2023 New York Laws › SOS - Social Services › Article 5 - Assistance and Care › Title 9-B - Public Assistance Employment Programs › 336 - Work Activities.

§  336. Work activities. 1. Social services districts may provide, and
require  applicants  for  and  recipients  of   public   assistance   to
participate in a variety of activities, including but not limited to the
following:
(a) unsubsidized employment;
(b) subsidized private sector employment;
(c) subsidized public sector employment;
(d)  work  experience  in  the  public  sector  or  non-profit sector,
(including work associated with refurbishing publicly assisted  housing)
if sufficient private sector employment is not available;
(e) On-the-job training;
(f)  job  search  and  job  readiness  assistance, which shall include
activities  with  the  goal  of  seeking  or  obtaining  employment,  or
preparation   to   seek  or  obtain  employment,  including  life-skills
training, which shall include  but  not  be  limited  to  home  visiting
services  to  the  recipient and their family, and provided further that
job search is an active  and  continuing  effort  to  secure  employment
configured  by  the  local  social  services  official;  and such social
services district may work in cooperation with the department  of  labor
to provide workforce guidance and information in accordance with section
ten-c of the labor law;
(g)  community service programs provided, however, the number of hours
a participant in community service  activities  authorized  pursuant  to
this  section  shall  be  required  to work in such assignment shall not
exceed a number which equals  the  amount  of  assistance  payable  with
respect  to  such  individual  (inclusive  of  the  value of food stamps
received by such individual, if any) divided by the higher  of  (a)  the
federal  minimum  wage,  or  (b)  the state minimum wage. No participant
shall in any case be required to engage in assigned activities for  more
than  forty  hours  in  any  week. No participant shall be assigned to a
community service activity that conflicts with  his  or  her  bona  fide
religious beliefs;
(h)  vocational  educational  training as time limited by federal law.
For the purposes of this title, "vocational educational training"  shall
include  but not be limited to organized educational programs offering a
sequence of courses which are directly related  to  the  preparation  of
individuals  for current or emerging occupations including programs that
require up to four years  of  post-secondary  education.  Such  programs
shall  include competency-based applied learning which contributes to an
individual's   academic   knowledge,   higher-order    reasoning,    and
problem-solving  skills,  work  attitudes, general employability skills,
and   the   occupational-specific   skills   necessary   for    economic
independence. Such term also includes applied technology education;
(i)  job  skills  training  directly related to employment. Job skills
training directly related to employment may include but not  be  limited
to  participation in up to four years of post-secondary education to the
extent consistent with federal and state requirements;
(j) education directly  related  to  employment,  in  the  case  of  a
recipient  who  has  not  yet  received  a  high  school  diploma  or  a
certificate of high school equivalency;
(k) satisfactory attendance at secondary school or a course  of  study
leading  to  a  certificate  of  general  equivalency  in  the case of a
recipient who has  not  completed  secondary  school  or  received  such
certificate;
(l)  provision  of  child  care  services  to  an  individual  who  is
participating in community service;
(m) job search and job readiness assistance, as defined  in  paragraph
(f)  of  this subdivision, once the individual has exceeded the six week
limit set in federal law;
(n)   educational   activities   pursuant  to  section  three  hundred
thirty-six-a of this title.
2. No participant shall be required to provide child care services  as
a  work  activity  described  in  this  section  unless  the participant
expressly requests in writing to provide such services.
3. Social services districts may enter into agreements with public and
private employment agencies to assist recipients of public assistance to
find jobs.
4. No participant shall in any case be required to engage in  assigned
activities for more than forty hours in any week.
5.  In  no  event shall the programs and activities enumerated in this
title be deemed the sole activities that a social services district  may
provide  and  require applicants for and recipients of public assistance
to engage in. Any program or activity that meets the goals of this title
and is consistent with the  requirements  of  the  labor  law  and  this
chapter shall be allowed.
6.  Any  social  services  district  that  establishes  and provides a
program  or  activity  not  herein  enumerated  shall  set   forth   the
requirements and structure of such program or activity in its local plan
pursuant to the provisions of section three hundred thirty-three of this
title.
7.  In  accordance with the provisions of paragraph (h) of subdivision
two of section four hundred fifty-four of the family  court  act  or  as
otherwise required by the court, the court may assign to work activities
the  non-custodial  parents  of children receiving public assistance and
require a report to such court of any failure of said parent  to  comply
with the requirements of such program.
8. The hours of participation in federal work study programs completed
pursuant  to  section three hundred thirty-five-b of this title shall be
included as a  work  activity  within  the  definition  of  unsubsidized
employment,  subsidized  private  sector employment or subsidized public
sector employment pursuant to paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of subdivision
one of this section, and the  hours  of  participation  in  internships,
externships  and  other  work  placements  completed pursuant to section
three hundred thirty-five-b of this title shall be included  as  a  work
activity  within  the  definition  of  on-the-job  training  pursuant to
paragraph (e) of subdivision one of this section.