{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-56-56-230.65","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 56, § 56-230.65","heading":"Employability and literacy assessment - Personal","body":"responsibility agreements.\n\nA. 1. The Department of Human Services shall conduct an\n\nemployability assessment of the education, training, skills, prior\n\nwork experience and supportive service needs of individuals applying\n\nfor and receiving assistance pursuant to the Temporary Assistance\n\nfor Needy Families (TANF) program.\n\n2. The Department shall arrange for administration of a\n\nrecognized literacy screening for individuals who have not obtained\n\na high school diploma or General Educational Development (GED)\n\ncredential and have exhibited a lack of literacy skills. If, in the\n\nopinion of the Department, the applicant or recipient who has\n\nobtained a high school diploma or GED lacks reading skills to the\n\nextent that such insufficiency limits the applicant's or recipient's\n\nability to become self-supporting, the Department shall refer the\n\nindividual for a literacy assessment.\n\n3. The Department shall utilize existing community resources,\n\nincluding, but not limited to, volunteer literacy groups and adult\n\nbasic education programs, when arranging for literacy assessments\n\nand remediation of clients who lack sufficient reading skills.\n\nB. The Department of Human Services shall require services to\n\nbe provided to each applicant or recipient of benefits in any\n\nprogram according to a written personal responsibility agreement.\n\nThe agreement shall reflect the education, training, skills, prior\n\nwork experience and supportive service needs of the applicant or\n\nrecipient and shall be:\n\n1. Written in English, or translated into Spanish or other\n\nlanguage, according to the applicant's or recipient's needs;\n\n2. Signed by the applicant or recipient;\n\n3. Signed by the parent of the applicant or recipient if the\n\napplicant or recipient is under eighteen (18) years of age;\n\n4. Signed by the case manager; and\n\n5. Reviewed by both the applicant or recipient and the case\n\nmanager at least once a year. The agreement may be revised from\n\ntime to time according to the needs of the recipient, the\n\nrecipient's family and the program.\n\nC. The personal responsibility agreement shall set forth the\n\nspecific responsibilities of the recipient, at a minimum, to:\n\n1. Develop a detailed plan for achieving self-sufficiency;\n\n2. Participate in any educational or training program required\n\nby the Department pursuant to the results of the employability and\n\nliteracy assessments;\n\n3. Participate in life-skills training including, but not\n\nlimited to, financial management classes, conflict resolution\n\ntraining, and social skills development;\n\n4. Be available for and actively seek and maintain employment,\n\nand accept any reasonable employment as soon as it becomes available\n\nas required by the TANF program;\n\n5. Participate in a community service, public works or private\n\nsector job pursuant to the requirements of the Statewide Temporary\n\nAssistance Responsibility System and the results of the\n\nemployability and literacy assessments;\n\n6. If the recipient is a minor parent, live in a supervised\n\nadult setting;\n\n7. Accept responsibility for ensuring that the recipient's\n\nchild complies with the attendance requirements of the local school\n\ndistrict and attends school until the child of the recipient either:\n\na. graduates from high school or attains a high school\n\nequivalency certificate, or\n\nb. becomes nineteen (19) years of age,\n\nwhichever occurs first;\n\n8. Accept responsibility for attending any classes required by\n\na program at least ninety percent (90%) of the time;\n\n9. Immunize the recipients' minor children pursuant to the\n\nState Department of Health's immunization schedule; and\n\n10. a. Undergo a literacy skills assessment utilizing a\n\ntesting instrument which measures whether such\n\nrecipient is reading at a minimum of an eighth grade\n\nreading level, where the recipient has the capacity to\n\nread at such level or, regardless of reading level,\n\nwhich indicates that the recipient would benefit from\ndren pursuant to the\n\nState Department of Health's immunization schedule; and\n\n10. a. Undergo a literacy skills assessment utilizing a\n\ntesting instrument which measures whether such\n\nrecipient is reading at a minimum of an eighth grade\n\nreading level, where the recipient has the capacity to\n\nread at such level or, regardless of reading level,\n\nwhich indicates that the recipient would benefit from\n\ncompulsory participation in a literacy skills\n\nimprovement program.\n\nb. Based on the results of the assessment, the recipient\n\nshall agree to enroll and actively participate in a\n\nliteracy skills improvement program and provide\n\ndocumentation of substantial quantifiable literacy\n\nimprovement. Any recipient who is reading at less\n\nthan an eighth grade level shall be required to\n\ncontinue to substantially and quantifiably improve his\n\nor her reading skills until such recipient\n\ndemonstrates a level of reading proficiency that is at\n\nleast equal to an eighth grade reading level.\n\nc. On or before December 31 of each year, the Department\n\nof Human Services shall annually provide to the\n\nGovernor, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and\n\nthe Speaker of the House of Representatives a written\n\nreport outlining by age the number of recipients:\n\n(1) assessed for literacy skills,\n\n(2) who failed to demonstrate eighth grade reading\n\nlevel proficiency,\n\n(3) who agreed to enroll and participate in a\n\nliteracy skills improvement program, and\n\n(4) who either provided documentation of substantial\n\nquantifiable literacy skills improvement or whose\n\ncase was closed prior to completion.\n\nD. The Department may sanction or impose financial penalties on\n\na recipient for failure to comply with the provisions of the\n\npersonal responsibility agreement.","path":["OK Code","Title 56"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os56.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"a2d9addd99aeca72c10228f1e63d66d33e4156094bcd8e6127e3a08a9f04eca9","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-56-56-230.64","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-56-56-230.66"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}