II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1259 

To amend the Public Health Services Act to provide research, training, 

and navigator services to youth and young adults on the verge of aging 

out of the secondary educational system, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 27, 2013 

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

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

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Services Act to provide research, training, and navigator services to youth and 

young adults on the verge of aging out of the secondary 

educational system, 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 ‘‘Assistance in Gaining 

5 Experience, Independence, and Navigation Act of 2013’’ 

6 or the ‘‘AGE-IN Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE 

2 ACT. 

3 Part R of title III of the Public Health Service Act 

4 (42 U.S.C. 280i et seq.) is amended by inserting after sec5 tion 399CC the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 399CC–1. GRANTS FOR RESEARCH, TRAINING, AND 

7 NAVIGATOR SERVICES FOR YOUTH AND 

8 YOUNG ADULTS. 

9 ‘‘(a) RESEARCH GRANT.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta11 tion with the Coordinating Committee established 

12 under section 399CC and the Administrator of the 

13 Administration for Community Living, shall award a 

14 grant to a research organization to— 

15 ‘‘(A) conduct a comprehensive meta-anal16 ysis on the existing empirical, peer-reviewed re17 search on the topic of youth and young adults 

18 with an autism spectrum disorder or other de19 velopmental disabilities as such individuals age20 out of the school-based support system (re21 ferred to in this section as ‘transitioning 

22 youth’); 

23 ‘‘(B) conduct research on the existing in24 frastructure for transitioning youth, including 

25 access to health care, continuing education and 

26 vocational training programs, supportive and 


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1 community-based integrated housing, accessible 

2 transportation services, and public safety and 

3 community integration programs (including 

4 first responder training); and 

5 ‘‘(C) develop a comprehensive strategic 

6 plan (in accordance with paragraph (2)) for the 

7 establishment of a Transition Navigator grant 

8 program to provide transitioning youth with a 

9 comprehensive and interdisciplinary set of sup10 port services. 

11 ‘‘(2) STRATEGIC PLAN.—The strategic plan de12 veloped under paragraph (1)(C) shall include— 

13 ‘‘(A) proposals on establishing best prac14 tices guidelines to ensure interdisciplinary co15 ordination between all relevant service providers 

16 (including first responders), the transitioning 

17 youth, and their family, and in conjunction with 

18 the transitioning youth’s Individualized Edu19 cation Plan as prescribed in section 614 of the 

20 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 

21 U.S.C. 1414), to maximize the transitioning 

22 youth’s self-determination; 

23 ‘‘(B) comprehensive approaches to 

24 transitioning, including— 


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1 ‘‘(i) services to increase access to, and 

2 the successful integration and completion 

3 of, postsecondary education, peer support, 

4 vocational training (as defined in section 

5 103 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 

6 U.S.C. 723)), self-advocacy skills, and 

7 competitive, integrated employment; 

8 ‘‘(ii) community-based behavioral sup9 ports and interventions; 

10 ‘‘(iii) community-based integrated res11 idential services, housing, and transpor12 tation; 

13 ‘‘(iv) nutrition, health and wellness, 

14 recreational, and social activities; and 

15 ‘‘(v) personal safety services that con16 sider the specific needs of transitioning 

17 youth who are at risk of becoming involved 

18 with public safety agencies or the criminal 

19 justice system; 

20 ‘‘(C) culturally and linguistically competent 

21 and sensitive service delivery models; and 

22 ‘‘(D) proposals which seek to— 

23 ‘‘(i) increase the effectiveness of such 

24 practices to provide successful transition 

25 services; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) increase the ability of the entity 

2 to provide supports and services to under3 served populations and regions; 

4 ‘‘(iii) increase the efficiency of service 

5 delivery to maximize resources and out6 comes; and 

7 ‘‘(iv) ensure access to all services 

8 identified as necessary to transitioning 

9 youth of all capabilities. 

10 ‘‘(3) GRANT PERIOD.—Grants awarded under 

11 this subsection shall be for a period of 2 years. 

12 ‘‘(b) TRANSITION NAVIGATOR TRAINING GRANTS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta14 tion with the Coordinating Committee established 

15 under section 399CC and the Administrator of the 

16 Administration for Community Living, shall estab17 lish a Transition Navigator Grant Program to award 

18 multiyear training initiative grants to establish and 

19 carry out a collaborative, interdisciplinary training 

20 and services initiative, that is based on the data and 

21 best practice guidelines developed under subsection 

22 (a), to train transition navigators to provide 

23 transitioning youth with the services and skills nec24 essary to lead an independent, integrated life. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible for a grant 

2 under this subsection, an entity shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) be a University Center for Excellence 

4 in Developmental Disabilities Education, Re5 search and Service or a comparable inter6 disciplinary entity capable of fulfilling the scope 

7 of activities described in section 153 of the De8 velopmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of 

9 Rights Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 15063); and 

10 ‘‘(B) prepare and submit an application to 

11 the Secretary in accordance with paragraph (3). 

12 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a 

13 grant under this subsection, an entity shall submit 

14 to the Secretary an application demonstrating the 

15 capacity to successfully train an interdisciplinary 

16 group of service providers on the best practice guide17 lines contained in strategic plan under subsection 

18 (a). The application shall include additional informa19 tion, including— 

20 ‘‘(A) the number of trainees, students, or 

21 providers expected to be trained under the 

22 grant, and in what timeframe; 

23 ‘‘(B) the interdisciplinary scope of faculty, 

24 staff, mentors, and community-based trainers 

25 affiliated with the applicant; 


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1 ‘‘(C) the ability to provide training services 

2 to a culturally diverse set of students and in a 

3 culturally competent, culturally sensitive man4 ner; and 

5 ‘‘(D) the ability to train providers in un6 derserved areas and to serve underserved popu7 lations. 

8 ‘‘(4) GRANT PERIOD AND ANNUAL EVALUA9 TION.— 

10 ‘‘(A) GRANT PERIOD.—Navigator training 

11 grants awarded under this subsection shall be 

12 for a period of 3 years. The Secretary may 

13 renew a grant for an additional 3-year period 

14 based on the results of the evaluations sub15 mitted under subparagraph (B). 

16 ‘‘(B) ANNUAL EVALUATION.—A grantee 

17 under this subsection shall submit to the Sec18 retary an evaluation of progress made during 

19 each grant year in achieving the purposes for 

20 which the grant was awarded. Such evaluation 

21 shall include an analysis of— 

22 ‘‘(i) any performance metrics required 

23 by the Secretary; 

24 ‘‘(ii) the grantees recruitment of stu25 dents into the program; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) the recruits’ cultural diversity 

2 and the interdisciplinary nature of their in3 terests or background. 

4 ‘‘(5) LONGITUDINAL EVALUATION.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

6 enter into a contract with a third-party organi7 zation with expertise in program evaluation for 

8 the conduct of an evaluation of the success of 

9 grantees under this subsection in meeting the 

10 goals of the strategic plan submitted under sub11 section (a)(2) and their grant application. 

12 ‘‘(B) PROCEDURE.—A third-party organi13 zation that enters into a contract under sub14 paragraph (A) shall monitor grantees under 

15 this subsection and report back to the Secretary 

16 with a longitudinal analysis of the effectiveness 

17 of the program carried out by the grantee. Such 

18 analysis shall include an examination of— 

19 ‘‘(i) whether and to what extent the 

20 training regime sufficiently met the goals 

21 of the strategic plan under subsection 

22 (a)(2); 

23 ‘‘(ii) whether and to what extent grad24 uates of the training program are success25 fully working to provide services to transiVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:35 Jul 03, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1259.IS S1259

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1 tional youth in an effective, comprehensive, 

2 and appropriate manner; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) the long-term efficacy of the 

4 program and the strategic plan on increas5 ing and sustaining transitional youth’s— 

6 ‘‘(I) enrollment in, and comple7 tion of, postsecondary education or vo8 cational training programs; 

9 ‘‘(II) participation in integrated, 

10 competitive employment; 

11 ‘‘(III) continued access to peer 

12 support; 

13 ‘‘(IV) continued access to, and 

14 benefitting from, community-based be15 havioral supports and interventions; 

16 ‘‘(V) consistent access to commu17 nity-based integrated residential serv18 ices, housing, and transportation; and 

19 ‘‘(VI) continued access to nutri20 tion, health and wellness, recreational, 

21 and social activities. 

22 ‘‘(6) SUPPLEMENT.—Activities carried out 

23 under a grant under this subsection shall supple24 ment, not supplant, existing programs and activities 


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1 designed to provide interdisciplinary training to serv2 ices providers aimed at serving transitional youth. 

3 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

4 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 

5 such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 

6 2014 through 2021.’’. 

Æ 


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