256J.49 Employment and training services; definitions.
Subdivision 1. Scope. The terms used in sections 256J.50 to 256J.72 have the meanings given them in this section.
Subd. 2. Domestic violence. "Domestic violence" means:
(1) physical acts that result, or threaten to result in, physical injury to an individual;
(2) sexual abuse;
(3) sexual activity involving a minor child;
(4) being forced as the caregiver of a minor child to engage in nonconsensual sexual acts or activities;
(5) threats of, or attempts at, physical or sexual abuse;
(6) mental abuse; or
(7) neglect or deprivation of medical care.
Subd. 3. Employment and training services. "Employment and training services" means programs, activities and services that are designed to assist participants in obtaining and retaining employment.
Subd. 4. Employment and training service provider. "Employment and training service provider" means:
(1) a public, private, or nonprofit employment and training agency certified by the commissioner of economic security under sections 268.0122, subdivision 3, and 268.871, subdivision 1, or is approved under section 256J.51 and is included in the county plan submitted under section 256J.50, subdivision 7;
(2) a public, private, or nonprofit agency that is not certified by the commissioner under clause (1), but with which a county has contracted to provide employment and training services and which is included in the county's plan submitted under section 256J.50, subdivision 7; or
(3) a county agency, if the county has opted to provide employment and training services and the county has indicated that fact in the plan submitted under section 256J.50, subdivision 7.
Notwithstanding section 268.871, an employment and training services provider meeting this definition may deliver employment and training services under this chapter.
Subd. 5. Employment plan. "Employment plan" means a plan developed by the job counselor and the participant which identifies the participant's most direct path to unsubsidized employment, lists the specific steps that the caregiver will take on that path, and includes a timetable for the completion of each step.
Subd. 6. Federal participation standards. "Federal participation standards" means the work participation standards as specified in title I of Public Law Number 104-193, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996.
Subd. 7. Intensive English as a second language program. "Intensive English as a second language program" means an English as a second language program that offers at least 20 hours of class per week.
Subd. 8. Job counselor. "Job counselor" means a staff person employed by or under contract with the employment and training services provider who delivers services as specified in sections 256J.50 to 256J.55.
Subd. 9. Participant. "Participant" means a recipient of MFIP-S assistance who participates or is required to participate in employment and training services.
Subd. 10. Provider. "Provider" means an employment and training service provider.
Subd. 11. Safety plan. "Safety plan" means a plan developed by a victim of domestic violence or a person continuing to be at risk of domestic violence with the assistance of a public agency or a private nonprofit agency, including agencies that receive designation by the department of corrections to provide emergency shelter services or support services under section 611A.32. A safety plan shall not include a provision that automatically requires a domestic violence victim to seek an order of protection, or to attend counseling, as part of the safety plan.
Subd. 12. Suitable employment. "Suitable employment" means employment that:
(1) is within the participant's physical and mental abilities;
(2) pays hourly gross wages of not less than the applicable state or federal minimum wage;
(3) meets health and safety standards set by federal, state and county agencies; and
(4) complies with federal, state, and local antidiscrimination laws.
Subd. 13. Work activity. "Work activity" means any activity in a participant's approved employment plan that is tied to the participant's employment goal. For purposes of the MFIP-S program, any activity that is included in a participant's approved employment plan meets the definition of work activity as counted under the federal participation standards. Work activity includes, but is not limited to:
(1) unsubsidized employment;
(2) subsidized private sector or public sector employment, including grant diversion as specified in section 256J.69;
(3) work experience, including CWEP as specified in section 256J.67, and including work associated with the refurbishing of publicly assisted housing if sufficient private sector employment is not available;
(4) on-the-job training as specified in section 256J.66;
(5) job search, either supervised or unsupervised;
(6) job readiness assistance;
(7) job clubs, including job search workshops;
(8) job placement;
(9) job development;
(10) job-related counseling;
(11) job coaching;
(12) job retention services;
(13) job-specific training or education;
(14) job skills training directly related to employment;
(15) the self-employment investment demonstration (SEID), as specified in section 256J.65;
(16) preemployment activities, based on availability and resources, such as volunteer work, literacy programs and related activities, citizenship and English as a second language classes, or participation in dislocated worker services, chemical dependency treatment, mental health services, peer group networks, displaced homemaker programs, strength-based resiliency training, parenting education, or other programs designed to help families reach their employment goals and enhance their ability to care for their children;
(17) community service programs;
(18) vocational educational training or educational programs that can reasonably be expected to lead to employment, as limited by the provisions of section 256J.53;
(19) apprenticeships;
(20) satisfactory attendance in general educational development diploma classes or an adult diploma program;
(21) satisfactory attendance at secondary school, if the participant has not received a high school diploma;
(22) adult basic education classes;
(23) internships;
(24) bilingual employment and training services;
(25) providing child care services to a participant who is working in a community service program; and
(26) activities included in a safety plan that is developed under section 256J.52, subdivision 6.
HIST: 1997 c 85 art 1 s 39; 1997 c 200 art 6 s 1 1998 c 407 art 6 s 90
Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes