II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1173 

To establish a demonstration project to train unemployed workers for 

employment as health care professionals, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 3, 2009 

Mr. FEINGOLD introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To establish a demonstration project to train unemployed 

workers for employment as health care professionals, 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 ‘‘Community-Based 

5 Health Care Retraining Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. HEALTH PROFESSIONS TRAINING DEMONSTRATION 

7 PROJECT. 

8 Section 171 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 

9 (29 U.S.C. 2916) is amended by adding at the end the 

10 following: 


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1 ‘‘(f) HEALTH PROFESSIONS TRAINING DEMONSTRA2 TION PROJECT.— 

3 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

4 ‘‘(A) COVERED COMMUNITY.—The term 

5 ‘covered community’ means a community or re6 gion— 

7 ‘‘(i) that has experienced a significant 

8 percentage decline in rates of employment; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(ii)(I) that is determined by the Sec11 retary of Health and Human Services (in 

12 consultation with the medical community) 

13 to be an area with a shortage of health 

14 care professionals described in subpara15 graph (C)(i); or 

16 ‘‘(II) that is underserved by the 

17 health care structure, such as a rural com18 munity, a community with a significant mi19 nority population, or a community for 

20 which an applicant can otherwise dem21 onstrate need for increased training for 

22 health care professionals. 

23 ‘‘(B) COVERED WORKER.—The term ‘cov24 ered worker’ means an individual who— 


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1 ‘‘(i)(I) has been terminated or laid 

2 off, or who has received a notice of termi3 nation or layoff; 

4 ‘‘(II)(aa) is eligible for or has ex5 hausted entitlement to unemployment com6 pensation; or 

7 ‘‘(bb) has been employed for a dura8 tion sufficient to demonstrate, to the ap9 propriate entity at a one-stop center re10 ferred to in section 134(c), attachment to 

11 the workforce, but is not eligible for unem12 ployment compensation due to insufficient 

13 earnings or having performed services for 

14 an employer that were not covered under a 

15 State unemployment compensation law; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(III) is unlikely to return to a pre18 vious industry or occupation; 

19 ‘‘(ii)(I) has been terminated or laid 

20 off, or has received a notice of termination 

21 or layoff, as a result of any permanent clo22 sure of, or any substantial layoff at, a 

23 plant, facility, or enterprise; or 

24 ‘‘(II) is employed at a facility at 

25 which the employer has made a general anVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:49 Jun 04, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1173.IS S1173

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1 nouncement that such facility will close 

2 within 180 days; or 

3 ‘‘(iii) is an incumbent worker em4 ployed in a health care profession, and 

5 whose training will provide an opportunity 

6 for employment of other individuals by in7 creasing— 

8 ‘‘(I) the number of instructors 

9 serving the covered community; or 

10 ‘‘(II) the number of vacant posi11 tions in the covered community. 

12 ‘‘(C) HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONAL.—The 

13 term ‘health care professional’— 

14 ‘‘(i) means an individual who is in15 volved with— 

16 ‘‘(I) the delivery of health care 

17 services, or related services, pertaining 

18 to— 

19 ‘‘(aa) the identification, 

20 evaluation, management, and 

21 prevention of diseases, disorders, 

22 or injuries; or 

23 ‘‘(bb) home-based or com24 munity-based long-term care; 


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1 ‘‘(II) the delivery of dietary and 

2 nutrition services; 

3 ‘‘(III) the delivery of dental serv4 ices; or 

5 ‘‘(IV) rehabilitation and health 

6 systems management; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) includes individuals in health 

8 care professions for which there is a short9 age in the community involved, as deter10 mined by the Secretary of Health and 

11 Human Services (in consultation with the 

12 medical community) or as otherwise dem13 onstrated by the applicant. 

14 ‘‘(D) TRIBAL COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY.— 

15 The term ‘tribal college or university’ means a 

16 Tribal College or University, as defined in sec17 tion 316(b) of the Higher Education Act of 

18 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059c(b)). 

19 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROJECT.—In ac20 cordance with subsection (b), the Secretary shall es21 tablish and carry out a health professions training 

22 demonstration project. 

23 ‘‘(3) GRANTS.—In carrying out the project, the 

24 Secretary, after consultation with the Secretary of 

25 Health and Human Services, shall make grants to 


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1 eligible entities to pay for the Federal share of the 

2 cost of enabling the entities to carry out programs 

3 in covered communities to train covered workers for 

4 employment as health care professionals (referred to 

5 in this subsection as ‘training programs’). The Sec6 retary shall make each grant in an amount of not 

7 less than $100,000 and not more than $500,000, 

8 and each such grant shall be for a period of 5 years. 

9 ‘‘(4) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—Notwithstanding 

10 subsection (b)(2)(B), to be eligible to receive a grant 

11 under this subsection to carry out a training pro12 gram in a covered community, an entity shall be a 

13 partnership that consists of— 

14 ‘‘(A) a local workforce investment board 

15 established under section 117 that is serving 

16 the covered community; and 

17 ‘‘(B) an institution of higher education, as 

18 defined in sections 101 and 102 of the Higher 

19 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001, 1002), 

20 in partnership with at least 1 of the following: 

21 ‘‘(i) A health clinic or hospital. 

22 ‘‘(ii) A home-based or community23 based long-term care facility or program. 

24 ‘‘(iii) A health care facility adminis25 tered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 


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1 ‘‘(iv) A tribal college or university. 

2 ‘‘(v) A labor organization, or an in3 dustry or industry group. 

4 ‘‘(vi) A local economic development 

5 entity serving the covered community. 

6 ‘‘(vii) A joint labor-management part7 nership. 

8 ‘‘(5) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a 

9 grant under this subsection, an entity shall submit 

10 an application to the Secretary at such time, in such 

11 manner, and containing such information as the Sec12 retary may require, including, at a minimum— 

13 ‘‘(A) a proposal to use the grant funds to 

14 establish or expand a training program in order 

15 to train covered workers for employment as 

16 health care professionals, including information 

17 that demonstrates the long-term viability of the 

18 training program beyond the period of the 

19 grant; 

20 ‘‘(B) information demonstrating the need 

21 for the training and support services to be pro22 vided through the training program; 

23 ‘‘(C) information describing the manner in 

24 which the entity will expend the grant funds, 


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1 and the activities to be carried out with the 

2 funds; 

3 ‘‘(D) information demonstrating that the 

4 entity meets the requirements of paragraph (4); 

5 ‘‘(E) with respect to training programs 

6 carried out by the applicant, information— 

7 ‘‘(i) on the graduation rates of the 

8 training programs involved; 

9 ‘‘(ii) on the retention measures car10 ried out by the applicant; 

11 ‘‘(iii) on the length of time necessary 

12 to complete the training programs of the 

13 applicant; and 

14 ‘‘(iv) on the number of qualified cov15 ered workers that are refused admittance 

16 into the training programs because of lack 

17 of capacity; and 

18 ‘‘(F) a description of how the applicant 

19 has engaged all relevant stakeholders, including 

20 the health care industry to be served by the 

21 training program, local labor organizations and 

22 other workforce groups, and local industry, in 

23 the design of the training program to be served 

24 with grant funds. 


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1 ‘‘(6) SELECTION.—In making grants under 

2 paragraph (3), the Secretary, after consultation with 

3 the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 

4 shall— 

5 ‘‘(A) consider the information submitted by 

6 the eligible entities under paragraph (5)(E); 

7 ‘‘(B) select— 

8 ‘‘(i) eligible entities submitting appli9 cations that meet such criteria as the Sec10 retary of Labor determines to be appro11 priate; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) among such entities, the eligible 

13 entities serving the covered communities 

14 with the greatest need for the grants and 

15 the greatest potential to benefit from the 

16 grants; and 

17 ‘‘(C) give preference to eligible entities— 

18 ‘‘(i) submitting applications to serve 

19 covered workers who have been terminated 

20 or laid off or have received a notice of ter21 mination or layoff from a manufacturing, 

22 service, or construction industry, or an23 other industry with significant decline in 

24 employment as determined by the Sec25 retary; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) with a demonstrated history of 

2 similar and successful partnerships with 

3 State boards or local boards, institutions of 

4 higher education (as defined in paragraph 

5 (4)(B)), industry groups, and labor organi6 zations. 

7 ‘‘(7) USE OF FUNDS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An entity that re9 ceives a grant under this subsection shall use 

10 the funds made available through the grant for 

11 training and support services that meet the 

12 needs described in the application submitted 

13 under paragraph (5), which may include— 

14 ‘‘(i) implementing training programs 

15 for covered workers; 

16 ‘‘(ii) providing support services for 

17 covered workers participating in the train18 ing programs, such as— 

19 ‘‘(I) providing tuition assistance; 

20 ‘‘(II) establishing or expanding 

21 distance education programs; 

22 ‘‘(III) providing transportation 

23 assistance; or 

24 ‘‘(IV) providing child care; or 


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1 ‘‘(iii) increasing capacity, subject to 

2 subparagraph (B), at an educational insti3 tution or training center to train individ4 uals for employment as health profes5 sionals, such as by— 

6 ‘‘(I) expanding a facility, subject 

7 to subparagraph (B); 

8 ‘‘(II) expanding course offerings; 

9 ‘‘(III) hiring faculty; 

10 ‘‘(IV) providing a student loan 

11 repayment program for the faculty; 

12 ‘‘(V) establishing or expanding 

13 clinical education opportunities; 

14 ‘‘(VI) purchasing equipment, 

15 such as computers, books, clinical 

16 supplies, or a patient simulator; or 

17 ‘‘(VII) conducting recruitment. 

18 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—Any such grant funds 

19 that are used to expand facilities may only be 

20 used to rent or modernize existing facilities, not 

21 to build additional facilities. The entity shall 

22 use not less than 50 percent of the grant funds 

23 to carry out activities described in clause (i) or 

24 (ii) of subparagraph (A), unless the entity dem25 onstrates, in the application submitted under 


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1 paragraph (5), a need to spend more than 50 

2 percent of the grant funds on activities de3 scribed in subparagraph (A)(iii). 

4 ‘‘(8) FEDERAL SHARE.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Federal share of 

6 the cost described in paragraph (3) shall be— 

7 ‘‘(i) for the first year of the grant pe8 riod, 95 percent; 

9 ‘‘(ii) for the second such year, 85 per10 cent; 

11 ‘‘(iii) for the third such year, 75 per12 cent; 

13 ‘‘(iv) for the fourth such year, 65 per14 cent; and 

15 ‘‘(v) for the fifth such year, 55 per16 cent. 

17 ‘‘(B) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The eligible 

18 entity shall provide the non-Federal share of 

19 the cost in cash or in kind, fairly evaluated, in20 cluding plant, equipment, or services. 

21 ‘‘(9) EVALUATION.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Under the Secretary’s 

23 existing authority under section 172, not more 

24 than 1 percent of the funds provided under this 

25 subsection shall be used for evaluation of the 


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1 training programs described in paragraph (3). 

2 Eligible entities receiving grants under this sec3 tion shall use not more than 1 percent of the 

4 grant funds for purposes of evaluation or docu5 mentation of the training programs. 

6 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—In conducting an eval7 uation under subparagraph (A), an eligible enti8 ty shall provide data detailing the success of the 

9 training program carried out by the entity 

10 under paragraph (3), including— 

11 ‘‘(i) information on the number and 

12 percentage of participating covered work13 ers who complete a training program, in14 cluding those who earn a degree or certifi15 cate through such training programs; 

16 ‘‘(ii) information on the rate of em17 ployment of covered workers who have 

18 completed the training program; 

19 ‘‘(iii) an assessment of how well the 

20 needs of the health care community were 

21 addressed by the training program; and 

22 ‘‘(iv) any other data determined to be 

23 relevant by the entity to demonstrate the 

24 success of the training program. 


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1 ‘‘(C) REPORT.—The Secretary shall com2 pile the information resulting from the evalua3 tion or documentation conducted under sub4 paragraph (A), and shall submit a report to 

5 Congress containing the information. 

6 ‘‘(10) FUNDING.—Of the amounts appropriated 

7 to, and available at the discretion of, the Secretary 

8 or the Secretary of Health and Human Services for 

9 programmatic and administrative expenditures, a 

10 total of $25,000,000 shall be used to establish and 

11 carry out the demonstration project described in 

12 paragraph (2) in accordance with this subsection.’’. 

Æ 


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