WORKERS PATHWAYS TO SELF-SUFFICIENCY ACT OF 2009

This bill will help low-income working and unemployed adults access the education and training they need to obtain family-sustaining jobs. Sen. James Eldridge (D-Acton), with the support of Rep. Linda Dorcena Forry (D-Dorchester) and forty other co-sponsors, filed this legislation in the Senate.

Educational Rewards Grant for Working Adults

This grant was established in 2006 to aid low-income students seeking education leading to jobs in high-demand occupations. This program is unique in allowing students to use a portion of their grants to cover living expenses and is ideal for working and/or parenting students. It is the only state grant available to students carrying less than a half-time course load and/or participating in a non-degree program. The Workers Pathways to Self-Sufficiency Act of 2009 (The Act) recapitalizes the grant trust fund and requires the Board of Higher Education to produce annual data on program utilization.   

The Act provides pilot funding for student success programs to help Educational Rewards students stay in school and complete a degree or certificate.  Services may include:  intensive advising and counseling, college and career success courses, work study jobs in the students’ field of study, learning communities, curricular redesign to support blended or accelerated remediation, tutoring, child care and transportation assistance.

Education and Training for TAFDC recipients

The Act requires the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) to encourage low-income parents whose families receive Transitional Assistance for Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC) to obtain the vocational educational training needed to obtain and retain good paying jobs with benefits that will enable them to support their families in the longer term without the need for cash assistance.  Requires DTA to:

• Maintain up-to-date listing and description of all public and private vocational educational programs within the relevant geographic region that can be accessed at little or no cost to the individual;

• Inform recipients 30 days before their work requirement starts about their right to meet work requirements through education or training;

• Use Employment Services Program funds to expand the availability of programs that integrate skills training with adult basic education for those without a high school diploma and/or English for speakers of other language instruction;

• Allow recipients to meet their work requirement by participating in vocational educational training programs, and provide extensions of the time limit to let them complete such programs, so long as they are making satisfactory progress toward an achievable vocational goal;

• Not count state work study and educational grants toward assistance.

 

For more information contact Ruthie Liberman at Crittenton Women’s Union at rliberman@liveworkthrive.org or 617.259.2933