Journal of the House of Representatives
of the First Session of the 111th General Assembly
of the State of South Carolina
being the Regular Session Beginning Tuesday, January 10, 1995

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Printed Page 4410 . . . . . Wednesday, May 31, 1995
(B) An applicant who appears to be eligible for welfare assistance and who would be required to participate or who volunteers to participate in the department's employment and training program must be referred to an employment and training unit. An applicant referred must conduct an initial job search and shall provide evidence of this search by listing the employer contacted, the date of the visit with the employer, and the name and telephone number of the person with whom the applicant spoke. An applicant who does not provide this information must not be approved for assistance until the information is provided. An employment assessment must be conducted on an applicant who is unsuccessful in securing employment to determine if the applicant is job ready. An applicant who has been employed twelve out of the previous twenty-four months or who has graduated from high school or has obtained a GED must be considered job ready and must be enrolled in a job club. Following participation in a job club, the applicant must conduct a job search for an additional period of no more than sixty days or until the applicant obtains employment, whichever occurs first. An applicant who is not job ready or a job ready participant who is unsuccessful in the job search must be evaluated for barriers to employment. An individual agreement containing training and employment requirements must be developed for the participant. For purposes of this subsection "job club" means a group or individual job readiness training sessions where participants learn job finding and job retention skills.

(C) All services provided shall complement and maximize existing resources within state agencies and within the private business community. Services to be provided or coordinated by the department include, but are not limited to, assistance with child care and transportation, enrollment in literacy classes, adult education classes, General Equivalency Diploma classes, enrollment in technical schools, vocational training, work experience, and on-the-job training. Additionally, recipients shall participate in activities designed to assist them in job interviews and successful employment. The department shall provide information to applicants and recipients regarding the advantages of participation in the employment and training programs. The department also shall market its

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training and employment program to education and training program providers and to employers.

(D) The department through its training programs shall provide information about the value of family planning services to reproductive age participants and shall require training program placement staff to actively seek the participation of employers or potential employers in an agreement which permits an AFDC recipient time off from work, not to exceed four hours, at least once a year to voluntarily seek family planning services from a provider of the AFDC recipient's choice without fear of losing their job or of other reprisals.

SECTION 3. The Employment Security Commission shall provide the department up-to-date labor market information to assist department employment and training staff in the development of recipient employment goals and training plans to be outlined in individual agreements. The Employment Security Commission also, through contractual agreement, shall provide the South Carolina Occupational Information System to each of the department's local offices to assist with career counseling and career planning activities. To the extent possible, all other state agencies shall provide the department with access to appropriate economic and demographic data concerning AFDC applicants and recipients.

SECTION 4. The department may provide, as appropriate, relocation assistance to families who live in communities where few job opportunities exist. Assistance may be provided to assist recipients in accessing jobs which maximize their skills and abilities.

SECTION 5. To maximize employment opportunities for welfare recipients and to provide for additional job training and placement
efforts, instead of making cash assistance payments to AFDC recipients, these payments or some portion of these payments may be paid as a wage subsidy or given as a tax credit to employers offering new jobs as a result of a new business or an expansion of an existing business, subject to the guidelines of the department.

SECTION 6. Chapter 7, Title 12 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 12-7-1280. (A) A taxpayer, who employs a person who within twelve months of becoming employed received Aid to Families with Dependent Children and who continuously has remained employed for twelve months is allowed a credit against taxes due under this chapter for wages paid to the employee in an amount equal to:

(1) twenty percent of wages up to five thousand dollars paid for the first year of employment;

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(2) fifteen percent of wages up to five thousand dollars paid for the second year of employment;

(3) ten percent of wages up to five thousand dollars paid for the third year of employment.

(B) The tax credit provided by subsection (A) shall not be allowed unless the taxpayer also makes available health care coverage for the benefit of each employee for which the credit is claimed.

(C) The Department of Social Services and the South Carolina Employment Security Commission must make information available to employers interested in hiring AFDC recipients and must provide documentation to employers verifying a person's status as an AFDC recipient.

(D) This section applies to tax years beginning after 1994.

(E) No tax credit may be taken under this section if the position filled by the former AFDC recipient was made available due to the termination or forced resignation of an employee for the purpose of obtaining the tax credit. Nothing in this section creates a private cause of action which does not otherwise exist at law."

SECTION 7. Each state agency shall establish recruitment and hiring goals which shall target ten percent of all jobs requiring a high school diploma or less to be filled with welfare or food stamp recipients. A question concerning receipt of AFDC benefits or food stamps may be added to the state employment application for purposes of targeting these applicants. Each agency annually shall report to the department the number of welfare recipients employed in comparison to the established goal.

SECTION 8. The department, as part of the employment and training program, shall provide special educational and related services for teen parents to assist them in becoming economically independent and to provide health information. This teen parent initiative must be staffed by department personnel familiar with school drop out programs, family planning programs which comply with existing law, and parent effectiveness training programs, and whenever possible and practical, the department shall coordinate with comparable staff of other state and local agencies in providing these services.

SECTION 9. To expand available job training activities for AFDC recipients, the Governor may target future incentive funds under Title II-A of the Job Training and Partnership Act in such a way as to encourage the service delivery areas and local private industry councils to increase service levels and improve performance outcomes related to services to AFDC recipients.

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SECTION 10. To emphasize the importance of education, training, and employment in restructuring the welfare system, the department shall establish goals for the placement and retention of AFDC recipients in employment programs for each county welfare office. These goals must be reflected in the Employee Performance Evaluation of all appropriate department employees.

SECTION 11. (A) To emphasize the necessity of each family achieving independence and self-sufficiency, if an AFDC recipient fails without good cause to comply with the employment and training requirements contained in the agreement entered into between the recipient and the State Department of Social Services, the department shall:

(1) grant a thirty-day conciliation period for the recipient to reconsider the decision not to comply with the terms of the agreement. During this thirty-day period, the recipient has the right to appeal the department's decision to impose sanctions. At the end of this thirty-day period if the conciliation/fair hearing decision was not in the recipient's favor, all AFDC benefits must be terminated. Benefits may be reinstated when the recipient agrees to comply according to the terms of the agreement and demonstrates willingness to comply by participating in the employment and training program for a period of thirty days;

(2) terminate all AFDC benefits if the recipient completes the training requirements contained in the agreement and then refuses an offer of employment.

(B) A recipient has good cause for failing to comply with the employment and training provisions of the agreement if the recipient is:

(1) a parent or caretaker relative with a child under one year of age; however, custodial parents under age twenty-five who have not completed their high school education are required to comply with these provisions regardless of the age of the child;

(2) at least six months pregnant and the pregnancy is verified by a qualified licensed health care provider;

(3) incapacitated and the incapacity is verified by a physician, and if the department considers it necessary, confirmed by an assessment performed by the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation, as a physical or mental impairment that prevents the recipient from engaging in gainful employment or participating in education or training;

(4) caring for an incapacitated person whose incapacity has been verified by a physician and if the department considers it necessary, confirmed by an assessment performed by the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation;

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(5) unable to participate because child care and reasonable transportation were not provided when needed for participation in employment and training programs.

SECTION 12. As a condition of eligibility for AFDC benefits, each adult recipient and minor mother recipient must participate in a family skills training program which must include, but is not limited to, parenting skills, financial planning, and health information. Whenever possible and practical, the department shall coordinate with comparable staff of other state and local agencies in providing these services.

This program must include an alcohol and other drug assessment when it is determined by the department that an assessment is appropriate. The department shall coordinate with the Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services to provide the proper assessment of the recipient and training of the department personnel who are to conduct the assessment. If the recipient is determined to be in need of alcohol and other drug abuse treatment, the department shall coordinate the services with the Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services and shall include the individually determined terms and conditions of the treatment in the recipient's agreement with the department.

This program must include a family planning assessment if it is determined by the department that an assessment is appropriate. The department shall coordinate with the Department of Health and Environmental Control to provide the AFDC family with education, evaluation, and counseling, consistent with Medicaid regulations. State funds appropriated for family planning must not be used to pay for an abortion.

SECTION 13. Section 20-7-420 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by an act of 1995 bearing ratification number 585 of 1994, is further amended by adding an appropriately numbered item to read:

"( ) to order a person required to pay support under a court order being enforced under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act who is unemployed or underemployed and who is the parent of a child receiving AFDC benefits to participate in an employment training program or public service employment pursuant to regulations promulgated by the department. The Division of Child Support Enforcement of the State Department of Social Services also has jurisdiction under this item in cases under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act brought pursuant to Article 32, Chapter 7, Title 20 of the 1976 Code."

SECTION 14. The 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 20-7-873. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a court or administrative order for child support or order for contempt for

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nonpayment of child support being enforced under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act may direct a noncustodial parent who is unemployed or underemployed and who is the parent of a child receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children benefits to participate in an employment training program or public service employment. Upon failure of the noncustodial parent to comply with an order of contempt which directed the noncustodial parent to participate in the employment training program or public service employment, the Family Court, upon receiving an affidavit of noncompliance from the department, immediately may issue a bench warrant for the arrest of the noncustodial parent. The Department of Social Services shall promulgate regulations governing the eligibility criteria and implementation of these training programs and public service employment."

SECTION 15. The Department of Social Services shall seek federal funds for entrepreneurial development so that AFDC clients can create jobs and provide incentives for AFDC clients in their efforts to attain self-sufficiency and independence. The department shall identify markets for entrepreneurial development for AFDC clients, provide clients with job skills and opportunities to develop expertise in operating businesses, and allow clients to accrue savings, buy stock in a business, or, over a period of time, purchase a business. In carrying out this program the department shall work in conjunction with public, community, and private sector entities including businesses, banks, and other institutions to develop strategies that provide training, technical assistance, planning, and research to AFDC clients in their efforts to own their own businesses.

SECTION 16. In order to assure that all families working toward self sufficiency have access to all potential supportive services that will help ensure their success, the department, within existing revenues, may develop outreach and information programs which provide information and assistance on support services available to low income families including, but not limited to, information on earned income tax credits and medicaid eligibility.

SECTION 17. To promote independence and assist AFDC families in participating in the Department of Social Services employment and training program and in getting to their place of employment, reliable transportation services are needed. The department in conjunction with the Department of Public Safety shall endorse local efforts to develop a statewide network of mass transit systems.

SECTION 18. (A) To promote stability and longevity in employment, the department shall apply to the federal government for a waiver authorizing transitional Medicaid and child care for one additional

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year for AFDC clients who lose eligibility because of employment or who become employed after losing eligibility as a result of exceeding the twenty-four month time limit set out in Part IV, Section 1 for two years and whose earnings are less than poverty and whose continued employment would be jeopardized by medical expenditures. If this waiver is denied, the department shall apply to the federal government for a waiver authorizing a grant of three percent of the maximum family grant and supportive services of Medicaid and child care for one year from the date that the benefits would otherwise end for an employed AFDC recipient who would otherwise be ineligible because of income or from the date that a former recipient who had been found ineligible for exceeding the twenty-four month time limit set out in Part IV, Section 1, begins employment. Benefits provided under this section do not count against the twenty-four month time limit set out in Part IV, Section 1.

(B) If a former recipient's employer offers or provides health insurance coverage for the former recipient and/or the former recipient's family at an out-of-pocket cost to the former recipient which is less than ten percent of the former recipient's wages after deducting Federal Income Collection Act contributions, no Medicaid coverage may be provided to a family member who could be covered under the employer-provided insurance plan.

Part IV

Welfare Caps and Financial Eligibility

SECTION 1. To emphasize that welfare is temporary assistance in time of trouble, the department shall apply to the federal government for a waiver authorizing assistance in the Aid to Families with Dependent Children Program (AFDC) to be limited to no more than twenty-four months out of one hundred and twenty months and no more than sixty months in a lifetime except when:

(1) the head of household is permanently or totally disabled, whether physical or mental;

(2) the head of household is providing full-time care for a disabled individual in the home;

(3) the parent of the child for whom assistance is received is a minor under the age of eighteen who has not completed high school. Assistance must be provided for a period of up to twenty-four months after the minor parent attains the age of eighteen or completes high school, whichever occurs first;

(4) the individual is involved in an approved training program which will not be completed by the twenty-fourth month. However, no extension

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may be granted beyond the thirtieth month except with the express permission of the county director;

(5) the adult head of household is not the parent of the child and is not included in the assistance check;

(6) the adult head of household is providing a home for and caring for a child whom the department has determined to be abandoned by his or her parents and for whom the alternative placement is foster care;

(7) child care or transportation is not reasonably available.

(8) The recipient can establish by clear and convincing evidence to the department that the recipient has fully complied with the recipient's agreement with the department including:

(a) diligently seeking all available employment and following up on all employment opportunities known to the Employment Security Commission or related state agencies for which the recipient is qualified;

(b) demonstrating a willingness to relocate as provided in Part III, Section 4;

(c) cooperating fully with all state agencies in order to strive to become gainfully employed; and the department is satisfied that no available employment reasonably exists for the recipient and that there is no other means of support reasonably available to the recipient's family. Every sixty days the department shall conduct a review of the recipient's compliance with the requirements of this item. Under this review, assistance provided pursuant to this item may only be extended for up to an additional twelve months. At the end of the twelve-month extension, assistance may only be provided with the express permission of the county director who must certify that the person is engaged in education, training, or other employment-related activities.

No sooner than sixty and no later than ninety days after an AFDC recipient's benefits are terminated under the time limits for the receipt of AFDC as provided for in this section, the department shall conduct an assessment of and make recommendations, as appropriate, for the health and well-being of the children in the care and custody of the former AFDC recipient.

SECTION 2. AFDC recipients must be encouraged to voluntarily participate in a work program when their youngest child reaches the age of six months, but in all cases the recipients must participate in a work program once their youngest child reaches age one.

SECTION 3. The asset limit for families on AFDC is ten thousand dollars book value for a vehicle and a total of two thousand five hundred dollars for all other assets.

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SECTION 4. Families on AFDC and those not receiving welfare but whose household income falls below one hundred eighty-five percent of the federal poverty level may own an Individual Development Account. Contributions to and interest on these accounts are tax free, and a recipient may accrue up to ten thousand dollars in the account. Withdrawals used for education or job training or to start a business or to purchase a home are tax free. Withdrawals for other purposes are not tax free.

The State shall seek a waiver from the federal government providing that no lump sum payment of ten thousand dollars or less deposited in an Individual Development Account within thirty days of receipt will make the family ineligible for receipt of AFDC.

SECTION 5. To remove the disincentive to employment that occurs when a family's AFDC payment is reduced because of a minor child's earnings and to encourage children in AFDC families to develop positive work attitudes, the State shall apply to the federal government for a waiver to exclude income earned by a minor child attending school when determining eligibility or payment amount for aid to families with dependent children.

SECTION 6. In order to assist AFDC families in gaining financial independence and in building for the future, the Department of Social Services shall apply to the federal government for a waiver allowing the State to exclude interest income and dividends up to four hundred dollars in determining eligibility and payment amounts for Aid to Families with Dependent Children.

Part V

Parental Responsibility

SECTION 1. To encourage parents to plan for security and assume responsibility for their children, there must be no incremental increase in AFDC benefits to a family as a result of a child born to that parent ten or more months after the family begins to receive AFDC. This section does not apply if the department establishes that the child was conceived as a result of rape or incest. The State may provide benefits to a child born after ten months in the form of vouchers that may be used only to pay for particular goods and services specified by the State as needed for the child's mother to participate in education training and employment related activities.

SECTION 2. An AFDC recipient who, while receiving AFDC benefits, has been identified as requiring alcohol and other drug abuse treatment service or who has been convicted of an alcohol related offense or a controlled substance violation or gives birth to a child with evidence of the effects of maternal substance abuse and the child subsequently is

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shown to have a confirmed positive test performed on a suitable specimen within twenty-four hours of birth, is ineligible for AFDC assistance unless the recipient submits to random drug tests and/or participates in an alcohol or drug treatment program approved by the Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services. Upon completion of the program, if a subsequent random test or subsequent conviction for a controlled substance violation or alcohol related offense occurs, the recipient is ineligible for AFDC benefits. Benefits may be reinstated at a later time upon reapplication, if the recipient first undergoes a conciliation assessment, including review and/or modification of the prescribed individual treatment program and agreement, and then agrees to comply with its terms and demonstrates compliance for a period of not less than sixty days. Testing of a child's specimen pursuant to this section must be conducted by a medical laboratory certified by the College of American Pathologists or the National Institute of Drug Abuse for Forensic Urine Drug Testing.

SECTION 3. Welfare recipients under the age of eighteen must be enrolled and maintain satisfactory attendance, as defined by the Department of Education, in school as a condition of eligibility for benefits.

SECTION 4. (A) Minor mothers with a child born out of wedlock must live in the home of their parent or guardian to be eligible to receive AFDC benefits unless:

(1) the minor parent has no living parent or legal guardian whose whereabouts is known;

(2) no living parent or legal guardian of the minor parent allows the minor parent to live in his or her home;

(3) the minor parent lived apart from his or her own parent or legal guardian for a period of at least one year before either the birth of the dependent child or the parent's having applied for AFDC;

(4) the physical or emotional health or safety of the minor parent or dependent child would be jeopardized if they resided in the same residence with the minor parent's parent or legal guardian;

(5) there is otherwise good cause for the minor parent and dependent child to receive assistance while living apart from the minor parent's parent or legal guardian or another adult relative or an adult supervised supportive living arrangement.

(B) If a minor parent makes an allegation supporting the conclusion that subsection (A)(4) applies, the department shall determine whether it is justified. Circumstances justifying a determination of good cause as provided for in subsection (A)(5) include, but are not limited to, written statements from at least two corroborating persons showing that it is not

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in the best interest of the minor parent to live with his or her parents or legal guardian or in an adult supervised supportive living arrangement. When a minor parent and his or her dependent child are required to live with the minor parent's parent or legal guardian or another adult relative or in an adult supervised supportive living arrangement, AFDC must be paid, where possible, in the form of a protective payment. A minor parent applicant must be informed directly about AFDC eligibility requirements including his or her rights under this section. The applicant must be told of the exemptions and must be asked if one or more of the exemptions is applicable to the applicant. The department shall assist the minor in obtaining the necessary verification if one or more of these exemptions is alleged.

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