I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2538 

To create child safety accounts in the District of Columbia, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 7, 2019 

Mr. BANKS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Oversight and Reform 

A BILL 

To create child safety accounts in the District of Columbia, 

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 ‘‘Child Safety Accounts 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) The term ‘‘certified donation’’ means a do9 nation certified by the finance authority as eligible 

10 for a tax credit. 


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1 (2) The term ‘‘child safety account’’ means an 

2 account created and managed by the treasurer of the 

3 District of Columbia for each qualified student who 

4 has experienced a safety issue and opts into a child 

5 safety account. 

6 (3) The term ‘‘Department’’ means the Office 

7 of the State Superintendent of Education of the Dis8 trict of Columbia. 

9 (4) The term ‘‘elementary school’’ means an in10 stitutional day or residential school (including a 

11 school with a virtual presence), including a public el12 ementary charter school, that provides elementary 

13 education, as determined under District of Columbia 

14 law. 

15 (5) The term ‘‘educational scholarships’’ means 

16 a scholarship provided to a qualifying student to top 

17 off the education of their choice. 

18 (6) The term ‘‘eligible expenses’’ means any 

19 education expense necessary for a qualified student, 

20 including— 

21 (A) tuition or courses at a qualified school; 

22 (B) textbooks; 

23 (C) tutoring by an authorized provider; 

24 (D) transportation to and from a qualified 

25 school; 


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1 (E) therapy necessary to cope with the 

2 trauma of a safety incident; 

3 (F) college courses; and 

4 (G) other required education materials. 

5 (7) The term ‘‘finance authority’’ means the 

6 Chief Financial Officer of the District of Columbia 

7 or an individual authorized authority designated by 

8 the Mayor of the District of Columbia to manage the 

9 child safety accounts. 

10 (8) The term ‘‘fraud’’ means any child safety 

11 account funds spent on items that does not qualify 

12 as an eligible expense, or any other fraud related to 

13 the use of such accounts (including falsifying infor14 mation related to a safety incident or District of Co15 lumbia residence for the purpose of receiving such 

16 an account). 

17 (9) The term ‘‘parent’’ has the meaning given 

18 that term in section 8101 of the Elementary and 

19 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

20 (10) The term ‘‘poverty line’’ means the poverty 

21 line (as defined in section 673(2) of the Community 

22 Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2)) appli23 cable to a family of the size involved. 

24 (11) The term ‘‘qualified donor’’ means a tax25 payer, individual, or corporation, who— 


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1 (A) files a District of Columbia income tax 

2 return; 

3 (B) cannot be claimed as a dependent on 

4 another taxpayer return; 

5 (C) has donated to a scholarship granting 

6 organization; and 

7 (D) has been certified by the finance au8 thority to make the donation specified. 

9 (12) The term ‘‘qualified school’’ means an ele10 mentary school or secondary school in the District of 

11 Columbia that— 

12 (A) ensures employees are permitted to 

13 work in a school by District of Columbia law 

14 and who are not a threat to student safety; 

15 (B) ensures financial stability with yearly 

16 independent financial audits provided to the fi17 nance authority; and 

18 (C) ensures funds from child safety ac19 counts are spent appropriately for the education 

20 of students. 

21 (13) The term ‘‘qualified student’’ means any 

22 student who— 

23 (A) is a resident of the District of Colum24 bia; 

25 (B) is enrolled in a qualified school; and 


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1 (C) has attended a qualified school for not 

2 less than 100 days. 

3 (14) The term ‘‘safety issue’’ means a reported 

4 incident of— 

5 (A) bullying (physical, verbal, cyber); 

6 (B) sexual harassment; 

7 (C) sexual abuse; 

8 (D) sexual misconduct; 

9 (E) gang activity; 

10 (F) fights; 

11 (G) suicide attempts or threats; 

12 (H) shootings; 

13 (I) drug use; 

14 (J) special safety needs; 

15 (K) food safety needs; 

16 (L) health related safety issues; 

17 (M) act of violence against the qualified 

18 student; or 

19 (N) other safety concerns and fears as de20 termined by a qualified student and parent. 

21 (15) The term ‘‘scholarship granting organiza22 tion’’ means an organization authorized by the fi23 nance authority to accept funds and use such funds 

24 to provide scholarships to qualified students. 


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1 (16) The term ‘‘secondary school’’ means an in2 stitutional day or residential school (including a 

3 school with a virtual presence), including a public 

4 secondary charter school, that provides secondary 

5 education, as determined under District of Columbia 

6 law, except that the term does not include any edu7 cation beyond grade 12. 

8 (17) The term ‘‘top off’’ means the payment of 

9 tuition or other eligible expense above the amount 

10 provided with the child safety account. 

11 (18) The term ‘‘uncertified donation’’ means a 

12 donation that is not eligible for a tax credit because 

13 the amount of such donation exceeds the amount eli14 gible for such tax credit. 

15 SEC. 3. CREATION OF CSA. 

16 (a) REPORT.—Upon receipt of a report of an issue 

17 of school safety at a qualified school, such school shall— 

18 (1) submit such report to the Office of School 

19 Security of the District of Columbia; and 

20 (2) provide a copy of the report to each family 

21 and educator involved. 

22 (b) INVESTIGATION.—The Office of School Security 

23 shall complete an investigation of the report not later than 

24 15 days after receiving such report to determine whether 

25 the report has merit. 


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1 (c) PARENTAL NOTICE.—The school shall inform the 

2 parents of the student on whose behalf the report was sub3 mitted— 

4 (1) whether the investigation has determined a 

5 school safety issue exists at the school; and 

6 (2) in a case in which the investigation deter7 mines that such a safety issue exists, that the par8 ents have an opportunity to enroll in a child safety 

9 account. 

10 SEC. 4. DUTIES OF THE OFFICE OF THE STATE SUPER11 INTENDENT OF EDUCATION OF THE DIS12 TRICT OF COLUMBIA. 

13 The Office of the State Superintendent of Education 

14 of the District of Columbia shall— 

15 (1) carry out random quarterly audits of child 

16 safety accounts to check for fraud; and 

17 (2) seek to enter into a contract with a private 

18 entity that shall administer the child safety account 

19 program under this Act, including— 

20 (A) registering vendors that provide the 

21 services eligible to be purchased using child 

22 safety accounts, including the registering of pri23 vate schools eligible to participate; and 

24 (B) providing verification of purchases by 

25 setting up an online platform with registered 


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1 vendors allowing for instant authorization of 

2 such purchases. 

3 SEC. 5. ADMINISTRATION OF PROGRAM. 

4 (a) CSA ACCOUNT CREATION AND FUNDING.—Upon 

5 a parent signing an agreement on the proper usage and 

6 responsibilities of a child safety account, the private entity 

7 that has entered into a contract under section 4(2) shall— 

8 (1) create a child safety account for the student 

9 of the parent— 

10 (A) which the student— 

11 (i) is eligible to automatically renew 

12 each year until the date on which the stu13 dent— 

14 (I) graduates from a secondary 

15 school; 

16 (II) is no longer a qualified stu17 dent; or 

18 (III) has turned 18 years of age; 

19 and 

20 (ii) in a case in which funds remain in 

21 the child safety account after the period 

22 described in clause (i), may use for post23 secondary education; and 

24 (2) in a case in which funds remain after being 

25 used in accordance with paragraph (1)(A)(ii), ensure 


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1 that the funds from which will revert back to the 

2 District of Columbia; 

3 (3) ensure that the Department will deduct the 

4 amount provided to such child safety account for 

5 each year of the period described in paragraph 

6 (1)(A)(i) in an amount equal to the average yearly 

7 per pupil cost for qualified school of the student, ex8 cept that— 

9 (A) the amount shall be prorated based on 

10 the number of days remaining in the school 

11 year if the safety incident occurs after the 

12 school year has already started; and 

13 (B) in the case of a student with an indi14 vidual education plan or an accommodation 

15 plan issued under section 504 of the Rehabilita16 tion Act of 1973, such amount shall be in17 creased to equal the per pupil expenditure for 

18 such a student; 

19 (4) notify the Department and the qualified 

20 school in which the student was previously enrolled 

21 of the account creation, including the amount depos22 ited into the account; and 

23 (5) provide the parent with a letter of account 

24 creation until a debit card can be issued, which shall 


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1 be accepted at a qualified school until such time pay2 ment can be made with the use of a debit card. 

3 (b) FUNDS FOR THE PROGRAM.— 

4 (1) PRIVATE ENTITY REQUIREMENTS.—Not 

5 later than August 1 of each year, the private entity 

6 shall submit to the finance authority the amount of 

7 funds necessary for child safety accounts. In deter8 mining the amount of funds to request— 

9 (A) for each family living at not more than 

10 185 percent of the poverty line, the amount of 

11 funds for a child safety account shall be an 

12 amount equal to 90 percent of the uniform per 

13 student amount used by the District of Colum14 bia to determine the amount of annual pay15 ments to District of Columbia public schools 

16 with respect to the academic year involved; 

17 (B) for each family living at or greater 

18 than 186 percent of the poverty line, but not 

19 greater than 300 percent of the poverty line, 

20 the amount of funds for a child safety account 

21 shall be an amount equal to 85 percent of the 

22 uniform per student amount used by the Dis23 trict of Columbia to determine the amount of 

24 annual payments to District of Columbia public 


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1 schools with respect to the academic year in2 volved; and 

3 (C) for each family living at greater than 

4 300 percent of the poverty line, the amount of 

5 funds for a child safety account shall be an 

6 amount equal to 80 percent of the uniform per 

7 student amount used by the District of Colum8 bia to determine the amount of annual pay9 ments to District of Columbia public schools 

10 with respect to the academic year involved. 

11 (2) FINANCE AUTHORITY REQUIREMENTS.— 

12 The finance authority shall transfer to the private 

13 entity the amount requested under paragraph (1) 

14 from any funds or revenues available to the District 

15 of Columbia public schools for purposes of the pro16 gram under this Act. 

17 (3) ADMINISTRATIVE PURPOSES.—The private 

18 entity shall use not more than 5 percent of the funds 

19 received from the finance authority under paragraph 

20 (2) for administrative purposes. 

21 SEC. 6. FRAUD. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after the 

23 date of enactment of this Act, the finance authority will 

24 establish a committee to meet on a quarterly basis to re25 view any allegations of fraud found discovered as a result 


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1 of the audits of child safety accounts under section 4, and 

2 which shall be composed of the following members: 

3 (1) An employee of each type of qualified 

4 school. 

5 (2) A home education expert. 

6 (3) A member of the finance authority staff. 

7 (b) FIRST MEETING.—The commission will have its 

8 first meeting following the first quarterly audit carried out 

9 by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education 

10 of the District of Columbia. 

11 (c) SIMPLE MISTAKE.—If a disputed expenditure is 

12 determined to be a simple mistake, the parent will be re13 quired to repay the expense. 

14 (d) EXPENDITURE FRAUD.—If the finance authority 

15 determines that the disputed expenditure was not a simple 

16 mistake on the part of the parent— 

17 (1) in a case in which the amount of such ex18 penditure may lead to a conviction of misdemeanor 

19 fraud under District of Columbia law— 

20 (A) for a parent with no previous disputed 

21 expenditures in such an amount that was deter22 mined to be fraud by the finance authority, the 

23 parent shall be required to repay the disputed 

24 amount, the child safety account shall be frozen 

25 until such time as the repayment is made, and 


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1 upon repayment, the parent may resume using 

2 the child safety account; and 

3 (B) for a parent with a previous expendi4 ture in such an amount that was determined to 

5 be fraud by the finance authority, the child 

6 safety account shall be frozen and the parent 

7 shall not be eligible for any child safety ac8 counts in the District of Columbia on or after 

9 such determination; and 

10 (2) in a case in which the amount of such ex11 penditure may lead to a felony conviction under Dis12 trict of Columbia law, the child safety account in13 volved shall be frozen, the case shall be remanded to 

14 the Attorney General of the District of Columbia, 

15 and the parent shall not be eligible for any child 

16 safety accounts in the District of Columbia on or 

17 after such determination. 

18 (e) SAFETY INCIDENT OR FALSIFYING RESIDENCY

19 FRAUD.—In a case where the parent is found to have fal20 sified the safety incident, or falsified residency in the Dis21 trict of Columbia, leading to creation of the account and 

22 the amount of expenditures resulting from the falsified ac23 count may lead to a conviction of misdemeanor fraud 

24 under District of Columbia law, the child safety account 

25 shall be frozen, and the parent shall not be eligible for 


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1 any child safety accounts in the District of Columbia on 

2 or after such determination, and the Attorney General of 

3 the District of Columbia shall be notified. 

4 SEC. 7. SCHOLARSHIP GRANTING ORGANIZATIONS. 

5 (a) APPLICATIONS.—To be authorized as a scholar6 ship granting organization to accept donations and pay 

7 out scholarships to students under this section, an organi8 zation shall submit an application to the finance authority 

9 at such time, in such manner, and containing such infor10 mation as the authority may require, which shall include 

11 an assurance that the organization— 

12 (1) is an organization described in section 

13 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; 

14 and 

15 (2) will submit an independent yearly audit to 

16 the finance authority not later than October 1 of 

17 each year. 

18 (b) DONATION PROCESS.—Not later than 60 days 

19 after the date of enactment of this Act, the finance author20 ity shall create a process to— 

21 (1) accept donation pledges and provide certifi22 cates to the donor and the scholarship granting or23 ganization, and to ensure donors are handled in an 

24 equal manner across all donors; 


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1 (2) for the purpose of ensuring that a donation 

2 does not exceed any limits imposed on donations by 

3 the finance authority, ensure certificates of donor-al4 lowed amounts will be provided to the donor before 

5 the amounts are given to the scholarship granting 

6 organization; 

7 (3) ensure that no donation is directed to a spe8 cific student or school, and authorize donations for 

9 a specific type of qualified school (including a pri10 vate or religious school), or for students affected by 

11 a specific type of safety issue; 

12 (4) create a process for certifying donation 

13 amounts for the topping off process; 

14 (5) create a receipt to be used by the scholar15 ship granting organization to provide to the donor 

16 that indicates the amount of the certified donation 

17 amount for purposes of a tax credit; and 

18 (6) in a case in which the total donations from 

19 all donors for a tax year exceed the allowable tax 

20 credits, pro-rate the certified donation amounts 

21 across such donors for such tax year, and ensure 

22 that any amount over such reduced amounts would 

23 be uncertified and not eligible for a tax credit. 

24 (c) SGO REQUIREMENTS.—Each scholarship grant25 ing organization shall carry out the following: 


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1 (1) CERTIFIED DONATIONS.—Accepting cer2 tified donations from individuals and corporations, 

3 providing qualified donors of such donations with a 

4 finance authority receipt, and certifying to the fi5 nance authority all revenue earned from interest and 

6 investments on such donations are used for scholar7 ships described in paragraph (3). 

8 (2) NONCERTIFIED DONATIONS.—Creating a 

9 process for handling noncertified donations, which 

10 includes— 

11 (A) mailing a form to the donor, to— 

12 (i) determine whether the donor would 

13 like a refund of the noncertified portion of 

14 the donation; 

15 (ii) determine whether the donor 

16 would like the noncertified portion for ad17 ditional scholarships; 

18 (iii) notify the donor that such form 

19 shall be returned within 15 business days 

20 if the donor would like the noncertified do21 nations to be used for scholarships; and 

22 (iv) notify the donor that if the non23 certified portion is used for scholarships, 

24 these funds cannot be used as a tax credit, 

25 and the donor would only be eligible to use 


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1 them as a charitable donation under Fed2 eral and State laws; 

3 (B) keeping for 5 years returned forms for 

4 auditing purposes; 

5 (C) certifying to the finance authority all 

6 revenue earned from interest and investments 

7 on such donations are used for scholarships; 

8 and 

9 (D) ensuring noncertified donations are 

10 used for scholarships and not for administration 

11 purposes. 

12 (3) SCHOLARSHIPS FOR STUDENTS.— 

13 (A) APPLICATIONS.—Accepting applica14 tions from qualified students who have received 

15 a child safety account and are seeking a schol16 arship to top off their eligible expenses not cov17 ered by such account. 

18 (B) PAYMENT OF SCHOLARSHIPS.—Ensur19 ing that each scholarship is— 

20 (i) awarded not later than March 1 of 

21 each year for the next school year; 

22 (ii) has a payment schedule so that 

23 scholarship payments are provided to the 

24 parent of the student or to the qualified 

25 school in which the student is enrolled; 


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1 (iii) not a multiyear scholarship; and 

2 (iv) portable throughout the school 

3 year if the student changes to another 

4 qualified school, and may be prorated ac5 cording to the time frame left in the school 

6 year. 

7 (C) SUBMISSION OF DATA.—Submitting, 

8 on an annual basis, the following data (which 

9 contains no identifiable student information) to 

10 the finance authority: 

11 (i) Amount of scholarship provided. 

12 (ii) Data on type of school. 

13 (iii) Data on the safety issue. 

14 (d) AUDITS.—The finance authority will review the 

15 scholarship granting organization financial audits and ter16 minate the organization if proper guidelines are not fol17 lowed or remedied in a timely manner. 

18 SEC. 8. DC TAX CREDITS. 

19 (a) DC TAX CREDIT FOR CERTIFIED DONATIONS.— 

20 There is established in the District of Columbia a program 

21 to provide tax credits against income taxes imposed by the 

22 District of Columbia for certified donations described in 

23 section 5. Such program shall be administered by the 

24 Mayor consistent with the following: 


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1 (1) The initial amount of the tax credit dona2 tions in the first year will be $100 million dollars. 

3 (2) Donors will be allowed to take a tax credit 

4 of 100 percent of their certified donation up to their 

5 tax liability. Any excess credit may be rolled over for 

6 up to 5 years. 

7 (3) Each year tax credit donations reach 90 

8 percent of the yearly limit, the limit will be increased 

9 by 25 percent the following year. 

10 (4) A taxpayer may donate in excess of the cer11 tified amount to the scholarship granting organiza12 tion. This excess cannot be used in tax credit cal13 culations, but may be utilized as a normal charitable 

14 donation on the taxpayer’s income tax return. 

15 (b) DC TAX CREDIT FOR CERTAIN EDUCATION EX16 PENSES.—There is established in the District of Columbia 

17 a program to provide tax credits against income taxes im18 posed by the District of Columbia for eligible expenses 

19 above the amount provided under a child safety account. 

20 Such program shall be administered by the Mayor con21 sistent with the following: 

22 (1) Parents will be allowed to top off tuition or 

23 other eligible expenses. 


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1 (2) The parent may claim these expenses as a 

2 personal income tax credit against income taxes im3 posed by the District of Columbia. 

4 (3) This tax credit will not be limited by the 

5 parent tax liability so as to ensure parents with 

6 lower incomes to better afford to move their student 

7 to a safe educational environment. 

Æ 


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