Senate Bill No. 302
(By Senators Manchin, Wiedebusch, Anderson, Bailey,
Bowman, Love, Plymale, White, Ross, Schoonover,
Dittmar, Buckalew, Dugan, Deem and Scott)
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[Introduced February 9, 1995; referred to the Committee
on Health and Human Resources; and then to the Committee
on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend chapter nine of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding
thereto a new article, designated article six-a, relating to
creating the living assistance program, staffed by senior
citizen volunteers, to teach and otherwise assist those
persons on public assistance programs in this state;
findings and conclusions; administration of the program;
sunset provision; and performance audit to be performed by
auditor.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter nine of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto
a new article, designated article six-a, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6A. LIVING ASSISTANCE PROGRAM ACT OF 1995.
§9-6A-1. Short title.
This article shall be known as and is hereby designated to
be the "Living Assistance Program Act of 1995."
§9-6A-2. Legislative findings and conclusions.
The Legislature hereby finds and concludes the following:
(a) Americans have for two decades demanded a public
assistance system that embodies their compassion, advances their
highest aspirations for the poor, and promotes their values;
(b) It has been the goal of West Virginia's governor and the
governor's cabinet on children and families to collaborate with
local communities to promote health, development and well-being
within the family by early and consistently supporting families
in addressing and resolving problems;
(c) Limited resources particularly limit the availability of
personnel for such an effort;
(d) There are three hundred thousand citizens over age
sixty-four in West Virginia, most of whom are in good health and
many of whom are willing to sacrifice some of their valuable time
for a worthy cause;
(e) The nation's growing pool of retirees deserve wider
opportunities to exercise their sense of civic obligation and to
engage in public service;
(f) Senior citizens tend to be knowledgeable and competent
problem solvers; and
(g) Senior citizens are uniquely qualified for an enhanced
role as stewards of the underclass.
§9-6A-3. Establishment of office of the senior corps.
There is hereby established within the department of health
and human resources the office of the senior corps. The secretary
shall appoint a full-time director to administer the office. The
director shall, in addition to administering the living
assistance program and in accordance with the provisions of this
article, recruit members, while maintaining a registry of
existing membership of individuals, who are willing to volunteer
their time and services in support of legitimate goals and
purposes as directed by the secretary, including but not limited
to, participation in the living assistance program.
§9-6A-4. The living assistance program.
The governor, the department of health and human resources,
and the Legislature of West Virginia shall develop, enact and
administer a living assistance program which would offer
training, information and direction to an all-volunteer West
Virginia senior corps.
The living assistance program would be aimed at families at
risk in West Virginia, and be designed to help them lift
themselves out of poverty and into the middle class. The senior
corps volunteers would serve as the stewards of the living
assistance program, mentoring public aid recipients in life
skills related to work, consumer skills, budgeting, health and nutrition, education, literacy, sufficiency and personal and
professional success. Senior citizen volunteers in the program
should be trained as service providers who are respectful of
parents, mindful of confidentiality, and knowledgeable about
resources.
To be eligible to receive the services of any senior corps
member through the living assistance program, an individual or
family must be receiving public assistance in some form, as
exists through the department of health and human resources. In
those counties where there are a sufficient number of volunteers,
all individuals and family members receiving public assistance
shall be required to enroll in the living assistance program.
§9-6A-5. Senior corps participation in the living assistance
program.
The senior corps, as directed by the director, shall execute
the living assistance program, as created by this article, in
order to facilitate and promote the following purposes:
(a) To lift the income of the poor, to liberate their
potential, and to empower them to "bootstrap" themselves out of
poverty;
(b) To help teach public aid recipients that their private
choices have public consequences, that hard work is generally
rewarded in our economy, that personal success is generally within their control, and that taking good care of one's children
is a public good;
(c) To help guide many of those on public assistance into
job training, GED passage or high school graduation, vocational
institutions and even college;
(d) To help public aid recipients make good decisions about
health, nutrition and education for preschool children, with
attention to the long-term development of children as future
citizens and workers;
(e) To teach the poor, especially parents, how to shop for
nutritional food, how to prepare nutritional meals, and how to
help their family live a healthier lifestyle;
(f) To help public aid recipients to access prenatal care,
child immunizations, "well-child" health screenings, and WIC
nutrition services, and save money for their own health care;
(g) To help show young, poor parents that early childhood
experiences form the foundations for life-long health, lifestyle,
self-esteem, self-discipline, attitudes toward learning, problem
solving ability, creativity, and social skills;
(h) To help many adults from impoverished backgrounds to
break the cycle of poverty by offering their own children early
stimulation, family support, at-home learning especially for
those families not served by head start or other quality preschool programs, and parental "coaching" on the value of
education; and
(i) To help aid poor parents in enhancing their children's
physical, cognitive, emotional and social development, and assure
that they arrive at school with far fewer problems.
§9-6A-6. Administration of program; screening and training of
volunteers; matching volunteers with families; time
limits for providing service.
(a) The secretary shall make rules that apply to
administration of the senior corps and the living assistance
program, respectively, which shall be adhered to by the director.
Such rules shall set minimum standards that must be met in order
to participate as a volunteer. Volunteers shall be limited to
persons who are fifty-five years old or older. Any prospective
volunteer shall be required by the secretary to submit to a
criminal background check and all other reasonable inquiries
designed to insure minimum standards are met. The secretary,
therefore, shall design and provide printed forms to be used as
applications by applicants seeking to volunteer their services
which shall be maintained by the department.
Families receiving assistance through the department shall be
given the option to join the living assistance program, or in
those counties where a sufficient number of volunteers exist, instructed to join the living assistance program and they shall
be provided printed forms designed to ascertain whether or not
they intend to meet volunteers for any legitimate purpose
relating to receiving guidance, instruction or emotional support
regarding improving their living situation consistent with the
purposes set forth herein. Printed forms required hereunder shall
include space specifically designated to elicit information
regarding the particular kind of guidance, instruction or
emotional support that the particular family or individual
receiving assistance desires. The director shall determine
whether such desired guidance, instruction or emotional support
is appropriate in relation to one or more of the legitimate
purposes for which this article is intended.
The secretary shall provide rules designed to match
volunteers with persons who request guidance, instruction or
emotional support.
(b) The director shall provide training, approved and
authorized by the secretary, to any approved volunteers designed
to apprise them generally regarding the administrative process
utilized to run the primary public assistance programs relative
to the families and individuals to which such volunteers shall
offer service. The director shall, additionally, provide any
further training, approved and authorized by the secretary that is reasonably related to providing service as contemplated under
this article and which is considered appropriate and worthwhile.
(c) Once volunteers are matched to a particular family or
individual in order to provide service in accordance with the
provisions of this article, the secretary shall notify such
family or individual of the volunteer's name and of a time in
which such volunteer may be expected to initiate contact in order
to begin providing service. Volunteers shall thereafter file with
the director, on a form to be devised and provided by the
department, monthly reports containing information regarding
their work.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create the Living
Assistance Program Act of 1995. The bill provides for the
secretary of health and human resources to develop and, through
a director, to be appointed by the secretary, to administer a
program designed to enlist senior citizens as volunteers to
guide, instruct and offer insight to persons on public
assistance. The director is appointed to administer the office of
the senior corps, which among its purposes, shall be providing
senior corps members to staff the living assistance program. The
bill sets forth findings and conclusions, as well as purposes,
concerning the types of problems and concerns that could be
addressed by senior citizens in assisting persons on public
assistance. These include achieving further education, taking
better care of children and meeting children's needs to a greater
degree, engaging in better nutritional and health-related
practices and learning to be more productive and understanding
the value of practicing the work ethic in relation to improving
one's lifestyle and economic circumstances.
Article 6A is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.