N.Y. Social Services Law § 336: Work activities

§ 336. Work activities. 1. Social services districts may provide, and

require applicants for and recipients of public assistance to

participate in a variety of activities, including but not limited to the

following:

(a) unsubsidized employment;

(b) subsidized private sector employment;

(c) subsidized public sector employment;

(d) work experience in the public sector or non-profit sector,

(including work associated with refurbishing publicly assisted housing)

if sufficient private sector employment is not available;

(e) On-the-job training;

(f) job search and job readiness assistance, which shall include

activities with the goal of seeking or obtaining employment, or

preparation to seek or obtain employment, including life-skills

training, which shall include but not be limited to home visiting

services to the recipient and their family, and provided further that

job search is an active and continuing effort to secure employment

configured by the local social services official; and such social

services district may work in cooperation with the department of labor

to provide workforce guidance and information in accordance with section

ten-c of the labor law;

(g) community service programs provided, however, the number of hours

a participant in community service activities authorized pursuant to

this section shall be required to work in such assignment shall not

exceed a number which equals the amount of assistance payable with

respect to such individual (inclusive of the value of food stamps

received by such individual, if any) divided by the higher of (a) the

federal minimum wage, or (b) the state minimum wage. No participant

shall in any case be required to engage in assigned activities for more

than forty hours in any week. No participant shall be assigned to a

community service activity that conflicts with his or her bona fide

religious beliefs;

(h) vocational educational training as time limited by federal law.

For the purposes of this title, "vocational educational training" shall

include but not be limited to organized educational programs offering a

sequence of courses which are directly related to the preparation of

individuals for current or emerging occupations including programs that

require up to four years of post-secondary education. Such programs

shall include competency-based applied learning which contributes to an

individual's academic knowledge, higher-order reasoning, and

problem-solving skills, work attitudes, general employability skills,

and the occupational-specific skills necessary for economic

independence. Such term also includes applied technology education;

(i) job skills training directly related to employment. Job skills

training directly related to employment may include but not be limited

to participation in up to four years of post-secondary education to the

extent consistent with federal and state requirements;

(j) education directly related to employment, in the case of a

recipient who has not yet received a high school diploma or a

certificate of high school equivalency;

(k) satisfactory attendance at secondary school or a course of study

leading to a certificate of general equivalency in the case of a

recipient who has not completed secondary school or received such

certificate;

(l) provision of child care services to an individual who is

participating in community service;

(m) job search and job readiness assistance, as defined in paragraph

(f) of this subdivision, once the individual has exceeded the six week

limit set in federal law;

(n) educational activities pursuant to section three hundred

thirty-six-a of this title.

2. No participant shall be required to provide child care services as

a work activity described in this section unless the participant

expressly requests in writing to provide such services.

3. Social services districts may enter into agreements with public and

private employment agencies to assist recipients of public assistance to

find jobs.

4. No participant shall in any case be required to engage in assigned

activities for more than forty hours in any week.

5. In no event shall the programs and activities enumerated in this

title be deemed the sole activities that a social services district may

provide and require applicants for and recipients of public assistance

to engage in. Any program or activity that meets the goals of this title

and is consistent with the requirements of the labor law and this

chapter shall be allowed.

6. Any social services district that establishes and provides a

program or activity not herein enumerated shall set forth the

requirements and structure of such program or activity in its local plan

pursuant to the provisions of section three hundred thirty-three of this

title.

7. In accordance with the provisions of paragraph (h) of subdivision

two of section four hundred fifty-four of the family court act or as

otherwise required by the court, the court may assign to work activities

the non-custodial parents of children receiving public assistance and

require a report to such court of any failure of said parent to comply

with the requirements of such program.

8. The hours of participation in federal work study programs completed

pursuant to section three hundred thirty-five-b of this title shall be

included as a work activity within the definition of unsubsidized

employment, subsidized private sector employment or subsidized public

sector employment pursuant to paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of subdivision

one of this section, and the hours of participation in internships,

externships and other work placements completed pursuant to section

three hundred thirty-five-b of this title shall be included as a work

activity within the definition of on-the-job training pursuant to

paragraph (e) of subdivision one of this section.