II

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1258

To improve academic and social outcomes for teenage youth.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 27, 2001

Mr. DORGAN (for himself, Mr. DEWINE, Mr. CONRAD, and Ms. LANDRIEU)

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To improve academic and social outcomes for teenage 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 ‘‘YMCA Teen Action

5 Agenda Enhancement Act of 2001’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—

8 (1) one in 10 teens, 2,400,000 teens across the

9 Nation, are currently involved in a program offered

10 by a local YMCA;
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1 (2) recognizing the unique obstacles faced by

2 teenagers, the YMCA has launched the Teen Action

3 Agenda, a nationwide campaign to double this num4 ber and serve 1 in 5 teens by 2005;

5 (3) in more than 1,900 YMCAs across the

6 United States in cities large and small, in neighbor7 hoods rich and poor, teen groups meet regularly and

8 engage one another in safe, wholesome, educational,

9 and creative activities;

10 (4) it is well-documented that teens who partici11 pate in structured activities after school are less

12 likely to drink alcohol, carry or use weapons, smoke

13 cigarettes, engage in early sexual activity, or skip

14 school;

15 (5) YMCAs serve people of all faiths, races,

16 abilities, ages, and incomes;

17 (6) approximately 400 YMCAs partner with ju18 venile courts, 300 partner with public housing devel19 opments, 1550 partner with elementary schools, and

20 1033 partner with high schools;

21 (7) the YMCA is volunteer-founded and volun22 teer-led and depends on more than 600,000 volun23 teers to meet the unique needs of their communities;
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1 (8) the YMCA is especially committed to reach2 ing teens that are most at-risk for school failure or

3 delinquency; and

4 (9) the prosperity of our Nation depends upon

5 maximizing and fulfilling the potential of its young

6 people.

7 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

8 In this Act:

9 (1) LOCAL YMCA.—The term ‘‘local YMCA’’

10 means one of the approximately 2,400 locally incor11 porated and governed YMCAs in the United States.

12 (2) TEEN PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘teen pro13 gram’’ means any program primarily attended by in14 dividuals between the ages of 11 and 19.

15 (3) YMCA OF THE USA.—The term ‘‘YMCA of

16 the USA’’ means the private, nonprofit, national

17 membership and service organization of approxi18 mately 2,400 local YMCAs.

19 SEC. 4. GRANTS TO THE YMCA OF THE USA.

20 (a) PURPOSES.—Subject to the availability of appro21 priations, the Attorney General shall award a grant to the

22 YMCA of the USA for the purpose of carrying out YMCA

23 programs for at-risk teens in accordance with the provi24 sions of this Act.
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1 (b) SUBGRANTS.—From amounts awarded under

2 subsection (a), the YMCA of the USA shall make sub3 grants to local YMCAs authorizing expenditures associ4 ated with providing programs, including the hiring of

5 teachers and other personnel, procurement of goods and

6 services (including computer equipment), or such other ex7 penditures as are approved by the Attorney General.

8 SEC. 5. USE OF FUNDS.

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—

10 (1) PROGRAMS FOR AT-RISK TEENS.—Amounts

11 granted under this Act shall be used by the YMCA

12 of the USA to provide funding to carry out YMCA

13 programs that have a primary purpose of serving

14 teens who are determined to be at-risk for school

15 failure or delinquency.

16 (2) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—Each program

17 for which assistance is provided under this Act shall

18 include at least 3 of the following different activities:

19 (A) Mentoring assistance.

20 (B) Academic assistance.

21 (C) Recreational, fitness, and athletic ac22 tivities.

23 (D) Technology training.

24 (E) Drug, alcohol, and gang prevention.

25 (F) Job and life skills.
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1 (G) Character development and values edu2 cation.

3 (H) Leadership development.

4 (I) Truancy and dropout prevention.

5 (J) Civic education.

6 (K) Volunteerism and service learning.

7 (L) Parenting skills.

8 (M) Literary, performing, and visual arts.

9 (N) Mental health services.

10 (O) Alternative education.

11 (P) Any research-based activity shown to

12 have a positive impact on the academic and so13 cial outcomes of teens.

14 (b) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out

15 the programs under subsection (a), a local YMCA shall,

16 to the maximum extent practicable—

17 (1) use volunteers from businesses, academic

18 communities, social organizations, and law enforce19 ment organizations to serve as mentors or to assist

20 in other ways;

21 (2) develop creative methods of conducting out22 reach to teens in the community;

23 (3) request donations of computer equipment

24 and other materials and equipment; and
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1 (4) work with State and local educational and

2 recreation agencies so that activities funded with

3 amounts made available under a grant under this

4 Act will not duplicate activities funded from other

5 sources in the community served.

6 (c) FUNDING FOR PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION.—Of

7 the amounts granted to the YMCA of the USA under this

8 Act in each fiscal year, the YMCA of the USA shall use—

9 (1) not less than 2 percent for research and

10 evaluation of the subgrants made under this Act;

11 (2) not less than 1 percent for technical assist12 ance related to the subgrants awarded under this

13 Act; and

14 (3) not more than 6 percent for the manage15 ment and administration of the subgrants made

16 under this Act.

17 SEC. 6. APPLICATIONS FOR SUBGRANTS.

18 (a) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a

19 subgrant under this Act, an applicant shall submit an ap20 plication to the YMCA of the USA.

21 (b) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted shall

22 include—

23 (1) a request for a subgrant to be used for the

24 purposes of this Act;
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1 (2) a description of the population to be served

2 by the subgrant and information demonstrating that

3 this population is at-risk for school failure or delin4 quency;

5 (3) a description of the program to be expanded

6 or established by the subgrant;

7 (4) information demonstrating the manner in

8 which the local YMCA will carry out the planning,

9 establishment, implementation, sustainability, and

10 evaluation of the program funded by the subgrant;

11 (5) information demonstrating that there are

12 non-Federal contributions (which may be in the form

13 of an in-kind contribution of goods or services) avail14 able to cover at least 50 percent of the total cost of

15 the project; and

16 (6) any additional statistical or financial infor17 mation that the YMCA of the USA may reasonably

18 require.

19 (c) CONSIDERATION OF SUBGRANTS.—In awarding

20 subgrants under this Act, the YMCA of the USA shall

21 consider—

22 (1) the ability of the applicant to provide the

23 intended services;

24 (2) the history and establishment of the appli25 cant in providing teen activities; and
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1 (3) efforts to achieve an equitable geographic

2 distribution of subgrant awards.

3 SEC. 7. REPORT.

4 For each fiscal year for which a grant is awarded

5 under this Act, the YMCA of the USA shall submit to

6 the Attorney General a report that details the progress

7 and effectiveness of the YMCA programs in reaching

8 measurable outcomes.

9 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro11 priated to carry out this Act $20,000,000 for each of fiscal

12 years 2002 through 2006.

13 (b) CONTINUED AVAILABILITY.—Amounts made

14 available to carry out this Act shall remain available until

15 expended.

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