                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

VIRGINIA INITIATIVE FOR EDUCATION AND WORK (VIEW) (§ 63.2-608)

A. The Department shall establish and administer the Virginia Initiative for
Education and Work (VIEW) to reduce long-term dependence on welfare, emphasize
personal responsibility, and enhance opportunities for personal initiative and
self-sufficiency by promoting the value of work. The Department shall endeavor
to develop placements for VIEW participants that will enable participants to
develop job skills that are likely to result in independent employment and that
take into consideration the proficiency, experience, skills, and prior training
of a participant.
			VIEW shall recognize clearly defined responsibilities and obligations on the
part of public assistance recipients and shall include a written agreement of
personal responsibility requiring parents to participate in work activities
while receiving TANF, earned-income disregards to reduce disincentives to work,
and a limit on TANF financial assistance.
			VIEW shall require all able-bodied recipients of TANF who do not meet an
exemption to participate in a work activity. VIEW shall require eligible TANF
recipients to participate in unsubsidized, partially subsidized or fully
subsidized employment or other allowable TANF work activity as defined by
federal law and enter into an agreement of personal responsibility.

B. To the maximum extent permitted by federal law, and notwithstanding other
provisions of Virginia law, the Department and local departments may, through
applicable procurement laws and regulations, engage the services of public and
private organizations to operate VIEW and to provide services incident to such
operation.

C. All VIEW participants shall be under the direction and supervision of a case
manager.

D. The Department shall ensure that participants are assigned to one of the
following work activities within 90 days after the approval of TANF assistance:

   1. Unsubsidized private-sector employment;

   2. Subsidized employment, as follows:
   				a. The Department shall conduct a program in accordance with this section
   that shall be known as the Full Employment Program (FEP). Persons who are
   otherwise eligible for TANF may participate in FEP unless exempted by this
   chapter. FEP shall assign participants to subsidized wage-paying
   private-sector jobs designed to increase the participants&#8217;
   self-sufficiency and improve their competitive position in the workforce.
   				b. Participants in FEP shall be placed in full-time employment when
   appropriate and shall be paid by the employer at an hourly rate not less than
   the federal or state minimum wage, whichever is higher. Wages earned by a FEP
   employee during the period for which his employer receives a subsidy pursuant
   to subdivision c shall be disregarded in the calculation of TANF benefits.
   				c. Every employer subject to the Virginia unemployment insurance tax shall
   be eligible for assignment of FEP participants, but no employer shall be
   required to utilize such participants. Pursuant to Board regulations,
   participating employers shall receive a subsidy of up to $1,000 per month for
   each FEP employee for a period not to exceed six months. Employers shall
   ensure that jobs made available to FEP participants are in conformity with §
   3304(a)(5) of the Federal Unemployment Tax Act. FEP participants cannot be
   used to displace regular workers.
   				d. FEP employers shall:

      i. Endeavor to make FEP placements positive learning and training
      experiences;

         ii. Provide on-the-job training to the degree necessary for the
         participants to perform their duties;

         iii. Pay wages to participants at the same rate that they are paid to
         other employees performing the same type of work and having similar
         experience and employment tenure;

         iv. Provide sick leave, holiday and vacation benefits to participants to
         the same extent and on the same basis that they are provided to other
         employees performing the same type of work and having similar employment
         experience and tenure;

      v. Maintain health, safety and working conditions at or above levels
      generally acceptable in the industry and no less than those in which other
      employees perform the same type of work;

         vi. Provide workers&#8217; compensation coverage for participants;

         vii. Encourage volunteer mentors from among their other employees to
         assist participants in becoming oriented to work and the workplace; and

         viii. Sign an agreement with the local department outlining the employer
         requirements to participate in FEP. All agreements shall include notice of
         the employer&#8217;s obligation to repay FEP reimbursements in the event
         the employer violates FEP rules.
         						e. As a condition of FEP participation, employers shall be
         prohibited from discriminating against any person, including program
         participants, on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender
         identity, national origin, religion, age, or disability;

   3. Part-time or temporary employment;

   4. Community work experience, as follows:
   				a. The Department and local departments shall work with other state,
   regional and local agencies and governments in developing job placements that
   serve a useful public purpose as provided in &#xA7; 482(f) of the Social
   Security Act, as amended. Placements shall be selected to provide skills and
   serve a public function. VIEW participants shall not displace regular workers.
   				b. The number of hours per week for participants shall be determined by
   combining the total dollar amount of TANF and SNAP benefits and dividing by
   the minimum wage with a maximum of a work week of 32 hours, of which up to 12
   hours of employment-related education and training may substitute for work
   experience employment; or

   5. Any other allowable TANF work activity as defined by federal law.

E. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections A and D, if a local department
determines that a VIEW participant is in need of job skills and would benefit
from immediate job skills training, it may place the participant in a program
preparing individuals for a high school equivalency examination approved by the
Board of Education, a career and technical education program targeted at skills
required for particular employment opportunities, or an apprenticeship program
developed by the local department in accordance with requirements established by
the Department. Eligible participants include those with problems related to
obtaining and retaining employment, such as participants (i) with less than a
high school education, (ii) whose reading or math skills are at or below the
eighth grade level, (iii) who have not retained a job for a period of at least
six months during the prior two years, or (iv) who are in a treatment program
for a substance abuse problem or are receiving services through a family
violence treatment program. The VIEW participant may continue in a high school
equivalency examination preparation program, career and technical education
program, or apprenticeship program for as long as the local department
determines he is progressing satisfactorily and to the extent permitted by the
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (P.L.
104-193), as amended.

F. Participants may be reevaluated after a period determined by the local
department and reassigned to another work component. In addition, the number of
hours worked may be reduced by the local department so that a participant may
complete additional training or education to further his employability.

G. Local departments shall be authorized to sanction parents up to the full
amount of the TANF grant for noncompliance, unless good cause exists.

H. VIEW participants shall not be assigned to projects that require that they
travel unreasonable distances from their homes or remain away from their homes
overnight without their consent.
			Any injury to a VIEW participant arising out of and in the course of
community work experience shall be covered by the participant&#8217;s existing
Medicaid coverage. If a community work experience participant is unable to work
due to such an accident, his status shall be reviewed to determine whether he is
eligible for an exemption from the limitation on TANF financial assistance.
			A community work experience participant who becomes incapacitated for 30 days
or more shall be eligible for TANF financial assistance for the duration of the
incapacity, if otherwise eligible.
			The Board shall adopt regulations providing for the accrual of paid sick
leave or other equivalent mechanism for community work experience participants.

HISTORY: 1994, cc. 858, 951, § 63.1-133.49; 1995, c. 450; 1996, c. 1023; 1999,
c. 759; 2000, cc. 483, 491; 2001, c. 483; 2002, c. 747; 2003, cc. 428, 467;
2005, c. 472; 2007, c. 568; 2014, c. 84; 2016, c. 101; 2019, c. 210; 2020, c.
1137; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, cc. 160, 209; 2022, c. 298.