§ 4607 — Bridge to employment, work tryout and education program

§ 4607. Bridge to employment, work tryout and education program. 1.\nThe commissioner is hereby authorized and directed to make grants within\nthe limits of the appropriation available for such purpose, to major\neducation providers, as defined in the Vocational Education Act of 1963,\nservice delivery area administrative entities and private industry\ncouncils as established by the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) of\n1982 in accordance with the provisions of this section, to encourage the\nestablishment of a bridge to employment, work tryout and education\nprogram for certain targeted populations with businesses with no more\nthan two hundred fifty employees in any facility and no more than an\naggregate of one thousand employees in the state of New York. Priority\nshall be accorded to jointly developed proposals from major education\nproviders, as defined in the Vocational Education Act, and service\ndelivery area administrative entities. For the purposes of a statewide\nprogram, the commissioner is hereby authorized to develop regulations,\nand to consult with the commissioner of labor, to establish\nadministrative, program, and expenditure guidelines and standards for\nthe work tryout experience and the bridge to employment programs\npursuant to this chapter. Such regulations and guidelines shall include\nprovisions for educational services to meet additional job skill\nrequirements for youth or adults to continue such employment placements.\n 2. Any agency or organization, eligible for a grant or contract under\nthe provisions of subdivision one of this section, which plans to\nestablish a bridge to employment, work tryout and education program\nshall submit an application to the commissioner on or before the first\nday of July of each year in which such program is conducted provided,\nhowever, that such application for the nineteen hundred\neighty-seven--eighty-eight pilot program shall be filed by September\nfirst, nineteen hundred eighty-seven. Priority shall be accorded to\njointly developed proposals from major education providers and service\ndelivery area administrative entities. Such application shall include\nbut not be limited to, at least a statement of the purpose of the\nprogram, a detailed estimate of the cost of such program, a complete\ndescription of the manner in which the program will operate and how the\nprogram will improve and expand education and placement services\ncurrently offered by the applicant, and such other information as the\ncommissioner shall require.\n 3. For the purposes of a statewide program, the commissioner in the\nconsultation with the commissioner of labor shall evaluate such\napplications, using as criteria the merit and value of the various\nprograms submitted and prior experience of such agency or agencies and\nsubcontracts in provision of placement services. The commissioner shall\nthen promulgate a list of those programs that have been selected\naccording to regulations established by the commissioner.\n 4. The commissioner shall determine the amount of the apportionment\nwhich shall be made to those programs which he deems to have merit\nwithin the amount of the appropriation therefor.\n 5. A person who seeks to participate under the bridge to employment,\nwork tryout and education program must be:\n a. (1) a secondary student who has completed an career sequence or\n (2) a community college graduate who has completed a certificate or\nassociate degree program in career education and\n (3) unemployed three months after completion of such education; or\n b. (1) an unemployed adult at least twenty-one years of age or older\nwho has completed a career education adult and/or other training program\nor have the necessary capacity and past employment history to explore\nnew job experiences and\n (2) meet any of the following qualifications:\n (i) single parent;\n (ii) dislocated worker;\n (iii) long-term unemployed;\n (iv) displaced homemaker;\n (v) older worker;\n (vi) economically disadvantaged;\n (vii) handicapped individuals; or\n (viii) such other individuals as the commissioner may determine to be\neligible.\n c. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the work experience\nunder this chapter shall not affect any predetermined eligibility under\nthe Job Training Partnership Act of 1982 or any other appropriate\neducational services program.\n 6. Any agency or organization designated by the commissioner to\nconduct a bridge to employment, work tryout and education program is\nhereby authorized and empowered to do and perform all acts necessary or\nconvenient to enable it to carry out the provisions of this section and\nit is authorized to enter into a contract with any person, firm,\nassociation, partnership or corporation whereby such person, firm,\nassociation, partnership or corporation will provide work tryout\nexperience to participants enrolled in such program, the consideration\nfor such contract, if it otherwise meets the provisions of this section,\nto be a legal charge against the agency or organization. However, no\nplacements will be made with any person, firm, association, partnership\nor corporation where there is an industry/labor controversy, as defined\nin regulations of the commissioner of labor.\n 7. Use of funds. a. Work tryout experiences. Agencies or organizations\nparticipating in the bridge to employment, work tryout and education\nprogram may provide to eligible participants up to one hundred hours of\nfull-time or part-time work tryout experiences with small to\nmedium-sized employers at no cost to those participating employers. No\nsuch experiences may last more than forty hours with any single\nemployer. Employers who elect to retain a participant from the work\ntryout experience may transfer such participants to a bridge to\nemployment placement component of the program and receive full benefit\nof such program. Up to fifty percent of the funds are to be used to\nsupport, administer and promote the work tryout experience program.\n Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, any\nparticipants in the work tryout experience who are returned back to the\nprogram operator because of lack of skills required to retain employment\nshall be provided education and training in such skills as the program\noperator deems necessary and available from local, state or federal\nfunded training programs.\n b. Bridge to employment placement. The remaining funds are to be\nutilized to provide a bridge to employment placement program with small\nand medium employers. Eligible agencies and organizations serving as\nprogram operators may subcontract with temporary help services,\nemployment and training agencies, or employers for placement of\nparticipants with the following support provided from these funds:\n (1) Payroll administration and program promotion by the agency or\norganization or sub-contractor for up to two hundred eighty hours but\nnot more than seven weeks for each person placed in employment.\n (2) Appropriate share of wages and fringe benefits for such\nemployment.\n Employers will be responsible for payment of at least fifty percent of\nthe wages and fringe benefits for such employment. After seven weeks of\nemployment the bridge to employment and education program benefits shall\ncease and the employer must pay all expenses.\n Employers participating in the program shall not be required to\nparticipate for any specific period of time. Participants may be hired\nby participating employers at any time or may be returned to the bridge\nto employment and education program operator at any time with a\nstatement of circumstances and/or work related deficiencies. Continued\nemployer participation in the program shall be determined by\ndemonstrated transition to unsubsidized employment at levels established\nby the agency or organization and approved by the commissioner. However,\nemployers who have released an excessive number of participants from the\nbridge to employment programs within the first six months of placement\npursuant to commissioner regulations shall be prohibited from seeking\nfurther placements from the bridge to employment program.\n c. Employment and training agencies or temporary help services or\nother organizations which may serve as subcontractors may charge\noverhead and promotional expenses as provided in approved contracts for\nwork tryout experience and bridge to employment programs as specified in\nguidelines and/or regulations of the commissioner. Such agencies,\nservices or organizations shall endeavor to serve at least fifty percent\nof the participants in the bridge to employment program from paragraph b\nof subdivision five of this section.\n d. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, any eligible\nadult who is either economically disadvantaged or handicapped shall be\neligible for forty additional hours of work tryout experience benefits\nand one hundred twenty additional hours of bridge to employment\nplacement benefits.\n 8. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, any\nparticipants in the bridge to employment and education program who are\nreferred back to the program operator because of lack of skills required\nto retain employment shall be provided education and training in such\nskills as the placement agency deems necessary and available from local,\nstate or federal funded training programs.\n