JOB PLACEMENT INCENTIVE PROGRAM

(a) The commission by rule shall develop a job placement incentive program under which persons with whom local workforce development boards contract for employment services under Chapter 2308, Government Code, are provided incentives for placing recipients of financial assistance and nonrecipient parents participating in employment programs under Chapter 31, Human Resources Code, in higher-wage jobs, as determined by the commission. (b) In developing guidelines for the job placement incentive program, the commission shall: (1) define measures for higher-wage jobs based on: (A) locally appropriate indicators of the wages necessary to lift recipients of employment services out of poverty and into self-sufficiency; and (B) the self-sufficiency wage developed for each local workforce development board under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. Section 2801 et seq.); and (2) involve representatives of local workforce development boards in developing guidelines for the program and the measures for higher-wage jobs. (c) The commission shall administer the job placement incentive program through the local workforce development boards. (d) A local workforce development board that provides a monetary incentive under the job placement incentive program to a person with whom the board contracts for employment services shall require the person to use the money for expenses relating to education, training, and support services necessary to prepare, place, and maintain recipients of financial assistance and nonrecipient parents in jobs paying wages that allow those persons to attain self-sufficiency.