The purpose of the Refugee Resettlement Services Program is to provide adjustment services such as employment services, English language and vocational training, cultural orientation and other services to individuals residing in Maryland who are refugees, have been granted asylum, or are victims of a severe form of trafficking in persons, so that they may become economically and socially self-sufficient as quickly as possible. In this chapter, the following terms have the meanings indicated. Terms Defined. “Administration” means the Family Investment Administration of the Department of Human Services. “Asylee” means an individual who has been granted asylum in the United States in accordance with §208 of the Immigration and Naturalization Act, whose status has been verified by one of the following documents: Asylum approval letter from an INS Asylum office; INS Form I-94 noting that the individual has been admitted under §208 of the Immigration and Naturalization Act; INS Form I-94 with the admission codes AS-1, AS-2, or AS-3; INS Form I-94 with Visa 93 or V-93 indicated; or Order of an immigration judge granting asylum under §208 of the Immigration and Naturalization Act. Employability Assessment. “Employability assessment” means the process of determining the employability of individuals, as well as their progress toward the achievement of predefined occupational goals. “Employability assessment” may include assessment of: Aptitudes; Barriers to employment; Interests; Language ability; Present abilities; Previous education; and Work experience. “Employability plan” means an individualized written plan for serving an individual which defines an employment goal and the developmental services or steps required to meet the goal within a mutually agreed-upon time frame. “Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)” means the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the United States Justice Department, which provides documentation of the status of refugees, asylees, and victims of a severe form of trafficking in persons. “Local department” means the local department of social services in the county, the Baltimore City Department of Social Services, or the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services, where the applicant who is a refugee, asylee, or victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons resides. “On-the-job training (OJT)” means training a refugee, asylee, or victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons receives on the job and for which a stipend is usually paid by the employer as part of the salary. “Refugee” means an individual designated as a refugee by INS or declared to be eligible for refugee services by some other action of the federal government. “Service provider” means a public or private nonprofit agency or local department which provides refugee services under a contractual or grant agreement with the Administration or local department. “Victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons” means an individual who: Has been: A victim of sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act was induced by fraud, force, or coercion, or in which the individual induced to perform the act was not 18 years old or older at the time of the act; or Recruited, harbored, transported, provided, or obtained for labor or services through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery; and Has a letter from the Office of Refugee Resettlement in the United States Department of Health and Human Services: Certifying the individual who is 18 years old or older as a victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons; or Recognizing the individual who is younger than 18 years old as a victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons. “Voluntary resettlement agency” means the agency which: Arranges resettlement of refugees from refugee camps to communities within the United States through a contract with the United States State Department; and Is responsible for certain reception and placement services to refugees for the first 90 days after their arrival in the United States. An individual is eligible for the Refugee Resettlement Services Program if the individual: Resides in the State of Maryland; Is a refugee, asylee, or victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons; and Agrees to receive the service and follow the employability plan. The individual shall apply to the local department or other service provider. The applicant shall complete the application form provided by the Administration. The applicant shall show proper identification issued by INS. The service provider may not accept an application without proper identification. The local department shall accept the application for social services and determine eligibility within 30 days. The local department shall meet with the applicant, and based on an employability assessment, develop an employability plan. The local department may not continue the process if the applicant refuses to agree in writing to the employability plan. The service provider shall provide, or arrange for the provision of, the following services: Employment services, which include; Employability assessment and plan, Employment counseling, including work orientation, job readiness training, job search assistance, reassessment, job clubs and job workshops, Job development, including job orders, referrals, placements, follow up and job upgrades; Training in the following: English language training, including English as a Second Language (ESL) and Vocational English as a Second Language (VESL), Vocational training, and On-the-job training (OJT). The service provider may provide the following services: Outreach services; Skills recertification; Day care; Transportation; Social adjustment services, which include: Emergency, information and referral, Health-related, Home management services; and Translation and interpreter services. The local department may not provide a service to an applicant who is entitled to and receiving that service from a voluntary resettlement agency. The local department shall reevaluate the employability plan and eligibility of the recipient: When there is a change in circumstances that would affect eligibility, or employability; and At least every 6 months. The local department shall terminate services when the: Recipient becomes ineligible; Goals of the employability plan are met; Recipient requests termination; or Recipient refuses to agree to the employability plan. When the local department decides to deny, suspend, reduce, or terminate service, the local department shall send, at least 15 days before the action is taken, a written notice of its intent to deny, suspend, reduce, or terminate service. The local department shall include the following in the notification: The action to be taken; The reason for the action; The specific regulation supporting the decision; and A statement of the right to and method for obtaining a fair hearing. An applicant or recipient of services may appeal a local departmental decision according to the fair hearings procedures in COMAR 07.01.04. Discrimination against applicants or recipients is prohibited according to the nondiscrimination provisions in COMAR 07.01.03. Human Services Article, §5-608, Annotated Code of Maryland(Agency Note: Federal Regulatory Reference, 45 CFR 400) Effective date: April 22, 1985 (12:8 Md. R. 800) Chapter recodified from COMAR 07.02.19 to COMAR 07.06.08 in 1988 Chapter revised effective March 18, 2002 (29:5 Md. R. 502) Chapter recodified from COMAR 07.06.08 to COMAR 07.03.23, effective June, 2009