Sec. 31-3g. Assistance to displaced homemakers. Advisory council. Regulations. - Connecticut Statutes

      Sec. 31-3g. Assistance to displaced homemakers. Advisory council. Regulations. (a) The Labor Commissioner shall provide assistance within existing resources to displaced homemakers and access to programs specific to the job training and placement needs of displaced homemakers. The commissioner shall, through the job service office of the Employment Security Division, provide such access to all existing programs and services suitable to the skill development of the applying displaced homemaker. The commissioner shall establish the position of state-wide coordinator of services for displaced homemakers in the Labor Department. For the purposes of this section, a displaced homemaker is an individual who (1) has worked in the home providing unpaid household services for family members, (2) has been dependent on the income of another family member but is no longer supported by that income or is receiving public assistance, and (3) has had or would have difficulty in securing employment sufficient to provide for economic independence.

      (b) Such assistance and program access services shall include, but not be limited to: (1) Vocational counseling and education, (2) assessment of skills, (3) job training for various occupations, including skilled craft and technical vocations for which there is a demand in industry, (4) job placement, (5) assistance with child care and transportation, (6) personal counseling, (7) information and referral, and (8) financial management counseling.

      (c) In providing the appropriate assistance and access to all existing programs deemed suitable, the commissioner shall consider the applicants, with an emphasis on women over the age of thirty-five years, and their need for services based on their: (1) Financial resources, (2) level of marketable skills, (3) ability to speak the English language and (4) area of residence. The commissioner shall refer applicants to the appropriate support services necessary for employment and training.

      (d) The Labor Commissioner shall establish an Advisory Council on Displaced Homemakers and appoint not less than ten nor more than fifteen members, including representatives from the Labor Department, the Departments of Education, Higher Education and Social Services, the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women and providers of assistance and program access services, and such other members as the commissioner deems necessary. The advisory council shall consult with and advise the Labor Commissioner and the state-wide coordinator of services for displaced homemakers as to criteria which shall be used to identify displaced homemakers and determine programs and services appropriate to the skills development of the applying displaced homemaker. The advisory council shall develop specific recommendations for funding multiservice programs which meet the training and job placement needs of displaced homemakers.

      (e) The Labor Commissioner shall adopt regulations in accordance with chapter 54 to implement the provisions of this section. The commissioner shall consider the recommendations of the advisory council in the adoption of such regulations and in further funding requests necessary to provide services for the displaced homemaker population.

      (P.A. 83-371, S. 1, 2; P.A. 85-416, S. 1, 2, 4; P.A. 93-262, S. 60, 87.)

      History: P.A. 85-416 amended Subsec. (a) to require the commissioner to establish the position of state-wide coordinator of services for displaced homemakers and amended Subsec. (d) to require the advisory council to consult with and advise the state-wide coordinator of services for displaced homemakers; P.A. 93-262 replaced reference to departments of income maintenance and human resources with department of social services, effective July 1, 1993; (Revisor's note: In 1997 a reference in Subsec. (d) to "Departments of Labor, Education ..." was changed editorially by the Revisors to "Labor Department, the Departments of Education ..." for consistency with customary statutory usage).