63.2-608 - Virginia Initiative for Employment Not Welfare (VIEW).
§ 63.2-608. Virginia Initiative for Employment Not Welfare (VIEW).
A. The Department shall establish and administer the Virginia Initiative forEmployment Not Welfare (VIEW) to reduce long-term dependence on welfare, toemphasize personal responsibility and to enhance opportunities for personalinitiative and self-sufficiency by promoting the value of work. TheDepartment shall endeavor to develop placements for VIEW participants thatwill enable participants to develop job skills that are likely to result inindependent employment and that take into consideration the proficiency,experience, skills and prior training of a participant.
VIEW shall recognize clearly defined responsibilities and obligations on thepart of public assistance recipients and shall include a written agreement ofpersonal responsibility requiring parents to participate in work activitieswhile receiving TANF, earned-income disregards to reduce disincentives towork, and a limit on TANF financial assistance.
VIEW shall require all able-bodied recipients of TANF who do not meet anexemption to participate in a work activity. VIEW shall require eligible TANFrecipients to participate in unsubsidized, partially subsidized or fullysubsidized employment or other allowable TANF work activity as defined byfederal law and enter into an agreement of personal responsibility.
B. To the maximum extent permitted by federal law, and notwithstanding otherprovisions of Virginia law, the Department and local departments may, throughapplicable procurement laws and regulations, engage the services of publicand private organizations to operate VIEW and to provide services incident tosuch operation.
C. All VIEW participants shall be under the direction and supervision of acase manager.
D. The Department shall ensure that participants are assigned to one of thefollowing work activities within 90 days after the approval of TANFassistance:
1. Unsubsidized private-sector employment;
2. Subsidized employment, as follows:
a. The Department shall conduct a program in accordance with this sectionthat shall be known as the Full Employment Program (FEP). FEP replaces TANFwith subsidized employment. Persons not able to find unsubsidized employmentwho are otherwise eligible for TANF may participate in FEP unless exempted bythis chapter. FEP shall assign participants to subsidized wage-payingprivate-sector jobs designed to increase the participants' self-sufficiencyand improve their competitive position in the workforce.
b. Participants in FEP shall be placed in full-time employment whenappropriate and shall be paid by the employer at an hourly rate not less thanthe federal or state minimum wage, whichever is higher. At no point shall aparticipant's spendable income received from wages and tax credits be lessthan the value of TANF received prior to the work placement.
c. Every employer subject to the Virginia unemployment insurance tax shall beeligible for assignment of FEP participants, but no employer shall berequired to utilize such participants. Employers shall ensure that jobs madeavailable to FEP participants are in conformity with § 3304 (a) (5) of theFederal Unemployment Tax Act. FEP participants cannot be used to displaceregular workers.
d. FEP employers shall:
(i) Endeavor to make FEP placements positive learning and trainingexperiences;
(ii) Provide on-the-job training to the degree necessary for the participantsto perform their duties;
(iii) Pay wages to participants at the same rate that they are paid to otheremployees performing the same type of work and having similar experience andemployment tenure;
(iv) Provide sick leave, holiday and vacation benefits to participants to thesame extent and on the same basis that they are provided to other employeesperforming the same type of work and having similar employment experience andtenure;
(v) Maintain health, safety and working conditions at or above levelsgenerally acceptable in the industry and no less than those in which otheremployees perform the same type of work;
(vi) Provide workers' compensation coverage for participants;
(vii) Encourage volunteer mentors from among their other employees to assistparticipants in becoming oriented to work and the workplace; and
(viii) Sign an agreement with the local department outlining the employerrequirements to participate in FEP. All agreements shall include notice ofthe employer's obligation to repay FEP reimbursements in the event theemployer violates FEP rules.
e. As a condition of FEP participation, employers shall be prohibited fromdiscriminating against any person, including program participants, on thebasis of race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, or disability;
3. Part-time or temporary employment;
4. Community work experience, as follows:
a. The Department and local departments shall work with other state, regionaland local agencies and governments in developing job placements that serve auseful public purpose as provided in § 482 (f) of the Social Security Act, asamended. Placements shall be selected to provide skills and serve a publicfunction. VIEW participants shall not displace regular workers.
b. The number of hours per week for participants shall be determined bycombining the total dollar amount of TANF and food stamps and dividing by theminimum wage with a maximum of a work week of 32 hours, of which up to 12hours of employment-related education and training may substitute for workexperience employment; or
5. Any other allowable TANF work activity as defined by federal law.
E. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections A and D, if a localdepartment determines that a VIEW participant is in need of job skills andwould benefit from immediate job skills training, it may place theparticipant in a general educational development (GED) program or a careerand technical education program targeted at skills required for particularemployment opportunities. Eligible participants include those with problemsrelated to obtaining and retaining employment, such as participants (i) withless than a high school education, (ii) whose reading or math skills are ator below the eighth grade level, (iii) who have not retained a job for aperiod of at least six months during the prior two years, or (iv) who are ina treatment program for a substance abuse problem or are receiving servicesthrough a family violence treatment program. The VIEW participant maycontinue in a GED program or career and technical education program for aslong as the local department determines he is progressing satisfactorily andto the extent permitted by the Personal Responsibility and Work OpportunityReconciliation Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-193), as amended.
F. Participants may be reevaluated after a period determined by the localdepartment and reassigned to another work component. In addition, the numberof hours worked may be reduced by the local department so that a participantmay complete additional training or education to further his employability.
G. Local departments shall be authorized to sanction parents up to the fullamount of the TANF grant for noncompliance, unless good cause exists.
H. VIEW participants shall not be assigned to projects that require that theytravel unreasonable distances from their homes or remain away from theirhomes overnight without their consent.
Any injury to a VIEW participant arising out of and in the course ofcommunity work experience shall be covered by the participant's existingMedicaid coverage. If a community work experience participant is unable towork due to such an accident, his status shall be reviewed to determinewhether he is eligible for an exemption from the limitation on TANF financialassistance.
A community work experience participant who becomes incapacitated for 30 daysor more shall be eligible for TANF financial assistance for the duration ofthe incapacity, if otherwise eligible.
The Board shall adopt regulations providing for the accrual of paid sickleave or other equivalent mechanism for community work experienceparticipants.
(1994, cc. 858, 951, § 63.1-133.49; 1995, c. 450; 1996, c. 1023; 1999, c.759; 2000, cc. 483, 491; 2001, c. 483; 2002, c. 747; 2003, cc. 428, 467;2005, c. 472; 2007, c. 568.)