N.Y.C. Admin. Code § L.L. 2003/023: L.L. 2003/023

Enactment date: 4/9/2003

Int. No. 93-A

By the Speaker (Council Member Miller) and Council Members Perkins, DeBlasio, Quinn, Baez, Barron, Brewer, Comrie, Davis, Diaz, Dilan, Gerson, Jackson, Katz, Liu, Lopez, Martinez, Moskowitz, Reyna, Sanders, Seabrook, Stewart, Weprin, Monserrate, Rivera and Avella; also Council Members Gennaro, Vann, Yassky, Reed, Koppell, Gioia, Foster and Serrano

A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to education and training for public assistance recipients.

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

Section 1. Declaration of legislative findings and intent. The Council finds that advances in educational attainment, from basic literacy to college, enhance an individual's ability to secure employment, employment longevity and level of earnings. Detailed and persuasive studies indicate that education levels play a major role in determining whether workers will become dislocated and, if dislocated, how successful they will be in securing new jobs and recovering lost earning power. Education and training, including adult education, English classes, vocational training and rehabilitation, and college education, are proven means of helping public assistance recipients move off welfare and into living wage jobs that allow them to achieve lasting self-sufficiency. Moreover, the State Department of Labor reports that 75% of New York City's major employers require college degrees or training beyond high school for entry level jobs.

Education and training are essential components of the next step for welfare reform in New York City, which will better enable people to move from welfare into living wage jobs. Moreover, any removal of a recipient from dependency on tax funded assistance dollars is a service to the community. Therefore, any education or training engaged in to that end serves the community's interest. As a matter of policy, the city should administer its welfare programs so that participation in education and training programs is available to the maximum extent permitted by federal and state law. Treating education and training as an integral part of work requirements would enable staff of the Human Resources Administration, working with public assistance recipients, to craft a plan that maximizes the opportunity for each individual to move into long-term employment at a living wage. The Council adopts this local law to expand public assistance recipients' access to education and training programs so that they may gain independence and become truly and permanently self-sufficient.

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[Consolidated provisions are not included in this Appendix A]

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§ 3. This local law shall take effect ninety days after enactment.