AB 905

Under current law, the Department of Children and Families (DCF) is required

to establish a Transform Milwaukee Jobs program (program) in Milwaukee County

and, to the extent that funding is available, may establish a Transitional Jobs

program (program) outside of Milwaukee County in one or more geographic areas in

the state with relatively high rates of unemployment and childhood poverty. Under

either program, DCF pays an employer, or a person with which DCF contracts to

administer the program (contractor), that employs a program participant a wage

subsidy that is equal to the wage the employer or contractor pays the participant, up

to 40 hours per week at minimum wage. The employer or contractor must employ

the participant at least 20 hours per week at a location in this state and pay at least

minimum wage, although the employer, or contractor with the approval of DCF, may

pay the participant more than the wage subsidy. An individual may participate in

a program for a maximum of 1,040 hours, which is equivalent to 26 40-hour weeks.

In addition to paying the wage subsidy, DCF may reimburse an employer or

contractor for certain taxes, unemployment insurance contributions or taxes, and

worker's compensation insurance premiums that are attributable to employment of

the participant.

To be eligible to participate in a program, an individual must be at least 18 years

old, and, if over 24 years old, must be the parent or primary relative caregiver of a

child under the age of 18. The individual must have household income below 150

percent of the poverty line, be unemployed for at least four weeks, be ineligible to

receive unemployment insurance benefits, and not be participating in a Wisconsin

Works (W-2) employment position. A program participant may be eligible for a child

care subsidy under Wisconsin Shares, which generally provides child care subsidies

for participants in W-2, if the program participant needs child care services in order

to participate in the program.

DCF may administer a program or contract with any person, including a W-2

agency, county department, local workforce development board, or community action

agency, to perform administrative functions, including determining eligibility,

providing or identifying employers to provide jobs for eligible individuals, providing

job orientation and employment services, and maintaining participant demographic,

eligibility, and employment records. DCF may recover an overpayment from a

participant that results from a misrepresentation about his or her eligibility, and

must recover an overpayment from a contractor that results from a failure to comply

with the contract or to meet performance standards established by DCF.

This bill replaces the Transform Milwaukee Jobs program and the Transitional

Jobs program (former programs) with one statewide program called the Transitional

Jobs program (TJP), established for the purposes of helping unemployed and

underemployed persons gain, through wage-paying employment, the skills needed

to move into unsubsidized employment and assisting employers to create new jobs.