II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 444 

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 

FEBRUARY 17, 2005 

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 ‘‘(e) 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 that— 

7 ‘‘(i) has experienced a significant per8 centage decline in positions in the manu9 facturing or service sectors; and 

10 ‘‘(ii)(I) is eligible for designation 

11 under section 332 of the Public Health 

12 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254e) as a health 

13 professional shortage area; 

14 ‘‘(II) is eligible to be served by a 

15 health center under section 330 or a grant16 ee under section 330(h) (relating to home17 less individuals) of the Public Health Serv18 ice Act (42 U.S.C. 254b, 254b(h)); 

19 ‘‘(III) has a shortage of personal 

20 health services, as determined under cri21 teria issued by the Secretary of Health and 

22 Human Services under section 1861(aa)(2) 

23 of the Social Security Act (relating to rural 

24 health clinics) (42 U.S.C. 1395x(aa)(2)); 

25 or 
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1 ‘‘(IV) is designated by a Governor (in 

2 consultation with the medical community) 

3 as a shortage area or medically under4 served community. 

5 ‘‘(B) COVERED WORKER.—The term ‘cov6 ered worker’ means an individual who— 

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

8 off, or who has received a notice of termi9 nation or layoff, from employment in a 

10 manufacturing or service sector; 

11 ‘‘(II)(aa) is eligible for or has ex12 hausted entitlement to unemployment com13 pensation; or 

14 ‘‘(bb) has been employed for a dura15 tion sufficient to demonstrate, to the ap16 propriate entity at a one-stop center re17 ferred to in section 134(c), attachment to 

18 the workforce, but is not eligible for unem19 ployment compensation due to insufficient 

20 earnings or having performed services for 

21 an employer that were not covered under a 

22 State unemployment compensation law; 

23 and 

24 ‘‘(III) is unlikely to return to a pre25 vious industry or occupation; or 
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1 ‘‘(ii)(I) has been terminated or laid 

2 off, or has received a notice of termination 

3 or layoff, from employment in a manufac4 turing or service sector as a result of any 

5 permanent closure of, or any substantial 

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

7 ‘‘(II) is employed in a manufacturing 

8 or service sector at a facility at which the 

9 employer has made a general announce10 ment that such facility will close within 

11 180 days. 

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, and prevention of dis21 eases, disorders, or injuries; or 

22 ‘‘(bb) home-based or com23 munity-based long-term care; 

24 ‘‘(II) the delivery of dietary and 

25 nutrition services; or 
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1 ‘‘(III) rehabilitation and health 

2 systems management; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) includes nurses, home health 

4 aides, nursing assistants, physician assist5 ants, dental hygienists, diagnostic medical 

6 sonographers, dietitians, medical tech7 nologists, occupational therapists, physical 

8 therapists, radiographers, respiratory 

9 therapists, emergency medical service tech10 nicians, speech-language pathologists, and 

11 specific occupational needs of the commu12 nity served by the eligible entities as de13 fined in section (e)(4) of this Act.. 

14 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROJECT.—In ac15 cordance with subsection (b), the Secretary shall es16 tablish and carry out a health professions training 

17 demonstration project. 

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

19 Secretary, after consultation with the Secretary of 

20 Health and Human Services, shall make grants to 

21 eligible entities to enable the entities to carry out 

22 programs in covered communities to train covered 

23 workers for employment as health care professionals. 

24 The Secretary shall make each grant in an amount 
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1 of not less than $100,000 and not more than 

2 $500,000. 

3 ‘‘(4) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—Notwithstanding 

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

5 under this subsection to carry out a program in a 

6 covered community, an entity shall be a partnership 

7 that is— 

8 ‘‘(A) under the direction of a local work9 force investment board established under sec10 tion 117 that is serving the covered community; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(B) composed of members serving the 

13 covered community, such as— 

14 ‘‘(i) a 4-year institution of higher edu15 cation; 

16 ‘‘(ii) an accredited community college; 

17 ‘‘(iii) an accredited vocational or tech18 nical school; 

19 ‘‘(iv) a health clinic or hospital; 

20 ‘‘(v) a home-based or community21 based long-term care facility or program; 

22 or 

23 ‘‘(vi) a health care facility adminis24 tered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 
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1 ‘‘(5) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a 

2 grant under this subsection, an entity shall submit 

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

4 manner, and containing such information as the Sec5 retary may require, including, at a minimum— 

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

7 establish or expand a training program in order 

8 to train covered workers for employment as 

9 health care professionals or paraprofessionals; 

10 ‘‘(B) information demonstrating the need 

11 for the training and support services to be pro12 vided through the program; 

13 ‘‘(C) information describing the manner in 

14 which the entity will expend the grant funds, 

15 and the activities to be carried out with the 

16 funds; 

17 ‘‘(D) information demonstrating that the 

18 entity meets the requirements of paragraph (4); 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(E) with respect to training programs 

21 carried out by the applicant, information— 

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

23 programs involved; 

24 ‘‘(ii) on the retention measures car25 ried out by the applicant; 
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1 ‘‘(iii) on the length of time necessary 

2 to complete the training programs of the 

3 applicant; and 

4 ‘‘(iv) on the number of qualified train5 ees that are refused admittance into the 

6 training programs because of lack of ca7 pacity. 

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

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

10 the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 

11 shall— 

12 ‘‘(A) consider the date submitted by the 

13 applicant under paragraph (5)(E); and 

14 ‘‘(B) select— 

15 ‘‘(i) eligible entities submitting appli16 cations that meet such criteria as the Sec17 retary of Labor determines to be appro18 priate; and 

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

20 entities serving the covered communities 

21 with the greatest need for the grants and 

22 the greatest potential to benefit from the 

23 grants. 

24 ‘‘(7) USE OF FUNDS.— 
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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An entity that re2 ceives a grant under this subsection shall use 

3 the funds made available through the grant for 

4 training and support services that meet the 

5 needs described in the application submitted 

6 under paragraph (5), which may include— 

7 ‘‘(i) increasing capacity, subject to 

8 subparagraph (B)(i), at an educational in9 stitution or training center to train individ10 uals for employment as health profes11 sionals, such as by— 

12 ‘‘(I) expanding a facility, subject 

13 to subparagraph (B)(ii); 

14 ‘‘(II) expanding course offerings; 

15 ‘‘(III) hiring faculty; 

16 ‘‘(IV) providing a student loan 

17 repayment program for the faculty; 

18 ‘‘(V) establishing or expanding 

19 clinical education opportunities; 

20 ‘‘(VI) purchasing equipment, 

21 such as computers, books, clinical 

22 supplies, or a patient simulator; or 

23 ‘‘(VII) conducting recruitment; 

24 or 
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1 ‘‘(ii) providing support services for 

2 covered workers participating in the train3 ing, such as— 

4 ‘‘(I) providing tuition assistance; 

5 ‘‘(II) establishing or expanding 

6 distance education programs; 

7 ‘‘(III) providing transportation 

8 assistance; or 

9 ‘‘(IV) providing child care. 

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

11 the funds to expand a facility, the eligible entity 

12 shall demonstrate to the Secretary in an appli13 cation submitted under paragraph (5) that the 

14 entity can increase the capacity described in 

15 subparagraph (E)(iv) of such facility only by 

16 expanding the facility. 

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

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

19 or the Secretary of Health and Human Services for 

20 programmatic and administrative expenditures, a 

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

22 carry out the demonstration project described in 

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

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