(a) For the purposes of this section and sections 17b-131, 17b-191 to 17b-193, inclusive, 17b-195, 17b-197 and 17b-198, (1) an “employable person” means one (A) who is sixteen years of age or older but less than sixty-five years of age; and (B) who has no documented physical or mental impairment prohibiting such person from working or participating in an education, training or other work-readiness program, or who has such an impairment which is expected to last less than two months, as determined by the commissioner; (2) an “unemployable person” means a person who (A) is under sixteen years of age or sixty-five years of age or older or fifty-five years of age or older with a history of chronic unemployment; (B) has a physical or mental impairment prohibiting such person from working or participating in an education, training or other work-readiness program, which is expected to last at least six months, as determined by the commissioner; (C) is pending receipt of supplemental security income, Social Security income or financial assistance through another program administered by the Department of Social Services; (D) is needed to care for a child under two years of age or to care for an incapacitated child or spouse; (E) is a full-time high school student in good standing; or (F) is a VISTA volunteer; and (3) a “transitional person” means one (A) who has a documented physical or mental impairment which prevents employment and is expected to last at least two months, but less than six months, as determined by the commissioner, and who has a recent connection to the labor market, unless circumstances precluded participation in the labor force, as determined by the commissioner; or (B) whose determination of unemployability or disability, as defined by the commissioner, is pending and who provides medical documentation of a severe physical or mental impairment which is expected to last at least six months. A person who is a substance abuser shall be required to participate in treatment, including counseling, and shall be eligible for assistance while waiting for treatment.
(b) The Commissioner of Social Services, when making determinations concerning disabilities or impairments which are expected to last a period of six months or longer in accordance with subsection (a) of this section, shall make such determinations based on the recommendations made by a medical review team.
(1961, P.A. 503; P.A. 75-420, S. 4, 6; P.A. 77-614, S. 608, 610; P.A. 79-337, S. 2; P.A. 80-395, S. 1, 7; P.A. 81-134, S. 1, 2; P.A. 82-78, S. 1, 2; 82-147, S. 2, 4; 82-214, S. 2, 3, 6; P.A. 83-535, S. 1, 3; P.A. 84-168, S. 1, 4; P.A. 86-415, S. 2, 10; P.A. 87-176; 87-308, S. 1, 2; P.A. 88-156, S. 17; 88-236; P.A. 89-62, S. 1, 2; 89-239, S. 3; 89-293; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 92-16, S. 11, 89; P.A. 93-262, S. 1, 87; P.A. 96-268, S. 24, 34; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-2, S. 78, 165; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-3, S. 46; P.A. 14-161, S. 3.)
History: P.A. 75-420 replaced welfare commissioner with commissioner of social services; P.A. 77-614 replaced commissioner of social services with commissioner of income maintenance, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 79-337 allowed towns to require persons receiving support to participate in education or training programs; P.A. 80-395 required towns to establish work programs and required assistance recipients to participate in town program or other approved work, training, education etc. program, amending provisions accordingly and designating former Subsecs. (b) and (c) as (d) and (e), deleting former Subsec. (d) and inserting new Subsecs. (b), (c) and (f); P.A. 81-134 amended Subsec. (e) to allow towns to apply the $35 payment for each recipient toward the cost of workers' compensation insurance and added Subsec. (g) providing that workfare participants are included in definition of employee for purposes of workers' compensation insurance, establishing pay rates for participation in work, training or education program, etc.; P.A. 82-78 redefined “employable person” in Subsec. (c) to add the restriction that the person not be in full-time attendance in high school; P.A. 82-147 amended Subsec. (a) to allow placement of employable persons in private employers' training programs and added exceptions for persons participating in such programs to the hour and payment restrictions; P.A. 82-214 amended Subsec. (a) to require that persons who refuse or wilfully fail to report for work or to participate in the program be ineligible to apply for assistance for 30 days for the first refusal or failure, 60 days for the second and 90 for the third and all subsequent refusals or failures, replacing provision whereby ineligibility continued until person reported for and performed work or participated in education or training program to which he was assigned, to give the person the ability to request placement during ineligibility and payment at his benefit rate at the end of each week's work, to specify that the period of ineligibility commence on the day immediately following the actual date of termination and to require the commissioner of income maintenance to adopt regulations to administer the ineligibility provisions and added the requirement that payment for work over the budget deficit be within 30 days, and amended Subsec. (f) to require participation by at least two-thirds of the employable recipients within two years of plan approval and to require the commissioner of income maintenance to develop positions in state agencies for up to 12% of the participants from each town with a population in excess of 100,000, specifying that if such positions are not developed and the town has the required number of participants minus 12% the town shall not be denied reimbursement for the 12%; P.A. 83-535 amended Subsec. (f) to change the requirement from all employable recipients participating after four years to 85% after five years, changed the number of positions which the commissioner has to develop for the placement of recipients from up to 12% of the workfare participants from each town whose population exceeds 100,000 to 25% from each town which has over 180 participants and added the provision for positions in public or private nonprofit agencies and the requirement that the commissioners of other state agencies cooperate in the development of positions; P.A. 84-168 amended Subsec. (a) by adding the one-time limitation on a request for placement during each period of ineligibility and by changing the payment date from at the end of the week's work to the next scheduled date for assistance payments and amended Subsec. (f) by removing the requirement that 85% of the employable recipients become participants within five years of plan approval; P.A. 86-415 amended Subsec. (a) to require that if a one-year period elapses, from a prior to a subsequent refusal, the result shall be a 30-day period of ineligibility; P.A. 87-176 amended Subsec. (a) by removing provisions increasing the time a person is ineligible to apply for assistance based on the number of times he refused or wilfully failed to report or to participate; P.A. 87-308 amended Subsec. (e) to increase the payment for administrative costs from $35 to $50; P.A. 88-156 authorized the continuation of the two-thirds placement ratio and required the commissioner to adopt regulations to establish the criteria for calculating such compliance ration in Subsec. (f); P.A. 88-236 added provision exempting a town liable to support a general assistance recipient from including the recipient in the town's work, education or training program if the recipient is not a resident of the town providing support in Subsec. (f); P.A. 89-62 deleted the references to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and added a reference to the minimum hourly wage pursuant to Sec. 31-58 in Subsecs. (a) and (g); P.A. 89-239 amended Subsec. (c) by excluding from the definition of “employable person” one who is without a permanent domicile and is temporarily residing in an emergency shelter for the homeless; P.A. 89-293 amended Subsec. (a) to authorize a work program to include substance abuse counseling; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 92-16 amended Subsec. (a) by deleting provision re retention of $10 per week by person participating in program and provision permitting a person deemed ineligible for assistance due to refusal to participate in program to be reinstated during the period of ineligibility, increasing period of ineligibility for refusal to participate in program to 90 days, adding Subdivs. (1), (2) and (3) establishing grounds for the imposition of a 90-day period of ineligibility, and deleting requirement that the commissioner adopt regulations to administer the ineligibility provisions of this section, amended Subsec. (c) by redefining “employable person” and defining “unemployable person”, amended Subsec. (e) by deleting provision granting a town $50 per month for administrative costs for each employable recipient who participates in the program, amended Subsec. (f) by adding a provision permitting the commissioner to exempt a town from the requirements of the Subsec. and added Subsec. (h) requiring towns to develop an employability plan for each employable recipient; P.A. 93-262 authorized substitution of commissioner and department of social services for commissioner and department of income maintenance, effective July 1, 1993; Sec. 17-281a transferred to Sec. 17b-689 in 1995; P.A. 96-268 amended Subsec. (c) to add definitions of “employable person who is job-ready” and “employable but not job-ready”, effective July 1, 1996; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-2 deleted former Subsecs. (a) and (b) re towns required to offer work programs for employable persons, deleted definitions of an “employable person who is job-ready” and a person who is “employable but not job-ready”, added definition of “a transitional individual,” deleted former Subsecs. (d) to (h) re work plans established for employable persons and made technical and conforming changes, effective July 1, 1997; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-3 designated existing provisions as Subsec. (a) and amended same by replacing references to Secs. 17b-63 and 17b-134 with references to Secs. 17b-119, 17b-131, 17b-190, 17b-191 and 17b-257, and by redefining “employable person”, “unemployable person”, and “transitional individual”, and added new Subsec. (b) requiring commissioner, when making determinations concerning disabilities or impairments which are expected to last six months or longer, to make determination based on recommendations of a medical review team, effective August 20, 2003; Sec. 17b-689 transferred to Sec. 17b-194 in 2005; P.A. 14-161 made technical changes in Subsec. (a), effective July 1, 2014.
Annotations to former section 17b-689:
Cited. 232 C. 599; 233 C. 557.