I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1317 

To establish a demonstration project to train unemployed workers for 

employment as health care professionals, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 5, 2007 

Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition 

to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 

provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

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’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. HEALTH PROFESSIONS TRAINING DEMONSTRATION 

2 PROJECT. 

3 Section 171 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 

4 (29 U.S.C. 2916) is amended by adding at the end the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(e) HEALTH PROFESSIONS TRAINING DEMONSTRA7 TION PROJECT.— 

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

9 ‘‘(A) COVERED COMMUNITY.—The term 

10 ‘covered community’ means a community or re11 gion that— 

12 ‘‘(i) has experienced a significant per13 centage decline in positions in the manu14 facturing or service sectors; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) is determined by the Secretary of 

16 Health and Human Services (in consulta17 tion with the medical community) to be an 

18 area with a shortage of health care profes19 sionals described in clause (i) or (ii) of 

20 subparagraph (C). 

21 ‘‘(B) COVERED WORKER.—The term ‘cov22 ered worker’ means an individual who— 

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

24 off, or who has received a notice of termi25 nation or layoff, from employment in a 

26 manufacturing or service sector; 


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1 ‘‘(II)(aa) is eligible for or has ex2 hausted entitlement to unemployment com3 pensation; or 

4 ‘‘(bb) has been employed for a dura5 tion sufficient to demonstrate, to the ap6 propriate entity at a one-stop center re7 ferred to in section 134(c), attachment to 

8 the workforce, but is not eligible for unem9 ployment compensation due to insufficient 

10 earnings or having performed services for 

11 an employer that were not covered under a 

12 State unemployment compensation law; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(III) is unlikely to return to a pre15 vious industry or occupation; or 

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

17 off, or has received a notice of termination 

18 or layoff, from employment in a manufac19 turing or service sector as a result of any 

20 permanent closure of, or any substantial 

21 layoff at, a plant, facility, or enterprise; or 

22 ‘‘(II) is employed in a manufacturing 

23 or service sector at a facility at which the 

24 employer has made a general announceVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:06 Mar 07, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1317.IH H1317

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1 ment that such facility will close within 

2 180 days. 

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

4 term ‘health care professional’— 

5 ‘‘(i) means an individual who is in6 volved with— 

7 ‘‘(I) the delivery of health care 

8 services, or related services, pertaining 

9 to— 

10 ‘‘(aa) the identification, 

11 evaluation, and prevention of dis12 eases, disorders, or injuries; or 

13 ‘‘(bb) home-based or com14 munity-based long-term care; 

15 ‘‘(II) the delivery of dietary and 

16 nutrition services; or 

17 ‘‘(III) rehabilitation and health 

18 systems management; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) with respect to a covered commu20 nity to be served through a grant made 

21 under paragraph (3), includes individuals 

22 in health care professions and jobs for 

23 which there is a shortage in the commu24 nity, as determined by the Secretary of 

25 Health and Human Services (in consultaVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:06 Mar 07, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1317.IH H1317

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1 tion with the medical community), giving 

2 consideration to the amount of training 

3 time required to retrain the covered work4 ers for the health care professions and 

5 jobs. 

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

7 The term ‘tribal college or university’ means— 

8 ‘‘(i) a tribally controlled college or 

9 university, as defined in section 2 of the 

10 Tribally Controlled College or University 

11 Assistance Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 1801); 

12 ‘‘(ii) Dine ́ College, authorized in the 

13 Navajo Community College Act (25 U.S.C. 

14 640a et seq.); and 

15 ‘‘(iii) any of the 1994 Institutions, as 

16 defined in section 532 of the Equity in 

17 Educational Land-Grant Status Act of 

18 1994 (7 U.S.C. 301 note). 

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 enable the entities to carry out 

2 programs in covered communities to train covered 

3 workers for employment as health care professionals. 

4 The Secretary shall make each grant in an amount 

5 of not less than $100,000 and not more than 

6 $500,000. 

7 ‘‘(4) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—Notwithstanding 

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

9 under this subsection to carry out a program in a 

10 covered community, an entity shall be a partnership 

11 that is— 

12 ‘‘(A) under the direction of a local work13 force investment board established under sec14 tion 117 that is serving the covered community; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(B) composed of members serving the 

17 covered community, such as— 

18 ‘‘(i) an institution of higher education 

19 that provides a 4-year program of instruc20 tion; 

21 ‘‘(ii) an accredited community college; 

22 ‘‘(iii) an accredited vocational or tech23 nical school; 

24 ‘‘(iv) a tribal college or university; 

25 ‘‘(v) a health clinic or hospital; 


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1 ‘‘(vi) a home-based or community2 based long-term care facility or program; 

3 or 

4 ‘‘(vii) a health care facility adminis5 tered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 

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

7 grant under this subsection, an entity shall submit 

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

9 manner, and containing such information as the Sec10 retary may require, including, at a minimum— 

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

12 establish or expand a training program in order 

13 to train covered workers for employment as 

14 health care professionals (including paraprofes15 sionals); 

16 ‘‘(B) information demonstrating the need 

17 for the training and support services to be pro18 vided through the program; 

19 ‘‘(C) information describing the manner in 

20 which the entity will expend the grant funds, 

21 and the activities to be carried out with the 

22 funds; 

23 ‘‘(D) information demonstrating that the 

24 entity meets the requirements of paragraph (4); 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(E) with respect to training programs 

2 carried out by the applicant, information— 

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

4 programs involved; 

5 ‘‘(ii) on the retention measures car6 ried out by the applicant; 

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

8 to complete the training programs of the 

9 applicant; and 

10 ‘‘(iv) on the number of qualified cov11 ered workers that are refused admittance 

12 into the training programs because of lack 

13 of capacity. 

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

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

16 the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 

17 shall— 

18 ‘‘(A) consider the information submitted by 

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

20 and 

21 ‘‘(B) select— 

22 ‘‘(i) eligible entities submitting appli23 cations that meet such criteria as the Sec24 retary of Labor determines to be appro25 priate; and 


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

2 entities serving the covered communities 

3 with the greatest need for the grants and 

4 the greatest potential to benefit from the 

5 grants. 

6 ‘‘(7) USE OF FUNDS.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An entity that re8 ceives a grant under this subsection shall use 

9 the funds made available through the grant for 

10 training and support services that meet the 

11 needs described in the application submitted 

12 under paragraph (5), which may include— 

13 ‘‘(i) increasing capacity, subject to 

14 subparagraph (B), at an educational insti15 tution or training center to train individ16 uals for employment as health profes17 sionals, such as by— 

18 ‘‘(I) expanding a facility, subject 

19 to subparagraph (B); 

20 ‘‘(II) expanding course offerings; 

21 ‘‘(III) hiring faculty; 

22 ‘‘(IV) providing a student loan 

23 repayment program for the faculty; 

24 ‘‘(V) establishing or expanding 

25 clinical education opportunities; 


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1 ‘‘(VI) purchasing equipment, 

2 such as computers, books, clinical 

3 supplies, or a patient simulator; or 

4 ‘‘(VII) conducting recruitment; 

5 or 

6 ‘‘(ii) providing support services for 

7 covered workers participating in the train8 ing, such as— 

9 ‘‘(I) providing tuition assistance; 

10 ‘‘(II) establishing or expanding 

11 distance education programs; 

12 ‘‘(III) providing transportation 

13 assistance; or 

14 ‘‘(IV) providing child care. 

15 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—To be eligible to use 

16 the funds to expand a facility, the eligible entity 

17 shall demonstrate to the Secretary in an appli18 cation submitted under paragraph (5) that the 

19 entity can increase the capacity described in 

20 subparagraph (A)(i) of such facility only by ex21 panding the facility. 

22 ‘‘(8) FUNDING.—Of the amounts appropriated 

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

24 or the Secretary of Health and Human Services for 

25 programmatic and administrative expenditures, a 


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

2 carry out the demonstration project described in 

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

Æ 


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