H 3368 Session 111 (1995-1996)
H 3368 Joint Resolution, By J.S. Shissias, Cobb-Hunter, J.L.M. Cromer, Govan,
Inabinett, J.T. McElveen, J.H. Neal, C.C. Wells and S.S. Wofford
A Joint Resolution to enact the South Carolina Welfare and Administrative
Reform Act of 1995 so as to establish state welfare policy; to direct the
Department of Social Services to apply to the federal government for Aid to
Families with Dependent Children, food stamp, and Medicaid program waivers to
allow the imposition of sanctions for client noncompliance and to revise
income disregards for purposes of eligibility; to direct the State Housing
Finance Development Authority to apply for a federal pilot project waiver
placing a ceiling on rent and other federal rental subsidy programs; and to
promote and encourage a statewide network of mass transit systems; to initiate
strategies directed at preventive health services including increasing
physician participation in Medicaid, teenage pregnancy prevention, prenatal
care, childhood immunizations, access to clinic services, school nurses, and
substance abuse intervention and interagency collaboration; to provide
education initiatives including compulsory school attendance through age
eighteen for AFDC recipients and a review of compulsory school attendance
generally, designing adult education and technical programs to target AFDC
recipients and at-risk youth, developing a program to promote state agency
hiring of AFDC recipients; to direct the Department of Social Services to
revise, review, and develop administrative procedures including simplification
of public assistance forms, statewide implementation of the in-hospital
Medicaid eligibility worker program, procurement procedures, enhanced
utilization of computer technology, and child day care voucher procedures and
access to day care services.
01/25/95 House Introduced and read first time HJ-15
01/25/95 House Referred to Committee on Judiciary HJ-16
A JOINT RESOLUTION
TO ENACT THE SOUTH CAROLINA WELFARE AND
ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM ACT OF 1995 SO AS TO
ESTABLISH STATE WELFARE POLICY; TO DIRECT THE
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES TO APPLY TO THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FOR AID TO FAMILIES WITH
DEPENDENT CHILDREN, FOOD STAMP, AND MEDICAID
PROGRAM WAIVERS TO ALLOW THE IMPOSITION OF
SANCTIONS FOR CLIENT NONCOMPLIANCE AND TO
REVISE INCOME DISREGARDS FOR PURPOSES OF
ELIGIBILITY; TO DIRECT THE STATE HOUSING FINANCE
DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY TO APPLY FOR A FEDERAL
PILOT PROJECT WAIVER PLACING A CEILING ON RENT
AND OTHER FEDERAL RENTAL SUBSIDY PROGRAMS; AND
TO PROMOTE AND ENCOURAGE A STATEWIDE NETWORK
OF MASS TRANSIT SYSTEMS; TO INITIATE STRATEGIES
DIRECTED AT PREVENTIVE HEALTH SERVICES
INCLUDING INCREASING PHYSICIAN PARTICIPATION IN
MEDICAID, TEENAGE PREGNANCY PREVENTION,
PRENATAL CARE, CHILDHOOD IMMUNIZATIONS, ACCESS
TO CLINIC SERVICES, SCHOOL NURSES, AND SUBSTANCE
ABUSE INTERVENTION AND INTERAGENCY
COLLABORATION; TO PROVIDE EDUCATION INITIATIVES
INCLUDING COMPULSORY SCHOOL ATTENDANCE
THROUGH AGE EIGHTEEN FOR AFDC RECIPIENTS AND A
REVIEW OF COMPULSORY SCHOOL ATTENDANCE
GENERALLY, DESIGNING ADULT EDUCATION AND
TECHNICAL PROGRAMS TO TARGET AFDC RECIPIENTS
AND AT-RISK YOUTH, DEVELOPING A PROGRAM TO
PROMOTE STATE AGENCY HIRING OF AFDC RECIPIENTS;
TO DIRECT THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES TO
REVISE, REVIEW, AND DEVELOP ADMINISTRATIVE
PROCEDURES INCLUDING SIMPLIFICATION OF PUBLIC
ASSISTANCE FORMS, STATEWIDE IMPLEMENTATION OF
THE IN-HOSPITAL MEDICAID ELIGIBILITY WORKER
PROGRAM, PROCUREMENT PROCEDURES, ENHANCED
UTILIZATION OF COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY, AND CHILD
DAY CARE VOUCHER PROCEDURES AND ACCESS TO DAY
CARE SERVICES.
Whereas, the General Assembly finds that the welfare system of
South Carolina must be based upon a reciprocal agreement between
welfare recipients and those who pay the bills for welfare, the
taxpayers. The system must assist families in poverty to become
economically independent by providing the tools to achieve
self-sufficiency while deterring abuse of the system through the
imposition of fair and meaningful sanctions; and
Whereas, public assistance is not a desired choice for most
recipients since most recipients want to work and improve the lives
of their families as evidenced by the fact that the average Aid to
Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) recipient is on public
assistance for less than two years; and
Whereas, government resources for welfare, when used in an
effective manner, can reduce crime and prison populations,
encourage productivity, improve the quality of life of many South
Carolina families, and generally be as beneficial to this State as
resources spent on traditional economic development strategies; and
Whereas, preventing the need for public assistance is the most cost
effective approach for welfare reform with public policy that uses
resources to encourage and enable responsible family planning,
emphasize family unit preservation, and promote responsible
prenatal and parenting practices is a good investment in the future
of South Carolina; and
Whereas, public and private efforts to increase opportunities for
meaningful job creation and economic development can enable
public assistance recipients and other at-risk individuals to achieve
self-sufficiency; and
Whereas, administrative reforms can reduce the number of
conflicting and complex regulations for Aid to Families with
Dependent Children (AFDC), food stamps, and Medicaid that
impact negatively on both welfare clients and social service
caseworkers; and
Whereas, if the public policy of South Carolina places a priority on
saving people who are mired in the welfare system, then the State
will benefit by saving money and the quality of life of all South
Carolinians can be enhanced by a lower crime rate, less
incarceration, less illiteracy, and stronger families. Now, therefore,
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South
Carolina:
Part I
State Policy
SECTION 1. This act may be cited as the "South Carolina
Welfare Reform Act of 1995."
SECTION 2. It is the policy of the State that the welfare system
in South Carolina must be structured to assist families in poverty to
maximize their potential to become economically independent. At
the same time, there must be a reciprocal agreement between
welfare recipients and those who pay for welfare, the taxpayers.
The system must encourage individual responsibility by providing
the tools to achieve self-sufficiency and deter abuse of the system
through the imposition of fair and meaningful sanctions.
Part II
Self-Sufficiency Initiatives
SECTION 3. (A) To emphasize the importance of the
reciprocal role that an Aid to Families with Dependent Children
client has in attaining self-sufficiency and economic independence,
the Department of Social Services shall institute more meaningful
sanctions for failure or refusal to participate in the Work Support
Program by applying to the federal government for a waiver to
allow sanctions to be imposed in the following manner:
(1) Upon a client's initial refusal to participate in the Work
Support Program, a thirty-day conciliation period will be granted to
the client to reconsider. During this thirty-day period, the recipient
has the right to appeal the department's decision to impose
sanctions. After the thirty-day conciliation period, all benefits
(AFDC, food stamps, and Medicaid) must be terminated and may
not be reinstated until the client agrees to participate. If benefits are
terminated, the Child Protective Services Division of the department
must be notified so as to take appropriate action.
(2) If the client refuses to participate in the Work Support
Program a second time, all benefits will be terminated for at least
three months. If the client agrees to comply during this three-month
penalty phase, training, educational, or other services must be
provided to the client but the client is ineligible for benefits.
(3) If the client refuses to participate in the Work Support
Program a third time, all benefits will be terminated for at least six
months. If during this six-month penalty phase, the client agrees to
comply, training, educational, or other services must be provided to
the client but the client is ineligible for benefits.
(4) If the client refuses to participate a fourth time, all
benefits will be terminated with no possibility for client
reinstatement of public assistance.
(5) If the client participates in and completes the education
and training offered in the Work Support Program and then refuses
an offer of employment, all benefits will be terminated.
(6) If the client participates in and completes the education
and training offered in the Work Support Program and no
acceptable job is available, the client will be required to accept a
full-time public service job to continue receiving benefits, and the
client will be required to continue to search for permanent
employment. If the client refuses an offer of employment, all
benefits will be terminated.
(B) In those counties in which the Department of Social
Services administers the Work Support Program the sanctions
provided for in subsection (A) apply to:
(1) clients receiving AFDC as of July 1, 1995, upon their
first annual recertification after July 1, 1995;
(2) all clients applying for AFDC after June 30, 1995.
(C) In those counties in which the Department of Social
Services does not administer a work support program as of this
act's effective date, the sanctions provided for in subsection (A)
apply to:
(1) clients receiving AFDC as of July 1, 1995, as if the
program were available and in order to continue receiving benefits
the client must agree to participate when the program is
implemented in the county;
(2) clients applying for AFDC after June 30, 1995, as if the
program were available and in order to begin receiving benefits the
client must agree to participate when the program is implemented in
the county;
(3) clients who subsequent to agreeing to participate fail or
refuse to participate when the program is implemented in the county
are treated as if it were an initial failure or refusal to participate.
SECTION 4. In order to assist families receiving Aid to
Families with Dependent Children benefits in gaining financial
independence and in building for the future, the Department of
Social Services shall apply to the federal government for a waiver
allowing the State to exclude interest income and dividends in
determining eligibility and payment amounts for Aid to Families
with Dependent Children.
SECTION 5. The State Housing Finance and Development
Authority and the Department of Social Services shall cooperate in
making an application to the Department of Housing and Urban
Development for a waiver for Charleston, Berkeley, Dorchester, and
Barnwell Counties to develop a pilot project placing a ceiling on
rent and other federal rental subsidy programs.
SECTION 6. To remove the disincentive to employment that
occurs when a family's AFDC payment is reduced because of a
minor child's earnings and to encourage children in AFDC families
to develop positive attitudes toward work, the Department of Social
Services shall apply to the federal government for a waiver for a
pilot project in Charleston, Berkeley, Dorchester, and Barnwell
counties that allows the State to exclude income earned by a minor
child attending school when determining eligibility or payment
amount for Aid to Families with Dependent Children.
SECTION 7. To promote independence and assist AFDC
families in participating in the Department of Social Services Work
Support Program and in getting to their place of employment
reliable transportation services are needed, and the Department of
Social Services in conjunction with the Department of Public Safety
and county and local governments shall endorse local efforts to
develop a statewide network of mass transit systems.
Part III
Preventive Services
SECTION 8. The Department of Health and Environmental
Control shall establish a task force of reproductive health care
providers and professionals to develop incentives to increase
physician participation in the Medicaid program in order to provide
better access to comprehensive family planning and prenatal care
for Medicaid clients.
SECTION 9. The Department of Health and Human Services
Finance Commission shall establish a task force to explore ways to
provide support and funding for a statewide teen pregnancy
prevention council coordinator to provide information and technical
assistance to local teen pregnancy prevention councils.
SECTION 10. To assist AFDC families in directing their efforts
to becoming economically stable and financially independent rather
than diverting their resources (human, emotional, and financial) to
the care of children and family members with health and medical
problems, the State must, as funding is available:
(1) provide greater access to and place emphasis on early and
continuous prenatal care;
(2) eliminate as many barriers to good prenatal care as possible;
(3) promote counseling and education about early childhood
health and especially the need for immunizations;
(4) foster better access to preventive health services through
better transportation, co-location of services, expanded hours for
public health clinics; and
(5) provide school nurses to increase access to primary care and
more effective identification and referral of health problems among
children;
(6) expand effective Medicaid reimbursable substance abuse
primary prevention, education, and intervention strategies;
(7) facilitate coordination among the Department of Social
Services, Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services,
Department of Juvenile Justice, and the Department of Education in
providing school and community-leased education for alcohol and
drug prevention programs.
Part IV
Education Initiatives
SECTION 11. To enhance client access to services and to reduce
client confusion and agency error rates, the Department of Social
Services, with existing resources and personnel, shall develop
simplified AFDC, Medicaid, and food stamp application forms and
instructions which are understandable at the third grade level.
SECTION 12. The Department of Social Services shall develop a
plan within its existing resources and personnel to implement
statewide the Charleston Department of Social Services Medicaid
Eligibility Hospital Worker program in which the workers assist
patients in applying for AFDC and Medicaid while still in the
hospital and in which the funding of the worker is shared by the
hospital and the Medicaid program.
SECTION 13. The Department of Social Services and the
Department of Health and Human Services Finance Commission
shall review and, to the extent possible, ensure that federal and state
procurement and purchasing regulations do not unnecessarily delay
payments to providers of services to AFDC clients and child care
and transportation providers so that these providers are not deterred
from providing services to these clients.
SECTION 14. (A) All state agencies shall adopt Electronic Data
Interchange Standards as set forth by the Budget and Control
Board, Office of Research and Statistics Information Resource
Planning and Management so that exchanges and sharing of
information concerning AFDC clients and revenue sources are
freely available. However, in the exchange and sharing of
information all requirements for confidentiality of information must
be maintained.
(B) For the next three years each state agency shall report to the
Division of Information Resource Technology before January first
on the agency's progress and compliance with this section and its
utilization of the system created as a result of this section.
SECTION 15. (A) The Budget and Control Board, Office of
Research and Statistics Information Resource Planning and
Management in conjunction with the Department of Social Services
and representatives from all state health and social services agencies
shall develop a long range plan for the acquisition and
implementation of a statewide computer system compatible with all
state agencies for the exchange and sharing of information.
(B) For the next five years the Office of Research and Statistics
Information Resource Planning and Management shall report to the
General Assembly before January first on the development, fiscal
impact, and implementation of this system.
SECTION 16. (A) The Department of Social Services shall:
(1) in conjunction with the Department of Revenue study the
feasibility of integrating AFDC client information with the driver's
license digitization program;
(2) study the development of the digitization of data for use
in an electronic benefits program and other programs as may be
applicable.
(B) Before January 1, 1997, the Department of Social Services
and the Department of Revenue jointly shall report to the General
Assembly the results of this study and make recommendations as
may be appropriate.
SECTION 17. (A) The Department of Social Services shall
study and develop a plan to aid in using computer technology in the
uniform application and enforcement of child care and foster care
policies statewide.
(B) Before January 1, 1997, the Department of Social Services
shall report to the General Assembly on its review, plan, and
implementation of the plan provided for in subsection (A).
SECTION 18. (A) The Department of Social Services and the
Department of Health and Human Services Finance Commission
shall develop a voucher management system for child day care that
will increase the number of child care slots available for AFDC
clients by maximizing state and federal funds and that will provide
a continuum of providers and services, develop on site child care
centers at state technical education schools, and ease liability
concerns for companies willing to start day care centers. The system
must be managed by the commission and must eliminate duplication
in administrative functions.
(B) Before January 1, 1997, the Department of Social Services
and the Department of Health and Human Services Finance
Commission jointly shall report to the General Assembly on the
progress of this system.
SECTION 19. The Department of Social Services shall encourage
day care providers to offer day care services during second and
third shift time periods, and the department more closely shall
monitor day care providers to ensure compliance with
nondiscriminatory policies and upgrade standards.
Part V
Administrative Reforms
SECTION 20. (A) The Department of Social Services shall
require all children sixteen through eighteen years of age who are
recipients of AFDC benefits who have not completed high school to
attend school as a condition of continuing eligibility.
(B) Before January 1, 1997, the Department of Social Services
and the Department of Education shall study the compulsory age for
school attendance and evaluate and make recommendations to the
General Assembly concerning increasing the age from sixteen to
seventeen or eighteen.
SECTION 21. The Department of Social Services in conjunction
with the Department of Education shall:
(1) ensure that existing continuing education and adult education
programs are designed to advance AFDC clients in attaining
self-sufficiency and that the location, scheduling, and other
mechanics of these programs are structured so as to maximize
access by AFDC clients;
(2) endorse and promote school-to-work transition programs to
link at-risk secondary school students to the workplace and to
appropriate work related post-secondary education.
SECTION 22. (A) The Department of Social Services in
conjunction with the State Board for Technical and Comprehensive
Education shall:
(1) work closely with businesses and industries in South
Carolina to design curriculums to produce students with skills
needed by these businesses and industries;
(2) develop specially designed curriculums that target and
train AFDC clients for occupations identified by the Employment
Security Commission as the top growth occupations of the future.
(B) For the next five years the Department of Social Services
and the State Board for Technical Education jointly shall report
before January first to the General Assembly on the projects
completed under this section and shall evaluate their effectiveness in
assisting AFDC families in becoming self-sufficient.
SECTION 23. The Department of Social Services in conjunction
with the Budget and Control Board, Division of Human Resource
Management, shall develop a program to target, train, and hire
AFDC recipients to work in child support enforcement and other
appropriate positions in the department or other state agencies.
Part VI
Time Effective
SECTION 24. This joint resolution takes effect upon approval by
the Governor.
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