Link-up for Learning Grant Act

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Link-up for Learning Grant Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) growing numbers of children live in an environment of 
        social and economic conditions that greatly increase the risk 
        of academic failure when such children become students;
            (2) more than 20 percent of the Nation's children live in 
        poverty while at the same time the Nation's infrastructure of 
        social support for such children has greatly eroded, for 
        example, 40 percent of eligible children do not receive free or 
        reduced price lunches or benefit from food stamps, 25 percent 
        of such children are not covered by health insurance, and only 
        20 percent of such children are accommodated in public housing;
            (3) many at-risk students suffer the effects of inadequate 
        nutrition and health care, overcrowded and unsafe living 
        conditions and homelessness, family and gang violence, 
        substance abuse, sexual abuse, child abuse, involuntary 
        migration, and limited English proficiency that often create 
        severe barriers to learning the knowledge and skills needed to 
        become literate, independent, and productive citizens;
            (4) almost half of all children and youth live in a single 
        parent family for some period of their lives, resulting in 
        greatly reduced parental involvement in their education;
            (5) high proportions of disadvantaged and minority children 
        live with never married mothers or teenage mothers who have 
        extremely limited resources available for early childhood 
        development and education;
            (6) large numbers of children and youth are recent 
        immigrants or children of recent immigrants with limited 
        English proficiency and significant unmet educational needs;
            (7) services for at-risk students are fragmented, 
        expensive, overregulated, often ineffective and duplicative, 
        and focused on narrow problems and not the needs of the whole 
        child and family;
            (8) school personnel and other support service providers 
        often lack knowledge of and access to available services for 
        at-risk students and their family in the community, are 
        constrained by bureaucratic obstacles from providing the 
        services most needed, and have few resources or incentives to 
        coordinate services;
            (9) service providers for at-risk students such as 
        teachers, social workers, health care givers, juvenile justice 
        workers and others are trained in separate institutions, 
        practice in separate agencies, and pursue separate professional 
        activities that provide little support for coordination and 
        integration of services;
            (10) coordination and integration of services for at-risk 
        students emphasizing prevention and early intervention offers a 
        great opportunity to break the cycle of poverty that leads to 
        academic failure, teenage parenthood, leaving school, low skill 
        levels, unemployment, and low income; and
            (11) coordination of services is more cost effective for 
        schools and support agencies because it reduces duplication, 
        improves quality of services, and substitutes prevention for 
        expensive crisis intervention.

SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

    (a) In General.--It is the purpose of this Act to make 
demonstration grants to eligible entities to improve the educational 
performance of at-risk students by--
            (1) removing barriers to such student's learning;
            (2) coordinating and enhancing the effectiveness of 
        educational support services;
            (3) replicating and disseminating programs of high quality 
        coordinated support services;
            (4) increasing parental educational involvement;
            (5) improving the capacity of school and support services 
        personnel to collaborate educational services;
            (6) integrating services, regulations, data bases, 
        eligibility procedures and funding sources whenever possible; 
        and
            (7) focusing school and community resources on prevention 
        and early intervention strategies to address student needs 
        holistically.
    (b) Additional Purposes.--It is also the purpose of this Act to 
foster planning, coordination, and collaboration among local, county, 
State, and Federal educational and other student support service 
agencies and levels of government, nonprofit organizations, and the 
private sector to improve the educational performance of at-risk 
students by--
            (1) identifying and removing unnecessary regulations, 
        duplication of services, and obstacles to coordination;
            (2) improving communication and information exchange;
            (3) creating joint funding pools or resource banks;
            (4) providing cross-training of agency personnel; and
            (5) increasing parental and community involvement in 
        education.

SEC. 4. GRANTS AUTHORIZED.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary is authorized to award grants to 
eligible entities to pay the Federal share of the costs of the 
activities described in section 7.
    (b) Special Consideration.--In awarding grants under this Act, the 
Secretary shall give special consideration to--
            (1) providing an equitable geographic distribution of such 
        grants;
            (2) providing grants to eligible recipients serving urban 
        and rural districts with high proportions of at-risk students;
            (3) awarding grants for programs involving interagency 
        teams of collaborators providing case management services; and
            (4) providing grants to eligible recipients serving areas 
        that experience a significant increase in the number of at-risk 
        students.
    (c) Duration.--Grants made under this Act may be awarded for a 
period of not more than 3 years if the Secretary determines that the 
eligible recipient has made satisfactory progress toward the 
achievement of the program objectives described in the application 
submitted pursuant to section 8.

SEC. 5. ELIGIBILITY.

    (a) In General.--For the purposes of this Act the term ``eligible 
entity'' means--
            (1) at least one local educational agency in partnership 
        with at least one public agency;
            (2) at least one nonprofit organization, institution of 
        higher education, or private enterprise in partnership with at 
        least one local educational agency; or
            (3) a local educational agency that is receiving assistance 
        under the Head Start Transition Project Act in partnership with 
        any agency designated as a Head Start agency under the Head 
        Start Act.
    (b) Special Rule.--An eligible entity shall only be eligible for a 
grant under this Act if at least one local educational agency 
participating in the partnership is eligible to receive financial 
assistance under chapter 1 of title I of the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act of 1965.

SEC. 6. TARGET POPULATION.

    In order to receive a grant under this Act, an eligible entity 
shall serve--
            (1) educationally deprived students and their families, 
        students eligible to be counted under chapter 1 of title I of 
        the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and their 
        families, or students participating in school-wide projects 
        assisted under chapter 1 of title I of the Elementary and 
        Secondary Education Act of 1965 and their families; and
            (2) any school, grade span, or program area if the program 
        design is of adequate size, scope and quality to achieve 
        program outcomes.

SEC. 7. AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.

    (a) In General.--Each eligible entity receiving a grant under this 
Act may use such grant for programs that--
            (1) plan, develop, coordinate, acquire, expand, or improve 
        school-based or community-based education support services 
        through cooperative agreements, contracts for services, or 
        direct employment of staff to strengthen the educational 
        performance of at-risk students, including support services 
        such as child nutrition and nutrition education, health 
        education, screening and referrals, student and family 
        counseling, substance abuse prevention, extended school-day 
        enrichment and remedial programs, before and after school child 
        care, tutoring, mentoring, homework assistance, special 
        curricula, family literacy, and parent education and 
        involvement activities;
            (2) plan, develop, and operate with other agencies a 
        coordinated services program for at-risk students to increase 
        the access of such students to community-based social support 
        services including child nutrition, health and mental health 
        services, substance abuse prevention and treatment, foster care 
        and child protective services, child abuse services, welfare 
        services, recreation, juvenile delinquency prevention and court 
        intervention, job training and placement, community-based 
        alternatives to residential placements for students with 
        disabilities, and alternative living arrangements for students 
        with dysfunctional families;
            (3) develop effective strategies for coordinated services 
        for at-risk students whose families are highly mobile;
            (4) develop effective prevention and early intervention 
        strategies with other agencies to serve at-risk students and 
        their families;
            (5) improve interagency communications and information-
        sharing, including developing local area telecommunications 
        networks, software development, data base integration and 
        management, and other applications of technology that improve 
        coordination of services;
            (6) support co-location of support services in schools, 
        cooperating service agencies, community-based centers, public 
        housing sites, or other sites nearby schools, including rental 
        or lease payments, open and lock-up fees, or maintenance and 
        security costs necessary for the delivery of services for at-
        risk students;
            (7) design, implement, and evaluate unified eligibility 
        procedures, integrated data bases, and secure confidentiality 
        procedures that facilitate information-sharing;
            (8) provide at-risk students with integrated case planning 
        and case management services through staff support for 
        interagency teams of service providers or hiring school-based 
        support services coordinators;
            (9) subsidize the coordination and delivery of education 
        related services to at-risk students outside the school site by 
        entities such as public housing authorities, libraries, senior 
        citizen centers, or community-based organizations;
            (10) provide staff development for teachers, guidance 
        counselors, administrator, and public agency support services 
        staff, including cross-agency training in service delivery for 
        at-risk students;
            (11) plan and operate one-stop school-based or nearby 
        community-based service centers to provide at-risk students and 
        their families with a wide variety and intensity of support 
        services such as information, referral, expedited eligibility 
        screening and enrollment and direct service delivery; and
            (12) support dissemination and replication of a model 
        coordinated educational support services program to other local 
        educational agencies including dissemination and replication of 
        materials and training.
    (b) Limitations.
            (1) Planning.--Not more than one-third of each grant 
        received under this Act shall be used for planning a 
        coordinated services program.
            (2) Delivery of services.--Not more than 50 percent of each 
        grant received under this Act shall be used for the delivery of 
        services.
            (3) Supplement and not supplant.--Grant funds awarded under 
        this Act shall be used to supplement and not supplant the funds 
        that would otherwise be available from non-Federal sources for 
        the activities assisted under this Act.

SEC. 8. APPLICATIONS.

    (a) In General.--Each eligible entity desiring a grant under this 
Act shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such 
manner, and accompanied by such information as the Secretary may 
reasonably require.
    (b) Contents.--Each application submitted pursuant to subsection 
(a) shall--
            (1) describe the activities and services for which 
        assistance is sought;
            (2) identify the degree of need for a coordinated services 
        plan among the students served by the program;
            (3) describe the expected improvement in educational 
        outcomes for at-risk students served by the program;
            (4) describe how the eligible entity will assess the 
        educational and other outcomes of support services provided by 
        such public agency participating in the partnership;
            (5) contain a description of how the eligible entity will 
        improve the educational achievement of at-risk students through 
        more effective coordination of support services, staff 
        development and cross-agency training, and the educational 
        involvement of parents;
            (6) describe how the eligible entity will continue the 
        support services assisted under this Act after the Federal 
        assistance provided under this Act is terminated; and
            (7) provide evidence of the capacity of the program to 
        serve as a model program for replication by local educational 
        agencies.
    (c) Advisory Council.--
            (1) Establishment.--Each eligible entity desiring a grant 
        under this Act shall establish a coordinated services advisory 
        council to develop the application submitted pursuant to 
        subsection (a).
            (2) Composition.--The advisory council described in 
        paragraph (1) shall consist of the head of each public agency 
        participating in the partnership, a member of the local board 
        of education, and the superintendent of schools, or the 
        designees of such individuals, and representatives of parents, 
        students, and the private sector.
    (d) Review of Applications.--The Secretary shall review 
applications submitted pursuant to subsection (a) with the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Housing and Urban 
Development, as appropriate.

SEC. 9. FEDERAL INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE.

    (a) Establishment and Composition.--There is established a Federal 
Interagency Task Force (in this section referred to as the ``Task 
Force'') consisting of the Secretaries of Education, Housing and Urban 
Development, and Health and Human Services, and the heads of other 
Federal agencies as appropriate.
    (b) Duties.--The Task Force shall identify means to facilitate 
interagency collaboration at the Federal, State, and local level to 
improve support services for at-risk students. The Task Force shall--
            (1) identify, and to the extent possible, eliminate program 
        regulations or practices that impede coordination and 
        collaboration;
            (2) develop and implement whenever possible plans for 
        creating jointly funded programs, unified eligibility and 
        application procedures, and confidentiality regulations that 
        facilitate information-sharing; and
            (3) make recommendations to Congress concerning legislative 
        action needed to facilitate coordination of support services.

SEC. 10. STUDY.

    (a) Study.--The Secretary shall conduct a study of the grants 
awarded under the Act to identify--
            (1) the regulatory and legislative obstacles encountered in 
        developing and implementing coordinated support services 
        programs; and
            (2) the innovative procedures and program designs developed 
        pursuant to this Act.
    (b) Report.--The Secretary shall report the results of the study 
conducted pursuant to subsection (a) to the Congress with 
recommendations for further legislative action to facilitate 
coordinated support services.

SEC. 12. PAYMENTS; FEDERAL SHARE.

    (a) Payments.--The Secretary shall pay to each eligible entity 
having an application approved under section 8 the Federal share of the 
cost of the activities described in the application.
    (b) Federal Share.--The Federal share shall be 50 percent.

SEC. 13. DEFINITIONS.

    For the purpose of this Act--
            (1) the term ``local educational agency'' has the same 
        meaning provided in section 1471(12) of the Elementary and 
        Secondary Education Act of 1965; and
            (2) the term ``Secretary'', unless otherwise specified, 
        means the Secretary of Education.

SEC. 14. AUTHORIZATION OF FUNDS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated $100,000,000 for fiscal 
year 1994 and such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal 
years 1995 and 1996 to carry out the provisions of this Act.

Summary: Link-up for Learning Grant Act - Establishes a program of demonstration grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) in partnership with other eligible entities for coordinated educational and other student support services for at-risk youth. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award such grants to eligible entities to pay the Federal share of costs of specified activities. Sets forth special considerations in awarding grants. Allows such grants to be for up to three years, subject to satisfactory progress. Makes eligible to apply for such a grant : (1) at least one LEA in partnership with at least one public agency. (2) at least one nonprofit organization, institution of higher education, or private enterprise in partnership with at least one LEA. Or (3) an LEA that is receiving assistance under the Head Start Transition Project Act in partnership with any designated Head Start agency. Requires eligible entities, to serve: (1) educationally deprived students, students eligible to be counted under chapter 1, or students in chapter 1 schoolwide projects, and their family members. And (2) any school, grade span, or program area if the project design is of adequate size, scope, and quality. Requires each eligible entity desiring a grant to establish a coordinated services advisory council to develop its application. Establishes a Federal Interagency Task Force to: (1) identify and eliminate program regulations or practices impeding coordination and collaboration. And (2) develop and implement plans for jointly funded programs, unified eligibility and application procedures, and confidentiality regulations that facilitate information sharing. Directs the Secretary of Education to study and report to the Congress on grantees under this Act to identify regulatory and legislative obstacles to coordinated support services and innovative procedures and programs. Limits the Federal share of project costs to 50 percent. Authorizes appropriations.