Union Calendar No. 246

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4034

[Report No. 103–444]

A BILL

To amend the Urban Park and Recreation Recovcrime, and for other purposes. youth in urban areas with a high prevalence of pansion of recreation opportunities for at risk ery Act of 1978 to authorize grants for the exMARCH 21, 1994

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Commitordered to be printed tee on the Whole House on the State of the Union, and
IB

Union Calendar No. 246

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4034

[Report No. 103–444]

To amend the Urban Park and Recreation Recovery Act of 1978 to authorize

grants for the expansion of recreation opportunities for at risk youth

in urban areas with a high prevalence of crime, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 15, 1994

Mr. MILLER of California (for himself, Mr. VENTO, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia,

Mr. MARTINEZ, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. GEJDENSON, Mr. DE LUGO, Mr.

LEHMAN, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Ms. SHEPHERD, Ms. MCKINNEY, and

Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota) introduced the following bill; which was

referred to the Committee on Natural Resources

MARCH 21, 1994

Additional sponsors: Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. TRAFICANT, Mr.

DEAL, Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO ́, Mr. DOOLEY, Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin,

Mr. DEUTSCH, Mr. UNDERWOOD, Mrs. MINK, Mr. COYNE, Ms.

DELAURO, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. LAFALCE, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, Mr. HILLIARD, Mr. TEJEDA, Mr. HALL of Ohio, Mr. COLEMAN, Mr. EDWARDS of California, Ms. NORTON, Mr. FLAKE, and Mr.

FARR

MARCH 21, 1994

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 15, 1994]
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A BILL

To amend the Urban Park and Recreation Recovery Act

of 1978 to authorize grants for the expansion of recreation opportunities for at risk youth in urban areas

with a high prevalence of crime, 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 ‘‘Urban Recreation and

5 At-Risk Youth Act of 1994’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Section 1002 of the Urban Park and Recreation Recov8 ery Act of 1978 is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end

9 of subsection (d), by striking the period at the end of sub10 section (e) and inserting ‘‘;’’ and by adding the following

11 at the end thereof:

12 ‘‘(f) the quality of life in urban areas has suf13 fered because of decline in the availability of park

14 and recreation and systems, including land, facilities,

15 and services;

16 ‘‘(g) the deterioration of urban park and recre17 ation facilities is due in part to the underfunding of

18 Federal grant programs intended to assist in the revi19 talization of urban recreation facilities and allow us

20 to take back our parks from crime, vandalism, and

21 dilapidation;
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1 ‘‘(h) the urban neighborhoods eligible for assist2 ance under this title have deteriorated, in part, due

3 to the rapid increase in violent crime among youth;

4 ‘‘(i) accessible, well-maintained recreational fa5 cilities and services have been shown to significantly

6 decrease the incidence of violent crime among youth

7 and can be an effective tool in efforts to prevent

8 crime, increase public safety and improve the quality

9 of life of urban residents; and

10 ‘‘(j) urban sport and recreation programs teach

11 important values and life skills including teamwork,

12 individual responsibility, respect, leadership, and self13 esteem which help prevent young people from engag14 ing in criminal behavior.’’.

15 SEC. 3. PURPOSE OF ASSISTANCE.

16 Section 1003 of the Urban Park and Recreation Recov17 ery Act of 1978 is amended by adding the following at the

18 end thereof: ‘‘It is further the purpose of this title to improve

19 recreation facilities and expand recreation services in

20 urban areas with a high incidence of crime and to help

21 deter crime through the expansion of recreation opportuni22 ties for at-risk youth. It is the further purpose of this section

23 to increase the security of urban parks and to promote col24 laboration between local agencies involved in parks and
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1 recreation, law enforcement, youth social services, and the

2 juvenile justice system.’’.

3 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

4 Section 1004 of the Urban Park and Recreation Recov5 ery Act of 1978 is amended by inserting the following new

6 subsection after subsection (c) and by redesignating sub7 sections (d) through (j) as (e) through (k) respectively:

8 ‘‘(d) ‘at-risk youth recreation grants’ means—

9 ‘‘(1) rehabilitation grants,

10 ‘‘(2) innovation grants, or

11 ‘‘(3) matching grants for continuing pro12 gram support for programs of demonstrated

13 value or success in providing constructive alter14 natives to youth at risk for engaging in criminal

15 behavior, including grants for operating, or co16 ordinating recreation programs and services;

17 in neighborhoods and communities with a high preva18 lence of crime, particularly violent crime or crime

19 committed by youthful offenders; in addition to the

20 purposes specified in subsection (b), rehabilitation

21 grants referred to in paragraph (1) of this subsection

22 may be used for the provision of lighting, emergency

23 phones or other capital improvements which will im24 prove the security of urban parks;’’.
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1 SEC. 5. CRITERIA FOR SELECTION.

2 Section 1005(c) of the Urban Park and Recreation Re3 covery Act of 1978 is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the

4 end of paragraph (6), by striking the period at the end of

5 paragraph (7) and inserting ‘‘; and’’ and by adding the

6 following at the end thereof:

7 ‘‘(8) in the case of at-risk youth recreation

8 grants, the Secretary shall give a priority to each of

9 the following criteria:

10 ‘‘(A) Programs which are targeted to youth

11 who are at the greatest risk of becoming involved

12 in violence and crime.

13 ‘‘(B) Programs which teach important val14 ues and life skills, including teamwork, respect,

15 leadership, and self-esteem.

16 ‘‘(C) Programs which offer tutoring, reme17 dial education, mentoring, and counseling in ad18 dition to recreation opportunities;

19 ‘‘(D) Programs which offer services during

20 late night or other nonschool hours.

21 ‘‘(E) Programs which demonstrate collabo22 ration between local park and recreation, juve23 nile justice, law enforcement, and youth social

24 service agencies and nongovernmental entities,

25 including the private sector and community and

26 nonprofit organizations.
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1 ‘‘(F) Programs which leverage public or pri2 vate recreation investments in the form of serv3 ices, materials, or cash.

4 ‘‘(G) Programs which show the greatest po5 tential of being continued with non-Federal

6 funds or which can serve as models for other

7 communities.’’.

8 SEC. 6. PARK AND RECREATION ACTION RECOVERY PRO9 GRAMS.

10 Section 1007(b) of the Urban Park and Recreation Re11 covery Act of 1978 is amended by adding the following at

12 the end thereof: ‘‘In order to be eligible to receive ‘at-risk

13 youth recreation grants’ a local government shall amend its

14 5-year action program to incorporate the goal of reducing

15 crime and juvenile delinquency and to provide a description

16 of the implementation strategies to achieve this goal. The

17 plan shall also address how the local government is coordi18 nating its recreation programs with crime prevention ef19 forts of law enforcement, juvenile corrections, and youth so20 cial service agencies.’’.

21 SEC. 7. MISCELLANEOUS AND TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.

22 (a) PROGRAM SUPPORT.—Section 1013 of the Urban

23 Park and Recreation Recovery Act of 1978 is amended by

24 inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ after ‘‘1013.’’ and by add25 ing the following new subsection at the end thereof:
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1 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM SUPPORT.—Not more than 25 percent

2 of the amounts made available under this title to any local

3 government may be used for program support.’’.

4 (b) EXTENSION.—Section 1003 of the Urban Park and

5 Recreation Recovery Act of 1978 is amended by striking

6 ‘‘for a period of five years’’ and by striking ‘‘short-term’’.