I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8689 

To award funds to States and local areas for public, subsidized employment 

programs for youth. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 27, 2020 

Ms. FUDGE (for herself and Ms. KAPTUR) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition 

to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To award funds to States and local areas for public, 

subsidized employment programs for 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 ‘‘Connecting Youth to 

5 Jobs Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 During periods which the national rate of youth un8 employment is above the full youth employment rate and 

9 in excess of the overall national rate, as determined by 


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1 the Bureau of Labor Statistics, or during a qualifying 

2 emergency or economic recession (as determined by the 

3 Chairman of the Federal Reserve), it is the purpose of 

4 this Act to provide— 

5 (1) youth public subsidized employment to as6 sist in State and local improvement activities, includ7 ing public works, the arts, and community develop8 ment; and 

9 (2) additional and continual funding that is tar10 geted to high poverty areas with historically high 

11 youth unemployment rates, particularly high minor12 ity youth unemployment rates, for the purpose of 

13 creating such employment opportunities. 

14 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

15 In this Act: 

16 (1) QUALIFYING EMERGENCY.—The term 

17 ‘‘qualifying emergency’’ means— 

18 (A) a public health emergency declared by 

19 the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

20 pursuant to section 319 of the Public Health 

21 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d); 

22 (B) an event for which the President de23 clared a major disaster or an emergency under 

24 section 401 or 501, respectively, of the Robert 


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1 T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency As2 sistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170 and 5191); or 

3 (C) a national emergency declared by the 

4 President under section 201 of the National 

5 Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.). 

6 (2) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘local edu7 cational agency’’ and ‘‘State educational agency’’ 

8 have the meanings given the terms in section 8101 

9 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

10 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

11 (3) HIGH-POVERTY AREA.—The term ‘‘high12 poverty area’’ means a census tract with a youth 

13 poverty rate of at least 20 percent during the most 

14 recent 5 consecutive years. 

15 (4) HISTORICALLY HIGH YOUTH UNEMPLOY16 MENT LEVELS.—The term ‘‘historically high youth 

17 unemployment levels’’ means any local area with a 

18 youth unemployment rate of at least 10 percent, as 

19 measured over the most recent decennial censuses, 

20 or by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the most 

21 recent 5-year period for which data are available. 

22 (5) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

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

24 meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher 

25 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 


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1 (6) PUBLIC EDUCATION ENTITY.—The term 

2 ‘‘public education entities’’ includes— 

3 (A) a local educational agency; 

4 (B) a State educational agency; or 

5 (C) a public institution of higher edu6 cation. 

7 (7) REGISTERED APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM.— 

8 The term ‘‘registered apprenticeship programs’’ 

9 means an apprenticeship program registered under 

10 the Act of August 16, 1937 (commonly known as 

11 the ‘‘National Apprenticeship Act’’; 50 Stat. 664, 

12 chapter 663; 29 U.S.C. 50 et seq.), including any re13 quirement, standard, or rule promulgated under 

14 such Act, as such requirement, standard, or rule was 

15 in effect on December 30, 2019. 

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

17 the Secretary of Labor. 

18 (9) WORK-BASED LEARNING.—The term ‘‘work19 based learning’’ as the meaning given in section 3 of 

20 the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education 

21 Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302). 

22 (10) WIOA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘in-demand in23 dustry sector or occupation’’, ‘‘individual with a bar24 rier to employment’’, ‘‘in-school youth’’, ‘‘local 

25 area’’, ‘‘local board’’, ‘‘out-of-school youth’’, ‘‘outVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:28 Nov 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8689.IH H8689

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1 lying area’’, ‘‘recognized postsecondary credential’’, 

2 ‘‘supportive services’’, ‘‘State’’, ‘‘State board’’, and 

3 ‘‘unit of general local government’’ have the mean4 ings given the terms in section 3 of the Workforce 

5 Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102). 

6 TITLE I—YOUTH PUBLIC 

7 EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM 

8 SEC. 101. FORMULA GRANTS TO STATES AND LOCAL AREAS. 

9 (a) FUNDING ALLOTMENTS AND ALLOCATIONS.— 

10 (1) STATE ALLOTMENTS.—For each fiscal year 

11 during a period described in section 2, to assist 

12 States and outlying areas, and to enable States and 

13 outlying areas to assist local areas, in carrying out 

14 subsidized public employment programs described in 

15 subsection (b) for eligible youth, from the funds ap16 propriated under section 103(1), the Secretary of 

17 Labor shall— 

18 (A) make an allotment in accordance with 

19 section 127(b)(1)(C)(ii) of the Workforce Inno20 vation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 

21 3162(b)(1)(C)(ii)) to each State that meets the 

22 requirements of section 102 or 103 of such Act 

23 (29 U.S.C. 3112, 3113); and 

24 (B) award a grant to each outlying area 

25 that complies with the requirements of title I of 


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1 the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 

2 (29 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.) to carry out subsidized 

3 youth public employment programs for eligible 

4 individuals. 

5 (2) WITHIN STATE ALLOCATIONS.— 

6 (A) STATEWIDE ACTIVITIES.—Each State 

7 shall reserve 25 percent of the allotment re8 ceived under paragraph (1)(A) to carry out 

9 statewide subsidized public employment pro10 grams described in subsection (b). 

11 (B) ALLOCATIONS TO LOCAL AREAS.—A 

12 Governor of a State that receives an allotment 

13 under paragraph (1), in coordination with rel14 evant State and local stakeholders, shall use 

15 any remaining amounts (after reserving funds 

16 under subparagraph (A)), to allocate funds to 

17 local areas, as long as not less than 65 percent 

18 of such remaining amount is allocated to— 

19 (i) high-poverty local areas with the 

20 highest youth unemployment rate com21 pared to other local areas in the State; and 

22 (ii) local areas with historically high 

23 levels of youth unemployment within the 

24 State. 

25 (b) USES OF FUNDS.— 


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1 (1) SUBSIDIZED PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT PRO2 GRAMS.— 

3 (A) IN GENERAL.—Funds allotted to 

4 States for statewide programs, and funds allo5 cated to local areas under subsection (a), shall 

6 be used to carry out subsidized public employ7 ment programs described in paragraph (3) 

8 that— 

9 (i) lead to unsubsidized, full-time em10 ployment; or 

11 (ii) provide the necessary skills and 

12 competency attainment of at least 1 recog13 nized postsecondary credential to further 

14 the education or career of youth partici15 pants. 

16 (2) FUNDING ALLOCATIONS.—Of the funds de17 scribed in paragraph (1): 

18 (A) Not less than 60 percent of the funds 

19 for program year 2021 shall be used for wages 

20 and employment benefits to individuals em21 ployed in subsidized public employment pro22 grams funded under this section. 

23 (B) Not less than 30 percent of the funds 

24 for program year 2021, and not less than 20 

25 percent of such funds for any program year 


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1 thereafter, shall be used to provide career serv2 ices described in section 134(c)(2) of the Work3 force Innovation and Opportunity Act, training 

4 services, or youth workforce investment activi5 ties. 

6 (C) Any remaining funds may be used for 

7 administrative and other allowable costs (such 

8 as supplies, materials, equipment, and health 

9 and safety resources) incurred by the State or 

10 local area, as determined by the Secretary. 

11 (3) CONDITIONS.—Except as otherwise deter12 mined by the Secretary, the following conditions 

13 shall apply to each subsidized public employment 

14 program funded under this section: 

15 (A) Only youth residing within the State 

16 or local area providing funding for the program 

17 shall be employed by such program, and the 

18 public services provided under such program, to 

19 the extent feasible, shall be designed to benefit 

20 the residents of such State or local area. 

21 (B) Priority in filling jobs available under 

22 such program shall be given to— 

23 (i) eligible youth who is an individual 

24 with a barrier to employment (including 

25 youth of color, opportunity youth or out-ofVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:28 Nov 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8689.IH H8689

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1 school youth, low-income youth, youth im2 pacted by the juvenile or adult criminal 

3 justice systems, and underemployed 

4 youth); and 

5 (ii) eligible youth who are recipients of 

6 public assistance (or from a family receiv7 ing such assistance) or who are eligible for 

8 public assistance (or from a family eligible 

9 for such public assistance) but not receiv10 ing such assistance. 

11 (C) Each individual employed under such 

12 program shall be a wage, which shall at least be 

13 the highest of the following: 

14 (i) $12 an hour. 

15 (ii) The minimum wage under the ap16 plicable State or local minimum wage law. 

17 (iii) The prevailing rates of pay for in18 dividuals employed in similar occupations 

19 by the same employer. 

20 (iv) The minimum wage according to 

21 the amendments made to section 6 of the 

22 Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as pro23 posed by H.R. 582 (116th Congress). 

24 (D) With respect to a wage determined 

25 under subparagraph (C), the Secretary may 


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1 promulgate regulations to increase such wage 

2 after consideration of industry, geographical re3 gion, skill requirements, and individual pro4 ficiency. 

5 (E) An individual may self-attest to meet6 ing the requirements to be an eligible youth, or 

7 to receive priority consideration under subpara8 graph (B), and verification of such eligibility 

9 may occur after the individual is employed 

10 under the program. 

11 (F) Earnings from such program shall not 

12 be regarded as income and shall not be re13 garded as a resource for the month of receipt 

14 and the following 12 months, for purposes of 

15 determining the eligibility of the participant (or 

16 the participant’s spouse or family) for benefits 

17 or assistance, or the amount or extent of bene18 fits or assistance, under any Federal program 

19 or under any State or local program financed in 

20 whole or in part with Federal funds. 

21 (G) Such program shall coordinate with 

22 the workforce systems and activities promoted 

23 by the State or local board to connect eligible 

24 youth to educational or career opportunities. 


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1 (H) Such program shall establish or ex2 pand diversity and inclusion opportunities and 

3 collect disaggregated data on related efforts. 

4 (c) ELIGIBILITY.—To be an eligible youth, an indi5 vidual shall be an in-school youth or an out-of-school 

6 youth. 

7 SEC. 102. COMPETITIVE GRANTS TO ELIGIBLE ENTITIES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts appropriated 

9 under section 103(2), the Secretary shall award grants, 

10 on a competitive basis, to eligible entities for activities de11 scribed in subsection (e). 

12 (b) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec13 tion, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible entities 

14 that serve eligible youth who are individuals with a barrier 

15 to employment, youth of color, opportunity youth or out16 of-school youth, low-income youth, and youth impacted by 

17 the juvenile or adult criminal justice systems. 

18 (c) REQUIREMENTS ON USES OF FUNDS.—In award19 ing funds under this section the Secretary shall ensure the 

20 following: 

21 (1) DIRECT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—Not less 

22 than 40 percent of such funds are used to provide 

23 direct financial assistance to eligible youth described 

24 in section 101(c) to support such youth with finan25 cial needs with respect to entering, remaining enVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:28 Nov 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8689.IH H8689

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1 rolled in, and completing a subsidized public employ2 ment program described in section 101(b) (including 

3 related costs of training, supplies, food and nutri4 tion, housing, transportation, child care, mental 

5 health and substance abuse services, payment of 

6 fines, or other targeted costs determined allowable 

7 by the Secretary). 

8 (2) IN-DEMAND INDUSTRY SECTORS OR OCCU9 PATIONS.—Not less than 40 percent of such funds 

10 are used to connect eligible youth described in sec11 tion 101(c) to employers for in-demand industry sec12 tors or occupations, work-based learning opportuni13 ties, registered apprenticeship programs, or to recon14 nect to a public education entity. 

15 (3) DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION ACTIVITIES.— 

16 Not less than 10 percent of such funds are used for 

17 promoting, creating, or expanding diversity and in18 clusion activities for the purposes of diversifying 

19 workforce systems. 

20 (d) ELIGIBLE ENTITY DEFINED.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity means an 

22 entity that the Secretary determines to serve a high 

23 number or high percentage of eligible youth who are 

24 employed in a subsidized public employment proVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:28 Nov 17, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8689.IH H8689

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1 grams described in section 101(b) and who are from 

2 underrepresented populations. 

3 (2) INCLUSIONS.—An eligible entity includes— 

4 (A) a community-based organization; 

5 (B) a State and unit of general local gov6 ernment in a partnership with a community7 based organization; 

8 (C) a partnership among States and units 

9 of general local government, community-based 

10 organizations, public education entities, reg11 istered apprenticeships, and employers from in12 demand industry sectors or occupations; 

13 (D) a partnership among community-based 

14 organizations and juvenile and adult correc15 tional facilities; or 

16 (E) a labor organization or joint labor17 management organization. 

18 (e) USES OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity that receives 

19 a grant under this section— 

20 (1) shall use the grant to match eligible youth 

21 to subsidized public employment programs funded 

22 under title I, and provide hands-on work experience 

23 that does not supplant the work of existing employ24 ees; and 


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1 (2) may use a grant received under this section 

2 to carry out 1 or more of the following: 

3 (A) Establish or expand diversity and in4 clusion opportunities and collect disaggregated 

5 data on related efforts. 

6 (B) Provide (directly or through partner7 ships) technical assistance and supportive serv8 ices to eligible youth and their families to help 

9 navigate supportive services and other Federal 

10 and State assistance programs to support the 

11 recruitment, retention, and completion of a pro12 gram funded under title I. 

13 (C) Coordinate partnerships with programs 

14 funded under title I to connect eligible youth to 

15 educational or career opportunities, including to 

16 employers for in-demand industry sectors or oc17 cupations, work-based learning opportunities, 

18 registered apprenticeship programs, or to recon19 nect to a public education entity. 

20 (D) Form comprehensive youth service de21 livery systems to improve education and em22 ployment outcomes for youth and to strategi23 cally connect local sectors, systems, and re24 sources by strategically coordinating resources 

25 and public, private, and nonprofit funding to 


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1 create youth pathways to further the education, 

2 skills, and access to jobs and successful careers, 

3 by— 

4 (i) conducting and improving outreach 

5 to underrepresented youth and families 

6 with respect to the programs funded under 

7 section 101; 

8 (ii) making appropriate use of existing 

9 education, child welfare, social services, 

10 and workforce development data collection 

11 systems to facilitate the entity’s ability to 

12 recruit youth participants; and 

13 (iii) developing wide-ranging higher 

14 education or employment pathways for 

15 youth. 

16 (E) Assist in the transition between sub17 sidized youth public employment programs and 

18 unsubsidized employment or education. 

19 (F) In the case of an eligible entity de20 scribed in subsection (d)(2)(D), assist in the 

21 transition from incarceration with the goal of 

22 reducing rates of recidivism and ensuring incar23 cerated youth and formerly incarcerated youth 

24 have access to employment and educational op25 portunities. 


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1 SEC. 103. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 There are authorized to be appropriated— 

3 (1) $30,000,000,000 to carry out section 101; 

4 and 

5 (2) $10,000,000,000 to carry out section 102, 

6 of which 5 percent may be used by the Secretary to 

7 the build capacity to carry out such section. 

8 SEC. 104. PERFORMANCE EVALUATION, DATA COLLECTION, 

9 AND ACCOUNTABILITY. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

11 first grant is awarded under section 101, and annually 

12 thereafter, each program funded under section 101 shall 

13 be evaluated by the State board of the State receiving an 

14 allotment under section 101 to carry out such program 

15 or the local board of the local area receiving an allocation 

16 under section 101 to carry out such program. 

17 (b) PERFORMANCE DATA COLLECTION.—The Sec18 retary of Labor shall collect data on— 

19 (1) the performance of each program using the 

20 disaggregated indicators of performance in section 

21 116(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Workforce Innovation and 

22 Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3141(b)(2)(A)(i)); 

23 (2) the completion rates of the program; 

24 (3) the rate of full-time unsubsidized employ25 ment after program completion; 


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1 (4) the rate of reconnection to public education 

2 entities after program completion; and 

3 (5) the diversity and equal opportunity in such 

4 programs. 

5 (c) ACCOUNTABILITY METRICS.—The Secretary shall 

6 establish a youth work-readiness indicator. 

7 SEC. 105. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

8 Not later than December 31, 2024, and annually 

9 thereafter, the Secretary of Labor shall submit a publicly 

10 available report to the Committee on Education and Labor 

11 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

12 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate 

13 that includes— 

14 (1) a review and assessment of all information 

15 related to the programs funded under this Act; 

16 (2) any relevant guidance issued by the Sec17 retary with respect to such programs; and 

18 (3) an analysis of equity, diversity, and inclu19 sion activities, best practices, and recommendations 

20 for improvement with respect to increasing the suc21 cess of such programs and outcomes for youth, and 

22 participant demographics (while maintaining privacy 

23 protections), disaggregated by race, ethnicity, sex, 

24 age, and subpopulations described in subparagraphs 


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1 (B) and (C) of section 129(a)(1) of the Workforce 

2 Innovation and Opportunity Act. 

3 TITLE II—GAO REPORT 

4 SEC. 201. GAO REPORT. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 

6 date of the published report in section 105, and every 4 

7 years thereafter, the Comptroller General of the United 

8 States shall conduct an independent evaluation of the ac9 tivities funded under this Act and submit to Congress a 

10 report that shall be made publicly available. 

11 (b) EVALUATION.—In conducting the evaluation 

12 under subsection (a), the Comptroller General shall con13 sider, as applicable and appropriate, information from the 

14 report under section 105. 

15 (c) REPORT.—The report described in subsection (a) 

16 shall review, assess, and provide recommendations, as ap17 propriate, on the following: 

18 (1) Compliance with the requirements estab19 lished under this Act. 

20 (2) The effectiveness of the requirements estab21 lished under this Act, associated challenges, and 

22 trends in the youth progress made toward the goals 

23 described in section 101(b)(1)(A). 

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1 ployment activities and any innovative State and 

2 local actions that improve or further the education 

3 or career of youth participants, including employ4 ment opportunities that lead to long-term, unsub5 sidized employment. 

6 TITLE III—YOUTH STUDENT IN7 COME EXCLUSION UNDER 

8 THE SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRI9 TION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM 

10 SEC. 301. YOUTH STUDENT INCOME EXCLUDED UNDER THE 

11 FOOD AND NUTRITION ACT OF 2008. 

12 Section 5(d)(7) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 

13 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2014(d)(7)) is amended by inserting be14 fore the semicolon at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘and income earned by a household member who is 

16 less than 22 years of age, who is an elementary or 

17 secondary school student, and who lives with a nat18 ural, adoptive, or stepparent’’. 

Æ 


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