I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 520

To establish a program of grants for the provision of coordinated educational

support services to at-risk youth.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 21, 1993

Mrs. LOWEY (for herself, Mrs. MORELLA, Mr. ANDREWS of New Jersey, Mr.

MILLER of California, Mr. OWENS, Mr. PAYNE of New Jersey, and Mrs.

UNSOELD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor

SEPTEMBER 9, 1993

Additional sponsors: Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. TRAFICANT, Mr.

HOCHBRUECKNER, Mr. RICHARDSON, Mr. ENGLISH of Oklahoma, Ms.

SLAUGHTER, Mr. MCHUGH, Mrs. SCHROEDER, Mr. BARCIA of Michigan,

Mr. SWIFT, Mr. LAFALCE, Mr. KOPETSKI, Mr. CLINGER, Mr. SKAGGS,

Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. WYNN, Mr. WELDON, Mr. STRICKLAND, Mr. NATCHER, Mrs. MINK, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. MARKEY, Mrs. KENNELLY, Mr.

FROST, Mr. SHAYS, Mrs. COLLINS of Illinois, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr.

DEFAZIO, Mr. EVANS, Mr. HAYES, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. BEREUTER, Ms.

SHEPHERD, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. FILNER, Mr. HILLIARD, Mr. HOBSON,

Mr. MFUME, Ms. BYRNE, Mr. NEAL of North Carolina, Mr. COPPERSMITH, Mr. MATSUI, Mr. HALL of Ohio, Mr. PENNY, Mr. COLEMAN, Mr.

ENGEL, Mr. HUGHES, Mr. FINGERHUT, Mr. WILLIAMS, Mr. GEJDENSON,

Miss COLLINS of Michigan, Mr. MARTINEZ, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. OLVER, Ms.

WOOLSEY, Mr. REED, Mr. EDWARDS of California, Ms. DELAURO, Mr.

KREIDLER, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. TORRICELLI, Mr. DURBIN, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. BACCHUS of Florida, Mr. GENE GREEN of

Texas, Mr. FARR of California, Mrs. MALONEY, Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut, Mr. WATT, Mr. FISH, Mr. PASTOR, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO ́, Ms. NORTON, and Mr. SCOTT
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•HR 520 SC

A BILL

To establish a program of grants for the provision of

coordinated educational support services 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 ‘‘Link-up for Learning

5 Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress makes the following findings:

8 (1) Growing numbers of children live in an en9 vironment of social and economic conditions that

10 greatly increase their risk of academic failure when

11 they become students.

12 (2) More than 20 percent of the Nation’s chil13 dren live in poverty while at the same time the Na14 tion’s infrastructure of social support for children of

15 poor families has greatly eroded; for example, 40

16 percent of eligible children do not receive free or re17 duced price lunches or benefit from food stamps, 25

18 percent are not covered by health insurance, and

19 only 20 percent are accommodated in public hous20 ing.

21 (3) Many at-risk students suffer the effects of

22 inadequate nutrition and health care, overcrowded
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•HR 520 SC

1 and unsafe living conditions and homelessness, fam2 ily and gang violence, substance abuse, sexual abuse,

3 and child abuse, involuntary migration, and limited

4 English proficiency that often create severe barriers

5 to learning the knowledge and skills needed to be6 come literate, independent, and productive citizens.

7 (4) Almost half of all children and youths live

8 in a single parent family for some period of their

9 lives, greatly reducing parental involvement in their

10 education.

11 (5) High proportions of disadvantaged and

12 minority children are with never married mothers or

13 teenage mothers, greatly limiting the resources avail14 able for early childhood development and education.

15 (6) Large numbers of children and youths are

16 recent immigrants or children of recent immigrants

17 with limited English proficiency and significant

18 unmet educational needs.

19 (7) Services for at-risk students are frag20 mented, expensive, overregulated, often ineffective

21 and duplicative, and focused on narrow problems

22 and not the needs of the whole child and family.

23 (8) School personnel and other support service

24 providers often lack knowledge of and access to

25 available services for at-risk students and their fam-
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•HR 520 SC

1 ily in the community, are constrained by bureau2 cratic obstacles from providing the services most

3 needed, and have few resources or incentives to co4 ordinate services.

5 (9) Service providers for at-risk students such

6 as teachers, social workers, health care givers, juve7 nile justice workers and others are trained in sepa8 rate institutions, practice in separate agencies, and

9 pursue separate professional activities that provide

10 little support for coordination and integration of

11 services.

12 (10) Coordination and integration of services

13 for at-risk students emphasizing prevention and

14 early intervention offer a great opportunity to break

15 the cycle of poverty that leads to academic failure,

16 teenage parenthood, leaving school, low skill levels,

17 unemployment, and low income.

18 (11) Coordination of services is more cost effec19 tive for schools and support agencies because it re20 duces duplication, improves quality of services, and

21 substitutes prevention for expensive crisis interven22 tion.

23 SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

24 (a) IMPROVEMENT OF STUDENT PERFORMANCE.—It

25 is the purpose of this Act to establish a program of grants
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•HR 520 SC

1 to local educational agencies to improve the educational

2 performance of at-risk students by—

3 (1) removing barriers to their learning;

4 (2) coordinating and enhancing the effective5 ness of educational support services;

6 (3) replicating and disseminating programs of

7 high quality coordinated support services;

8 (4) increasing parental educational involvement;

9 (5) improving the capacity of school and sup10 port services personnel to collaborate;

11 (6) integrating services, regulations, data bases,

12 eligibility procedures, and funding sources whenever

13 possible; and

14 (7) focusing school and community resources on

15 prevention and early intervention strategies to ad16 dress student needs holistically.

17 (b) COORDINATION.—It is also the purpose of this

18 Act to provide assistance to foster planning, coordination,

19 and collaboration among local, county, State, and Federal

20 educational and other student support service agencies

21 and levels of government, nonprofit organizations, and the

22 private sector to improve the educational performance of

23 at-risk students by—
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•HR 520 SC

1 (1) identifying and removing unnecessary regu2 lations, duplication of services, and obstacles to co3 ordination;

4 (2) improving communication and information

5 exchange;

6 (3) creating joint funding pools or resource

7 banks;

8 (4) providing cross-training of agency person9 nel; and

10 (5) increasing parental and community involve11 ment in education.

12 SEC. 4. ELIGIBILITY.

13 (a) COORDINATED SERVICES.—A local educational

14 agency that seeks to plan and implement a coordinated

15 services program for at-risk students with at least 1 other

16 cooperating public agency is eligible to apply.

17 (b) COORDINATING SUPPORT SERVICES.—A consor18 tium, including at least 1 local educational agency and 1

19 cooperating public service agency, formed for the purpose

20 of coordinating support services for at-risk students is eli21 gible to apply.

22 (c) COOPERATING AGENCIES.—Nonprofit organiza23 tions, institutions of higher education, and private enter24 prises with experience or expertise in providing services

25 for at-risk students may also participate as a cooperating
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•HR 520 SC

1 agency with a local educational agency or consortium in

2 developing, operating, or evaluating programs assisted

3 under this Act.

4 (d) HEAD START AGENCIES.—A local educational

5 agency that is receiving assistance under the Head Start

6 Transition program shall also be eligible for assistance

7 under this Act if it meets the requirements under sub8 section (a) or (b) and the cooperating public agency is in

9 addition to a local Head Start agency.

10 (e) LIMITATION.—A local educational agency shall

11 not be eligible to apply unless it is eligible to receive finan12 cial assistance under chapter 1 of the Elementary and Sec13 ondary Education Act of 1965.

14 SEC. 5. TARGET POPULATION.

15 (a) ELIGIBLE STUDENTS.—Educationally deprived

16 students, in chapter 1 eligible schools or students in chap17 ter 1 schoolwide projects, and their family members, may

18 receive services provided by a project funded under this

19 Act.

20 (b) ELIGIBLE SCHOOLS, GRADES, AND AREAS.—An

21 eligible local educational agency may select any school,

22 grade span, or program area for project services providing

23 the requirements of subsection (a) are met and the project

24 design is of adequate size, scope, and quality to achieve

25 project outcomes.
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•HR 520 SC

1 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZED USES OF FUNDS.

2 Local educational agencies receiving grants under

3 this Act may use the funds to—

4 (1) plan, develop, coordinate, acquire, expand,

5 or improve school-based or community-based edu6 cation support services through cooperative agree7 ments, contracts for services, or direct employment

8 of staff to strengthen the educational performance of

9 at-risk students; education support services may in10 clude but are not limited to child nutrition and nu11 trition education; health education, screening and re12 ferrals; student and family counseling, substance

13 abuse prevention; extended school-day enrichment

14 and remedial programs; child care; tutoring;

15 mentoring; homework assistance; special curricula;

16 family literacy; and parent education and involve17 ment activities;

18 (2) plan, develop, and operate with other agen19 cies a coordinated services program for at-risk stu20 dents to increase their access to community-based

21 social support services including but not limited to

22 child nutrition, health and mental health services;

23 substance abuse prevention and treatment; foster

24 care and child protective services; child abuse serv25 ices; welfare services; recreation; juvenile delin26 quency prevention and court intervention; job train-
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•HR 520 SC

1 ing and placement; community-based alternatives to

2 residential placements for handicapped students; and

3 alternative living arrangements for students with

4 dysfunctional families;

5 (3) develop effective strategies for coordinated

6 services for at-risk students whose families are high7 ly mobile;

8 (4) develop effective prevention and early inter9 vention strategies with other agencies to serve at10 risk students and families;

11 (5) improve interagency communications and

12 information-sharing including developing local area

13 telecommunications networks, software development,

14 data base integration and management, and other

15 applications of technology that improve coordination

16 of services;

17 (6) support colocation of support services in

18 schools, cooperating service agencies, community19 based centers, public housing sites, or other sites

20 nearby schools including rental or lease payments,

21 open and lock-up fees, or maintenance and security

22 costs necessary for the delivery of services for at-risk

23 students;

24 (7) design, implement, and evaluate unified eli25 gibility procedures, integrated data bases, and secure
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•HR 520 SC

1 confidentiality procedures that facilitate information

2 sharing;

3 (8) provide at-risk students with integrated case

4 planning and case management services through

5 staff support for interagency teams of service provid6 ers or hiring school-based support services coordina7 tors;

8 (9) subsidize the coordination and delivery of

9 education-related services to at-risk students outside

10 the school site by a participating service agency such

11 as a public housing authority, library, senior citizen

12 center, or community based organization;

13 (10) provide staff development for teachers,

14 guidance counselors, administrators, and participat15 ing agency support services staff including cross16 agency training in service delivery for at-risk stu17 dents;

18 (11) plan and operate 1-stop school-based or

19 nearby community-based service centers to provide

20 at-risk students and their families with a wide vari21 ety and intensity of support services such as infor22 mation, referral, expedited eligibility screening and

23 enrollment, and direct service delivery; and

24 (12) support dissemination and replication of a

25 model coordinated educational support services pro-
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•HR 520 SC

1 gram to other local educational agencies including

2 materials and training.

3 SEC. 7. APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.

4 An applicant seeking assistance under this Act shall

5 submit an application that provides evidence of—

6 (1) the degree of need for a coordinated services

7 plan among the students of the local educational

8 agency;

9 (2) the expected improvement in educational

10 outcomes for at-risk students served by the program;

11 (3) a plan for assessing educational and other

12 outcomes of support services by each cooperating

13 agency providing support services;

14 (4) participation of a coordinated services pro15 gram advisory council in the development of the ap16 plication which council shall consist of the head of

17 each cooperating support services agency, a member

18 of the local board of education and the superintend19 ent of schools or their designees, representatives of

20 parents, students, and the private sector;

21 (5) a plan for improving the educational

22 achievement of at-risk youth through more effective

23 coordination of support services, staff development

24 and cross-agency training, and the educational in25 volvement of parents;
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•HR 520 SC

1 (6) a plan for continuing support services when

2 Federal assistance is terminated; and

3 (7) capacity to serve as a model that could be

4 replicated by other local educational agencies.

5 SEC. 8. SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS.

6 In making an award under this Act, the Secretary

7 shall give special consideration to—

8 (1) the geographic distribution of awards, in9 cluding urban and rural districts;

10 (2) districts with high proportions of at-risk

11 students;

12 (3) plans that include interagency teams of col13 laborators to provide case management services; and

14 (4) districts that experience a significant in15 crease in the number of at-risk students.

16 SEC. 9. REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS.

17 The Secretary of Education shall coordinate review

18 of applications with the Secretary of Health and Human

19 Services and the Secretary of Housing and Urban Devel20 opment as appropriate.

21 SEC. 10. DURATION.

22 Grants under this Act may be for up to 3 years dura23 tion subject to providing the Secretary with evidence of

24 satisfactory progress toward the achievement of program

25 objectives.
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•HR 520 SC

1 SEC. 11. LIMITATIONS.

2 (a) FEDERAL SHARE.—Federal funds may be used

3 for no more than 80 percent of the costs of the project

4 with the remaining funds coming from non-Federal

5 sources, including in-kind services.

6 (b) LIMITATION ON LIABILITY FOR COSTS.—In no

7 case may a local educational agency be held liable for the

8 cost of a service under the project provided by a cooperat9 ing agency that is not required by law or mutually agreed

10 to.

11 (c) NONENTITLEMENT.—The provision of any sup12 port service under this program by a local educational

13 agency or cooperating agency to any student does not enti14 tle that student or other similarly situated students to the

15 continuation of such services if at any time the local edu16 cational agency chooses to terminate the program or if

17 Federal funds are withdrawn for any reason.

18 (d) LIMITATION ON PLANNING COSTS.—No more

19 than 1/3 of project funds may be used for planning a co20 ordinated services program.

21 (e) LIMITATION ON DELIVERY OF DIRECT SERV22 ICES.—No more than 50 percent of project funds may be

23 used for the delivery of direct services.

24 (f) SUPPLEMENTATION OF NON-FEDERAL FUNDS.—

25 All Federal funds must be used to supplement and not
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•HR 520 SC

1 supplant the funds that would otherwise be available from

2 non-Federal sources for this project.

3 SEC. 12. FEDERAL INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE.

4 There is established a Federal Interagency Task

5 Force consisting of the Secretary of Education, the Sec6 retary of Housing and Urban Development, the Secretary

7 of Health and Human Services, and the heads of other

8 Federal agencies, as appropriate, for the purpose of identi9 fying means to facilitate interagency collaboration at the

10 Federal, State, and local level to improve support services

11 for at-risk students. The Task Force shall, at a mini12 mum—

13 (1) identify, and to the extent possible, elimi14 nate program regulations or practices that impede

15 coordination and collaboration;

16 (2) develop and implement whenever possible

17 plans for creating jointly funded programs, unified

18 eligibility and application procedures, and confiden19 tiality regulations that facilitate information sharing;

20 and

21 (3) make recommendations to the Congress

22 concerning a comprehensive youth policy and legisla23 tive action needed to facilitate coordination of sup24 port services.
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•HR 520 SC

1 SEC. 13. STUDY.

2 The Secretary of Education shall conduct a study of

3 grantees under the Act to identify the regulatory and leg4 islative obstacles encountered in developing and imple5 menting coordinated support services programs and the

6 innovative procedures and program designs developed with

7 support under the Act and report the results to the Con8 gress with recommendations for further legislative action

9 to facilitate coordinated educational support services.

10 SEC. 14. AUTHORIZATION OF FUNDS.

11 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out

12 the provisions of this Act $250,000,000 for the fiscal year

13 1994 and such sums as may be necessary for each of the

14 fiscal years 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, and 1999.

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