I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1283

To provide grants to cities to establish teen resource and education centers

to provide education, employment, recreation, social, and cultural awareness assistance to at-risk youth.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 21, 1995

Ms. WATERS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities

A BILL

To provide grants to cities to establish teen resource and

education centers to provide education, employment,

recreation, social, and cultural awareness assistance to

at-risk youth.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Gang Prevention and

5 Youth Recreation Act of 1995’’.
2

•HR 1283 IH

1 SEC. 2. GRANTS TO CITIES TO PROVIDE EDUCATION, EM2 PLOYMENT, RECREATION, SOCIAL, AND CUL3 TURAL AWARENESS ASSISTANCE TO AT-RISK

4 YOUTH.

5 The Secretary of Health and Human Services, in con6 sultation with the Secretary of Education, shall, from

7 amounts appropriated under section 10, provide grants to

8 not more than 10 selected cities for the purpose of assist9 ing such cities in establishing and operating teen resource

10 and education centers in such cities to provide education,

11 employment, recreation, social, and cultural awareness

12 assistance to at-risk youth.

13 SEC. 3. APPLICATION.

14 To receive a grant under section 2, a city shall submit

15 to the Secretary an application in such form and contain16 ing such information as the Secretary may require.

17 SEC. 4. TEEN RESOURCE AND EDUCATION CENTERS.

18 The Secretary may not make a grant under section

19 2 to a city unless the city agrees that it will use all

20 amounts received from such grant to establish and oper21 ate, in conjunction with local social service agencies, at

22 least 2 teen resource and education centers in such city

23 to provide education, employment, recreation, social, and

24 cultural awareness assistance to at-risk youth. Teen re25 source and education centers established and operated
3

•HR 1283 IH

1 using amounts from a grant under section 2 shall, at a

2 minimum, meet the following requirements:

3 (1) EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE.—The teen re4 source and education centers shall provide edu5 cational assistance to at-risk youth for the purpose

6 of—

7 (A) providing information on institutions

8 of higher education to at-risk youth interested

9 in attending such institutions;

10 (B) establishing a scholarship search and

11 resource program at the centers to provide as12 sistance to such youth in the preparation of fi13 nancial aid applications, scholarship applica14 tions, and other relevant forms and applica15 tions; and

16 (C) establishing and carrying out pre17 paratory courses for high school equivalency ex18 aminations and college entrance examinations

19 at the center.

20 (2) EMPLOYMENT AND SKILLS TRAINING AS21 SISTANCE.—The teen resource and education centers

22 shall provide employment and skills training assist23 ance to at-risk youth by hiring teen peer counselors

24 to—
4

•HR 1283 IH

1 (A) provide training to such youth in basic

2 job skills, including interviewing, personal ap3 pearance, and communication with coworkers

4 and superiors;

5 (B) provide job referral services to such

6 youth; and

7 (C) establish job banks for such youth by

8 providing listings of job openings in local busi9 nesses.

10 (3) RECREATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES.—The teen

11 resource and education centers shall provide rec12 reational opportunities for at-risk youth by—

13 (A) establishing sports teams for such

14 youth and seeking financial support or sponsor15 ship of such teams from local businesses;

16 (B) establishing and carrying out coopera17 tive work activities at such centers, such as a

18 garden to give such youth a chance to work to19 gether to achieve positive results from their ef20 forts and to distribute the food harvested from

21 such garden to the families of such youth and

22 to neighborhood soup kitchens;

23 (C) establishing and carrying out creative

24 activities, such as writing, music, media, and

25 visual art classes to provide such youth with the
5

•HR 1283 IH

1 opportunity to channel creative energies and

2 develop creative talents; and

3 (D) establishing and carrying out a read4 ing program to introduce such youth to the

5 importance of reading.

6 (4) DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL SKILLS.—The

7 teen resource and education centers shall provide for

8 the development of the social skills of at-risk youth

9 by—

10 (A) hiring adult counselors and providing

11 support groups at such centers for the purpose

12 of counseling such youth on social and personal

13 issues, including issues relating to—

14 (i) problems facing young minorities;

15 (ii) teen-age pregnancy and early par16 enthood, including pregnancy prevention

17 and pregnancy management, family plan18 ning, and sex education, including edu19 cation relating to acquired immune defi20 ciency syndrome (AIDS);

21 (iii) job preparedness and unemploy22 ment; and

23 (iv) crime; and
6

•HR 1283 IH

1 (B) sponsoring trips for such youth to mu2 seums, State capitals, concerts, plays, and other

3 cultural and educational settings and events.

4 (5) CULTURAL AWARENESS.—The teen resource

5 and education centers shall assist in raising the cul6 tural awareness of at-risk youth by—

7 (A) establishing and carrying out classes

8 on the history and culture of African-Ameri9 cans, Hispanics, and other cultural groups to

10 supplement courses taught in elementary and

11 secondary schools and to bolster the social and

12 personal self-esteem and pride of such youth;

13 and

14 (B) encouraging such youth to produce

15 plays, stories, and artwork that reflect their cul16 tural heritage and pride.

17 (6) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO COLLEGE GRAD18 UATES WORKING AT TEEN RESOURCE AND EDU19 CATION CENTERS.—

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The teen resource and

21 education centers shall provide financial assist22 ance from amounts received from a grant under

23 section 2 to graduates of institutions of higher

24 education who work full-time at such centers

25 for the purpose of assisting such graduates to
7

•HR 1283 IH

1 repay student loans obtained by such graduates

2 to attend such schools.

3 (B) AMOUNT OF ASSISTANCE.—The center

4 may provide financial assistance under subpara5 graph (A) in an amount equal to not more than

6 25 percent of the total amount owed by a grad7 uate during any year that such graduate is

8 working at such center for the repayment of

9 student loans of such graduate. Such assistance

10 may be provided to a graduate for up to 4 years

11 that such graduate is working at such center.

12 SEC. 5. CITY REPORT.

13 The Secretary may not make a grant under section

14 2 to a city unless the city agrees that it will submit, for

15 any fiscal year in which such city receives a grant under

16 such section, a report to the Secretary describing the use

17 of such grant, including—

18 (1) the number of at-risk youth receiving assist19 ance at each teen resource and education center es20 tablished in such city under section 4;

21 (2) the types of services and referrals received

22 by such at-risk youth; and

23 (3) any other information the Secretary deter24 mines to be appropriate.
8

•HR 1283 IH

1 SEC. 6. SELECTION.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall select cities

3 to receive grants under section 2 which have a large num4 ber of at-risk youth.

5 (b) GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY.—To the extent prac6 ticable, the Secretary shall make grants to cities under

7 section 2 in a manner which will equitably distribute such

8 grants among the various regions of the United States.

9 SEC. 7. ALLOCATION.

10 The Secretary may not make a grant under section

11 2 in a fiscal year to any city in an amount totaling more

12 than 10 percent of amounts appropriated under section

13 10 for that fiscal year.

14 SEC. 8. REPORTS.

15 (a) INTERIM REPORT.—Not later than February 1,

16 1998, the Secretary shall submit to the Congress an in17 terim report containing—

18 (1) a compilation of the information contained

19 in the city reports received by the Secretary pursu20 ant to section 5; and

21 (2) a process evaluation of the effectiveness of

22 the grant program.

23 (b) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than February 1,

24 1999, the Secretary shall submit to the Congress a final

25 report containing the information described in subsection

26 (a).
9

•HR 1283 IH

1 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.

2 For purposes of this Act, the following definitions

3 apply:

4 (1) AT-RISK YOUTH.—The term ‘‘at-risk youth’’

5 means individuals who have attained the age of 10

6 but have not attained the age of 23 and who live in

7 a city in which—

8 (A) drug and gang activity, or other vio9 lent community activity, are prevalent;

10 (B) a large number of youth are unlikely

11 to complete an elementary or secondary edu12 cation;

13 (C) a large number of youth are runaway

14 or homeless youth;

15 (D) a large number of individuals receive

16 public assistance; and

17 (E) a large number of individuals are sin18 gle parents.

19 (2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The

20 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the

21 meaning given such term under section 1201(a) of

22 the Higher Education Act of 1965.

23 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

24 the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
10

•HR 1283 IH

1 SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro3 priated $1,000,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 1996

4 and 1997 to carry out section 2.

5 (b) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated under

6 subsection (a) shall remain available until expended.

Æ