AB 446

The Wisconsin Works (W-2) program under current law, administered by the

Department of Children and Families (DCF), provides work experience and benefits

for low-income custodial parents who are at least 18 years old, as well as job search

assistance to noncustodial parents who are required to pay child support, to minor

custodial parents, and to pregnant women who are not custodial parents. Under

Wisconsin Shares, which is also part of W-2, an individual who is the parent of a child

under the age of 13 or, if the child is disabled, under the age of 19, who needs child

care services to participate in various educational or work activities, and who

satisfies other eligibility criteria, may receive a child care subsidy for child care

services. The biennial budget act (Act 32) made a number of changes to W-2 and

Wisconsin Shares. This bill eliminates some of the changes and restores other

provisions to what the law was before Act 32, including the following:

1. Eliminating the three-month limit on participation in a trial job; the

six-month limit on participation in a community service job; and the 24-month

limits on trial job, community service job, and transitional placements. Current law

still limits the overall time during which an individual may participate in W-2 to 60

months.

2. Removing the ten-hour limit on the time during which a participant in a

community service job, and the 12-hour limit on the time during which a participant

in a transitional placement, may be required to participate in educational or training

activities per week.

3. Restoring the maximum monthly grant received by a participant in a

community service job to $673 and by a participant in a transitional placement to

$628. Act 32 reduced the monthly grants to $653 and $608, respectively.

4. Restoring the requirement that DCF make certain determinations, such as

whether good cause exists for a participant's failure to participate and that the

services offered to a participant are appropriate for him or her, before determining

that a participant is ineligible for three months to participate in W-2 due to a failure

to participate in an assigned placement.

5. Restoring the requirement that, before a participant who has refused to

participate in an assigned placement loses eligibility for three months, he or she

must be given a conciliation period during which he or she must participate in all

assigned activities.

6. Restoring the requirement that, after a W-2 agency has provided written

notice to a W-2 participant whose benefits are about to be reduced by at least 20

percent or whose eligibility is about to be terminated, the W-2 agency also must

orally explain the proposed action.

7. Eliminating the W-2 placement category under which a participant who is

job-ready may receive case-management services but no job placement or grant.

8. Providing that the custodial parent of an infant up to 12 weeks old may