Current through Vol. 42, No. 1, September 16, 2024
(a)
Scope. Job skills training
activities include vocational training and hands-on work experience to develop
technical skills, knowledge, and abilities in specific occupational areas. All
training programs must include qualitative measures, such as competency gains
or proficiency levels, to evaluate a participant's progress and reasonable time
limits for completion. Referrals are made to appropriate training facilities on
Form 08TW003E, Interagency Referral and Information.
(b)
Assignments. Any training to
which the participant is assigned must meet the criteria in (1) through (4) of
this subsection.
(1) The hours of any
training activity are governed by the training facility but must not exceed 40
hours per week.
(2) The training
is preparation for a job that meets the criteria for appropriate employment.
(3) The quality and type of
training must meet local employers' requirements so participants are in a
competitive position with the local labor market.
(4) Training is related to in-demand
occupations that are likely to become available in Oklahoma, such as health
care, geriatric care, and other career paths found at
https://oklahomaworks.gov/.
(c)
Job Corps non-resident training
program (Job Corps II). Oklahoma's four Job Corps centers provide a
nonresident Job Corps program to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
participants who can commute to their sites. Participants referred must be
between 16 and 24 years of age. The Adult and Family Services (AFS) worker
completes Form 08MP013E, Referral for Services to refer the TANF participant to
Job Corp. It is the AFS worker's responsibility to coordinate with the Job
Corps center to arrange for child care.
(1)
By special agreement with the Job Corps centers, Job Corps II students are
provided Job Corps participant training allowances designed to meet training
costs not covered by the TANF cash assistance. These allowances are not
considered as income.
(2) The
worker coordinates with the centers and other designated agencies, such as the
Oklahoma Employment Security Commission (OESC) and Workforce Innovation and
Opportunity Act (WIOA) partners, to ensure Job Corps II students leaving the
center are placed in an appropriate work activity. When a Job Corps II student
leaves the center, the worker meets with the Job Corps II student to make
immediate plans for further implementation of the employability plan.
(d)
Vocational
training. Up to 12 months of participation in a vocational certificate,
associate's degree, bachelor's degree, or advanced degree program may count as
vocational training when it qualifies a participant to obtain immediate
employment in a specific field.
(1) When the
institution of higher education has a TANF-funded contract, the participant
must attend through the contracted provider.
(2) The participant is required to
participate the minimum number of hours in a TANF activity, per Oklahoma
Administrative Code
340:10-2-1(2)
or as mandated by the TANF-contracted provider.
(3) The participant must maintain
satisfactory academic progress with a minimum grade point average of 2.0 and
verify progress at mid-term, when possible, and at the end of the semester.
Progress may be verified by a grade report, transcript, or a statement from the
contracted provider or other school official.
(4) When satisfactory progress is not met,
the AFS worker submits Form 08TW008E, Higher Education Probationary Approval
Request, to AFS TANF staff to request a probationary approval period. When the
probationary approval period is not approved, the participant is placed in
another TANF Work activity.
(5)
Participants participating in a vocational certificate, associate's degree,
bachelor's degree, or advanced degree program as part of the employability plan
may count homework or study time up to one hour for each class hour, when the
participant provides, at the beginning of each new class or semester; a class
syllabus or a statement from the instructor, professor, or advisor that states
the additional time is:
(A) a class
requirement;
(B) above and beyond
work normally completed during class hours; and
(C) not used to make up missed class hours.
(e)
Special programs and demonstration efforts with other agencies.
The Oklahoma Department of Human Services (DHS) may enter into special
education, training, or employment efforts with federal, state, and local
governments and with private for-profitand private not-for-profit organizations
and agencies. When this occurs, involved county office staff is expected to
comply with the terms of those agreements.
(f)
Job skills training.
Training directly related to job skills required by an employer or that
provides a participant with the ability to obtain employment or to advance or
adapt to the changing demands of the workplace.
(1) Time spent in vocational training in
excess of 12 months that is an approved part of the participant's employability
plan may be counted toward the required work activity hours, when the
participant also participates in a different approved core activity for a
minimum of 20 hours per week.
(2)
Homework or study time may count up to one hour for each class hour, when the
participant provides, at the beginning of each new class or semester; a class
syllabus or a statement from the instructor, professor, or advisor that states
the additional time is:
(A) a class
requirement;
(B) above and beyond
the work normally completed during class hours; and
(C) not used to make up missed class hours
Added at 15 Ok Reg 145,
eff 11-1-97 (emergency); Added at 15 Ok Reg 1277, eff 3-1-98 (emergency); Added
at 15 Ok Reg 2616, eff 6-25-98; Amended at 17 Ok Reg 2271, eff 5-1-00
(preemptive); Amended at 18 Ok Reg 2055, eff 7-1-01; Amended at 20 Ok Reg 850,
eff 6-1-03; Amended at 21 Ok Reg 814, eff 5-1-04; Amended at 23 Ok Reg 980, eff
6-1-06; Amended at 24 Ok Reg 1020, eff 6-1-07; Amended at 25 Ok Reg 14, eff
8-3-07 (emergency); Amended at 25 Ok Reg 903, eff 6-1-08; Amended at 26 Ok Reg
168, eff 11-1-08 (emergency); Amended at 26 Ok Reg 1223, eff 6-1-09; Amended at
27 Ok Reg 2788, eff 8-1-10 (emergency); Amended at 28 Ok Reg 781, eff
6-1-11
