I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3950

To provide grants to local entities to improve the academic performance

and social development of at-risk children.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 3, 1994

Mr. GEPHARDT (for himself, Mr. FORD of Michigan, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia,

Mr. WASHINGTON, Mr. GLICKMAN, Mr. MILLER of California, Mr.

OWENS, Mr. JOHNSTON of Florida, Mr. PAYNE of New Jersey, Ms.

DELAURO, Ms. NORTON, Mr. TUCKER, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. TOWNS,

Mr. RUSH, Mrs. SCHROEDER, Mr. RANGEL, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. REYNOLDS, Mr. NADLER, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. MARTINEZ, and Mr. WHEAT) introduced the following bill; which was referred

to the Committee on Education and Labor

A BILL

To provide grants to local entities to improve the academic

performance and social development of at-risk children.

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 ‘‘Family and Commu5 nity Endeavor Schools Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—
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1 (1) children in areas with high incidences of

2 poverty are more likely to be exposed to problems

3 created by economic depreciation, poor housing,

4 overwhelming family responsibilities, inadequate pa5 rental educational background or parental substance

6 abuse and are at risk of failure;

7 (2) students from poor families are 3 times

8 more likely to drop out of school than students from

9 more advantaged homes;

10 (3) without social intervention, at-risk children

11 are often unable to improve academic performance;

12 (4) schools are accessible, central resources in

13 every community where social and educational serv14 ices can be coordinated and disseminated to at-risk

15 children and their families;

16 (5) schools are most effective at serving a com17 munity when the people of the community are in18 volved in school management and help design activi19 ties to fulfill the needs of children in the community;

20 and

21 (6) many schools have successfully improved the

22 academic performance and social development of at23 risk children by instituting an organizational and

24 management plan that incorporates parental involve25 ment in school management and incorporates mental
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1 health and social intervention services in the daily

2 academic curriculum.

3 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to im4 prove the overall development of at-risk children who re5 side in eligible communities as defined in section 12.

6 SEC. 3. PROGRAM AUTHORITY.

7 The Secretary may award grants on a competitive

8 basis to eligible local entities to pay for the Federal share

9 of assisting eligible communities to develop and carry out

10 programs in accordance with this Act. No local entity shall

11 receive a grant of less than $250,000 in a fiscal year.

12 Amounts made available through such grants shall remain

13 available until expended.

14 SEC. 4. PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.

15 (a) IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMS.—A local entity that

16 receives funds under this Act shall develop or expand pro17 grams that are designed to improve academic and social

18 development by instituting a collaborative structure that

19 trains and coordinates the efforts of teachers, administra20 tors, social workers, guidance counselors, parents, and

21 school volunteers to provide concurrent social services for

22 at-risk students at selected public schools in eligible com23 munities.

24 (b) OPTIONAL ACTIVITIES.—A local entity that re25 ceives funds under this Act may develop a variety of pro-
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1 grams to serve the comprehensive needs of students, in2 cluding—

3 (1) homework assistance and after-school pro4 grams, including educational, social, and athletic ac5 tivities;

6 (2) nutrition services;

7 (3) mentoring programs;

8 (4) family counseling; and

9 (5) parental training programs.

10 SEC. 5. ELIGIBLE COMMUNITY IDENTIFICATION.

11 The Secretary through regulation shall define the cri12 teria necessary to qualify as an eligible community as de13 fined in section 12(3).

14 SEC. 6. GRANT ELIGIBILITY.

15 To be eligible to receive a grant under this section,

16 a local entity shall—

17 (1) identify an eligible community to be as18 sisted;

19 (2) develop a community planning process that

20 includes—

21 (A) parents and family members;

22 (B) local school officials;

23 (C) teachers employed at schools within

24 the eligible community;
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1 (D) public housing resident organization

2 members, where applicable; and

3 (E) public and private nonprofit organiza4 tions that provide education, child protective

5 services or other human services to low-income,

6 at-risk children and their families; and

7 (3) develop a concentrated strategy for imple8 mentation of the community planning process devel9 oped under paragraph (2) that targets clusters of at10 risk children in the eligible community.

11 SEC. 7. APPLICATIONS.

12 (a) APPLICATION REQUIRED.—To be eligible to re13 ceive a grant under this Act, a local entity shall submit

14 an application to the Secretary at such time, in such man15 ner, and accompanied by such information, as the Sec16 retary may reasonably require, and obtain approval of

17 such application.

18 (b) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—Each application

19 submitted under subsection (a) shall—

20 (1) contain a comprehensive plan for the pro21 gram that is designed to improve the academic and

22 social development of at-risk children in schools in

23 the eligible community;

24 (2) provide evidence of support for accomplish25 ing the objectives of such plan from—
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1 (A) community leaders;

2 (B) a school district;

3 (C) local officials; and

4 (D) other organizations that the local en5 tity determines to be appropriate;

6 (3) provide an assurance that the local entity

7 will use grant funds received under this section to

8 implement the program requirements listed in sec9 tion 4;

10 (4) include an estimate of the number of chil11 dren in the eligible community expected to be served

12 under the program;

13 (5) provide an assurance that the local entity

14 will comply with any evaluation requested under sec15 tion 11, any research effort authorized under Fed16 eral law, and any investigation by the Secretary;

17 (6) provide an assurance that the local entity

18 shall prepare and submit to the Secretary an annual

19 report regarding any program conducted under this

20 Act;

21 (7) provide an assurance that funds made avail22 able under this section shall be used to supplement,

23 not supplant, other Federal funds that would other24 wise be available for activities funded under this Act;

25 and
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1 (8) provide an assurance that the local entity

2 will maintain separate accounting records for the

3 program.

4 (c) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants to carry out pro5 grams under this Act, the Secretary shall give priority to

6 local entities which submit applications that demonstrate

7 the greatest effort in generating local support for the

8 programs.

9 SEC. 8. PEER REVIEW PANEL.

10 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish

11 a peer review panel not to exceed 8 members that shall

12 be comprised of individuals with demonstrated experience

13 in designing and implementing programs to improve the

14 academic and social development of at-risk children.

15 (b) FUNCTIONS.—Such panel shall make rec16 ommendations to the Secretary regarding—

17 (1) an illustrative model that effectively

18 achieves the program requirements indicated in sec19 tion 4 and a process whereby local entities can re20 quest such model; and

21 (2) a design for the evaluation of programs as22 sisted under this section.
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1 SEC. 9. INVESTIGATIONS AND INSPECTIONS.

2 The Secretary may conduct such investigations and

3 inspections as may be necessary to ensure compliance with

4 the provisions of this Act.

5 SEC. 10. FEDERAL SHARE.

6 (a) PAYMENTS.—The Secretary shall, subject to the

7 availability of appropriations, pay to each local entity hav8 ing an application approved under section 7 the Federal

9 share of the costs of developing and carrying out programs

10 referred to in section 4.

11 (b) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of such

12 costs shall be 70 percent.

13 (c) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The non-Federal share of

15 such costs may be in cash or in kind, fairly evalu16 ated, including personnel, plant, equipment, and

17 services.

18 (2) SPECIAL RULE.—Not less than 15 percent

19 of the non-Federal share of such costs shall be pro20 vided from private or nonprofit sources.

21 SEC. 11. EVALUATION.

22 The Secretary shall require a thorough evaluation of

23 the programs assisted under this Act, which shall include

24 an assessment of the academic and social achievement of

25 children assisted with funds provided under this Act.
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1 SEC. 12. DEFINITIONS.

2 For purposes of this Act—

3 (1) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

4 of the Department of Education;

5 (2) the term ‘‘local entity’’ means—

6 (A) a local educational agency, or

7 (B) a community-based organization as de8 fined in section 1471(3) of the Elementary and

9 Secondary Education Act of 1965;

10 (3) the term ‘‘eligible community’’ means an

11 area which meets criteria with respect to significant

12 poverty and significant violent crime, and such addi13 tional criteria, as the Secretary may by regulation

14 require; and

15 (4) the term ‘‘public school’’ means a public ele16 mentary school as defined in section 1201(t) of the

17 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1141(t)),

18 and a public secondary school, as defined in section

19 1201(d) of such Act.

20 SEC. 13. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

21 There are authorized to be appropriated out of the

22 Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund established under

23 section 1115 of title 31, United States Code,

24 $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1995, 1996, 1997,

25 1998, and 1999 to carry out this Act.

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