I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3336 

To provide grants for the conduct of demonstration projects designed to 

provide education and training for eligible individuals with an arrest 

or conviction record to enter and follow a career pathway in the health 

professions through occupations that pay well and are expected to experience a labor shortage or be in high demand, under the health profession 

opportunity grant program under section 2008 of the Social Security 

Act. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 19, 2019 

Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To provide grants for the conduct of demonstration projects 

designed to provide education and training for eligible 

individuals with an arrest or conviction record to enter 

and follow a career pathway in the health professions 

through occupations that pay well and are expected to 

experience a labor shortage or be in high demand, under 

the health profession opportunity grant program under 

section 2008 of the Social Security Act. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Demonstrating that 

3 Empowerment Makes Opportunities Act’’ or the ‘‘DEMO 

4 Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS TO PRO6 VIDE CAREER PATHWAYS IN THE HEALTH 

7 PROFESSIONS FOR CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS 

8 WITH AN ARREST OF CONVICTION RECORD. 

9 Section 2008 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

10 1397g) is amended by redesignating subsection (d) as sub11 section (e) and inserting after subsection (c) the following: 

12 ‘‘(d) DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS TO PROVIDE CA13 REER PATHWAYS IN THE HEALTH PROFESSIONS FOR

14 CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS WITH AN ARREST OF CONVICTION

15 RECORD.— 

16 ‘‘(1) GRANT AUTHORITY.—The Secretary, in 

17 consultation with the Secretary of Labor, the Sec18 retary of Education, and the Attorney General, shall 

19 award grants in accordance with this subsection to 

20 eligible entities to conduct demonstration projects 

21 for the purpose of providing education and training 

22 for eligible individuals with arrest or conviction 

23 records to enter and follow a career pathway in the 

24 health professions through occupations that pay well 

25 and are expected to experience a labor shortage or 

26 be in high demand. 


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1 ‘‘(2) DURATION.—A demonstration project shall 

2 be conducted under this subsection for not less than 

3 3 years. 

4 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—An appli5 cant seeking a grant under this subsection for a 

6 demonstration project shall submit to the Secretary 

7 an application for the grant, that includes the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(A) A demonstration that the State in 

10 which the project is to be conducted has in ef11 fect policies or laws that permit certain allied 

12 health and behavioral health care credentials to 

13 be awarded to people with certain arrest or con14 viction records (which policies or laws shall in15 clude appeals processes and other opportunities 

16 to demonstrate rehabilitation to obtain licensure 

17 and approval to work in the proposed health ca18 reers), and a plan described in the application 

19 which will use a legally permitted career path20 way to train people with such a record to be 

21 trained and employed in such a career. 

22 ‘‘(B) A discussion of how the project or fu23 ture strategic hiring decisions will demonstrate 

24 the experience and expertise of the project in 

25 working with job seekers who have arrest or 


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1 conviction records or employers with experience 

2 working with people with arrest or conviction 

3 records. 

4 ‘‘(C) A demonstration that the applicant 

5 has experience working with low-income popu6 lations, or a description of the plan of the appli7 cant to work with a partner that has the experi8 ence. 

9 ‘‘(D) An identification of promising inno10 vations or best practices that can be used to 

11 provide the training. 

12 ‘‘(E) A proof of concept or demonstration 

13 that the applicant has done sufficient research 

14 on workforce shortage or in-demand jobs for 

15 which people with certain types of criminal 

16 records can be hired. 

17 ‘‘(F) A plan for recruiting students who 

18 are eligible individuals into the project. 

19 ‘‘(G) A plan for providing post-employment 

20 support and ongoing training as part of a ca21 reer pathway under the project. 

22 ‘‘(4) PREFERENCES IN CONSIDERING APPLICA23 TIONS.—In considering applications for a grant 

24 under this subsection, the Secretary shall give pref25 erence to— 


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1 ‘‘(A) applications submitted by applicants 

2 who have completed a demonstration project 

3 funded under this section, if an evaluation of 

4 the project, which was funded by the Secretary, 

5 found the project to have positive outcomes in 

6 the categories of— 

7 ‘‘(i) graduation and credential attain8 ment; 

9 ‘‘(ii) job placement and retention; and 

10 ‘‘(iii) evidence of addressing the work11 er shortage or in-demand jobs described in 

12 the original application for funding for the 

13 completed demonstration project; and 

14 ‘‘(B) applications which have an emergency 

15 cash fund to assist project participants finan16 cially in emergency situations. 

17 ‘‘(5) SUPPORT TO BE PROVIDED.— 

18 ‘‘(A) REQUIRED SUPPORT.—A project for 

19 which a grant is made under this subsection 

20 shall include access to legal assistance for 

21 project participants for the purpose of address22 ing arrest or conviction records and associated 

23 workforce barriers. 

24 ‘‘(B) ALLOWED SUPPORT.—The goods and 

25 services provided under a project for which a 


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1 grant is made under this subsection may in2 clude the following: 

3 ‘‘(i) A reserve fund for financial as4 sistance to project participants in emer5 gency situations. 

6 ‘‘(ii) Assistance with programs and 

7 activities, including legal assistance, 

8 deemed necessary to address arrest or con9 viction records as an employment barrier. 

10 ‘‘(6) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary 

11 shall provide technical assistance— 

12 ‘‘(A) to assist eligible entities in applying 

13 for grants under this subsection; 

14 ‘‘(B) that is tailored to meet the needs of 

15 grantees at each stage of the administration of 

16 projects for which grants are made under this 

17 subsection; and 

18 ‘‘(C) that is tailored to meet the specific 

19 needs of eligible entities in carrying out the 

20 projects. 

21 ‘‘(7) EVALUATIONS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, 

23 by grant, contract, or interagency agreement, 

24 conduct rigorous and well-designed evaluations 

25 of the demonstration projects for which a grant 


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1 is made under this subsection, which shall in2 clude identification of successful activities for 

3 creating opportunities for developing and sus4 taining, particularly with respect to low-income 

5 individuals with arrest or conviction records, a 

6 health professions workforce that has accessible 

7 entry points, that meets high standards for edu8 cation, training, certification, and professional 

9 development, and that provides increased wages 

10 and affordable benefits, including health care 

11 coverage, that are responsive to the needs of the 

12 workforce. 

13 ‘‘(B) RULE OF INTERPRETATION.—Eval14 uations conducted pursuant to this paragraph 

15 may include a randomized controlled trial, but 

16 this paragraph shall not be interpreted to re17 quire an evaluation to include such a trial. 

18 ‘‘(8) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

19 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligi20 ble entity’ means any of the following entities 

21 that demonstrates in an application submitted 

22 under this subsection that the entity has the ca23 pacity to fully develop and administer the dem24 onstration project described in the application: 


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1 ‘‘(i) A local workforce development 

2 board established under section 107 of the 

3 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity 

4 Act. 

5 ‘‘(ii) A State or territory, a political 

6 subdivision of a State or territory, or an 

7 agency of a State, territory, or such a po8 litical subdivision. 

9 ‘‘(iii) An Indian tribe, a tribal organi10 zation, or a tribal college or university. 

11 ‘‘(iv) An institution of higher edu12 cation (as defined in the Higher Education 

13 Act of 1965). 

14 ‘‘(v) A hospital (as defined in section 

15 1861(e)). 

16 ‘‘(vi) A skilled nursing facility (as de17 fined in section 1819(h)(1)(A)). 

18 ‘‘(vii) A Federally qualified health 

19 center (as defined in section 1861(aa)(4)). 

20 ‘‘(viii) A nonprofit organization de21 scribed in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal 

22 Revenue Code of 1986, a labor organiza23 tion, or an entity with shared labor-man24 agement oversight, that has a demVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:41 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3336.IH H3336

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1 onstrated history of providing health pro2 fession training to eligible individuals. 

3 ‘‘(ix) An opioid treatment program (as 

4 defined in section 1861(iii)(2)). 

5 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—The term 

6 ‘eligible individual’ means an individual whose 

7 income does not exceed 138 percent of the Fed8 eral poverty level. 

9 ‘‘(9) APPROPRIATION.—Out of any funds in the 

10 Treasury of the United States not otherwise appro11 priated, there are appropriated to the Secretary to 

12 carry out this subsection $10,000,000 for fiscal year 

13 2020.’’. 

14 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

15 The amendment made by this Act shall take effect 

16 on October 1, 2019. 

Æ 


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