Family Services Improvement Act of 1997

Summary: Family Services Improvement Act of 1997 - Directs the President to designate a Federal Coordination Council composed of various specified cabinet secretaries and other Federal agency heads to perform a variety of specified functions for the stated purposes of:  (1) removing Federal impediments to coordination of service delivery; (2) enabling more efficient use of Federal, State, and local resources through program coordination and reduction of regulation; (3) facilitating cooperation among and coordination of programs operated by State, local, and tribal governments and private, nonprofit organizations; (4) identifying at least ten qualified consortia of such organizations and State or local agencies that receive federally appropriated funds, together with representatives of specified services, to participate in a demonstration program to determine the benefits of specified accountability procedures; and (5) placing less emphasis in Federal service programs on measuring resources and procedures and more emphasis on accountability for achieving policy goals. 
Requires the Federal Coordination Council to submit to the Congress:  (1) not later than one year after the designation of the Council, a report detailing any legislative encumbrances preventing the Council from carrying out its duties; and (2) not later than three years after the designation of the Council, a report detailing any regulations implemented as a result of the Council's findings.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Family Services Improvement Act of 
1997''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) historically, Federal programs have addressed the 
        Nation's problems by providing categorical financial assistance 
        with detailed requirements relating to the use of funds;
            (2) while the assistance described in paragraph (1) has 
        been directed at critical problems, some program requirements 
        may inadvertently impede the effective delivery of services, 
        and the Federal government should exercise leadership in 
        eliminating these impediments;
            (3) the Nation's State, local, and tribal governments and 
        private, nonprofit organizations are dealing with increasingly 
        complex problems that require the coordinated delivery of many 
        kinds of services;
            (4) the Nation's communities are diverse, and different 
        needs are present in different communities; and
            (5) it is more important than ever for the Federal 
        Government to--
                    (A) review, coordinate, and rationalize rules, 
                regulations and policies governing the range of Federal 
                financial assistance programs;
                    (B) reduce the barriers between programs that 
                impede State, local, and tribal governments' ability to 
                deliver services in a coordinated and effective manner; 
                and
                    (C) promote more effective and efficient local 
                delivery of services.

SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act are to--
            (1) remove Federal impediments to coordination of service 
        delivery;
            (2) enable more efficient use of Federal, State, and local 
        resources through program coordination and reduction of 
        regulation;
            (3) facilitate cooperation among and coordination of 
        programs operated by State, local, and tribal governments and 
        private, nonprofit organizations; and
            (4) place less emphasis in Federal service programs on 
        measuring resources and procedures and more emphasis on 
        accountability for achieving policy goals.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act--
            (1) Eligible federal financial assistance program.--The 
        term ``eligible Federal financial assistance program''--
                    (A) means a Federal program under which financial 
                assistance is available, directly or indirectly, to a 
                State, local, or tribal government or a qualified 
                organization to carry out a specified program;
                    (B) does not include a Federal program under which 
                financial assistance is provided by the Federal 
                Government directly to a beneficiary of that financial 
                assistance, or to a State to provide financial or food 
                voucher assistance directly to a beneficiary (but may 
                include administrative costs for such a program if 
                administrative funding levels are set separately from 
                benefit funding by law or regulation);
                    (C) includes the services portion of a program that 
                provides both direct cash payments and services; and
                    (D) does not include a direct spending program (as 
                defined under the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 (2 
                U.S.C. 900(c)(8)).
            (2) Eligible state, local, or tribal government.--The term 
        ``eligible State, local, or tribal government'' means a State, 
        local, or tribal government that is eligible to receive 
        financial assistance under one or more eligible Federal 
        financial assistance programs;
            (3) Local government.--The term ``local government'' 
        means--
                    (A) a subdivision of a State that is a unit of 
                general local government (as defined under section 6501 
                of title 31, United States Code);
                    (B) any combination of political subdivisions 
                described in subparagraph (A) recognized by the 
                Council; and
                    (C) local education agencies (as defined under 
                section 8801(18) of title 20, United States Code);
            (4) Qualified organization.--The term ``qualified 
        organization'' means a private, nonprofit organization 
        described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
        1986 that is exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of the 
        Internal Revenue Code of 1986;
            (5) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the 50 States, 
        the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, 
        and the Virgin Islands;
            (6) Qualified consortium.--The term ``qualified 
        consortium'' means a group that--
                    (A) is composed of any combination of qualified 
                organizations, State agencies, or local agencies that 
                receive federally appropriated funds, and
                    (B) includes representatives from not less than 
                three organizations providing services in not less than 
                three of the following areas:
                            (i) Education.
                            (ii) Head Start.
                            (iii) Child care.
                            (iv) Family support and preservation.
                            (v) Maternal and child health.
                            (vi) Job training.
                            (vii) Housing.
                            (viii) Nutrition.
                            (ix) Juvenile justice.
                            (x) Drug abuse prevention and treatment; 
                        and
            (7) Tribal government.--The term ``tribal government'' 
        means the governing entity of an Indian tribe as defined in the 
        Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 
        479a), and any amendments to such Act.

SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF FEDERAL COORDINATION COUNCIL.

    (a) Designation and Membership.--The President shall designate a 
Federal Coordination Council, in this Act referred to as ``Council'', 
composed of the following:
            (1) The Attorney General.
            (2) The Secretary of Agriculture.
            (3) The Secretary of Labor.
            (4) The Secretary of Health and Human Services.
            (5) The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
            (6) The Secretary of Education.
            (7) The Director of National Drug Control Policy.
            (8) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
            (9) Any additional members appointed at the discretion of 
        the President.
    (b) Chairperson.--The President shall designate a Chair of the 
Council from among members of the Council.
    (c) Duties.--The Council shall perform the following functions:
            (1) Review regulations governing eligible Federal financial 
        assistance programs in the areas listed in section 4(1)(A) and 
        identify more efficient operation and coordination of such 
        programs.
            (2) Coordinate and assist Federal agencies in eliminating, 
        revising, and coordinating regulations, including regulations 
        with respect to the blending of funds.
            (3) Coordinate and assist Federal agencies in creating an 
        application to be used to apply for assistance from eligible 
        Federal financial assistance programs in the areas listed in 
        section 4(1)(A).
            (4) Coordinate and assist Federal agencies in creating a 
        release form to be used by a client to authorize or prohibit 
        service providers, including schools, from sharing information 
        across eligible Federal financial assistance programs.
            (5) Coordinate and assist agencies in creating a system 
        wherein an organization or consortium of organizations may use 
        one proposal to apply for funding from multiple eligible 
        Federal financial assistance programs.
            (6) Evaluate current performance standards and evaluation 
        criteria for eligible Federal financial assistance programs, 
        and make specific recommendations to Federal agencies regarding 
        how to revise such standards and criteria in order to establish 
        specific and measurable performance and outcome measures by 
        which program success may be judged and future funding 
        decisions made.
            (7) Ensure that Federal grants program criteria award 
        priority funding to qualified consortia.
            (8) Establish interagency teams comprised of staff from the 
        agencies that administer the covered federal financial 
        assistance programs to provide training and technical 
        assistance to assist program coordination.
            (9) Establish interagency teams to provide outcome-based, 
        cross-program evaluation of coordinated programs.
            (10) Identify not less than ten qualified consortia to 
        participate in a demonstration program to determine the 
        benefits of the following accountability procedures:
                    (A) The qualified consortium shall select a set of 
                specific and measurable program goals.
                    (B) The qualified consortium shall develop a 
                flexibility and coordination plan to describe--
                            (i) how the consortium will attain these 
                        goals;
                            (ii) how performance will be measured; and
                            (iii) how the consortium will identify 
                        subgroups within the community, and collect and 
                        maintain data to measure the impact of the plan 
                        on individuals, the subgroups, and the 
                        community.
    (d) Reports.--
            (1) Not later than one year after the designation of the 
        Council, the Council shall submit to the Congress a report 
        detailing any legislative encumbrances preventing the Council 
        from carrying out its duties.
            (2) Not later than three years after the designation of the 
        Council, the Council shall submit to the Congress a report 
        detailing any regulations implemented as a result of findings 
        of the Council.

SEC. 6. INCENTIVES TO FORM CONSORTIA.

    (a) Exemption from Requirements.--Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, members of a qualified consortium shall be exempted, 
without any waiver application or approval, but subject to prior 
notification to the agency administering the affected Federal 
assistance programs, from meeting requirements or providing services 
which are met or performed by another member of the consortium, so long 
as the standards of the requirement or service are met by that other 
member of the consortium.
    (b) Retention of Certain Funds.--Any funds which each individual 
program saves from the program coordination described in subsection (a) 
may be retained by the consortium in a flexible account which shall be 
administered in accordance with a memorandum of understanding agreed to 
by each member of the consortium. Flexible account funds may be used to 
expand, improve, or otherwise augment services provided by the 
consortium, consistent with the intent of Federal programs managed by 
consortium members, including data systems development and joint 
professional development with staff from other consortium members.
    (c) Permission to Set Aside Percentage of Funds.--Any agency or 
organization that is a member of a consortium may at its discretion set 
aside a maximum of 10 percent of its Federal funds in the flexible 
account described in subsection (b).
    (d) Audit of Federal Financial Assistance Programs.--The Federal 
agencies with jurisdiction over Federal financial assistance programs 
included in a consortium may designate a cognizant agency to audit 
flexible fund expenditures.
    (f) Enforcement of Requirements of Federal Financial Assistance 
Programs.--The Federal agencies with jurisdiction over Federal 
financial assistance programs included in a consortium may designate a 
cognizant agency to enforce the authorization requirements of Federal 
assistance programs.