(a) The Commissioner of Social Services and the Labor Commissioner shall permit a recipient of temporary family assistance to take education courses as part of the requirements of the recipient's employability plan, established pursuant to section 17b-689c, provided: (1) The state complies with federal work participation requirements for the employment services program established pursuant to section 17b-688c, and (2) the education courses are approved pursuant to subsection (b) of this section.

(b) To the extent permissible under federal law, the Labor Commissioner, in consultation with the Commissioner of Social Services, shall approve education courses as required employment activities for a recipient of temporary family assistance. Such education courses shall include, but are not limited to: (1) Degree programs offered at public and independent institutions of higher education, and (2) high school graduate equivalency degree or basic education programs for recipients otherwise ineligible to enroll in such programs during their first twenty weekly hours of required employment activities.

(c) The Labor Commissioner, in consultation with the Commissioner of Social Services, shall implement policies and procedures to establish (1) which programs may qualify as an approved employment activity, and (2) enrollment and academic requirements for students who are recipients of temporary family assistance. The Labor Commissioner shall implement such policies and procedures while in the process of adopting such policies and procedures in regulation form, provided the Labor Commissioner provides notice of intent to adopt the regulations in accordance with section 4-168 not later than twenty days after implementing such policies and procedures. Policies and procedures implemented pursuant to this subsection shall be valid until the time final regulations are effective.

(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed as requiring the state to pay for the tuition of any recipient of temporary family assistance.

(P.A. 14-172, S. 1; 14-217, S. 134; P.A. 16-131, S. 6.)

History: P.A. 14-172 and P.A. 14-217 effective July 1, 2014; P.A. 16-131 amended Subsec. (b) by replacing “may” with “shall” in provision re approval of education courses, replacing “Two-year or four-year college degree programs” with “Degree programs offered at public and independent institutions of higher education” in Subdiv. (1), and making conforming changes, effective July 1, 2016.