I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5623 

To establish a National Parents Corps Program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014 

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

on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To establish a National Parents Corps Program, and for 

other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Parents 

5 Corps Act of 2014’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds as follows: 

8 (1) Nearly 25 percent of children in the United 

9 States ages 12 to 17 have used an illicit drug in 

10 their lifetime, according to the Substance Abuse and 


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1 Mental Health Administration’s 2012 National Sur2 vey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). 

3 (2) The American Lung Association states, ap4 proximately 4,000 children under age 18 try their 

5 first cigarette and more than 950 of them will be6 come new, regular daily smokers. Moreover, accord7 ing to NSDUH, among children ages 12 to 17 who 

8 smoked cigarettes in the last month, 54.6 percent 

9 also used an illicit drug. 

10 (3) The Partnership for Drug-Free Kids says 

11 parents have more influence over their children than 

12 friends, music, TV, the Internet, and celebrities. It 

13 adds, children whose parents teach them about drug 

14 risks are significantly less likely to use drugs. 

15 (4) In response to concerns about youth vio16 lence and drug, tobacco, and alcohol use by youth, 

17 the White House unveiled the Parents Corps in 

18 2003. It was initially a 3-year initiative operating in 

19 9 States to bring together citizenship, service, and 

20 responsibility to empower parents to keep their chil21 dren, schools, and communities drug-free. 

22 SEC. 3. NATIONAL PARENTS CORPS PROGRAM. 

23 (a) GRANT TO ESTABLISH THE PROGRAM.—Subject 

24 to the availability of appropriations to carry out this Act, 

25 the Administrator shall, not later than 3 months after the 


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1 date of the enactment of this Act, award a grant to an 

2 eligible nonprofit entity to establish a National Parents 

3 Corps Program (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Program’’) 

4 to promote safety, combat youth violence, and combat 

5 drug and alcohol abuse in schools in the United States. 

6 The eligible nonprofit entity awarded such grant shall be 

7 known as the ‘‘NPCP Nonprofit Partner’’. 

8 (b) PROGRAM ACTIVITIES.—The NPCP Nonprofit 

9 Partner shall use the grant awarded under this section 

10 to establish and administer the Program, which shall in11 clude— 

12 (1) employing Parent Leaders to carry out the 

13 Program at eligible schools that are selected to host 

14 Parent Leaders, in accordance with sections 4 and 

15 5; and 

16 (2) working with schools, parents of children 

17 enrolled in schools, local nonprofit organizations, 

18 and law enforcement agencies and officers to pro19 mote safety, combat youth violence, and combat 

20 drug, alcohol, and tobacco abuse in schools. 

21 SEC. 4. PARTICIPATION OF SCHOOLS. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

23 date of enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, the 

24 NPCP Nonprofit Partner shall solicit applications from el25 igible schools desiring to participate in the Program by 


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1 hosting a Parent Leader. Each eligible school selected to 

2 host a Parent Leader shall enter into a memorandum of 

3 understanding with the NPCP Nonprofit Partner— 

4 (1) in which the eligible school agrees to partici5 pate in the Program and host a Parent Leader for 

6 the number of years that is equal to the number of 

7 grade levels taught at the school; and 

8 (2) that outlines the parameters and goals of 

9 hosting a Parent Leader and carrying out the Pro10 gram at the eligible school, including how the Parent 

11 Leader and the operation of the Program will ad12 dress the cultural, social, and crime prevention needs 

13 and goals of the students at such school. 

14 (b) SELECTION CONSIDERATIONS.—In selecting eligi15 ble schools to host Parent Leaders under this Act, the 

16 NPCP Nonprofit Partner shall ensure that, to the extent 

17 practicable, the eligible schools selected represent 

18 schools— 

19 (1) that are located in a variety of geographical 

20 regions in the United States; 

21 (2) in urban, rural, and suburban areas; and 

22 (3) in ethnically and economically diverse com23 munities. 


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1 SEC. 5. PARENT LEADERS. 

2 (a) PARENT LEADER FOR EACH SCHOOL.—For each 

3 eligible school selected to participate in the Program as 

4 a host school under section 4, the NPCP Nonprofit Part5 ner shall, after consultation with the principal of the se6 lected school, solicit applications for, hire, and employ one 

7 Parent Leader. The Nonprofit Partner shall use the grant 

8 funds provided under this Act to train, supervise, support, 

9 and provide a salary and benefits to each Parent Leader. 

10 (b) DUTIES OF PARENT LEADERS.—Each Parent 

11 Leader employed by the Nonprofit Partner shall, with re12 spect to the eligible school hosting the Parent Leader— 

13 (1) educate and mobilize parents of students at 

14 the school to combat criminal and gang activity and 

15 prevent students from social, cultural, and commer16 cial forces that encourage children and adolescents 

17 to initiate the use of drugs, alcohol, and tobacco; 

18 (2) create a delivery system to provide parents 

19 of students at the school with information regarding 

20 science-based prevention and analysis related to 

21 early recognition of behaviors and traits that may 

22 lead to or indicate drug, alcohol, and tobacco use 

23 and abuse, gang activity, and violence; 

24 (3) work with school officials, other parents of 

25 students at the school, and students at the school to 

26 develop programs and practices to treat, prevent, 


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1 and reduce violence and drug, alcohol, and tobacco 

2 addiction for students at the school; 

3 (4) assist parents of students at the school and 

4 school administrators with finding professional as5 sistance for any child who— 

6 (A) is using drugs, including referrals to 

7 professionals who can assess the needs of the 

8 child for counseling, treatment, and other ap9 propriate assistance; or 

10 (B) is engaged in violent activities or gang 

11 activities; 

12 (5) recruit and train parent and student volun13 teers from the school to participate in drug and vio14 lence prevention and education outreach and pro15 gramming; and 

16 (6) consult with the NPCP Nonprofit Partner, 

17 school administrators, local government authorities, 

18 local nonprofit organizations, and other parents to 

19 develop best practices and training models related to 

20 the prevention of school violence and drug, alcohol, 

21 and tobacco use and abuse by students. 

22 (c) PARENT LEADER ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to 

23 be employed as a Parent Leader under this Act, an indi24 vidual shall— 


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1 (1) be the parent (as such term is defined in 

2 section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu3 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801)) of at least one 

4 student who will be enrolled, during the first year 

5 the individual will be employed as a Parent Leader, 

6 in the lowest grade level offered at the school that 

7 will host the Parent Leader; 

8 (2) not be employed full-time at any position 

9 other than as a Parent Leader; 

10 (3) complete a background check, including 

11 criminal records checks, fingerprint-based checks of 

12 State and national crime information databases (as 

13 defined in section 534(f)(3)(A) of title 28, United 

14 States Code), checks in any available child abuse 

15 and neglect registries, and checks in any available 

16 sex offender registries; and 

17 (4) enter into an agreement with the NPCP 

18 Nonprofit Partner to serve as a Parent Leader for 

19 a number of years that is equal to the number of 

20 years normally required for a student to complete all 

21 of the grade levels offered at the school that will 

22 host the Parent Leader (as determined by the 

23 school), except that the individual shall not be re24 quired to continue to serve as Parent Leader in the 

25 case of an extreme, unforeseen circumstance (such 


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1 as death, disability, relocation, or criminal activity) 

2 that prevents the individual from completing the 

3 term of service required under this paragraph. 

4 (d) VACANCIES.—If an individual who is employed as 

5 a Parent Leader is unable to complete the term of service 

6 required under subsection (c)(4), the NPCP Nonprofit 

7 Partner shall, after consultation with the host school at 

8 which the Parent Leader was serving, promptly solicit ap9 plications for, hire, and employ another individual to serve 

10 as Parent Leader at such school, in accordance with the 

11 requirements of this section. 

12 SEC. 6. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

13 (a) REPORTS BY PARENT LEADERS.—Not less than 

14 once each calendar quarter during each year a Parent 

15 Leader is employed by the NPCP Nonprofit Partner, the 

16 Parent Leader shall submit to the NPCP Nonprofit Part17 ner and the school hosting the Parent Leader a report 

18 including activities carried out by the Parent Leader to 

19 carry out the Program, the results of such activities, best 

20 practices observed and used by the Parent Leader to carry 

21 out the Program, and any other information the Parent 

22 Leader, the NPCP Nonprofit Partner, or the school 

23 hosting the Parent Leader determine to be appropriate. 

24 (b) REPORTS BY NPCP NONPROFIT PARTNER.—Not 

25 later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of 


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1 this Act, and every 6 months thereafter, the NPCP Non2 profit Partner shall prepare and submit to the Adminis3 trator a report on the progress and effectiveness of the 

4 Program, including— 

5 (1) statistics, trends, and other data analyzing 

6 whether the Program is effective at preventing 

7 school violence and drug, alcohol, and tobacco use 

8 and abuse by students; 

9 (2) a summary of the reports submitted by Par10 ent Leaders; and 

11 (3) the results and best practices reported by 

12 the Parent Leader at each school hosting a Parent 

13 Leader. 

14 (c) REPORTS BY ADMINISTRATOR.—Not later than 

15 one year after the date of the enactment of this section, 

16 and annually thereafter, the Administrator shall prepare 

17 and submit to the Attorney General and the appropriate 

18 Congressional committees a report relating to the progress 

19 and effectiveness of the Program. 

20 SEC. 7. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS. 

21 It is the sense of the Congress that eligible schools 

22 selected to host a Parent Leader in accordance with sec23 tion 4 should take such actions as may be necessary to 

24 secure funding to employ a Parent Leader to carry out 


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1 the Program after Federal funding is no longer available 

2 to carry out this Act. 

3 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act: 

5 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis6 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Office of Ju7 venile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. 

8 (2) ELIGIBLE NONPROFIT ENTITY.—The term 

9 ‘‘eligible nonprofit entity’’ means an organization de10 scribed in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue 

11 Code of 1986 that— 

12 (A) was operating on the day before the 

13 date of the enactment of this Act; 

14 (B) has demonstrated experience admin15 istering Federal grants in a fiscally responsible 

16 manner, as determined by the Administrator; 

17 (C) has administered national programs 

18 relating to addiction and parenting; 

19 (D) has developed and administered pro20 grams similar to the Program authorized under 

21 this Act; 

22 (E) has worked with the Corporation for 

23 National and Community Service, the Depart24 ment of Health and Human Services, and the 

25 Department of Justice in assessing and develVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:05 Oct 03, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5623.IH H5623

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1 oping initiatives relating to youth drug preven2 tion and parental involvement; and 

3 (F) has as its mission to focus on child 

4 and youth drug prevention. 

5 (3) ELIGIBLE SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘eligible 

6 school’’ means a public middle school or secondary 

7 school (as such term is defined in section 9101 of 

8 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

9 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801)) that has demonstrated a 

10 commitment, as determined by the Secretary, to— 

11 (A) increasing parental involvement in the 

12 school; and 

13 (B) reducing drug, alcohol, and tobacco 

14 abuse by students enrolled in the school. 

15 (4) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT16 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate Congressional com17 mittees’’ means the Committee on the Judiciary, the 

18 Committee on Education and Labor, and the Appro19 priations Committee in the House of Representa20 tives, and the Committee on the Judiciary, the Com21 mittee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, 

22 and the Appropriations Committee in the Senate. 

23 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to other amounts oth25 erwise appropriated to carry out the purposes of this Act, 


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1 there are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this 

2 Act $5,500,000 for each of the fiscal years 2015 through 

3 2025. 

4 (b) FUNDING FROM OTHER SOURCES.—The Admin5 istrator, the NPCP Nonprofit Partner, and eligible schools 

6 selected to host a Parent Leader in accordance with sec7 tion 4 are authorized to solicit, receive, and use funding 

8 from State, local, and private sources to carry out the Pro9 gram, including for expenses related to employing Parent 

10 Leaders. 

Æ 


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