II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3518 

To authorize the Secretary of Labor, in consultation with the Secretary 

of Education, to make grants to eligible entities to assist certain individuals in reentering a secondary school or a high school equivalency program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 14, 2023 

Mr. BOOKER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Labor, in consultation with 

the Secretary of Education, to make grants to eligible 

entities to assist certain individuals in reentering a secondary school or a high school equivalency program, 

and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Reengage the Work5 force Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SECONDARY SCHOOL DROPOUT REENGAGEMENT 

2 GRANT PROGRAM. 

3 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—From the amounts made 

4 available to carry out this section, the Secretary of Labor, 

5 in consultation with the Secretary of Education, shall 

6 make grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible entities 

7 to carry out in-person or virtual programs to provide eligi8 ble secondary school dropouts each of the services de9 scribed in subsection (b). 

10 (b) USES OF FUNDS.—A program funded with a 

11 grant under this section shall provide each of the following 

12 services to eligible secondary school dropouts: 

13 (1) Assistance in reentering a secondary school 

14 or entering an in-person or virtual high school 

15 equivalency program. 

16 (2) Flexible secondary school credit recovery to 

17 accelerate the time to receipt of a high school di18 ploma, which may include waiving seat time barriers, 

19 allowing virtual credit recovery programming, pro20 viding prior learning assessments, accepting alter21 native credits from internships, community service, 

22 or independent study, or providing assessment tests 

23 (or pre-employment tests) or GED ready tests (or 

24 high school equivalency program tests). 

25 (3) Life and career workshops, including— 

26 (A) career planning and career exploration; 


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1 (B) assistance in enrolling in a program of 

2 training or education at an institution of higher 

3 education that leads to a recognized postsec4 ondary credential; 

5 (C) re ́sume ́ support services; 

6 (D) interview assistance; and 

7 (E) work-based learning such as registered 

8 apprenticeships, pre-apprenticeships, practi9 cums, internships, and on-the-job training. 

10 (4) Supportive services, such as transportation, 

11 child care, dependent care, housing, and needs-re12 lated payments, that are necessary to enable an indi13 vidual to participate in activities described in para14 graphs (1) through (3). 

15 (c) APPLICATION.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—To receive a grant under 

17 this section, an eligible entity shall submit to the 

18 Secretary an application at such time, in such man19 ner, and containing such information as the Sec20 retary may require. 

21 (2) CONTENTS.—An application under para22 graph (1) shall include— 

23 (A) a description of the program that will 

24 be funded under the grant; and 


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1 (B) in the case of an application that sup2 ports an existing program (as of the date of ap3 plication), the number of individuals who are 

4 enrolled in the program as of such date, in the 

5 aggregate and disaggregated by race, gender, 

6 age, and disability status. 

7 (d) PREFERENCE.—In awarding grants under sub8 section (a), the Secretary shall give preference to eligible 

9 entities that will use the grant to carry out programs de10 scribed subsection (b)— 

11 (1) in low-income communities; or 

12 (2) that will implement evidence-based prac13 tices, as determined by the Secretary, in providing 

14 the services offered through the programs. 

15 (e) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

16 on which the first grant is awarded under subsection (a) 

17 and annually thereafter for 10 years, the Secretary shall 

18 submit to Congress a report on the implementation of this 

19 section, which shall include the following: 

20 (1) The percentage of the grant funds awarded 

21 during the most recent fiscal year, which are used 

22 to improve the education of eligible secondary school 

23 dropouts and prepare such individuals for the work24 force. 


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1 (2) The percentage of the grant funds awarded 

2 during the most recent fiscal year, which are used 

3 to provide the supportive services described in sub4 section (b)(4) to eligible secondary school dropouts. 

5 (3) The number and types of programs funded 

6 under this section in the most recent academic year. 

7 (4) (A) For each milestone described in sub8 paragraph (B), the number of individuals who, dur9 ing the period beginning on the date on which such 

10 first grant is awarded and ending on the last day of 

11 the most recent full academic year, met the mile12 stone, in the aggregate and disaggregated by pro13 gram and by race, gender, age, and disability status 

14 of the individuals. 

15 (B) The milestones described in this subpara16 graph are the following: 

17 (i) Enrolled in a program funded under 

18 this section. 

19 (ii) Enrolled in, and completed, a program 

20 funded under this section. 

21 (iii) After enrollment in a program funded 

22 under this section, enrolled in a program of 

23 training or education at an institution of higher 

24 education that leads to a recognized postsec25 ondary credential. 


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1 (iv) After completion of a program funded 

2 under this section, obtained employment in a 

3 relevant field. 

4 (5) Any additional data needed to determine 

5 the impact of programs funded under this section on 

6 workforce readiness, as determined by the Secretary. 

7 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 (1) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘high school’’, 

9 ‘‘local educational agency’’, and ‘‘secondary school’’ 

10 have the meanings given such terms in section 8101 

11 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

12 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

13 (2) WIOA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘career plan14 ning’’, ‘‘community-based organization’’, ‘‘local 

15 board’’, ‘‘poverty line’’, ‘‘recognized postsecondary 

16 credential’’, ‘‘State board’’, and ‘‘unit of general 

17 local government’’ have the meanings given the 

18 terms in section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and 

19 Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102). 

20 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti21 ty’’ means a partnership between or among— 

22 (A)(i) a local educational agency; 

23 (ii) a unit of general local government; 


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1 (iii) a nonprofit intermediary (such as a 

2 local educational agency or other educational 

3 organization); or 

4 (iv) a consortium of any of the entities de5 scribed in clauses (i) through (iii); and 

6 (B) one or more of the following: 

7 (i) A community-based organization. 

8 (ii) An institution of higher education. 

9 (iii) A local board or State board. 

10 (4) ELIGIBLE SECONDARY SCHOOL DROPOUT.— 

11 The term ‘‘eligible secondary school dropout’’ means 

12 an individual who is— 

13 (A) not younger than 16 years of age; and 

14 (B) not enrolled in a secondary school or 

15 high school equivalency program. 

16 (5) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

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

18 meaning given the term in section 102 of the Higher 

19 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002). 

20 (6) LOW-INCOME COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘low21 income community’’ means any census block group 

22 in which 30 percent or more of the population are 

23 individuals with an annual household equal to, or 

24 less than, the greater of— 


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1 (A) an amount equal to 80 percent of the 

2 median income of the area in which the house3 hold is located, as reported by the Department 

4 of Housing and Urban Development; and 

5 (B) an amount equal to 200 percent of the 

6 poverty line. 

7 (7) REGISTERED APPRENTICESHIP.—The term 

8 ‘‘registered apprenticeship’’ means an apprenticeship 

9 registered under the Act of August 16, 1937 (com10 monly known as the ‘‘National Apprenticeship Act’’); 

11 50 Stat. 664, chapter 663; 29 U.S.C. 50 et seq.). 

12 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

13 the Secretary of Labor. 

14 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 

15 out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated 

16 $5,520,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2034. 

Æ 


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