§ 42. Youth education, employment and training program. This program
shall provide services to economically disadvantaged in-school and
out-of-school youth fourteen to twenty-one years of age and shall be
subject to the following provisions of this section:

1. The goals of this program shall be entry into post-secondary
education, enrollment in vocational or skills training programs, or the
attainment of favorable employment and career opportunities. To obtain
program goals, local projects shall include one or more of the following
objectives: retention in high school, improvement in basic academic and
vocational skills and, when attainable, the acquisition of a high school
diploma or its equivalent.

2. For the purpose of this section, the following terms shall have the
following meanings: "local project" shall mean the specific plan or
proposal for support and/or direct client services at the local level as
specified in a contractual agreement with employment and training
providers pursuant to this section; and "economically disadvantaged"
shall be defined as set forth in regulations promulgated by the state
education department pursuant to sections sixty-four hundred fifty-one
and sixty-four hundred fifty-two of the education law or as set forth in
the federal job training partnership act, public law 97-300 or its
successor program or in the absence of such, as defined by the
commissioner. Moneys to fund the program may be used for projects in
which up to ten percent of the participants enrolled, on a project by
project basis, are youth who are not economically disadvantaged if such
youth have been identified as at risk of dropping out of school or have
barriers to employment.

3. Subject to the limits of available moneys for this program and the
approval of the director of the budget, the commissioner, in
consultation with the commissioner of education, shall select and make
contracts with preference to employment and training providers who have
demonstrated effectiveness in serving disadvantaged youth for the
purpose of conducting local projects. Such moneys may be used for
contractors selected on a competitive basis consistent with executive
order number one hundred twenty-seven which expedites and simplifies
contracting with not-for-profit agencies. Such employment and training
providers shall only include not-for-profit community based
organizations, boards of cooperative educational services,
post-secondary educational agencies, grant recipients or administrative
entities of the service delivery areas (hereinafter referred to as
SDAs), as may be defined by the Federal Job Training Partnership Act
(hereinafter referred to as JTPA) or its successor program or in the
absence of such, as defined by the commissioner, joint apprentice
committees, labor organizations, and public and private employers.
Preference in selection of such contractors shall be given to qualified
and experienced community based organizations with proven ability to
administer such programs.

4. Moneys for this program shall be apportioned in a manner that
ensures a distribution of funds to projects operating in communities
which have high rates of youth unemployment, significant drop-out rates
among high school-aged youth, large numbers of youth living in poverty,
and a high proportion of households receiving public assistance
benefits.

5. Such moneys may not be used for an SDA as an employment and
training provider for local projects for out-of-school youth unless it
has been determined by the commissioner that no other employment and
training provider is available in the area which this program is
designed to serve.

6. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary, the
educational opportunity centers (hereinafter referred to as EOCs)
operated by the state university and educational centers operated by the
units of the city university of New York are hereby authorized to
contract with employment and training providers funded pursuant to this
section for provision of services authorized under this section and to
receive reimbursement for services provided. For the purpose of this
program, all participants eligible for services pursuant to this section
shall be deemed to be eligible for services provided by the EOCs.

7. Allowable activities under this section may include tutoring, basic
skills remediation, occupational/vocational training, vocational
exploration, on-the-job and supervised worksite training, counseling,
and support services. Local projects shall integrate such allowable
activities, as fully as possible.

8. Participants in programs under this section may be granted a
stipend if such youth are not participating in a paid work experience.
On an individual participant basis, the local project operator may
extend tutorial services, basic skills remediation, and counseling
beyond one program year, provided the participant continues to meet the
other eligibility requirements of this program.

9. Pursuant to a memorandum of agreement, the education department
shall be responsible for the approval of the educational component of
local projects under this section predicated upon a review of each local
project proposal. Such educational component shall include programs of
instruction, remedial activities, and services designed to improve
participants' performance in reading, writing, communication, math, and
science. Academic credit may be made available to qualifying
participants for their involvement and performance in this program.
Local projects shall be evaluated for credit and recommendations shall
be made to local schools by the education department.

10. As a condition of participating in programs under this section,
each employment and training provider shall establish cooperative
relationships for improving linkages with local educational agencies and
SDAs which insure that school-based educational activities are
integrated with the educational component of the local project as fully
as possible.

11. Up to ten percent of the program funds allocated to local projects
for direct client services may be expended for support services,
provided that such support services are not available from other
federal, state, local, or private resources. Such support services shall
include day care which meets state standards, transportation, meal
allowances, and clothing allowances.

12. No moneys shall be allocated to the department for support and/or
direct client services unless the following conditions have been met: a
memorandum of agreement has been signed with the education department
pursuant to this section; and, regulations governing the selection and
implementation of local projects have been issued. Further, no
liabilities shall be assumed or moneys expended for support and/or
direct client services unless such funding is specified in a contractual
agreement with employment and training providers and the educational
component of such contract has been approved by the education
department.

13. Of the total funds made available for the payment of local
projects for in-school youth and out-of-school youth, no more than one
million three hundred forty-nine thousand dollars shall be allocated for
local projects administered by service delivery areas. Provided further
that as a condition of funding under such appropriation, a fifty percent
match for the amount made available for local projects for in-school
youth shall be required from employment and training providers out of
in-kind services or moneys received through other local, private, or
federal resources; except that a match of those funds designated for
payment of participant wages and fringe benefits shall not be required.
However, fifty percent of the payment of wages and fringe benefits to
participants in approved vocational exploration or trial work experience
in local projects for in-school youth administered by SDAs and funded
under such appropriations shall be subsidized by the SDA out of moneys
received through JTPA or its successor program, except that no JTPA or
successor program subsidization of trial work experience shall be
required if the SDA shall have otherwise obligated all moneys received
through JTPA or its successor program, in which case the SDA may meet
its obligation to subsidize from moneys received from any available
source other than such appropriation. Further, no more than twenty-five
percent of the payment of wages and fringe benefits to participants in
on-the-job training in local projects for in-school youth administered
by SDAs shall be paid from funds made available pursuant to such
appropriation and any such funds so used shall be matched by the SDA out
of moneys received through JTPA or its successor program, unless the SDA
shall have otherwise obligated all moneys received through JTPA or its
successor program.

14. As a condition of receipt of moneys for payments for local
projects for in-school youth and out-of-school youth local projects for
out-of-school youth shall give preference to youth who are homeless and
to adolescent parents, provided such youth meet other eligibility
requirements of this program. Employment and training providers under
this appropriation shall not be required to match moneys made available
for local projects for out-of-school youth.

15. Notwithstanding any other law, rule or regulation to the contrary,
the department shall prepare and submit to the governor, the temporary
president of the senate, the speaker of the assembly and the chair of
the legislative commission on skills development and vocational
education, an annual evaluation report of this program no later than
October thirty-first following the end of the program year. The report
shall include a statement of program objectives which identifies
outcomes and indicators of the effectiveness of the program. It shall
represent the extent to which program activities meet program objectives
including, but not limited to, improvements in participants' educational
competencies and employability skills as measured by accepted testing
tools. The basic measures of performance for projects for in-school
youth shall be: high school retention, attainment of a high school
diploma, enrollment in a post-secondary educational program or
vocational skills training program, or attainment of unsubsidized
employment. The basic measure of performance for projects for
out-of-school youth shall be: improvement in basic academic and
vocational skills, return to high school, attainment of a high school
equivalency diploma, enrollment in a post-secondary educational program
or vocational skills training program, or attainment of unsubsidized
employment. The report shall include a separate count of participants
who have participated in the same program model through more than one
program cycle. A methodology shall be prescribed which requires
collection of post-program information on program participants
including, but not limited to, whether a participant receives a high
school degree or its equivalent and subsequent labor market experience
for one year following termination from the program, and the extent to
which the participant achieved outcomes as defined by the certified
program model. The report shall also describe the types of support
services provided, levels of expenditure, and demonstrate how such
support services improve participant involvement in local projects.

16. Notwithstanding any other law, rule, or regulation to the
contrary, including the provisions of the social services law, wages and
income earned by the participants of this program who are receiving
assistance under the temporary assistance for needy families block grant
shall be exempt and disregarded when determining the need for such
assistance in accordance with federal law and regulations or pursuant to
waiver of such law and regulations. Wages and income earned by
participants in this program, who are receiving assistance pursuant to
the safety net assistance program, or under the temporary assistance for
needy families block grant, or the veterans assistance program, shall be
exempt and disregarded when determining the need for such assistance.
Such income and wage exemptions and disregards shall be allowed, if, and
as long as, federal financial participation is available.

17. Notwithstanding any other law, rule or regulation to the contrary,
employment and training providers funded through this program shall be
designated no later than June first of each year. Failure of providers
to submit required monthly or fiscal reports to the department without
waiver for reasonable or unanticipated circumstances shall cause forfeit
of the program contract effective after sixty days notification to
providers.