The Florida Senate

414.38  Pilot work experience and job training for noncustodial parents program.--

(1)  There is established in two judicial circuits a work experience and job training pilot program for noncustodial parents, of which one circuit must be in a circuit with a mandatory family transition program in operation. The program shall be administered by the department.

(2)  An obligor who resides in the judicial circuit is eligible for entrance into the pilot program if, 30 days after any order for support, the obligor is still unemployed.

(3)  If the court orders an obligor to participate in the work experience and job training program, the obligor must register with the local pilot program service provider.

(4)  Every obligor ordered into the experience and job training pilot program must participate in work experience, peer support, job training, job placement, or educational activities for up to 40 hours a week.

(5)  Any noncustodial parent ordered to participate in the pilot program under this section who fails without good cause to participate as ordered by the court may be held in contempt.

(6)  The local work experience and job training pilot program service provider shall directly, or through contract:

(a)  If necessary, enroll the obligor in a mandatory job training readiness program of up to 4 weeks in duration;

(b)  Assess the obligor's employment skills;

(c)  Assess the obligor's educational and literacy skills and enroll the obligor in a local adult educational program if necessary;

(d)  Perform job search assistance and job matching functions, which must include on-the-job training to combine skill-building and immediate income;

(e)  Monitor the progress of the obligor's employment;

(f)  Offer a peer support program to educate the obligor about the responsibilities of a noncustodial parent, to encourage positive parental behavior and sexual responsibility, and to enhance the obligor's life skills;

(g)  Offer support services to custodial and noncustodial parents to resolve conflicts concerning visitation, household expenditures, lifestyles, child care, and school arrangements;

(h)  Advise the court when the obligor becomes employed and of the obligor's continuing employment progress every 30 days;

(i)  Counsel the obligor about job retention and advancement; and

(j)  Offer followup and support services for a period of 6 months.

(7)  If the obligor becomes employed before starting the pilot program or becomes employed through the efforts of the local work experience and job training pilot program service provider, but cannot earn an adequate wage level for court-ordered child support as determined by s. 61.30 or otherwise by a court of competent jurisdiction, the service provider shall assist the obligor in obtaining federal earned-income tax credits and, if the wages and the earned-income tax credits are less than an adequate amount for the court-ordered child support, the service provider shall attempt to obtain additional or improved employment for the obligor. To determine whether the obligor has an adequate wage level, the following criteria shall be considered:

(a)  All earnings, income, and resources of the obligor.

(b)  The ability of the obligor to earn.

(c)  The reasonable necessities of the obligor.

(d)  The needs of the dependent child for whom support is sought.

(8)  The local pilot program service provider may not:

(a)  Charge the obligor for services obtained under this program; or

(b)  Enroll the obligor in a community work program.

(9)  The department shall contract with a private service provider for job training, placement, and support services. The department shall develop a request for proposal to include procedures and criteria for the competitive acceptance of proposals from interested service providers. Each interested service provider seeking a pilot program pursuant to this section must be able to demonstrate:

(a)  Experience in executing large-scale social experiments;

(b)  Experience in doing research involving waivers of federal AFDC, JOBS, and child support enforcement policies;

(c)  An understanding of the demographics and experiences of economically disadvantaged noncustodial parents; and

(d)  Experience in working directly with state programs designed to assist disadvantaged noncustodial parents.

(10)(a)  The department, in consultation with the Department of Revenue and the Department of Labor and Employment Security, shall conduct, or shall contract with one or more entities to conduct, a comprehensive evaluation of the program or programs funded through this section. An initial phase of such evaluation must be designed to monitor the extent to which the local work experience and job training pilot program is being implemented and to make recommendations on how best to expand the local work experience and job training pilot program to other sites, including validation of estimated program costs and savings related to factors such as support services, child support paid, job training and placement, peer support components, staffing ratios, and service integration. The initial phase of the evaluation must provide information on the preliminary outcomes of the program, including rates of job placement and job retention and participant salary levels. The department shall report results of the initial evaluation within 18 months after the demonstration projects begin.

(b)  Following the initial implementation of the pilot projects, a subsequent phase of evaluation must be conducted to determine the impact of the local work experience and job training pilot program on participants. The evaluation must include, but is not limited to:

1.  The effect of the program on postprogram levels of earnings for noncustodial parents;

2.  The effect of the program on longer-term job retention for noncustodial parents;

3.  The payment of child support and its impact on net income for the custodial parent;

4.  The effect of the payment of child support on the well-being of the children; and

5.  Estimates of the impact of the local work experience and job training pilot program on aggregate expenditures for the WAGES Program, food stamps, Medicaid, child care, other support services, funds expended under the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA), and similar publicly funded programs and services.

(c)  In order to provide evaluation findings with the highest feasible level of scientific validity, the department may contract for an evaluation design that includes random assignment of program participants to program groups and control groups. Under such design, members of control groups must be given the level of job training and placement services generally available to noncustodial parents who are not included in the local work experience and job training pilot program areas. The provisions of s. 381.85 or similar provisions of federal or state law do not apply under this section.

(d)  A copy of the evaluation report shall be submitted to the Governor, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and appropriate substantive committees of the Legislature by June 30, 1999.

(11)  The department, in consultation with the Department of Revenue and the Department of Labor and Employment Security, shall adopt rules to implement this section.

History.--s. 13, ch. 95-222; s. 40, ch. 96-175; s. 217, ch. 97-101; s. 29, ch. 97-173; s. 69, ch. 97-237.

Note.--Former s. 409.25655.