of work tryout experience benefits and  one  hundred  twenty  additional  hours  of  bridge  to  employment placement benefits.   8.  Notwithstanding  any  other  provision of law to the contrary, any participants in the bridge to employment and education program  who  are referred back to the program operator because of lack of skills required to  retain  employment  shall be provided education and training in such skills as the placement agency deems necessary and available from local, state or federal funded training programs.