EDUCATION AND TRAINING – LEARN TO ASK FOR IT

(Article published in HWW May 2009)

In New York State, single men and women on public assistance have a right to access training and education. A court case in 2003 called Davila v. Eggleston gave single parents on public assistance that right and it was extended later to single adults without children. Yet studies show that very few -- some estimate fewer than 2% -- manage to do it. Why’s that?

Sondra Youdelman, Executive Director of the client advocacy group Community Voices Heard, says applicants for public assistance need to know their rights and assert them.

“Because of the Davila settlement you are entitled to education and training,” she says “but if you walk into a Job Center you have to know to say the trigger words:

‘I want education and training’ or

‘I am already enrolled’ in this education and training program or

‘I want training in’ nursing, carpentry, or whatever interests you.”

Otherwise you may be denied any chance to participate in activities that will help you improve your skills and job options.

For information about your rights to education and training call Ken Stephens at Legal Aid Society,

(212) 577-3988, or Dominique Trudel at Community

Voices Heard, (212) 860-6001, or Urban Justice Center, (646) 602-5600.

Meantime, it makes sense to keep up with the laws and rules that effect your rights.

Changes in welfare work rules and access to education and training

by Don Friedman, Managing Attorney, Empire Justice Center, Long Island

In recent months, the state has changed some of the welfare work rules, including the right of welfare recipients to participate in education and training. This is a result of federal law changes that make access to education and training even more difficult, but that also raised some hope. Now New York State is putting these new rules into effect. I will summarize some of the highlights of the changes. Then I will briefly describe some rules changes that the state has proposed, but that are not yet in effect.

The new rules are in an OTDA (Office of Training and Disability Assistance) directive, 08-ADM-07. Here are some of the highlights:

(a) Needed in the home to care for a disabled family member – A parent is exempt from the work rules if she is needed at home to care for a disabled family member. This must be shown with medical evidence. Also, if a person is needed at home only part-time, she won’t be exempt, but may be entitled to have limited hours of work.

(b) Homework – If a person is in an approved educational program, both supervised and unsupervised homework and study can count as part of the work activity. Up to one hour of unsupervised homework per class hour can count.

(c) Distance learning – HRA can approve a person’s participation in up to 10 hours per week of distance learning. This includes, for example, approved online courses. Generally the person must show why she cannot attend a regular class instead. The rules explain possible ways the individual can document that she is participating in the program.

(d) Documentation and supervision – There are much tougher rules about how participation in work activities is reported. We are not sure how this will affect the individual. Also, many activities must be more closely supervised than in the past. We hope that this will not result in significant changes for the participants.

(e) Work activity definitions – There is a list of work activities to which recipients can be assigned. Most of the work activity definitions are what you might expect. But some of them might change how HRA assigns people. On the negative side, the new rules make the definitions of these activities much more narrow. But on the hopeful side, there may be ways to enable a person to continue in certain activities beyond the usual time limits. Here are some of the definitions:

• Work experience (WEP) – There is nothing really new in this definition, but it is worth remembering that work experience is supposed to help people improve their skills, knowledge and work habits, and improve their job opportunities.

• Job readiness – This activity can include job skills preparation, life skills training, drug and mental health treatment, and rehabilitation. The problem is that job readiness can count for no more than 6 weeks in a year. So recipients may not be permitted to remain in these activities for the full time they may need. OTDA does say that if extra time is needed for drug treatment, it should be permitted, so this may help somewhat.

• Community service – In the past, this term has been used by counties around the state to allow a wide range of activities, such as GED and drug treatment. Now a more restricted, traditional definition will be applied.

• Vocational education – Voc. ed. should prepare people for specific jobs, but can also include basic education, including ESL, if that is a regular part of the voc. ed. program. A serious limitation is that voc. ed. can only be counted for 12-months. But a significant positive change is that voc. ed. can now include four-year college. And there may be ways to go beyond the 12-month limit if college can also be called job skills training.

Proposed OTDA regulations – Literacy

I also wanted to mention that OTDA has proposed some new regulations that might be very significant, especially with regard to access to basic education. Remember that these regulations are not yet official yet, but hopefully they will be shortly.

Here are the most significant features of the proposed regulations:

(1) The proposal defines basic literacy as reading at a 9th grade level. The State Education Department will choose a test to be used throughout the state to determine literacy. Until now, there was no definition of basic literacy.

(2) A person who lacks basic literacy must be encouraged and may be required to participate in educational activities.

(3) If a person has basic literacy but does not have a high school diploma, that person must be offered the option, or may be required, to participate in education to improve literacy and possibly to lead to a high school diploma.

For all of these changes, we will be sure to keep you informed about what is happening in New York City, and whether other changes will be made.