I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5365 

To amend the Community Services Block Grant Act to reauthorize and 

modernize the Act. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 21, 2018 

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania (for himself, Ms. MCCOLLUM, and Mr. STIVERS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Community Services Block Grant Act to 

reauthorize and modernize the Act. 

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 ‘‘Community Services 

5 Block Grant Reauthorization Act of 2018’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION. 

7 The Community Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 

8 9901 et seq.) is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘Subtitle B—Community Services 

2 Block Grant Program 

3 ‘‘SEC. 671. SHORT TITLE. 

4 ‘‘This subtitle may be cited as the ‘Community Serv5 ices Block Grant Act’. 

6 ‘‘SEC. 672. PURPOSES. 

7 ‘‘The purposes of this subtitle are— 

8 ‘‘(1) to reduce poverty in the United States by 

9 supporting the activities of community action agen10 cies that improve the economic security of low-in11 come individuals and families and create new eco12 nomic opportunities in the communities where they 

13 live; and 

14 ‘‘(2) to accomplish the objectives described in 

15 paragraph (1) by— 

16 ‘‘(A) strengthening community capabilities 

17 for identifying poverty conditions and opportu18 nities to alleviate such conditions; 

19 ‘‘(B) empowering low-income individuals 

20 and families to respond to the unique problems 

21 and needs within their communities through 

22 their maximum feasible participation in advis23 ing and assessing eligible entities and in design24 ing the programs, projects, and services funded 

25 under this subtitle; 


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1 ‘‘(C) using innovative community-based ap2 proaches that produce a measurable impact on 

3 the causes and effects of poverty, including two4 generation approaches that create opportunities 

5 for, and address the needs of, parents and chil6 dren together; 

7 ‘‘(D) coordinating Federal, State, local, 

8 and other assistance, including private re9 sources, related to the reduction of poverty so 

10 that resources can be used in a manner respon11 sive to local needs and conditions; and 

12 ‘‘(E) broadening the resources directed to 

13 the elimination of poverty, so as to promote 

14 partnerships that include— 

15 ‘‘(i) private, religious, charitable, and 

16 neighborhood-based organizations; 

17 ‘‘(ii) individuals, businesses, labor or18 ganizations, professional organizations, 

19 and other organizations engaged in ex20 panding opportunities for all individuals; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(iii) local government leaders. 

23 ‘‘SEC. 673. DEFINITIONS. 

24 ‘‘In this subtitle: 


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1 ‘‘(1) COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY.—The term 

2 ‘community action agency’ means an eligible entity 

3 (which meets the requirements of paragraph (1) or 

4 (2), as appropriate, of section 680(c)) that is a pub5 lic charity and that delivers multiple programs, 

6 projects, or services to a variety of low-income indi7 viduals and families. 

8 ‘‘(2) COMMUNITY ACTION PROGRAM PLAN.— 

9 The term ‘community action program plan’ means a 

10 detailed plan, including a budget, that is adopted by 

11 an eligible entity, for expenditures of funds appro12 priated for a fiscal year under this subtitle for the 

13 activities supported directly or indirectly by such 

14 funds. 

15 ‘‘(3) COMMUNITY ACTION STRATEGIC PLAN.— 

16 The term ‘community action strategic plan’ means a 

17 plan that is adopted as the policy of an eligible enti18 ty and that— 

19 ‘‘(A) establishes goals for a period of not 

20 more than 5 years that are based on meeting 

21 needs identified by the entity in consultation 

22 with the residents of the community through a 

23 process of comprehensive community needs as24 sessment; 


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1 ‘‘(B) provides detail on how all activities of 

2 an eligible entity under this subtitle will con3 tribute to meeting such goals; and 

4 ‘‘(C) specifies how such activities will be 

5 managed, funded, and measured by the per6 formance measurement system of such entity. 

7 ‘‘(4) COMMUNITY SERVICES NETWORK ORGANI8 ZATION.—The term ‘community services network or9 ganization’ means any of the following organizations 

10 funded under this subtitle: 

11 ‘‘(A) A grantee. 

12 ‘‘(B) An eligible entity. 

13 ‘‘(C) An association of grantees or eligible 

14 entities. 

15 ‘‘(D) An association— 

16 ‘‘(i) with a membership composed of 

17 grantees, eligible entities, or associations of 

18 grantees or eligible entities; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) that is governed by a board of directors composed so that 3 20 ⁄4 of the direc21 tors are employees or designees of such 

22 grantees, such eligible entities, or such as23 sociations. 


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1 ‘‘(5) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘Department’ 

2 means the Department of Health and Human Serv3 ices. 

4 ‘‘(6) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en5 tity’ means an entity— 

6 ‘‘(A) that is an eligible entity described in 

7 section 673(1) (as in effect on the day before 

8 the date of enactment of the Community Serv9 ices Block Grant Reauthorization Act of 2018) 

10 as of the day before such date of enactment, or 

11 has been designated by the process described in 

12 section 680(a) (including an organization serv13 ing migrant or seasonal farmworkers that is so 

14 described or designated); and 

15 ‘‘(B) that has a tripartite board or other 

16 mechanism described in paragraph (1) or (2), 

17 as appropriate, of section 680(c). 

18 ‘‘(7) GRANTEE.—The term ‘grantee’ means a 

19 recipient of a grant under section 675 or 676 of this 

20 subtitle or the recipient of a grant under section 

21 675A or 675B of this subtitle (as in effect on the 

22 day before the date of enactment of the Community 

23 Services Block Grant Reauthorization Act of 2018). 

24 ‘‘(8) PERFORMANCE BENCHMARK.—The term 

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1 tive for the operations and activities set out in a 

2 community action program plan or a State plan 

3 under this subtitle. 

4 ‘‘(9) PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT SYSTEM.— 

5 The term ‘performance measurement system’ means 

6 a management information system that— 

7 ‘‘(A) collects and reports information about 

8 the outcomes of activities and investments fund9 ed in whole or in part with funds appropriated 

10 under this subtitle, including annual perform11 ance benchmarks; 

12 ‘‘(B) compares the actual outcomes with 

13 the intended outcomes; and 

14 ‘‘(C) is used as a basis for management 

15 decisions regarding future use of resources pro16 vided under this subtitle. 

17 ‘‘(10) POVERTY LINE.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘poverty 

19 line’ means the official poverty line defined by 

20 the Office of Management and Budget, based 

21 on the most recent data available from the Bu22 reau of the Census, subject to subparagraphs 

23 (C) and (D). The Secretary shall revise the pov24 erty line annually (or at any shorter interval 

25 the Secretary determines to be feasible and deVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Apr 04, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5365.IH H5365

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1 sirable). The required revision shall be accom2 plished by multiplying the official poverty line 

3 by the percentage change in the Consumer 

4 Price Index for All Urban Consumers during 

5 the annual or other interval immediately pre6 ceding the time at which the revision is made. 

7 ‘‘(B) COMMUNITY SERVICES BLOCK GRANT

8 ELIGIBILITY CRITERION.—Subject to subpara9 graphs (C), (D), and (E), the poverty line, as 

10 defined in subparagraph (A), shall be used as 

11 a criterion of eligibility for services or assist12 ance provided to individuals or families through 

13 the community services block grant program es14 tablished under this subtitle. 

15 ‘‘(C) STATE REVISION OF POVERTY

16 LINE.—Whenever a State determines that it 

17 serves the objectives of the block grant program 

18 established under this subtitle, the State may 

19 revise the poverty line not to exceed 125 per20 cent of the official poverty line otherwise appli21 cable under subparagraph (A). 

22 ‘‘(D) WAIVERS FOR STATE USE OF HIGHER

23 ELIGIBILITY LEVEL.—Whenever a community 

24 action program plan provides that a program, 

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1 quires use of a higher eligibility standard than 

2 the standard otherwise applicable under this 

3 paragraph for the purpose of ensuring coordina4 tion of activities carried out under this subtitle 

5 with other programs or activities of eligible en6 tities, the State shall, as part of the application 

7 described in section 678, apply such standard 

8 with respect to that program, project, or service 

9 and provide documentation regarding the ben10 efit of and need for such adjustment. 

11 ‘‘(E) PROCEDURES FOR CONTINUED ELIGI12 BILITY.—A State may establish procedures to 

13 ensure that a participant in a program, project, 

14 or service funded under this subtitle remains el15 igible to participate as long as the participant 

16 is successfully progressing towards achievement 

17 of the goals of the program, project, or service, 

18 regardless of any income eligibility criteria used 

19 to determine the participant’s initial eligibility. 

20 ‘‘(11) PRIVATE, NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.— 

21 The term ‘private, nonprofit organization’ includes a 

22 religious organization. 

23 ‘‘(12) PUBLIC CHARITY.—The term ‘public 

24 charity’ means a domestic organization that is— 


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1 ‘‘(A) described in section 501(c)(3) of the 

2 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt 

3 from taxation under section 501(a) of such 

4 Code; and 

5 ‘‘(B) described in paragraph (1) or (2) of 

6 section 509(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

7 1986. 

8 ‘‘(13) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ 

9 means the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 

10 ‘‘(14) SERVICE AREA.—The term ‘service area’ 

11 means the unique geographic area which the State 

12 has designated as the area to be served by an eligi13 ble entity with funding under section 679(a)(1)(B). 

14 ‘‘(15) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means any of 

15 the several States, the District of Columbia, the 

16 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the United 

17 States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, or the Com18 monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 

19 ‘‘SEC. 674. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMUNITY SERVICES 

20 BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM. 

21 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Secretary 

22 is authorized to establish a community services block 

23 grant program and to make grants through the program, 

24 under sections 675 and 676, to States to support local 

25 community action program plans carried out by eligible 


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1 entities to reduce poverty in the communities served by 

2 such entities. 

3 ‘‘(b) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY.—The Secretary is 

4 authorized to carry out other community programs de5 scribed in section 691. 

6 ‘‘(c) UNIFORM ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS, 

7 COST PRINCIPLES, AND AUDIT REQUIREMENTS.—Not8 withstanding any other provision of the Omnibus Budget 

9 Reconciliation Act of 1981 (Public Law 97–35) or of sec10 tion 75.101(d)(1), part 75 of title 45, Code of Federal 

11 Regulations, funds authorized to be appropriated under 

12 this subtitle shall be subject to all subparts of the uniform 

13 administrative requirements, cost principles, and audit re14 quirements for Federal awards as adopted in regulations 

15 promulgated by the Secretary to implement the Uniform 

16 Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit 

17 Requirements under part 200 of title 2, Code of Federal 

18 Regulations, or any corresponding similar regulation (in19 cluding part 75 of title 45, Code of Federal Regulations, 

20 or any corresponding similar regulation), as well as all 

21 other Federal laws and regulations related to intergovern22 mental financial transactions and to administration of fed23 erally funded grants and cooperative agreements between 

24 States and nonprofit organizations, or local governments, 

25 as applicable. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 675. GRANTS TO TERRITORIES. 

2 ‘‘(a) APPORTIONMENT.—The Secretary shall appor3 tion the amount reserved under section 692(c)(1) for each 

4 fiscal year on the basis of need to eligible jurisdictions, 

5 among Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin 

6 Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 

7 Islands. 

8 ‘‘(b) GRANTS.—The Secretary shall make a grant to 

9 each eligible jurisdiction to which subsection (a) applies 

10 for the amount apportioned under subsection (a). 

11 ‘‘SEC. 676. ALLOTMENTS AND GRANTS TO STATES. 

12 ‘‘(a) ALLOTMENTS IN GENERAL.—From the amount 

13 appropriated under section 692(a) for each fiscal year and 

14 remaining after the Secretary makes the reservations re15 quired by section 692(c), the Secretary shall allot to each 

16 eligible State, subject to section 677, an amount that 

17 bears the same ratio to such remaining amount as the 

18 amount received by the State for fiscal year 1981 under 

19 section 221 of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 bore 

20 to the total amount received by all States for fiscal year 

21 1981 under such section, except as provided in subsection 

22 (b). 

23 ‘‘(b) MINIMUM ALLOTMENTS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall allot to 

each State not less than 1 25 ⁄2 of 1 percent of the 

26 amount appropriated under section 692(a) for such 


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1 fiscal year and remaining after the Secretary makes 

2 the reservations required by section 692(c). 

3 ‘‘(2) YEARS WITH GREATER AVAILABLE

4 FUNDS.—Notwithstanding paragraph (1), if the 

5 amount appropriated under section 692(a) for a fis6 cal year and remaining after the Secretary makes 

7 the reservations required by section 692(c) exceeds 

8 $850,000,000, no State shall receive under this section less than 3 9 ⁄4 of 1 percent of the remaining 

10 amount. 

11 ‘‘(c) GRANTS AND PAYMENTS.—Subject to section 

12 677, the Secretary shall make grants to eligible States for 

13 the allotments described in subsections (a) and (b). The 

14 Secretary shall make payments for the grants in accord15 ance with section 6503(a) of title 31, United States Code. 

16 The Secretary shall allocate the amounts allotted under 

17 subsections (a) and (b) quarterly, notify the States of their 

18 respective allocations and make each State’s quarterly al19 location amount available for expenditure by the State no 

20 later than 30 days after the start of the fiscal quarter for 

21 which the Secretary is allocating the funds. 

22 ‘‘(d) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘State’ 

23 does not include Guam, American Samoa, the United 

24 States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the 

25 Northern Mariana Islands. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 677. PAYMENTS TO INDIAN TRIBES. 

2 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

3 ‘‘(1) INDIAN.—The term ‘Indian’ means a 

4 member of an Indian tribe or tribal organization. 

5 ‘‘(2) INDIAN TRIBE OR TRIBAL ORGANIZA6 TION.—The term ‘Indian tribe or tribal organiza7 tion’ means a tribe, band, or other organized group 

8 recognized in the State in which the tribe, band, or 

9 group resides, or considered by the Secretary of the 

10 Interior, to be an Indian tribe or an Indian organi11 zation for any purpose. 

12 ‘‘(b) RESERVATION.— 

13 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION.—Paragraph (2) shall apply 

14 only if, with respect to any State, the Secretary— 

15 ‘‘(A) receives a request from the governing 

16 body of an Indian tribe or tribal organization 

17 within such State that assistance under this 

18 subtitle be made available directly to such tribe 

19 or organization; and 

20 ‘‘(B) determines that the members of such 

21 Indian tribe or tribal organization would be bet22 ter served by means of grants made directly to 

23 such tribe or organization to provide benefits 

24 under this subtitle. 

25 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT.—The Secretary shall reserve 

26 from amounts allotted to a State under section 676 


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1 for a fiscal year, not less than the amount that bears 

2 the same ratio to the State allotment for the fiscal 

3 year as the population of all eligible Indians for 

4 whom a determination has been made under para5 graph (1)(B) bears to the population of all individ6 uals eligible for assistance through a grant made 

7 under section 676 to such State. 

8 ‘‘(c) AWARDS.—The amount reserved by the Sec9 retary on the basis of a determination made under sub10 section (b)(1)(B) shall be made available by grant to the 

11 Indian tribe or tribal organization serving the Indians for 

12 whom the determination has been made under subsection 

13 (b)(1)(B). 

14 ‘‘(d) PLAN.—In order for an Indian tribe or tribal 

15 organization to be eligible for a grant award for a fiscal 

16 year under this section, the tribe or organization shall sub17 mit to the Secretary a plan for such fiscal year that meets 

18 such criteria as the Secretary may prescribe by regulation. 

19 ‘‘(e) ALTERNATIVE PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT

20 SYSTEM.—The Secretary may implement alternative re21 quirements for tribal implementation of the requirements 

22 of section 678(c). 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 678. STATE PLANS AND APPLICATIONS; COMMUNITY 

2 ACTION PROGRAM PLANS AND APPLICA3 TIONS. 

4 ‘‘(a) STATE LEAD AGENCY.— 

5 ‘‘(1) DESIGNATION.—The chief executive officer 

6 of a State desiring to receive a grant under section 

7 675 or 676 shall designate, in an application sub8 mitted to the Secretary under subsection (b), an ap9 propriate State agency that agrees to comply with 

10 the requirements of paragraph (2), to act as a lead 

11 agency for purposes of carrying out State activities 

12 under this subtitle. 

13 ‘‘(2) DUTIES OF STATE LEAD AGENCIES.—The 

14 State lead agency— 

15 ‘‘(A) shall be authorized by the chief exec16 utive officer to convene State agencies and co17 ordinate information and activities funded 

18 under this subtitle; 

19 ‘‘(B) shall develop the State plan to be 

20 submitted to the Secretary under subsection 

21 (b), which shall be based primarily on the com22 munity action program plans of eligible entities, 

23 submitted to the State as a condition of receiv24 ing funding under this subtitle for approval by 

25 the State; 

26 ‘‘(C) shall assist eligible entities— 


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1 ‘‘(i) in conducting periodic comprehen2 sive community needs assessments, not less 

3 often than every 3 years; 

4 ‘‘(ii) in developing community action 

5 program plans; and 

6 ‘‘(iii) in developing community action 

7 strategic plans; 

8 ‘‘(D) in conjunction with the development 

9 or revision of the State plan as required under 

10 subsection (b)— 

11 ‘‘(i) shall hold at least one hearing in 

12 the State on the proposed plan or proposed 

13 revised plan, to provide to the public an 

14 opportunity to comment on the public 

15 record on the proposed use and distribu16 tion of funds under the plan; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) not less than 15 days prior to 

18 the hearing, shall distribute notice of the 

19 hearing and a copy of the proposed plan or 

20 plan revision statewide to the public and 

21 directly to the chief executive officer and 

22 the chairperson of the board of each of the 

23 eligible entities (or designees) and other 

24 community services network organizations; 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(E) not less often than every 3 years, in 

2 conjunction with the development of the State 

3 plan, shall hold at least 1 legislative hearing. 

4 ‘‘(b) STATE APPLICATION FOR STATE PROGRAM AND

5 STATE PLAN.—Beginning with the first fiscal year fol6 lowing the transition period described in section 3 of the 

7 Community Services Block Grant Reauthorization Act of 

8 2018, to be eligible to receive a grant under section 675 

9 or 676, a State shall prepare and submit to the Secretary 

10 an application containing a State plan covering a period 

11 of not more than 2 fiscal years. The application shall be 

12 submitted not later than 30 days prior to the beginning 

13 of the first fiscal year covered by the plan, and shall con14 tain such information as the Secretary shall require, in15 cluding— 

16 ‘‘(1) a description of the manner in which funds 

17 made available through the grant under section 675 

18 or 676 will be used to carry out the State activities 

19 described in section 679(b) and the State’s commu20 nity action program plans; 

21 ‘‘(2) a summary of the community action pro22 gram plans of the eligible entities serving the State; 

23 ‘‘(3) a description of the performance measure24 ment system in which the State and eligible entities 

25 participate under section 686(a)(1)(A); 


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1 ‘‘(4) a plan for the State’s oversight of eligible 

2 entities; 

3 ‘‘(5) an assurance that no eligible entity in the 

4 State that received, in the previous fiscal year, fund5 ing through a grant made under section 675 or 676 

6 will have such funding withheld, nor reduced below 

7 the proportional share of funding the entity received 

8 from the State in the previous fiscal year, nor elimi9 nated, nor its designation as an eligible entity termi10 nated, unless, after providing the affected entity (or 

11 entities, as applicable) with notice and an oppor12 tunity for a hearing on the record, the State deter13 mines that cause exists for such withholding, reduc14 tion or elimination of funding or for termination of 

15 designation, subject to review by the Secretary as 

16 provided in subsection (c) of section 684— 

17 ‘‘(A) for purposes of this subsection, the 

18 term ‘‘cause’’ means: 

19 ‘‘(i) the failure of an eligible entity to 

20 comply with the terms of a corrective ac21 tion plan relating to correction of a serious 

22 deficiency as described in subsection 

23 684(b); or 

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1 nity services block grant under this subtitle 

2 to respond to— 

3 ‘‘(I) the results of the most re4 cently available census or other appro5 priate demographic data; 

6 ‘‘(II) severe economic dislocation; 

7 or 

8 ‘‘(III) the designation of an eligi9 ble entity to serve a geographic area 

10 that has been unserved for at least 

11 the previous 5 years; and 

12 ‘‘(B) in the case of failure of an eligible 

13 entity to comply with the terms of a corrective 

14 action plan relating to correction of a serious 

15 deficiency, a State shall not withhold, reduce, or 

16 eliminate funding or terminate the eligible enti17 ty’s designation, except according to the proce18 dures set forth in subsections (b) and (c) of sec19 tion 684. 

20 ‘‘(6) an assurance that each eligible entity serv21 ing the State has established procedures that permit 

22 a low-income individual, or a community organiza23 tion or religious organization, that considers low-in24 come individuals or the organization, respectively, to 

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1 gible entity, to petition for adequate representation 

2 of such individuals or organization, respectively, on 

3 the board; 

4 ‘‘(7) a description of the State’s requirements, 

5 and financial or other support, for each community 

6 action program plan and community action strategic 

7 plan of an eligible entity in the State and for the 

8 comprehensive community needs assessment de9 scribed in subsection (a)(2)(C)(i) on which the com10 munity action program plans are based, which as11 sessment may be coordinated with community needs 

12 assessments conducted for programs other than the 

13 program carried out under this subtitle; and 

14 ‘‘(8) a description of how the State will meas15 ure State and eligible entity performance in achiev16 ing the goals of the State plan and the community 

17 action program plans, respectively. 

18 ‘‘(c) STATE PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS AND

19 BENCHMARKS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS.—Con21 sistent with the requirements of section 686, fol22 lowing the transition period described in section 3 of 

23 the Community Services Block Grant Reauthoriza24 tion Act of 2018, in order to be eligible for a grant 

25 under section 675 or 676, each State shall adopt 


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1 performance requirements and the performance 

2 benchmarks described in paragraph (2), to be in3 cluded as part of the performance measurement sys4 tem described in section 686. 

5 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL STATE PERFORMANCE BENCH6 MARKS.—Each State shall include in the State plan 

7 submitted under subsection (b), for each fiscal year 

8 after that transition period— 

9 ‘‘(A) performance measurements for lead 

10 agency management quality; 

11 ‘‘(B) the State annual performance bench12 marks regarding programmatic activities de13 scribed in section 679(b); and 

14 ‘‘(C) other performance measures, which 

15 shall include— 

16 ‘‘(i) indicators of timely distribution 

17 and effective management of Federal funds 

18 by the State lead agency and of the com19 pliance with the requirements for State 

20 personnel and for management of activities 

21 funded under this subtitle (other than this 

22 subsection); and 

23 ‘‘(ii) indicators concerning the results 

24 of activities carried out by the State under 

25 this subtitle. 


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1 ‘‘(d) PUBLIC INSPECTION.—Each plan and revision 

2 to a State plan prepared under this section shall be dis3 tributed for public inspection and comment. A hearing on 

4 such plan or revision shall be held as required under sub5 paragraphs (D) and (E) of subsection (a)(2), but a State 

6 application for merger, combination, or privatization of 

7 funds under section 680(b) shall not be considered a revi8 sion. 

9 ‘‘(e) APPLICATION FOR COMMUNITY ACTION PRO10 GRAM AND COMMUNITY ACTION PROGRAM PLAN.—Begin11 ning with the first fiscal year following the transition pe12 riod described in section 3 of the Community Services 

13 Block Grant Reauthorization Act of 2018, to be eligible 

14 to receive a subgrant under section 679(a), each eligible 

15 entity shall prepare and submit to the State for approval 

16 an application containing a community action program 

17 plan or plans covering a period of not more than 2 fiscal 

18 years. Such application shall be submitted no later than 

19 90 days before the date for submission of the State appli20 cation to the Secretary. The application shall contain in21 formation on the intended implementation of the eligible 

22 entity’s activities, including demonstrating how the pro23 gram— 

24 ‘‘(1) meets needs identified in the most recent 

25 comprehensive community needs assessment, and is 


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1 consistent with the entity’s community action stra2 tegic plan for that period; and 

3 ‘‘(2) achieves the purposes of this subtitle 

4 through programs, projects, and services, which may 

5 include the activities described in section 682. 

6 ‘‘(f) ELIGIBLE ENTITY PERFORMANCE REQUIRE7 MENTS AND BENCHMARKS.—Not later than the end of the 

8 transition period described in section 3 of the Community 

9 Services Block Grant Reauthorization Act of 2018, each 

10 eligible entity participating in a program funded under 

11 this subtitle shall— 

12 ‘‘(1) adopt performance benchmarks that in13 clude— 

14 ‘‘(A) indicators concerning attainment of 

15 the goals of the entity’s annual community ac16 tion program plans; and 

17 ‘‘(B) indicators of timely and effective 

18 management of Federal and other funds; and 

19 ‘‘(2) participate in a statewide performance 

20 measurement system under section 686. 

21 ‘‘SEC. 679. STATE AND LOCAL USES OF FUNDS. 

22 ‘‘(a) STATE SUBGRANTS TO ELIGIBLE ENTITIES AND

23 OTHER ORGANIZATIONS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives a 

25 grant under section 675 or 676 shall— 


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1 ‘‘(A) reserve 2 percent of the funds made 

2 available through the grant for the Community 

3 Action Innovations Program described in sub4 section (b)(1)(C)(i); and 

5 ‘‘(B) of the remainder, use not less than 

6 90 percent to make subgrants to eligible enti7 ties to enable the entities to implement pro8 grams, projects, or services for a purpose de9 scribed in section 672. 

10 ‘‘(2) OBLIGATIONAL REQUIREMENTS.— 

11 ‘‘(A) DATE OF OBLIGATION.—The State 

12 shall obligate the funds for subgrants described 

13 in paragraph (1)(B) not later than the later 

14 of— 

15 ‘‘(i) the 30th day after the date on 

16 which the State receives from the Sec17 retary a notice of funding availability for 

18 the State’s application under section 678; 

19 or 

20 ‘‘(ii) the first day of the State pro21 gram year for which such funds are to be 

22 expended under the State application. 

23 ‘‘(B) AVAILABILITY.—The State shall 

24 make available to eligible entities for expendi25 ture the funds for subgrants described in paraVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Apr 04, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5365.IH H5365

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1 graph (1)(B) not later than 10 days after re2 ceiving notice from the Secretary of the State’s 

3 quarterly allocation under section 676(c). 

4 Funds allocated to eligible entities through sub5 grants made under paragraph (1)(B) for a fis6 cal year shall be available for obligation by the 

7 eligible entity during that fiscal year and the 

8 succeeding fiscal year. 

9 ‘‘(b) STATEWIDE ACTIVITIES.— 

10 ‘‘(1) USE OF REMAINDER.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives 

12 a grant under section 675 or 676 shall, after 

13 carrying out subsection (a), use the remainder 

14 of the grant funds for activities described in the 

15 State’s application under section 678(b) as de16 scribed in subparagraphs (B) and (C) and for 

17 administrative expenses subject to the limita18 tions in paragraph (2). 

19 ‘‘(B) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSIST20 ANCE.—After applying subsection (a) and sub21 paragraph (C), the State may use the remain22 ing grant funds for the purposes of providing to 

23 eligible entities training and technical assistance 

24 and resources. 


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1 ‘‘(C) INNOVATIVE PROJECTS TO REDUCE

2 POVERTY.— 

3 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The State shall 

4 use amounts reserved under section 

5 679(a)(1)(A) for a Community Action In6 novations Program to award subgrants, 

7 contracts, or cooperative agreements to eli8 gible entities, or their associations, to— 

9 ‘‘(I) carry out innovative projects 

10 to test or replicate promising new 

11 practices designed to reduce poverty 

12 conditions, including two-generation 

13 approaches that create opportunities 

14 for, and address the needs of, parents 

15 and children together; and 

16 ‘‘(II) disseminate the results of 

17 such projects for public use. 

18 ‘‘(ii) EXPENSES.—The funds reserved 

19 for projects under this subparagraph may 

20 be used for reasonable expenses, of States 

21 and subgrantees, associated with adminis22 tration of such projects and dissemination 

23 of their results. 

24 ‘‘(iii) AWARDS AND OBLIGATION.—A 

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1 served for projects under this subpara2 graph during the first program year for 

3 which the funds are appropriated. Funds 

4 provided under this subparagraph shall re5 main available until expended. 

6 ‘‘(iv) MATCHING REQUIREMENTS.—In 

7 the case of innovative projects that are 

8 funded in part by funds authorized under 

9 a Federal law (other than this subtitle), 

10 that includes requirements for matching 

11 the Federal funds with non-Federal funds, 

12 funds made available under this subpara13 graph may be deemed to be non-Federal 

14 funds for purposes of the requirements of 

15 such law. 

16 ‘‘(v) REAL PROPERTY.—Land or fa17 cilities improved through a project receiv18 ing an award under this subparagraph, for 

19 which the amount of the award is less than 

20 50 percent of the total project cost, shall 

21 not be subject to the provisions of section 

22 687(a). 

23 ‘‘(vi) ELIGIBILITY.—Activities funded 

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1 ticipants with incomes not exceeding 80 

2 percent of the area median income. 

3 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE CAP.— 

4 ‘‘(A) LIMITATION.—Of the amounts re5 maining after the reservation for the State 

6 Community Action Innovation Program under 

7 subsection (a)(1)(A) and the required funding 

8 for subgrants described under subsection 

9 (a)(1)(B), a State shall not spend more than 5 

10 percent of such remainder for administrative 

11 expenses. 

12 ‘‘(B) DEFINITION.—In this paragraph, the 

13 term ‘administrative expenses’— 

14 ‘‘(i) means the costs incurred by the 

15 State’s lead agency for carrying out plan16 ning and management activities, including 

17 monitoring, oversight, and reporting as re18 quired by this Act; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) does not include the cost of ac20 tivities conducted under paragraph (1)(B) 

21 other than monitoring. 

22 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE ENTITY USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible 

23 entity that receives a subgrant under subsection (a)(1)(B) 

24 shall use the subgrant funds to carry out a community 

25 action program plan that shall include— 


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1 ‘‘(1) programs, projects, and services that pro2 vide low-income individuals and families with oppor3 tunities— 

4 ‘‘(A) to secure and retain meaningful em5 ployment at a family supporting wage; 

6 ‘‘(B) to secure an adequate education, im7 prove literacy and language ability, and obtain 

8 job-related skills; 

9 ‘‘(C) to make better use of available in10 come and build assets; 

11 ‘‘(D) to obtain and maintain adequate 

12 housing and a healthy living environment, in13 cluding addressing the heath care needs of indi14 viduals and families with services and through 

15 changes in local institutions and workplaces (in16 cluding institutions and workplaces managed by 

17 the eligible entity); or 

18 ‘‘(E) to obtain emergency materials or 

19 other assistance to meet immediate individual 

20 or community urgent needs and prevent greater 

21 or more prolonged economic instability; and 

22 ‘‘(2) activities that develop and maintain— 

23 ‘‘(A) partnerships for the purpose of 

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1 ditions of poverty, between the eligible entity 

2 and— 

3 ‘‘(i) State and local public entities 

4 (such as schools, institutions of higher edu5 cation, housing authorities, and law en6 forcement agencies); and 

7 ‘‘(ii) private partners, including state8 wide and local businesses, associations of 

9 private employers, and private charitable 

10 and civic organizations; 

11 ‘‘(B) linkages among organizations for co12 ordinating initiatives, services, and investments 

13 so as to avoid duplication, and maximize the ef14 fective use of community resources for creating 

15 economic opportunity, including developing last16 ing social and economic assets; or 

17 ‘‘(C) new investments in the community to 

18 reduce the incidence of poverty, including devel19 oping lasting social and economic assets. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 680. ELIGIBLE ENTITIES AND TRIPARTITE BOARDS. 

21 ‘‘(a) DESIGNATION AND REDESIGNATION OF ELIGI22 BLE ENTITIES IN UNSERVED AREAS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If any geographic area of a 

24 State is not, or ceases to be, served by an eligible 

25 entity, the lead agency may, in consultation with 


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1 local officials and organizations representing the 

2 area, solicit one or more applications and designate 

3 a new community action agency to provide pro4 grams, projects, or services to the area, that is— 

5 ‘‘(A) a community action agency that is a 

6 private, nonprofit organization and that is geo7 graphically located in an area within reasonable 

8 proximity of, or contiguous to, the unserved 

9 area that is already providing similar programs, 

10 projects, or services, and that has demonstrated 

11 financial capacity to manage and account for 

12 Federal funds; or 

13 ‘‘(B) if no community action agency de14 scribed in subparagraph (A) is available, a pri15 vate, nonprofit organization (which may include 

16 an eligible entity) that is geographically located 

17 in, or is in reasonable proximity to, the 

18 unserved area and that is capable of providing 

19 a broad range of programs, projects, or services 

20 designed to achieve the purposes of this subtitle 

21 as stated in section 672. 

22 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT.—In order to serve as the 

23 eligible entity for the service area, an entity de24 scribed in paragraph (1) shall agree to ensure that 


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1 the governing board of directors of the entity will 

2 meet the requirements of subsection (c). 

3 ‘‘(3) COMMUNITY.—A service area referred to 

4 in this subsection or a portion thereof shall be treat5 ed as a community for purposes of this subtitle. 

6 ‘‘(b) MERGER, COMBINATION, OR PRIVATIZATION OF

7 ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If an eligible entity receiv9 ing subgrant funds makes a determination described 

10 in paragraph (2) and notifies the State, the State— 

11 ‘‘(A) shall assist in developing a plan for 

12 implementing such merger, combination, or pri13 vatization, including a budget for transitional 

14 costs not to exceed 2 years in duration; and 

15 ‘‘(B) upon approving such plans, may no16 tify the Secretary that the entities are in need 

17 of and eligible for funds from the merger incen18 tive fund established under section 682(a)(2). 

19 ‘‘(2) COVERED MERGER, COMBINATION, OR PRI20 VATIZATION.—This subsection applies when— 

21 ‘‘(A) 2 or more eligible entities determine 

22 that the geographic areas of a State that they 

23 serve can be more effectively served under com24 mon control or shared management; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) a public organization that is an eligi2 ble entity determines that the area it serves can 

3 be more effectively served if it becomes a pri4 vate, nonprofit organization that is a public 

5 charity. 

6 ‘‘(3) PLANS.—A State may establish require7 ments for merger, combination, or privatization 

8 plans and for a determination that the merged, com9 bined, or privatized entity, or entities, will be capa10 ble of conducting a program consistent with the 

11 comprehensive needs assessments for the areas 

12 served. 

13 ‘‘(c) TRIPARTITE BOARDS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) PRIVATE, NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS.— 

15 ‘‘(A) BOARD.—In order for a private, non16 profit organization to be considered to be an eli17 gible entity for purposes of section 673(6), the 

18 entity shall be governed by a tripartite board of 

19 directors described in subparagraph (C) that 

20 fully participates in the development, planning, 

21 implementation, oversight, and evaluation of the 

22 program, project, or service carried out or pro23 vided through the subgrant made under section 

24 679(a)(1)(B) and all activities of the entity. 


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1 ‘‘(B) SELECTION.—The members of the 

2 board referred to in subparagraph (A) shall be 

3 selected by the private, nonprofit organization. 

4 ‘‘(C) COMPOSITION OF BOARD.—The board 

5 shall be composed so as to assure that— 

‘‘(i) 1 6 ⁄3 of the members of the board 

7 are elected public officials holding office on 

8 the date of selection, or their representa9 tives (but if an elected public official 

10 chooses not to serve, such official may des11 ignate a representative to serve as the vot12 ing board member); 

‘‘(ii)(I) not fewer than 1 13 ⁄3 of the mem14 bers are persons chosen in accordance with 

15 democratic selection procedures adequate 

16 to assure that the members referred to in 

17 this clause are representative of low-income 

18 individuals and families in the service area; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(II) each member who is a represent21 ative of low-income individuals and families 

22 and is also selected to represent a specific 

23 geographic area under subclause (I) resides 

24 in such area; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) the remainder of the members 

2 are representatives of business, industry, 

3 labor, religious, educational, charitable, or 

4 other significant private groups in the 

5 community. 

6 ‘‘(D) EXPERTISE.—The eligible entity 

7 shall ensure that the members of the board in8 clude, or have direct access to, individuals with 

9 expertise in financial management, accounting, 

10 and law. 

11 ‘‘(E) COMPLIANCE WITH TAX-EXEMPT AND

12 OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—The board of a pri13 vate, nonprofit organization shall ensure that 

14 the board operates and conducts activities 

15 under the subgrant made under section 

16 679(a)(1)(B) in a manner that complies with— 

17 ‘‘(i) the requirements for maintaining 

18 tax-exempt status under section 501(a) of 

19 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 

20 U.S.C. 501(a)) regarding the governance 

21 of charities under section 501(c)(3) of the 

22 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 

23 501(c)(3)); and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) applicable requirements of State 

2 nonprofit corporation and public charities 

3 law. 

4 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC ORGANIZATIONS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) BOARD.—In order for a local public 

6 (governmental) entity to be considered to be an 

7 eligible entity for purposes of section 673(6), 

8 the entity shall administer a program, project, 

9 or service under the supervision of a tripartite 

10 board described in subparagraph (C). 

11 ‘‘(B) SELECTION.—The members of the 

12 board referred to in subparagraph (A) shall be 

13 selected by the local public entity. 

14 ‘‘(C) COMPOSITION OF BOARD.—The board 

15 shall be composed so as to assure that— 

‘‘(i) not more than 1 16 ⁄3 of the members 

17 of the board are employees or officials, in18 cluding elected officials, of the unit of gov19 ernment in which the organization is lo20 cated; 

‘‘(ii)(I) not fewer than 1 21 ⁄3 of the mem22 bers are persons chosen in accordance with 

23 democratic selection procedures adequate 

24 to assure that the members referred to in 

25 this clause are representative of low-income 


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1 individuals and families in the service area; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(II) each member who is a represent4 ative of low-income individuals and families 

5 and is also selected to represent a specific 

6 geographic area under subclause (I) resides 

7 in such area; and 

8 ‘‘(iii) the remainder of the members 

9 are representatives of business, industry, 

10 labor, religious, educational, charitable, or 

11 other significant private groups in the 

12 community. 

13 ‘‘(D) EXPERTISE.—The organization shall 

14 ensure that the members of the board include 

15 or have direct access to individuals with exper16 tise in financial management, accounting, and 

17 law. 

18 ‘‘(E) COMPLIANCE WITH STATE REQUIRE19 MENTS AND POLICY.—The board of a public or20 ganization shall ensure that the board operates 

21 in a manner that complies with State require22 ments for open meetings, financial trans23 parency, and State open records policy. 


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1 ‘‘(d) OPERATIONS AND DUTIES OF THE BOARD.— 

2 The duties of a board described in paragraph (1) or (2) 

3 of subsection (c) shall include— 

4 ‘‘(1) in the case of a board for a private, non5 profit organization that is an eligible entity, having 

6 legal and financial responsibility for administering 

7 and overseeing the eligible entity, including making 

8 proper use of Federal funds; 

9 ‘‘(2) establishing terms for officers and adopt10 ing a code of ethical conduct, including a conflict of 

11 interest policy for board members; 

12 ‘‘(3) participating in each comprehensive com13 munity needs assessment, developing and adopting 

14 as a policy for the corresponding eligible entity a 

15 community action strategic plan, including provi16 sions for the use of funds under this subtitle, and 

17 preparing the community action program plan for 

18 the use of funds under this subtitle; 

19 ‘‘(4) approving the eligible entity’s operating 

20 budget; 

21 ‘‘(5) reviewing all major policies of the eligible 

22 entity, including conducting (for private, nonprofit 

23 organizations that are eligible entities) and partici24 pating in (for local public entities that are eligible 

25 entities) annual performance reviews of the eligible 


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1 entity’s chief executive officer (or individual holding 

2 an equivalent position); 

3 ‘‘(6) conducting assessments of the eligible enti4 ty’s progress in carrying out programmatic and fis5 cal provisions in the community action program 

6 plan, and in taking any corrective action; and 

7 ‘‘(7) adopting (for private, nonprofit organiza8 tions that are eligible entities) and reviewing (for 

9 local public entities that are eligible entities) per10 sonnel policies and procedures, including policies and 

11 procedures for hiring, annual evaluation, compensa12 tion, and termination, of the eligible entity’s chief 

13 executive officer (or individual holding a similar po14 sition). 

15 ‘‘SEC. 681. OFFICE OF COMMUNITY SERVICES. 

16 ‘‘(a) OFFICE.— 

17 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall es18 tablish an Office of Community Services in the De19 partment to carry out the functions of this subtitle. 

20 ‘‘(2) DIRECTOR.—The Office shall be headed by 

21 a Director (referred to in this section as the ‘Direc22 tor’). 

23 ‘‘(b) GRANTS, CONTRACTS, AND COOPERATIVE

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1 tor, shall carry out the functions of this subtitle through 

2 grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements. 

3 ‘‘(c) FEDERAL PERFORMANCE BENCHMARKS.—The 

4 Secretary shall, prior to the beginning of each fiscal year, 

5 publish Federal performance benchmarks for the Office of 

6 Community Services for such year, which shall include tar7 gets for— 

8 ‘‘(1) the timeliness of— 

9 ‘‘(A) apportionments and allotments of ap10 propriated funds to States; and 

11 ‘‘(B) the use of funds appropriated under 

12 section 691(b); and 

13 ‘‘(2) the implementation of the requirements of 

14 the uniform administrative requirements, cost prin15 ciples, and audit requirements described in section 

16 674(c) with respect to funds appropriated and activi17 ties conducted under this subtitle by the Depart18 ment, the States, and other grantees. 

19 ‘‘SEC. 682. TRAINING, TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, AND RE20 LATED ACTIVITIES. 

21 ‘‘(a) ACTIVITIES.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall— 

23 ‘‘(A) use amounts reserved under section 

24 692(c)(2)(A) for training, technical assistance, 


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1 planning, evaluation, and performance measure2 ment, to assist in— 

3 ‘‘(i) development or replication of in4 novative initiatives; 

5 ‘‘(ii) carrying out professional develop6 ment activities that expand the capacity of 

7 eligible entities; 

8 ‘‘(iii) carrying out performance meas9 urement, reporting, and data collection ac10 tivities related to programs, projects, and 

11 services carried out under this subtitle; and 

12 ‘‘(iv) correcting programmatic defi13 ciencies, including such deficiencies of eli14 gible entities; and 

15 ‘‘(B) subject to paragraph (2), distribute 

16 the amounts reserved under section 

17 692(c)(2)(B) directly to States, eligible entities, 

18 or other community services network organiza19 tions and their partners, including institutions 

20 of higher education, for— 

21 ‘‘(i) professional development for key 

22 community services network organization 

23 personnel; 

24 ‘‘(ii) activities to improve community 

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1 nancial management, compliance and gov2 ernance practices (including practices re3 lated to performance management informa4 tion systems); and 

5 ‘‘(iii) activities that train community 

6 services network organizations and their 

7 staff and board members to effectively ad8 dress the needs of low-income families and 

9 communities through place-based strategies 

10 for coordinated investment and integrated 

11 service delivery. 

12 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In distributing the re14 served amounts under paragraph (1)(B), the 

15 Secretary shall ensure that 7.5 percent of such 

16 reserved amounts remain available until the end 

17 of the second quarter of the year for which 

18 funds are appropriated to be used by the Sec19 retary to award grants to States for funds— 

20 ‘‘(i) to support the one-time costs in21 curred by 2 or more eligible entities for 

22 legal, financial, and other activities re23 quired to effect a merger or other combina24 tion of operations and/or programs that 

25 achieves greater efficiency and impact for 


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1 the use of funds appropriated under this 

2 subtitle; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) for a public organization that is 

4 an eligible entity to become a private, non5 profit organization that is a public charity. 

6 ‘‘(B) AVAILABILITY AFTER SECOND QUAR7 TER.—Any funds not obligated for merger, 

8 combination, or privatization incentives de9 scribed in subparagraph (A) by the end of the 

10 second quarter of the fiscal year shall be avail11 able for other authorized purposes described in 

12 this subsection. 

13 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—None of the funds allocated 

14 under subsection (a) may be used for expenses or salaries 

15 of Federal employees or of Federal contractors performing 

16 services that would otherwise be performed by Federal em17 ployees. 

18 ‘‘(c) GRANTS, CONTRACTS, AND COOPERATIVE

19 AGREEMENTS.—The activities described in subsection 

20 (a)(1)(A) shall be carried out annually by the Secretary 

21 through grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements with 

22 appropriate entities, which shall include all statewide asso23 ciations of eligible entities that meet the requirements for 

24 receipt of Federal funds. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 683. STATE MONITORING OF ELIGIBLE ENTITIES. 

2 ‘‘In order to determine whether eligible entities re3 ceiving subgrants under this subtitle meet performance 

4 benchmarks described in section 678(f)(1), administrative 

5 standards, financial management requirements, and other 

6 requirements under this subtitle, the State shall conduct 

7 the following reviews of eligible entities: 

8 ‘‘(1) A full onsite review of each eligible entity 

9 at least once during each 3-year period. 

10 ‘‘(2) An onsite review of each newly designated 

11 eligible entity immediately after the completion of 

12 the first year in which such entity receives funds 

13 through the community services block grant program 

14 under this subtitle. 

15 ‘‘(3) Followup reviews, including onsite reviews 

16 scheduled in a corrective action plan (including re17 turn visits), within a calendar quarter for eligible en18 tities with programs, projects, or services that fail to 

19 meet the State’s performance criteria, standards, fi20 nancial management requirements, and other signifi21 cant requirements established under this subtitle. 

22 ‘‘(4) Other reviews as appropriate, including re23 views of eligible entities with programs, projects, and 

24 services that have had other Federal, State, or local 

25 grants (other than assistance provided under this 

26 subtitle) terminated for cause. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 684. EVALUATIONS; CORRECTIVE ACTION; WITH2 HOLDING, REDUCTION, OR ELIMINATION OF 

3 FUNDING. 

4 ‘‘(a) EVALUATIONS OF STATES BY THE SEC5 RETARY.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct, in not fewer than 1 7 ⁄3 of the States in each fis8 cal year, evaluations (including investigations) of 

9 State compliance with this subtitle, including re10 quirements relating to the use of funds received 

11 under this subtitle, and especially with respect to 

12 compliance with the requirements of State plans 

13 submitted under section 678(b) and the uniform ad14 ministrative requirements, cost principles, and audit 

15 requirements described in section 674(c) as applied 

16 to funds received under this subtitle. 

17 ‘‘(2) REPORT TO STATES.—The Secretary shall 

18 submit, to each State evaluated, a report con19 taining— 

20 ‘‘(A) the results of such evaluation; and 

21 ‘‘(B)(i) recommendations for improvements 

22 designed to enhance the benefit and impact of 

23 the activities carried out with such funds; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) in the event a serious deficiency is 

25 found regarding a State’s compliance with this 

26 subtitle, including requirements relating to the 


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1 use of funds received under this subtitle, a pro2 posed corrective action plan. 

3 ‘‘(3) STATE RESPONSE.—Not later than 45 

4 days after receiving a report under paragraph (2)— 

5 ‘‘(A) a State that received recommenda6 tions under paragraph (2)(B)(i) shall submit to 

7 the Secretary a plan of action in response to 

8 the recommendations; and 

9 ‘‘(B) a State that received a proposed cor10 rective action plan under paragraph (2)(B)(ii) 

11 shall agree to implement the corrective action 

12 plan proposed by the Secretary or propose to 

13 the Secretary a different corrective action plan, 

14 developed by the State in a timely manner that 

15 the State will implement upon approval by the 

16 Secretary. 

17 ‘‘(4) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary 

18 shall submit the results of the evaluations annually, 

19 as part of the report submitted by the Secretary in 

20 accordance with section 686(b)(2). 

21 ‘‘(5) ENFORCEMENT.— 

22 ‘‘(A) WITHHOLDING OF FUNDING.—If the 

23 Secretary determines under the procedures set 

24 forth in this subsection that a State fails to 

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1 retary may withhold all or a portion of the 

2 amount of funding that may be used for admin3 istrative expenses, as described in section 

4 679(b)(2)(A), and prohibit the State from using 

5 other funds awarded under this subtitle to carry 

6 out the activities described in section 

7 679(b)(2)(B), until the Secretary determines 

8 that the State has complied with the require9 ments of paragraph (3) and section 685(b). 

10 ‘‘(B) REDUCTION OR ELIMINATION OF

11 FUNDING.—If the Secretary determines, on the 

12 basis of a final decision in an evaluation con13 ducted under this section, that a State fails to 

14 meet the requirements of this subsection, the 

15 Secretary may, after providing adequate notice 

16 and an opportunity for a hearing, initiate pro17 ceedings to reduce or eliminate the amount of 

18 funding apportioned and allocated to the State 

19 as described in section 675 or 676, as applica20 ble. To the extent that all or a portion of the 

21 amount of funding that may be used for admin22 istrative expenses, as described in section 

23 679(b)(2)(A), is reduced or eliminated under 

24 this paragraph, the Secretary is authorized to 

25 prohibit the State from using other funds 


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1 awarded under this subtitle to carry out the ac2 tivities described in section 679(b)(2)(B), unless 

3 the State corrects the failure to meet the re4 quirements. 

5 ‘‘(C) DIRECT AWARDS TO OTHER ENTI6 TIES.— 

7 ‘‘(i) REDUCTION OR ELIMINATION OF

8 STATE FUNDING.—If the Secretary reduces 

9 or eliminates funding to a State under sub10 paragraph (B), the Secretary shall award 

11 funding, in the amount by which funding 

12 to the State was reduced or eliminated, di13 rectly to eligible entities or community 

14 services network organizations in the 

15 State, as applicable. 

16 ‘‘(ii) DIRECT FUNDING TO ELIGIBLE

17 ENTITIES.—Eligible entities that are 

18 grantees receiving funds directly from the 

19 Secretary, as described in clause (i), shall 

20 carry out the activities described in section 

21 679(c) in the same manner as those eligi22 ble entities would be required to carry out 

23 such activities as subgrantees under that 

24 section. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) STATEWIDE FUNDS.—If funds 

2 described in section 679(b) are reduced or 

3 eliminated, amounts equal to the amounts 

4 of such reduced or eliminated funds shall 

5 be awarded to an association of eligible en6 tities in the State (or if there is no such 

7 association, to one or more eligible entities) 

8 for the purposes specified in section 

9 679(b)(1)(B). 

10 ‘‘(iv) STATE DECISION TO NOT PAR11 TICIPATE.—In the event a State elects not 

12 to receive funding under this subtitle, in13 cluding a refusal to submit a plan meeting 

14 the Secretary’s requirements, the Secretary 

15 shall provide funding directly by grant or 

16 cooperative agreement to eligible entities in 

17 good standing at the end of the last fiscal 

18 year for which the State received an alloca19 tion under this subtitle. 

20 ‘‘(6) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

21 The Secretary, through the Department’s own em22 ployees or contractors (rather than under grants, 

23 contracts or cooperative agreements issued under 

24 section 682), shall provide training and technical as25 sistance to States with respect to the development or 


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1 implementation of the States’ corrective action 

2 plans. 

3 ‘‘(7) PROHIBITIONS.—Nothing in this Act shall 

4 be construed to permit the Secretary (through regu5 lation, guidance, grant criteria, or otherwise) to ex6 pand the authority of the Secretary beyond that ex7 pressly provided to the Secretary in this Act. 

8 ‘‘(b) DETERMINATION OF LOCAL AGENCY FAILURE

9 TO COMPLY.— 

10 ‘‘(1) CORRECTIVE ACTION BY LOCAL AGEN11 CIES.—If the State determines, on the basis of a re12 view pursuant to section 683 or section 685, that 

13 there is a serious deficiency regarding an eligible en14 tity’s compliance with this subtitle, the State shall 

15 inform the entity of the serious deficiencies that 

16 shall be corrected and provide technical assistance 

17 for the corrective action. 

18 ‘‘(2) LOCAL CORRECTIVE ACTION PLANS.—An 

19 eligible entity that is found to have a serious defi20 ciency under paragraph (1) shall develop, in a timely 

21 manner, a corrective action plan that shall be sub22 ject to the approval of the State, and that shall 

23 specify— 

24 ‘‘(A) the deficiencies to be corrected; 


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1 ‘‘(B) the actions to be taken to correct 

2 such deficiencies; and 

3 ‘‘(C) the timetable for accomplishment of 

4 the corrective actions specified. 

5 ‘‘(3) FINAL DECISION.—If the State deter6 mines, on the basis of a final decision in a review 

7 conducted under section 683, that an eligible entity 

8 fails to comply with the terms of a corrective action 

9 plan under paragraph (2) relating to correction of a 

10 serious deficiency for the eligible entity, the State 

11 may, after providing adequate notice and an oppor12 tunity for a hearing, initiate proceedings to withhold, 

13 reduce, or eliminate the funding provided under sec14 tion 679(a)(1)(B) to the eligible entity (including, in 

15 the case of elimination of funding, terminating the 

16 designation under this subtitle of the eligible entity) 

17 unless the entity corrects the serious deficiency. 

18 ‘‘(c) REVIEW.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State’s determination 

20 under subsection (b) to withhold, reduce, or elimi21 nate funding, or to terminate the designation of an 

22 eligible entity (eligible entities, as applicable) may be 

23 reviewed by the Secretary. Upon request by a com24 munity services network organization, the Secretary 

25 shall review such a determination. The review shall 


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1 be completed not later than 60 days after the Sec2 retary receives from the State all necessary docu3 mentation relating to the determination except as 

4 provided in paragraph (2). 

5 ‘‘(2) FAILURE TO PROVIDE DOCUMENTATION.— 

6 If the State fails to provide such documentation 

7 within 30 days after the Secretary’s request, the 

8 State may not expend funds for the purposes de9 scribed in section 679(b)(2) until the State provides 

10 such documentation. The Secretary shall respond to 

11 the State with a decision not later than 30 days 

12 after receiving the documentation. 

13 ‘‘(d) DIRECT ASSISTANCE.—Whenever the Secretary 

14 determines that a State has violated the State plan de15 scribed in section 678(b) (including, but not limited to, 

16 the assurance described in section 678(b)(5)) and the 

17 State has withheld, reduced, or eliminated the funding 

18 provided under section 679(a) to any eligible entity or en19 tities or terminated the eligible entity designation of any 

20 eligible entity or entities prior to the completion of the 

21 State proceedings described in section 678(b)(5) (includ22 ing, where applicable, the proceedings required by sub23 section (b) of this section 684) and the Secretary’s review 

24 as required by subsection (c) of this section 684, the Sec25 retary shall provide financial assistance under this subtitle 


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1 to the affected eligible entity or entities directly until the 

2 violation is corrected by the State. In such a case, the 

3 grant for the State under section 675 or 676 for the ear4 liest appropriate fiscal year shall be reduced by an amount 

5 equal to the financial assistance provided under this sub6 section to such eligible entity or entities. 

7 ‘‘SEC. 685. STATE AND LOCAL FISCAL CONTROLS, AUDITS, 

8 AND WITHHOLDING. 

9 ‘‘(a) FISCAL CONTROLS, PROCEDURES, AUDITS, AND

10 INSPECTIONS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives funds 

12 under this subtitle shall— 

13 ‘‘(A) establish fiscal control and fund ac14 counting procedures necessary to assure the 

15 proper disbursal of, and accounting for, Federal 

16 funds paid to the State under this subtitle, in17 cluding procedures for monitoring the funds 

18 provided under this subtitle; 

19 ‘‘(B) in accordance with paragraphs (2) 

20 and (3), prepare, not less than once each year, 

21 an audit of the expenditures of the State of 

22 amounts received under this subtitle; and 

23 ‘‘(C) make appropriate books, documents, 

24 papers, and records available to the Secretary 

25 and the Comptroller General of the United 


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1 States, or any of their duly authorized rep2 resentatives, for examination, copying, or me3 chanical reproduction on or off the premises of 

4 the appropriate entity upon a reasonable re5 quest for the items. 

6 ‘‘(2) INDEPENDENT ENTITY.—Subject to para7 graph (3), each audit required by paragraph (1)(B) 

8 shall be conducted by an entity independent of any 

9 agency administering activities or services under this 

10 subtitle and shall be conducted in accordance with 

11 generally accepted accounting principles. 

12 ‘‘(3) SINGLE AUDIT REQUIREMENTS.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any audit under this 

14 subsection shall be conducted in the manner 

15 and to the extent provided in chapter 75 of title 

16 31, United States Code (commonly known as 

17 the ‘Single Audit Act Amendments of 1984’) 

18 except in the event a serious financial deficiency 

19 is identified. 

20 ‘‘(B) SERIOUS FINANCIAL DEFICIENCY.— 

21 In the event that such a deficiency is identified, 

22 the Secretary shall order— 

23 ‘‘(i) an audit conducted as described 

24 in subparagraph (A); or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) an audit of each of the accounts 

2 involved, in accordance with paragraphs 

3 (2) and (4). 

4 ‘‘(4) SUBMISSION OF COPIES.—Not later than 

5 30 days after the completion of each such audit in 

6 a State, the chief executive officer of the State shall 

7 submit copies of such audit, at no charge, to any eli8 gible entity that was the subject of the audit, to the 

9 legislature of the State, and to the Secretary. 

10 ‘‘(5) REPAYMENTS.—If the Secretary, after re11 view of the audit, finds that a State has not ex12 pended an amount of funds in accordance with this 

13 subtitle, the State shall immediately use an amount 

14 of State funds equal to the amount of improperly ex15 pended funds for the original purposes for which the 

16 grant funds were intended. 

17 ‘‘(6) RESPONSE TO COMPLAINTS.—The Sec18 retary shall respond in an expeditious and speedy 

19 manner to complaints of a substantial or serious na20 ture that a State has failed to use grant funds re21 ceived under section 675 or 676 or to carry out 

22 State activities under this subtitle in accordance 

23 with the provisions of this subtitle. 

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1 plaints regarding failures described in paragraph (6) 

2 or a complaint of a serious deficiency concerning any 

3 State, the Secretary shall conduct an investigation of 

4 the use of the funds received under this subtitle by 

5 such State in order to ensure compliance with the 

6 provisions of this subtitle. 

7 ‘‘(b) STATE FUNDS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) CORRECTIVE ACTION PLAN.—In the event 

9 the Secretary withholds funding pursuant to section 

10 684(a)(5)(A), the Secretary shall subsequently make 

11 the withheld funding available to the State not later 

12 than 90 days after the date of correction of the seri13 ous deficiency specified in the corrective action plan 

14 described in section 684(a)(2)(B)(ii), provided that 

15 the State complies with the corrective action plan 

16 approved by the Secretary and corrects the serious 

17 deficiency by the date specified in such corrective ac18 tion plan. 

19 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION.—For purposes of para20 graph (1), failures described in subsection (a)(6) 

21 shall be considered to be serious deficiencies. 

22 ‘‘SEC. 686. ACCOUNTABILITY AND REPORTING REQUIRE23 MENTS. 

24 ‘‘(a) STATE ACCOUNTABILITY AND REPORTING RE25 QUIREMENTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—By October 1, 2018, 

3 each State that receives funds under this sub4 title shall participate, and shall ensure that all 

5 eligible entities in the State participate, in a 

6 performance measurement system that the Sec7 retary is satisfied meets the requirements of 

8 paragraph (8) of section 678(b). 

9 ‘‘(B) LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS.—The State 

10 may elect to have local organizations that are 

11 subgrantees of the eligible entities under this 

12 subtitle participate in the performance measure13 ment system. If the State makes that election, 

14 references in this section to eligible entities 

15 shall be considered to include the local organi16 zations. 

17 ‘‘(C) ELIGIBLE ENTITY REPORTS.—Eligi18 ble entities shall provide the results measured 

19 by their performance measurement system, re20 ports on the achievement of their annual per21 formance benchmarks, and such other reports 

22 as the State may require. 

23 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL REPORT.—Each State receiving 

24 funds under this subtitle shall annually prepare, and 

25 submit to the Secretary by March 31 of each year, 


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1 a report on the performance of the State and eligible 

2 entities in the State, including achievement with re3 spect to the State lead agency performance bench4 marks and the local performance benchmarks re5 spectively and to other performance measurements 

6 that were used by community service network orga7 nizations in the State for the prior year. Each State 

8 shall also include in the report— 

9 ‘‘(A) an accounting of the expenditure of 

10 funds received by the State through the com11 munity services block grant program, including 

12 an accounting of funds spent on administrative 

13 or indirect costs by the State and the eligible 

14 entities and funds spent by the eligible entities 

15 on local programs, projects, and services; 

16 ‘‘(B) information on the number and char17 acteristics of participants served under this sub18 title in the State, based on data collected from 

19 the eligible entities; 

20 ‘‘(C) a summary describing the training 

21 and technical assistance offered by the State 

22 under subparagraph (B) of section 679(b)(1) 

23 during the year covered by the report; 

24 ‘‘(D) the State’s management performance 

25 benchmark results; 


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1 ‘‘(E) information on the total budget and 

2 activities of the eligible entities receiving sub3 grants from the State under this subtitle, in4 cluding local and private resources available for 

5 a purpose described in section 672; 

6 ‘‘(F) a report on the Community Action 

7 Innovations Program in the State; and 

8 ‘‘(G) a report on the manner in which the 

9 State and eligible entities and other recipients 

10 of funds under this subtitle have implemented 

11 results-oriented management practices based on 

12 their performance measurement systems. 

13 ‘‘(b) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) CONTENTS.—Not later than September 30 

15 of each fiscal year, the Secretary shall, directly or by 

16 grant or contract, prepare a report including— 

17 ‘‘(A) the information included in the State 

18 annual reports under subsection (a)(2) for the 

19 preceding fiscal year; 

20 ‘‘(B) a report on the performance of the 

21 Department in the preceding fiscal year regard22 ing the performance benchmarks established 

23 under section 681(c); and 

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1 retary under section 682 and the results of 

2 those activities. 

3 ‘‘(2) SUBMISSION.—The Secretary shall submit 

4 to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

5 of the House of Representatives and to the Com6 mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

7 of the Senate the report described in paragraph (1) 

8 and any recommendations the Secretary may have 

9 with respect to such report. 

10 ‘‘(3) ELECTRONIC DATA SYSTEM FOR REPORTS

11 TO STATES AND ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The Sec12 retary, through the Department’s own employees or 

13 contractors (rather than under grants, contracts, or 

14 cooperative agreements issued under section 682), 

15 shall provide technical assistance, including support 

16 for the development and maintenance of an elec17 tronic data system for the reports under this section, 

18 to the States and eligible entities to enhance the 

19 quality and timeliness of reports submitted under 

20 this subtitle. The system shall be coordinated and 

21 consistent with the data systems established for 

22 other programs of the Department that are managed 

23 by eligible entities, including all programs of the Ad24 ministration for Children and Families or successor 

25 administrative units in which the office is located. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 687. LIMITATIONS ON USE OF FUNDS. 

2 ‘‘(a) CONSTRUCTION OF FACILITIES.— 

3 ‘‘(1) LIMITATIONS.—Except as provided in 

4 paragraph (2) and in section 679(b)(1)(C), grants or 

5 subgrants made under this subtitle may not be used 

6 by the State, or by any other person with which the 

7 State makes arrangements to carry out a purpose 

8 described in section 672, for the purchase or im9 provement of land, or the purchase, construction or 

10 permanent improvement of any building or other fa11 cility. 

12 ‘‘(2) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive the 

13 limitation contained in paragraph (1) upon a State 

14 request for such a waiver if the Secretary finds 

15 that— 

16 ‘‘(A) the request describes extraordinary 

17 circumstances to justify the purchase or im18 provement of land, or the purchase, construc19 tion, or permanent improvement of any building 

20 or other facilities; and 

21 ‘‘(B) permitting the waiver will contribute 

22 to the ability of the State and eligible entities 

23 to carry out a purpose described in section 672 

24 at substantially reduced costs. 

25 ‘‘(b) POLITICAL ACTIVITIES.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) TREATMENT AS A STATE OR LOCAL AGEN2 CY.—For purposes of chapter 15 of title 5, United 

3 States Code, any entity that assumes responsibility 

4 for planning, developing, and coordinating activities 

5 under this subtitle and receives assistance under this 

6 subtitle shall be deemed to be a State or local agen7 cy. For purposes of paragraphs (1) and (2) of sec8 tion 1502(a) of such title, any entity receiving as9 sistance under this subtitle shall be deemed to be a 

10 State or local agency. 

11 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITIONS.—An entity carrying out a 

12 program, project, or service assisted under this sub13 title, and any individual employed by, or assigned to 

14 or in, such a program, project, or service (during the 

15 hours in which the individual is working on behalf 

16 of the program, project, or service) shall not engage 

17 in— 

18 ‘‘(A) any partisan or nonpartisan political 

19 activity or any political activity associated with 

20 a candidate, or contending faction or group, in 

21 an election for public or party office; or 

22 ‘‘(B) any activity to provide voters or pro23 spective voters with transportation to the polls 

24 or similar assistance in connection with any 

25 such election. 


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1 ‘‘(3) REGISTRATION.—None of the funds appro2 priated to carry out this subtitle may be used to con3 duct voter registration activities. 

4 ‘‘(c) NONDISCRIMINATION.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No person shall, on the 

6 basis of race, color, national origin, or sex, be ex7 cluded from participation in, be denied the benefits 

8 of, or be subjected to discrimination under, any pro9 gram, project, or service funded in whole or in part 

10 with funds made available under this subtitle. Any 

11 prohibition against discrimination on the basis of 

12 age under the Age Discrimination Act of 1975 (42 

13 U.S.C. 6101 et seq.) or with respect to an otherwise 

14 qualified individual with a disability as provided in 

15 section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 

16 U.S.C. 794), or title II of the Americans with Dis17 abilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12131 et seq.), shall 

18 also apply to any such program, project, or service. 

19 ‘‘(2) ACTION OF SECRETARY.—Whenever the 

20 Secretary determines that a State that has received 

21 a payment under this subtitle has failed to comply 

22 with paragraph (1) or an applicable regulation, the 

23 Secretary shall notify the chief executive officer of 

24 the State and shall request that the officer secure 

25 compliance. If within a reasonable period of time, 


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1 not to exceed 60 days, the chief executive officer 

2 fails or refuses to secure compliance, the Secretary 

3 is authorized to— 

4 ‘‘(A) refer the matter to the Attorney Gen5 eral with a recommendation that an appropriate 

6 civil action be instituted; 

7 ‘‘(B) exercise the powers and functions 

8 provided by title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 

9 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), the Age Dis10 crimination Act of 1975 (42 U.S.C. 6101 et 

11 seq.), section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 

12 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794), or title II of the Ameri13 cans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 

14 12131 et seq.), as may be applicable; or 

15 ‘‘(C) take such other action as may be pro16 vided by law. 

17 ‘‘(3) ACTION OF ATTORNEY GENERAL.—When a 

18 matter is referred to the Attorney General pursuant 

19 to paragraph (2), or whenever the Attorney General 

20 has reason to believe that the State is engaged in a 

21 pattern or practice of discrimination in violation of 

22 the provisions of this subsection, the Attorney Gen23 eral may bring a civil action in any appropriate 

24 United States district court for such relief as may 

25 be appropriate, including injunctive relief. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 688. DRUG AND CHILD SUPPORT SERVICES AND RE2 FERRALS. 

3 ‘‘(a) DRUG TESTING AND REHABILITATION.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this subtitle 

5 shall be construed to prohibit a State from testing 

6 participants in programs, projects, or services car7 ried out or provided under this subtitle for controlled 

8 substances. A State that conducts such testing shall 

9 inform the participants who test positive for any of 

10 such substances about the availability of treatment 

11 or rehabilitation services and refer such participants 

12 for appropriate treatment or rehabilitation services. 

13 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Any funds 

14 provided under this subtitle expended for such test15 ing shall be considered to be expended for adminis16 trative expenses and shall be subject to the limita17 tion specified in section 679(b)(2). 

18 ‘‘(3) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

19 ‘controlled substance’ has the meaning given the 

20 term in section 102 of the Controlled Substances 

21 Act (21 U.S.C. 802). 

22 ‘‘(b) CHILD SUPPORT SERVICES AND REFERRALS.— 

23 During each fiscal year for which an eligible entity receives 

24 a subgrant under section 679(a), such entity shall— 

25 ‘‘(1) inform custodial parents in single-parent 

26 families that participate in programs, projects, or 


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1 services carried out or provided under this subtitle 

2 about the availability of child support services; and 

3 ‘‘(2) refer eligible parents to the child support 

4 offices of State and local governments. 

5 ‘‘SEC. 689. OPERATIONAL RULES. 

6 ‘‘(a) RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS INCLUDED AS NON7 GOVERNMENTAL PROVIDERS.—For any program carried 

8 out by the Federal Government, or by a State or local 

9 government under this subtitle, the government shall con10 sider, on the same basis as other nongovernmental organi11 zations, religious organizations to provide assistance under 

12 the program, so long as the program is implemented in 

13 a manner consistent with the Establishment Clause of the 

14 First Amendment to the Constitution. Neither the Federal 

15 Government nor a State or local government receiving 

16 funds under this subtitle shall discriminate against an or17 ganization that provides assistance under, or applies to 

18 provide assistance under, this subtitle, on the basis that 

19 the organization has a religious character. 

20 ‘‘(b) RELIGIOUS CHARACTER AND INDEPEND21 ENCE.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A religious organization 

23 that provides assistance under a program described 

24 in subsection (a) shall retain its religious character 


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1 and control over the definition, development, prac2 tice, and expression of its religious beliefs. 

3 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL SAFEGUARDS.—Neither the 

4 Federal Government nor a State or local government 

5 shall require a religious organization— 

6 ‘‘(A) to alter its form of internal govern7 ance, except (for purposes of administration of 

8 the community services block grant program) as 

9 provided in section 681(c); or 

10 ‘‘(B) to remove religious art, icons, scrip11 ture, or other symbols, 

12 in order to be eligible to provide assistance under a 

13 program described in subsection (a). 

14 ‘‘(3) EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES.—A religious or15 ganization’s exemption provided under section 702 

16 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e– 

17 1) regarding employment practices shall not be af18 fected by its participation in, or receipt of funds 

19 from, programs described in subsection (a). 

20 ‘‘(c) LIMITATIONS ON USE OF FUNDS FOR CERTAIN

21 PURPOSES.—No funds provided directly to a religious or22 ganization to provide assistance under any program de23 scribed in subsection (a) shall be expended for sectarian 

24 worship, instruction, or proselytization. 

25 ‘‘(d) FISCAL ACCOUNTABILITY.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para2 graph (2), any religious organization providing as3 sistance under any program described in subsection 

4 (a) shall be subject to the same regulations as other 

5 nongovernmental organizations to account in accord 

6 with generally accepted accounting principles for the 

7 use of such funds provided under such program. 

8 ‘‘(2) LIMITED AUDIT.—Such organization shall 

9 segregate Government funds provided under such 

10 program into a separate account. Only the Govern11 ment funds shall be subject to audit by the Govern12 ment. 

13 ‘‘(e) TREATMENT OF ELIGIBLE ENTITIES AND

14 OTHER INTERMEDIATE ORGANIZATIONS.—If an eligible 

15 entity or other organization (referred to in this subsection 

16 as an ‘intermediate organization’), acting under a con17 tract, or grant or other agreement, with the Federal Gov18 ernment or a State or local government, is given the au19 thority under the contract or agreement to select non20 governmental organizations to provide assistance under 

21 the programs described in subsection (a), the intermediate 

22 organization shall have the same duties under this section 

23 as the Government. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 690. REGULATIONS. 

2 ‘‘(a) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall promulgate 

3 regulations implementing this subtitle, by administrative 

4 hearing open to the public, including regulations regard5 ing— 

6 ‘‘(1) State plans and community action pro7 gram plans, including the form and information re8 quired for State plans submitted to the Secretary 

9 and community action program plans submitted to 

10 States; 

11 ‘‘(2) State monitoring of eligible entities; and 

12 ‘‘(3) reports to the Secretary described in sec13 tion 686. 

14 ‘‘(b) GUIDANCE.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall issue 

16 guidance regarding State and local performance 

17 measurement systems, including State management 

18 performance benchmarks and comprehensive com19 munity needs assessments. 

20 ‘‘(2) STATE MANAGEMENT PERFORMANCE

21 BENCHMARKS.—The Secretary, in consultation with 

22 community services network organizations, shall de23 velop State management performance benchmarks, 

24 which shall include indicators about— 


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1 ‘‘(A) a State’s timely obligation and dis2 tribution of Federal funds, and effective State 

3 oversight of Federal funds; 

4 ‘‘(B) a State’s compliance with the uni5 form administrative requirements, cost prin6 ciples, and audit requirements described in sec7 tion 674(c); 

8 ‘‘(C) a State’s effective management of the 

9 activities funded under this subtitle; and 

10 ‘‘(D) the results of activities funded by the 

11 State under section 679(b). 

12 ‘‘(3) COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS OF POVERTY

13 CONDITIONS.—The Secretary shall provide guidance 

14 (including models) for comprehensive community 

15 needs assessments described in section 

16 678(a)(2)(C)(i). The guidance shall include methods 

17 for preparing an analysis of all poverty conditions 

18 affecting a community and of local and regional as19 sets for alleviating such conditions. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 691. DISCRETIONARY COMMUNITY PROGRAMS. 

21 ‘‘(a) GRANTS, CONTRACTS, ARRANGEMENTS, LOANS, 

22 AND GUARANTEES.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, from 

24 funds appropriated under section 692(b), make 

25 grants, loans, or guarantees to States and public 


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1 agencies and private, nonprofit organizations, or 

2 enter into contracts or jointly financed cooperative 

3 arrangements with States and public agencies and 

4 private, nonprofit organizations (and for-profit orga5 nizations, to the extent specified in paragraph 

6 (2)(E)) for each of the objectives described in para7 graphs (2) through (4). 

8 ‘‘(2) COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.— 

9 ‘‘(A) ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ACTIVI10 TIES.—The Secretary shall make grants de11 scribed in paragraph (1) on a competitive basis 

12 to private, nonprofit organizations that are 

13 community development corporations to provide 

14 technical and financial assistance for economic 

15 development activities designed to address the 

16 economic needs of low-income individuals and 

17 families by creating employment and business 

18 development opportunities. 

19 ‘‘(B) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary 

20 shall exercise the authority provided under sub21 paragraph (A) after consultation with other rel22 evant Federal officials. 

23 ‘‘(C) GOVERNING BOARDS.—For a commu24 nity development corporation to receive funds to 


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1 carry out this paragraph, the corporation shall 

2 be governed by a board that shall— 

3 ‘‘(i) consist of residents of the com4 munity and business and civic leaders; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) have as a principal purpose plan6 ning, developing, or managing low-income 

7 housing or community development 

8 projects. 

9 ‘‘(D) GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.—In 

10 making grants to carry out this paragraph, the 

11 Secretary shall take into consideration the geo12 graphic distribution of funding among States 

13 and the relative proportion of funding among 

14 rural and urban areas. 

15 ‘‘(E) RESERVATION.—Of the amounts 

16 made available to carry out this paragraph, the 

17 Secretary may reserve not more than 1 percent 

18 for each fiscal year to make grants to private, 

19 nonprofit organizations or to enter into con20 tracts with private, nonprofit, or for-profit orga21 nizations to provide technical assistance to aid 

22 community development corporations in devel23 oping or implementing activities funded to carry 

24 out this paragraph and to evaluate activities 

25 funded to carry out this paragraph. 


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1 ‘‘(3) RURAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AC2 TIVITIES.—The Secretary shall provide the assist3 ance described in paragraph (1) for rural community 

4 development activities, which shall include pro5 viding— 

6 ‘‘(A) grants to private, nonprofit corpora7 tions to enable the corporations to provide as8 sistance concerning home repair to rural low-in9 come families and concerning planning and de10 veloping low-income rural rental housing units; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(B) grants to multistate, regional, pri13 vate, nonprofit organizations to enable the orga14 nizations to provide training and technical as15 sistance to small, rural communities concerning 

16 meeting their community facility needs. 

17 ‘‘(4) NEIGHBORHOOD INNOVATION

18 PROJECTS.—The Secretary shall provide the assist19 ance described in paragraph (1) for neighborhood in20 novation projects, which— 

21 ‘‘(A) shall include providing grants to 

22 neighborhood-based, private, nonprofit organi23 zations to test or assist in the development of 

24 new approaches or methods that will assist in 

25 the furthering the purposes of this subtitle, inVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Apr 04, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00074 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5365.IH H5365

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1 cluding two-generation approaches that create 

2 opportunities for, and address the needs of, 

3 parents and children together; and 

4 ‘‘(B) may include providing assistance for 

5 projects that are designed to serve low-income 

6 individuals and families who are not being ef7 fectively served by other programs. 

8 ‘‘(b) EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall require all 

9 activities receiving assistance under this section to be eval10 uated for their effectiveness. Funding for such evaluations 

11 shall be provided as a stated percentage of the assistance 

12 or through a separate grant awarded by the Secretary spe13 cifically for the purpose of evaluation of a particular activ14 ity or group of activities. 

15 ‘‘(c) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Secretary shall compile 

16 an annual report containing a summary of the evaluations 

17 required under subsection (b) and a listing of all activities 

18 assisted under this section. The Secretary shall annually 

19 submit the report to the chairperson of the Committee on 

20 Education and the Workforce of the House of Representa21 tives and the chairperson of the Committee on Health, 

22 Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 692. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be ap3 propriated to carry out this subtitle (not including section 

4 691)— 

5 ‘‘(1) $850,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2018 

6 through 2022; and 

7 ‘‘(2) such sums as may be necessary for fiscal 

8 years 2023 through 2027. 

9 ‘‘(b) DISCRETIONARY PROGRAMS.—There are au10 thorized to be appropriated to carry out section 691 such 

11 sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 2018 through 

12 2027. 

13 ‘‘(c) RESERVATIONS BY THE SECRETARY.—Of the 

14 amounts appropriated under subsection (a) for each fiscal 

15 year, the Secretary shall reserve— 

‘‘(1) 1 16 ⁄2 of 1 percent for carrying out section 

17 675 (relating to grants to territories); and 

18 ‘‘(2) 2 percent for activities authorized in sec19 tion 682, of which— 

20 ‘‘(A) not less than 50 percent of the 

21 amount reserved by the Secretary under this 

22 paragraph shall be awarded through grants, 

23 contracts, or cooperative agreements under sec24 tion 682(c), to eligible entities, community ac25 tion agencies, and State and regional commu26 nity service network organizations, for the purVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Apr 04, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00076 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5365.IH H5365

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1 pose of carrying out activities described in sec2 tion 682(a)(1)(A); and 

3 ‘‘(B) the remainder of the amount reserved 

4 under this paragraph shall be distributed under 

5 section 682(a)(1)(B) to States, eligible entities, 

6 other community services network organiza7 tions, or other entities, for the purpose of car8 rying out activities described in section 

9 682(a)(1)(B).’’. 

10 SEC. 3. TRANSITION PERIOD. 

11 (a) TRANSITION PERIOD.—The Secretary of Health 

12 and Human Services shall expeditiously announce a tran13 sition period for the implementation of any changes in reg14 ulations, procedures, and reporting requirements of the 

15 Community Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9901 et 

16 seq.), as amended by this Act, from the regulations, proce17 dures, and reporting requirements of the Community 

18 Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9901 et seq.), as in 

19 effect on the day before the date of enactment of this Act. 

20 (b) UNIFORM ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS, 

21 COST PRINCIPLES, AND AUDIT REQUIREMENTS; FED22 ERAL TRAINING.—The transition period shall include— 

23 (1) a schedule for implementation of require24 ments relating to adoption of the uniform adminis25 trative requirements, cost principles, and audit reVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:17 Apr 04, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00077 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5365.IH H5365

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1 quirements described in section 674(c) of the Com2 munity Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9901), 

3 as amended by this Act; and 

4 (2) the availability of Federal training for 

5 States and eligible entities regarding compliance 

6 with new requirements under the Community Serv7 ices Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9901 et seq.), as 

8 amended by this Act. 

9 (c) TIMING.—The transition period described in this 

10 section— 

11 (1) may not extend later than the date that is 

12 3 months prior to the start of the second fiscal year 

13 after the date of enactment of the Community Serv14 ices Block Grant Reauthorization Act of 2018; and 

15 (2) may require that certain regulations, proce16 dures, and reporting requirements be adopted before 

17 other regulations, procedures, or reporting require18 ments. 

Æ 


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