Page 66

1000.13 TANF MANUAL 7/19 PAGE 57

3. Because OJT is a type of paid employment, the participant will not be required to participate in another concurrent activity if the client works in the OJT position 30 hours per week or more and earns at least minimum wage. Each assignment to OJT should be for a period of six months.

4. If the hours for any OJT position are less than 30 per week, the participant must be assigned to a concurrent program activity and must meet the 35-hour participation requirement.

5. A number of occupations, including cosmetologist, automobile mechanic, and dental assistant, can be trained either as a paid apprenticeship or as unpaid vocational education and training or as unpaid job skills training. Registered apprenticeship is a structured training program that combines on the job training and related technical instruction to train employees in occupations that demand a high level of skill in the private and public sectors. Occupations in construction, manufacturing, and the service industries utilize apprenticeship readily. A registered apprentice typically completes a minimum of 2,000 hours of supervised on-the-job training and a minimum of 144 hours of related classroom instruction for each year of apprenticeship. Information about apprenticeship requirements, apprenticable occupations, and employers offering opportunities in Virginia is available at http://www.doli.virginia/apprenticeship/registered_apprenticeship.html.

H. VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Vocational education and training is training or education designed to prepare the participant for a specific trade, occupation, or vocation. It is a countable activity for 12 months in a lifetime. The months of training do not have to be consecutive. Each assignment to vocational education and training should be for a period of time that will coincide with the length of the training/education program whenever possible.

Vocational education and training does not include education beyond the baccalaureate degree, nor does it include ABE, GED, or ESL instruction. Examples of activities that can be classified as vocational education and training are technology, business, and health sciences programs leading to certificates, associate or baccalaureate degrees in the trades, information technology, medical equipment repair, accounting administration, medical assisting, practical or registered nursing, business, education, criminal justice and health sciences. Prior to entering vocational education and training, a participant must meet any educational or technical requirements of the occupation for which she is preparing or be enrolled in an activity to meet the requirements.

Programs meeting the definition of vocational education and training are offered by a wide range of institutions including vocational-technical schools, community colleges, post-secondary institutions, proprietary schools, and secondary schools offering vocational education. The choice of vocational education and training offered may vary in each locality, depending upon local labor market conditions.

Up to one hour of unsupervised study or homework time can be counted as vocational education and training for each hour of scheduled class time. The need for unsupervised homework/study time must be confirmed by the education or training program. Unless specifically required by the instructor, unsupervised study or homework time cannot be counted as vocational education and training when the training is outside the classroom and the activity does not support counting unsupervised study or homework hours. Supervised study time verified by the education or training program may also be counted as participation.

Transmittal 66