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107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1822

To improve academic and social outcomes for teenage youth.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 10, 2001

Mr. UDALL of Colorado (for himself, Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. ISAKSON, Mr. WAMP,

Mr. SERRANO, Mr. ETHERIDGE, and Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

A BILL

To improve academic and social outcomes for teenage youth.

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 ‘‘YMCA Teen Action

5 Agenda Enhancement Act of 2001’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress makes the following findings:

8 (1) One in 10 teens, 2.4 million teens across

9 the Nation, are currently involved in a program of10 fered by a local YMCA.
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1 (2) Recognizing the unique obstacles faced by

2 teenagers, the YMCA has launched the Teen Action

3 Agenda, a nationwide campaign to double this num4 ber and serve 1 in 5 teens by 2005.

5 (3) In more than 1,900 YMCAs across the

6 United States in cities large and small, in neighbor7 hoods rich and poor, teen groups meet regularly and

8 engage one another in safe, wholesome, educational,

9 and creative activities.

10 (4) It is well-documented that teens who par11 ticipate in structured activities after school are less

12 likely to drink alcohol, carry or use weapons, smoke

13 cigarettes, engage in early sexual activity, or skip

14 school.

15 (5) YMCAs serve people of all faiths, races,

16 abilities, ages, and incomes.

17 (6) Approximately 400 YMCAs partner with ju18 venile courts, 300 partner with public housing devel19 opments, 1550 partner with elementary schools, and

20 1033 partner with high schools.

21 (7) The YMCA is volunteer-founded and volun22 teer-led. The YMCA depends on more than 600,000

23 volunteers to meet the unique needs of their commu24 nities.
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1 (8) The YMCA is especially committed to

2 reaching teens that are most at-risk for school fail3 ure or delinquency.

4 (9) The prosperity of our Nation depends upon

5 maximizing and fulfilling the potential of its young

6 people.

7 SEC. 3. GRANTS TO THE YMCA OF THE USA.

8 (a) PURPOSES.—Subject to the availability of appro9 priations, the Attorney General shall award a grant to the

10 YMCA of the USA for the purpose of carrying out YMCA

11 programs for at-risk teens in accordance with the provi12 sions of this Act.

13 (b) SUBGRANTS.—From amounts awarded under

14 subsection (a), the YMCA of the USA shall make sub15 grants to local YMCAs authorizing expenditures associ16 ated with providing programs, including the hiring of

17 teachers and other personnel, procurement of goods and

18 services (including computer equipment), or such other

19 purposes as are approved by the Attorney General.

20 SEC. 4. USE OF FUNDS.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—

22 (1) PROGRAMS FOR AT-RISK TEENS.—Amounts

23 granted under this Act shall be used by the YMCA

24 of the USA to provide funding to carry out YMCA

25 programs that have a primary purpose of serving
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1 teens who are determined to be at-risk for one or

2 more of the following:

3 (A) School failure.

4 (B) Delinquency.

5 (2) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—Each program

6 for which assistance is provided under this Act shall

7 include at least three of the following different ac8 tivities:

9 (A) Mentoring assistance.

10 (B) Academic assistance.

11 (C) Recreational, fitness, and athletic ac12 tivities.

13 (D) Technology training.

14 (E) Drug, alcohol, and gang prevention.

15 (F) Job and life skills.

16 (G) Character development and values edu17 cation.

18 (H) Leadership development.

19 (I) Truancy and dropout prevention.

20 (J) Civic education.

21 (K) Volunteerism and service learning.

22 (L) Parenting skills.

23 (M) Literary, performing, and visual arts.

24 (N) Mental health services.

25 (O) Alternative education.
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1 (P) Any research-based activity shown to

2 have a positive impact on the academic and so3 cial outcomes of teens.

4 (b) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out

5 the programs under subsection (a), a local YMCA shall,

6 to the maximum extent practicable—

7 (1) use volunteers from businesses, academic

8 communities, social organizations, and law enforce9 ment organizations to serve as mentors or to assist

10 in other ways;

11 (2) develop creative methods of conducting out12 reach to teens in the community;

13 (3) request donations of computer equipment

14 and other materials and equipment; and

15 (4) work with State and local educational and

16 recreation agencies so that activities funded with

17 amounts made available under a grant under this

18 Act will not duplicate activities funded from other

19 sources in the community served.

20 (c) FUNDING FOR PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION.—Of

21 the amounts granted to the YMCA of the USA under this

22 Act in each fiscal year, the YMCA of the USA shall use—

23 (1) not less than 2 percent for research and

24 evaluation of the subgrants made under this Act;
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1 (2) not less than 1 percent for technical assist2 ance related to the subgrants awarded under this

3 Act; and

4 (3) not more than 6 percent for the manage5 ment and administration of the subgrants made

6 under this Act.

7 SEC. 5. APPLICATIONS FOR SUBGRANTS.

8 (a) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a

9 subgrant under this Act, an applicant shall submit an ap10 plication to the YMCA of the USA. Each application sub11 mitted shall include—

12 (1) a request for a subgrant to be used for the

13 purposes of this Act;

14 (2) a description of the population to be served

15 by the subgrant and information demonstrating that

16 this population is at-risk for school failure or delin17 quency;

18 (3) a description of the program to be expanded

19 or established by the subgrant;

20 (4) information demonstrating the manner in

21 which the local YMCA will carry out the planning,

22 establishment, implementation, sustainability and

23 evaluation of the program funded by the subgrant;

24 (5) information demonstrating that there are

25 non-Federal contributions (which may be in the form
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1 of an in-kind contribution of goods or services) avail2 able to cover at least 50 percent of the total cost of

3 the project; and

4 (6) any additional statistical or financial infor5 mation that the YMCA of the USA may reasonably

6 require.

7 (b) CONSIDERATION OF SUBGRANTS.—In awarding

8 subgrants under this Act, the YMCA of the USA shall

9 consider—

10 (1) the ability of the applicant to provide the

11 intended services;

12 (2) the history and establishment of the appli13 cant in providing teen activities; and

14 (3) efforts to achieve an equitable geographic

15 distribution of subgrant awards.

16 SEC. 6. REPORT.

17 For each fiscal year for which a grant is awarded

18 under this Act, the YMCA of the USA shall submit to

19 the Attorney General a report that details the progress

20 and effectiveness of the YMCA programs in reaching

21 measurable outcomes.

22 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

23 In this Act, the following definitions apply:

24 (1) YMCA OF THE US.—The term ‘‘YMCA of

25 the USA’’ means the private, nonprofit, national
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1 membership and service organization of approxi2 mately 2,400 local YMCAs.

3 (2) LOCAL YMCA.—The term ‘‘local YMCA’’

4 means one of the approximately 2,400 locally incor5 porated and governed YMCAs in the United States.

6 (3) TEEN PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘teen pro7 gram’’ means any program primarily attended by in8 dividuals between the ages of 11 and 19.

9 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro11 priated to carry out this Act $20,000,000 for each of fiscal

12 years 2002 through 2006.

13 (b) CONTINUED AVAILABILITY.—Amounts made

14 available to carry out this Act shall remain available until

15 expended.

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