N.Y. Labor Law § 42: Youth education, employment and training program

§ 42. Youth education, employment and training program. This program

shall provide services to economically disadvantaged in-school and

out-of-school youth fourteen to twenty-one years of age and shall be

subject to the following provisions of this section:

1. The goals of this program shall be entry into post-secondary

education, enrollment in vocational or skills training programs, or the

attainment of favorable employment and career opportunities. To obtain

program goals, local projects shall include one or more of the following

objectives: retention in high school, improvement in basic academic and

vocational skills and, when attainable, the acquisition of a high school

diploma or its equivalent.

2. For the purpose of this section, the following terms shall have the

following meanings: "local project" shall mean the specific plan or

proposal for support and/or direct client services at the local level as

specified in a contractual agreement with employment and training

providers pursuant to this section; and "economically disadvantaged"

shall be defined as set forth in regulations promulgated by the state

education department pursuant to sections sixty-four hundred fifty-one

and sixty-four hundred fifty-two of the education law or as set forth in

the federal job training partnership act, public law 97-300 or its

successor program or in the absence of such, as defined by the

commissioner. Moneys to fund the program may be used for projects in

which up to ten percent of the participants enrolled, on a project by

project basis, are youth who are not economically disadvantaged if such

youth have been identified as at risk of dropping out of school or have

barriers to employment.

3. Subject to the limits of available moneys for this program and the

approval of the director of the budget, the commissioner, in

consultation with the commissioner of education, shall select and make

contracts with preference to employment and training providers who have

demonstrated effectiveness in serving disadvantaged youth for the

purpose of conducting local projects. Such moneys may be used for

contractors selected on a competitive basis consistent with executive

order number one hundred twenty-seven which expedites and simplifies

contracting with not-for-profit agencies. Such employment and training

providers shall only include not-for-profit community based

organizations, boards of cooperative educational services,

post-secondary educational agencies, grant recipients or administrative

entities of the service delivery areas (hereinafter referred to as

SDAs), as may be defined by the Federal Job Training Partnership Act

(hereinafter referred to as JTPA) or its successor program or in the

absence of such, as defined by the commissioner, joint apprentice

committees, labor organizations, and public and private employers.

Preference in selection of such contractors shall be given to qualified

and experienced community based organizations with proven ability to

administer such programs.

4. Moneys for this program shall be apportioned in a manner that

ensures a distribution of funds to projects operating in communities

which have high rates of youth unemployment, significant drop-out rates

among high school-aged youth, large numbers of youth living in poverty,

and a high proportion of households receiving public assistance

benefits.

5. Such moneys may not be used for an SDA as an employment and

training provider for local projects for out-of-school youth unless it

has been determined by the commissioner that no other employment and

training provider is available in the area which this program is

designed to serve.

6. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary, the

educational opportunity centers (hereinafter referred to as EOCs)

operated by the state university and educational centers operated by the

units of the city university of New York are hereby authorized to

contract with employment and training providers funded pursuant to this

section for provision of services authorized under this section and to

receive reimbursement for services provided. For the purpose of this

program, all participants eligible for services pursuant to this section

shall be deemed to be eligible for services provided by the EOCs.

7. Allowable activities under this section may include tutoring, basic

skills remediation, occupational/vocational training, vocational

exploration, on-the-job and supervised worksite training, counseling,

and support services. Local projects shall integrate such allowable

activities, as fully as possible.

8. Participants in programs under this section may be granted a

stipend if such youth are not participating in a paid work experience.

On an individual participant basis, the local project operator may

extend tutorial services, basic skills remediation, and counseling

beyond one program year, provided the participant continues to meet the

other eligibility requirements of this program.

9. Pursuant to a memorandum of agreement, the education department

shall be responsible for the approval of the educational component of

local projects under this section predicated upon a review of each local

project proposal. Such educational component shall include programs of

instruction, remedial activities, and services designed to improve

participants' performance in reading, writing, communication, math, and

science. Academic credit may be made available to qualifying

participants for their involvement and performance in this program.

Local projects shall be evaluated for credit and recommendations shall

be made to local schools by the education department.

10. As a condition of participating in programs under this section,

each employment and training provider shall establish cooperative

relationships for improving linkages with local educational agencies and

SDAs which insure that school-based educational activities are

integrated with the educational component of the local project as fully

as possible.

11. Up to ten percent of the program funds allocated to local projects

for direct client services may be expended for support services,

provided that such support services are not available from other

federal, state, local, or private resources. Such support services shall

include day care which meets state standards, transportation, meal

allowances, and clothing allowances.

12. No moneys shall be allocated to the department for support and/or

direct client services unless the following conditions have been met: a

memorandum of agreement has been signed with the education department

pursuant to this section; and, regulations governing the selection and

implementation of local projects have been issued. Further, no

liabilities shall be assumed or moneys expended for support and/or

direct client services unless such funding is specified in a contractual

agreement with employment and training providers and the educational

component of such contract has been approved by the education

department.

13. Of the total funds made available for the payment of local

projects for in-school youth and out-of-school youth, no more than one

million three hundred forty-nine thousand dollars shall be allocated for

local projects administered by service delivery areas. Provided further

that as a condition of funding under such appropriation, a fifty percent

match for the amount made available for local projects for in-school

youth shall be required from employment and training providers out of

in-kind services or moneys received through other local, private, or

federal resources; except that a match of those funds designated for

payment of participant wages and fringe benefits shall not be required.

However, fifty percent of the payment of wages and fringe benefits to

participants in approved vocational exploration or trial work experience

in local projects for in-school youth administered by SDAs and funded

under such appropriations shall be subsidized by the SDA out of moneys

received through JTPA or its successor program, except that no JTPA or

successor program subsidization of trial work experience shall be

required if the SDA shall have otherwise obligated all moneys received

through JTPA or its successor program, in which case the SDA may meet

its obligation to subsidize from moneys received from any available

source other than such appropriation. Further, no more than twenty-five

percent of the payment of wages and fringe benefits to participants in

on-the-job training in local projects for in-school youth administered

by SDAs shall be paid from funds made available pursuant to such

appropriation and any such funds so used shall be matched by the SDA out

of moneys received through JTPA or its successor program, unless the SDA

shall have otherwise obligated all moneys received through JTPA or its

successor program.

14. As a condition of receipt of moneys for payments for local

projects for in-school youth and out-of-school youth local projects for

out-of-school youth shall give preference to youth who are homeless and

to adolescent parents, provided such youth meet other eligibility

requirements of this program. Employment and training providers under

this appropriation shall not be required to match moneys made available

for local projects for out-of-school youth.

15. Notwithstanding any other law, rule or regulation to the contrary,

the department shall prepare and submit to the governor, the temporary

president of the senate, the speaker of the assembly and the chair of

the legislative commission on skills development and vocational

education, an annual evaluation report of this program no later than

October thirty-first following the end of the program year. The report

shall include a statement of program objectives which identifies

outcomes and indicators of the effectiveness of the program. It shall

represent the extent to which program activities meet program objectives

including, but not limited to, improvements in participants' educational

competencies and employability skills as measured by accepted testing

tools. The basic measures of performance for projects for in-school

youth shall be: high school retention, attainment of a high school

diploma, enrollment in a post-secondary educational program or

vocational skills training program, or attainment of unsubsidized

employment. The basic measure of performance for projects for

out-of-school youth shall be: improvement in basic academic and

vocational skills, return to high school, attainment of a high school

equivalency diploma, enrollment in a post-secondary educational program

or vocational skills training program, or attainment of unsubsidized

employment. The report shall include a separate count of participants

who have participated in the same program model through more than one

program cycle. A methodology shall be prescribed which requires

collection of post-program information on program participants

including, but not limited to, whether a participant receives a high

school degree or its equivalent and subsequent labor market experience

for one year following termination from the program, and the extent to

which the participant achieved outcomes as defined by the certified

program model. The report shall also describe the types of support

services provided, levels of expenditure, and demonstrate how such

support services improve participant involvement in local projects.

16. Notwithstanding any other law, rule, or regulation to the

contrary, including the provisions of the social services law, wages and

income earned by the participants of this program who are receiving

assistance under the temporary assistance for needy families block grant

shall be exempt and disregarded when determining the need for such

assistance in accordance with federal law and regulations or pursuant to

waiver of such law and regulations. Wages and income earned by

participants in this program, who are receiving assistance pursuant to

the safety net assistance program, or under the temporary assistance for

needy families block grant, or the veterans assistance program, shall be

exempt and disregarded when determining the need for such assistance.

Such income and wage exemptions and disregards shall be allowed, if, and

as long as, federal financial participation is available.

17. Notwithstanding any other law, rule or regulation to the contrary,

employment and training providers funded through this program shall be

designated no later than June first of each year. Failure of providers

to submit required monthly or fiscal reports to the department without

waiver for reasonable or unanticipated circumstances shall cause forfeit

of the program contract effective after sixty days notification to

providers.