Truancy Prevention and Juvenile Crime Reduction Act of 1998

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Truancy Prevention and Juvenile 
Crime Reduction Act of 1998''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Truancy is the first sign of trouble--the first 
        indicator that a young person is giving up and losing his or 
        her way.
            (2) Many students who become truant eventually drop out of 
        school, and high school drop outs are two and a half times more 
        likely to be on welfare than high school graduates; twice as 
        likely to be unemployed, or if employed, earn lower salaries.
            (3) Truancy is the top-ranking characteristic of 
        criminals--more common than such factors as coming from single-
        parent families and being abused as children.
            (4) High rates of truancy are linked to high daytime 
        burglary rates and high vandalism.
            (5) As much as 44 percent of violent juvenile crime takes 
        place during school hours.
            (6) As many as 75 percent of children ages 13-16 who are 
        arrested and prosecuted for crimes are truants.
            (7) Some cities report as many as 70 percent of daily 
        student absences are unexcused, and the total number of 
        absences in a single city can reach 4,000 per day.
            (8) Society pays a significant social and economic cost due 
        to truancy: only 34 percent of inmates have completed high 
        school education; 17 percent of youth under age 18 entering 
        adult prisons have not completed grade school (8th grade or 
        less), 25 percent completed 10th grade, and 2 percent completed 
        high school.
            (9) Truants and later high school drop outs cost the Nation 
        $240 billion in lost earnings and foregone taxes over their 
        lifetimes, and the cost of crime control is staggering.
            (10) In many instances, parents are unaware a child is 
        truant.
            (11) Effective truancy prevention, early intervention, and 
        accountability programs can improve school attendance and 
        reduce daytime crime rates.
            (12) There is a lack of targeted funding for effective 
        truancy prevention programs in current law.

SEC. 3. GRANTS.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Eligible partnership.--The term ``eligible 
        partnership'' means a partnership between 1 or more qualified 
        units of local government and 1 or more local educational 
        agencies.
            (2) Local educational agency.--The term ``local educational 
        agency'' has the meaning given the term in section 14101 of the 
        Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
        8801).
            (3) Qualified unit of local government.--The term 
        ``qualified unit of local government'' means a unit of local 
        government that has in effect, as of the date on which the 
        eligible partnership submits an application for a grant under 
        this section, a statute or regulation that meets the 
        requirements of paragraphs (12), (13), (14), and (15) of 
        section 223(a) of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency and 
        Prevention Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5633(a)).
            (4) Unit of local government.--The term ``unit of local 
        government'' means any city, county, township, town, borough, 
        parish, village, or other general purpose political subdivision 
        of a State, or any Indian tribe.
    (b) Grant Authority.--The Attorney General, in consultation with 
the Secretary of Education, shall make grants in accordance with this 
section on a competitive basis to eligible partnerships to reduce 
truancy and the incidence of daytime juvenile crime.
    (c) Maximum Amount; Allocation; Renewal.--
            (1) Maximum amount.--The total amount awarded to an 
        eligible partnership under this section in any fiscal year 
        shall not exceed $100,000.
            (2) Allocation.--Not less than 25 percent of each grant 
        awarded to an eligible partnership under this section shall be 
        allocated for use by the local educational agency or agencies 
participating in the partnership.
            (3) Renewal.--A grant awarded under this section for a 
        fiscal year may be renewed for an additional period of not more 
        than 2 fiscal years.
    (d) Use of Funds.--
            (1) In general.--Grant amounts made available under this 
        section may be used by an eligible partnership to 
        comprehensively address truancy through the use of--
                    (A) parental involvement in prevention activities, 
                including meaningful incentives for parental 
                responsibility;
                    (B) sanctions, including community service and 
                drivers' license suspension for students who are 
                habitually truant;
                    (C) parental accountability, including fines, 
                teacher-aid duty, community service;
                    (D) in-school truancy prevention programs, 
                including alternative education and in-school 
                suspension;
                    (E) involvement of the local law enforcement, 
                social services, judicial, business, and religious 
                communities, and nonprofit organizations;
                    (F) technology, including automated telephone 
                notice to parents and computerized attendance system; 
                or
                    (G) elimination of 40-day count and other 
                unintended incentives to allow students to be truant 
                after a certain time of school year.
            (2) Model programs.--In carrying out this section, the 
        Attorney General may give priority to funding programs that 
        attempt to replicate 1 or more of the following model programs:
                    (A) The Truancy Intervention Project of the Fulton 
                County, Georgia, Juvenile Court.
                    (B) The TABS (Truancy Abatement and Burglary 
                Suppression) program of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
                    (C) The Roswell Daytime Curfew Program of Roswell, 
                New Mexico.
                    (D) The Stop, Cite and Return Program of Rohnert 
                Park, California.
                    (E) The Stay in School Program of New Haven, 
                Connecticut.
                    (F) The Atlantic County Project Helping Hand of 
                Atlantic County, New Jersey.
                    (G) The THRIVE (Truancy Habits Reduced Increasing 
                Valuable Education) initiative of Oklahoma City, 
                Oklahoma.
                    (H) The Norfolk, Virginia project using computer 
                software and data collection.
                    (I) The Community Service Early Intervention 
                Program of Marion, Ohio.
                    (J) The Truancy Reduction Program of Bakersfield, 
                California.
                    (K) The Grade Court program of Farmington, New 
                Mexico.
                    (L) Any other model program that the Attorney 
                General determines to be appropriate.
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section, $25,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 1999, 2000, and 2001.

Summary: Truancy Prevention and Juvenile Crime Reduction Act of 1998 - Directs the Attorney General to make grants to eligible partnerships of local governmental units and local educational agencies to reduce truancy and the incidence of daytime juvenile crime. Sets forth provisions regarding maximum grant awards, allocation of such awards, and grant renewal. Authorizes the use of grant amounts to comprehensively address truancy through: (1) parental involvement in prevention activities, (2) sanctions, (3) parental accountability, (4) in-school truancy prevention programs. (5) involvement of local law enforcement, social services, judicial, business, and religious communities, and nonprofit organizations, (6) technology. Or (7) elimination of 40-day count and other unintended incentives to allow students to be truant after a certain time of school year. Authorizes the Attorney General to give priority to funding programs that attempt to replicate specified model programs. Authorizes appropriations.