Esta ley enmienda el Plan de Reorganización No. 1 de 1995 para establecer que la Administración para el Desarrollo Socioeconómico de la Familia debe referir a personas que han realizado trabajo doméstico por más de diez años y carecen de formación académica suficiente para ingresar al mercado laboral después de un evento como divorcio, separación, muerte o discapacidad del cónyuge o proveedor, a programas de educación vocacional. La ley busca facilitar la autosuficiencia económica de estas personas, coordinando esfuerzos entre el Departamento de la Familia, el Departamento de Educación y el Departamento del Trabajo y Recursos Humanos para ofrecer programas educativos y oportunidades de empleo.
(Approved on January 8, 2004)
To amend Section 6 of the Reorganization Plan No. 1 of July 27, 1995, as amended, to establish that the Administration for Social and Economic Development of the Family shall refer those person who have been engaged in domestic work for more than ten (10) years and who do not have sufficient academic training to enter the labor market after a divorce, separation, death or permanent physical disability of the spouse or provider, to a vocational education program and for other purposes.
Many people in our Country have married while adolescent having their sons and daughters at an early age, which has not allowed them to continue with their studies. Consequently, this has led them to exclusively perform domestic work.
In Puerto Rico, as in many countries of the world, the work of women at home is not officially recognized as such, although without her contribution, the basic unit of our society, the family and even the Country, could not function.
For the most part, it is the women who have performed this household work for years, many of whom have a low scholastic profile and little contact with the labor market apart from household matters. When a woman who has been married for so many years is divorced, her world crumbles, mostly due to the need to generate income that will not be available after the divorce. These people lack compensatory social rights such as those that
correspond to any one who work outside the home, such as social security, or a retirement pension.
This legislative bill would provide vocational courses to people who have worked in their home for a period greater than ten (10) years and do not have an academic background sufficient to enter the working world or create their own businesses, even from their homes. If they so desired, they could face this modern life which requires a high degree of learning. On the other hand, they would be enabled to pay their own social security, when formally entering the labor field.
It is meritorious that this Legislature propitiate that women who are not financially provided for a divorce, may, through an educational course or program, enter the field of labor, making them self-sufficient women in benefit of their Country and their family.
Section 1.- Section 6 of Reorganization Plan No. 1 of July 27, 1995, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows: "Section 6.- Social and Economic Development of the Family The Secretary shall appoint the Administrator, in consultation with the Governor, whose salary or remuneration shall be fixed under the customary rules of the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, for positions of the same or similar nature. The Administrator shall answer directly to the Secretary.
The Administration for the Social and Economic Development of the Family and its Administrator shall be in charge, without being limited to the programs for the care, protection and development of the children and youths; social work for the family and intervention in cases of adoption, abuse, abandonment, domestic violence and others; protection and care of
the elderly and the disabled; development of community work with emphasis on guidance, education and primary prevention services, addressed to facilitate the integral development of persons, making individuals selfsufficient. The Department of the Family shall work in an integrated way with the Department of Education and the Department of Labor and Human Resources, referring the cases of persons identified as having performed ten (10) years or more of domestic work and who do not have sufficient academic preparation to enter the labor market after a divorce, separation, death or permanent physical disability of the providing spouse. Once the persons have been referred, the Department of Education shall evaluate their academic needs and shall prepare an educational program for them that shall include placement in a school environment, shall design a follow-up plan to be aware of the skills or the limitations that prevent that the participants can develop fully in the academic areas, providing them with long and shortterm solutions until they complete the program of studies designed for them. Once the people have completed their studies, the Department of Education shall coordinate and refer the participants to the Department of Labor and Human Resources which, in turn, shall establish collaboration agreements with all the agencies, administrations and corporations of the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as with private enterprise, so that these people may become a part of the labor market. The Administration, shall also propitiate collective projects that promote a responsibility shared between the community and the government, where the community assumes an active role in handling the problems that affect the quality of life. The community work shall be addressed to developing the capacity of self sufficiency of individuals and families in order to facilitate their active integration to the productive process of society.
The Administration shall develop its programs and provide its services to the family in an integral way; and under the direction of the Secretary, shall coordinate its operations and services with the other components of the Department, through the Integral Service Centers.
The Administration shall assume the functions of the Child Services and Community Development Office."
Section 2.- The funds needed to comply with the purposes of this Act shall be identified and consigned in the General Government Expenses Budget as of fiscal year 2004-2005, and subsequently, specifically in the individual budget assigned to each of the agencies concerned in this Act.
Section 3.- The agencies involved in this Act are empowered to approve the regulations needed to comply with it, subject to the provisions of Act No. 170 of August 12, 1988, as amended, known as the "Uniform Administrative Procedures Act."
Section 4.- This Act shall take effect thirty (30) days after its approval.
I hereby certify to the Secretary of State that the following Act No. 33 (H.B. 4113) of the $6^{ ext {th }}$ Session of the $14^{ ext {th }}$ Legislature of Puerto Rico:
AN ACT to amend Section 6 of the Reorganization Plan No. 1 of July 27, 1995, as amended, to establish that the Administration for Social and Economic Development of the Family shall refer those person who have been engaged in domestic work for more than ten (10) years and who do not have sufficient academic training to enter the labor market after a divorce, separation, death or permanent physical disability of the spouse or provider, to a vocational education program and for other purposes, has been translated from Spanish to English and that the English version is correct.
In San Juan, Puerto Rico, today $4^{ ext {th }}$ of May of 2005.
Luis E. Fusté-Lacourt Director