SECTION 340:10-2-7. Training

(a)   Scope. Job skills training activities include vocational training and hands-on work experience to develop technical skills, knowledge, and abilities in specific occupational areas. All training programs must include qualitative measures, such as competency gains or proficiency levels, to evaluate a participant's progress and reasonable time limits for completion. Referrals are made to appropriate training facilities on Form 08TW003E, Interagency Referral and Information.

(b)   Assignments. Any training to which the participant is assigned must meet the criteria in (1) through (4) of this subsection.

(1)   The hours of any training activity are governed by the training facility but must not exceed 40 hours per week.

(2)   The training is preparation for a job that meets the criteria for appropriate employment.

(3)   The quality and type of training must meet local employers' requirements so participants are in a competitive position with the local labor market.

(4)   Training is related to in-demand occupations that are likely to become available in Oklahoma, such as health care, geriatric care, and other career paths found at https://oklahomaworks.gov/.

(c)   Job Corps non-resident training program (Job Corps II). Oklahoma's four Job Corps centers provide a nonresident Job Corps program to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) participants who can commute to their sites. Participants referred must be between 16 and 24 years of age. The Adult and Family Services (AFS) worker completes Form 08MP013E, Referral for Services to refer the TANF participant to Job Corp. It is the AFS worker's responsibility to coordinate with the Job Corps center to arrange for child care.

(1)   By special agreement with the Job Corps centers, Job Corps II students are provided Job Corps participant training allowances designed to meet training costs not covered by the TANF cash assistance. These allowances are not considered as income.

(2)   The worker coordinates with the centers and other designated agencies, such as the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission (OESC) and Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) partners, to ensure Job Corps II students leaving the center are placed in an appropriate work activity. When a Job Corps II student leaves the center, the worker meets with the Job Corps II student to make immediate plans for further implementation of the employability plan.

(d)   Vocational training. Up to 12 months of participation in a vocational certificate, associate's degree, bachelor's degree, or advanced degree program may count as vocational training when it qualifies a participant to obtain immediate employment in a specific field.

(1)   When the institution of higher education has a TANF-funded contract, the participant must attend through the contracted provider.

(2)   The participant is required to participate the minimum number of hours in a TANF activity, per Oklahoma Administrative Code 340:10-2-1(2) or as mandated by the TANF-contracted provider.

(3)   The participant must maintain satisfactory academic progress with a minimum grade point average of 2.0 and verify progress at mid-term, when possible, and at the end of the semester. Progress may be verified by a grade report, transcript, or a statement from the contracted provider or other school official.

(4)   When satisfactory progress is not met, the AFS worker submits Form 08TW008E, Higher Education Probationary Approval Request, to AFS TANF staff to request a probationary approval period. When the probationary approval period is not approved, the participant is placed in another TANF Work activity.

(5)   Participants participating in a vocational certificate, associate's degree, bachelor's degree, or advanced degree program as part of the employability plan may count homework or study time up to one hour for each class hour, when the participant provides, at the beginning of each new class or semester; a class syllabus or a statement from the instructor, professor, or advisor that states the additional time is:

(A)   a class requirement;

(B)   above and beyond work normally completed during class hours; and

(C)   not used to make up missed class hours.

(e)   Special programs and demonstration efforts with other agencies. The Oklahoma Department of Human Services (DHS) may enter into special education, training, or employment efforts with federal, state, and local governmentsand with private for-profitand private not-for-profit organizations and agencies. When this occurs, involved county office staff is expected to comply with the terms of those agreements.

(f)   Job skills training. Training directly related to job skills required by an employer or that provides a participant with the ability to obtain employment or to advance or adapt to the changing demands of the workplace.

(1)   Time spent in vocational training in excess of 12 months that is an approved part of the participant's employability plan may be counted toward the required work activity hours, when the participant also participates in a different approved core activity for a minimum of 20 hours per week.

(2)   Homework or study time may count up to one hour for each class hour, when the participant provides, at the beginning of each new class or semester; a class syllabus or a statement from the instructor, professor, or advisor that states the additional time is:

(A)   a class requirement;

(B)   above and beyond the work normally completed during class hours; and

(C)   not used to make up missed class hours

[Source: Added at 15 Ok Reg 145, eff 11-1-97 (emergency); Added at 15 Ok Reg 1277, eff 3-1-98 (emergency); Added at 15 Ok Reg 2616, eff 6-25-98; Amended at 17 Ok Reg 2271, eff 5-1-00 (preemptive); Amended at 18 Ok Reg 2055, eff 7-1-01; Amended at 20 Ok Reg 850, eff 6-1-03; Amended at 21 Ok Reg 814, eff 5-1-04; Amended at 23 Ok Reg 980, eff 6-1-06; Amended at 24 Ok Reg 1020, eff 6-1-07; Amended at 25 Ok Reg 14, eff 8-3-07 (emergency); Amended at 25 Ok Reg 903, eff 6-1-08; Amended at 26 Ok Reg 168, eff 11-1-08 (emergency); Amended at 26 Ok Reg 1223, eff 6-1-09; Amended at 27 Ok Reg 2788, eff 8-1-10 (emergency); Amended at 28 Ok Reg 781, eff 6-1-11; Amended at 35 Ok Reg 1609, eff 9-17-18; Amended at 37 Ok Reg 1776, eff 9-15-20]