Senate Bill S4190

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S4190

 TITLE OF BILL :

An act to amend the social services law, in relation to clarifying the
definitions of vocational educational training and educational
activities


 PURPOSE OF THE BILL :

The bill would amend the Social Services Law (SSL) to allow attendance
in up to four years of post-secondary education to count toward ,an
individual's public assistance employment requirement where the
attendance is consistent with the individual's employment and
assessment plan goals, and make corresponding changes to income and
resource exemptions for monies set aside for paying for education.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section 1 of the bill would amend SSL § 336(1)(h) to include up to
four years of post-secondary education in the definition of
"vocational educational training."

Section 2 of the bill would amend SSL § 336-a(1) to allow for up to
four years of post-secondary education to count as participation for
              

purposes of an individual's public assistance employment requirement
and provide that all assignments to vocational educational training
and educational activities will be permitted only to the extent that
such an assignment is consistent with an individual's assessment and
employment plan.

Section 3 of the bill would amend SSL § 131-n (1)(c), which provides
that up to $1,400 may be kept in a separate bank account and deemed
exempt and disregarded in calculating the amount of public assistance
benefits where the funds are to be used for payment of tuition at a
two-year accredited post-secondary institution, to add an accredited
four-year institution.

Section 4 of the bill would provide for an effective date of April 1,
2009.

 EXISTING LAW

SSL §§ 336 and 336-a currently provide that a public assistance
recipient may be assigned no more than two years of post-secondary
education as part of public assistance employment activities.

SSL § 131-n (1)(c) currently provides that up to $1,400 may be kept in
a separate bank account and deemed exempt and· disregarded in
calculating the amount of public assistance benefits where the funds
are to be used for payment of tuition at a two year accredited
post-secondary institution.

 PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

This is a new bill.

 STATEMENT IN SUPPORT :

This bill would permit Social service districts to exercise the
flexibility permitted by recent changes to the federal regulations in
the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (TANF). The
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunities Reconciliation Act
(PRWORA) of 1996 required states to meet certain work participation
rates for recipients of assistance funded by the TANF program or face
severe fiscal penalties. The federal law and implementing regulations
specified which kinds of work activities counted towards meeting the
work participation rate. Participation in a four year college pro~am
was not a countable activity.

State law, SSL §330 et seq., mirrored the federal requirements in
imposing work obligations on public assistance recipients and not
permitting participation in a four-year college program to count
towards that requirement.

Changes in federal regulations in response to the federal Deficit
Reduction Act of 2005 (Pub.L. 109-171) now permit states to count
four-year college attendance by recipients toward the work
participation requirements in certain circumstances. The changes
proposed by this bill would permit New York to take advantage of this
federal change, benefiting both recipients and social services
districts.

While a four-year college degree may not be a viable option for many
public assistance recipients, for whom there exists an array of
services and programs, a four year diploma is a realistic goal for
some recipients. For those recipients, a college diploma is a proven
way out of poverty and an important tool in staying off assistance.
This is particularly true for recipients who were already attending
college when the current spell of neediness occurred. This would
alleviate concerns that a recipient would have to drop out of college
in order to perform his or her public assistance work requirements to
maintain necessary assistance.

The bill will also benefit social services districts. It will give
them one more option in fashioning a program for public assistance
recipients. It will also help them meet work participation
requirements. The bill does not require districts to approve every
recipient for attendance in a four-year college. Instead, it permits a
district to consider such activity for its local employment plan and
to make individual assignments consistent with its evaluation and
assessment of employability.

Consistent with the general purpose of permitting four-year colleges
as a permissible work activity, the bill would amend section SSL §
131-n, which specifies income and resources an applicant or recipient
of public assistance may have and still be eligible for assistance.
Currently, an applicant or recipient can maintain up to $1,400 in a
bank account for the purpose of paying for a two-year secondary
education. Without changing the amount, this bill would permit a
person to maintain an account for a four year secondary education.

The bill also provides that any assignment to any vocational
educational training or educational activity will be permitted only to
the extent that it is consistent with ,the individual's assessment and
employment plan goals. This provision reflects the goals of the
assessments and employability plans as set forth in SSL § 335 and §
335-a and the current State policy of meeting the educational needs of
public assistance recipients in order to enhance their employment
opportunities.

 BUDGET IMPLICATIONS :

It is anticipated that this bill would have a minimal fiscal impact.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This bill would become effective April 1, 2009.