II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 409 

To establish a Federal Youth Development Council to improve the administration and coordination of Federal programs serving youth, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 16, 2005 

Mr. COLEMAN (for himself, Mr. DEWINE, and Mr. ALEXANDER) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL

To establish a Federal Youth Development Council to improve the administration and coordination of Federal 

programs serving youth, 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 ‘‘Federal Youth Coordi5 nation Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT AND MEMBERSHIP. 

7 (a) MEMBERS AND TERMS.—There is established the 

8 Federal Youth Development Council (in this Act referred 

9 to as the ‘‘Council’’) composed of— 
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1 (1) the Attorney General, the Secretary of Agri2 culture, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of 

3 Health and Human Services, Secretary of Housing 

4 and Urban Development, the Secretary of Edu5 cation, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary 

6 of Commerce, the Secretary of Defense, the Sec7 retary of Homeland Security, the Director of Na8 tional Drug Control Policy, the Director of the Of9 fice of Management and Budget, the Assistant to 

10 the President for Domestic Policy, the Director of 

11 the U.S.A. Freedom Corps, the Deputy Assistant to 

12 the President and Director of the Office of Faith13 Based and Community Initiatives, and the Chief Ex14 ecutive Officer of the Corporation for National and 

15 Community Service, and other Federal officials as 

16 directed by the President, to serve for the life of the 

17 Council; and 

18 (2) such additional members as the President, 

19 in consultation with the majority and minority lead20 ership of the House of Representatives and the Sen21 ate, shall appoint from among representatives of 

22 faith-based organizations, community based organi23 zations, child and youth focused foundations, univer24 sities, non-profit organizations, youth service pro25 viders, State and local government, and youth in dis-
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1 advantaged situations, to serve for terms of 2 years 

2 and who may be reappointed by the President for a 

3 second 2-year term. 

4 (b) CHAIRPERSON.—The Chairperson of the Council 

5 shall be designated by the President. 

6 (c) MEETINGS.—The Council shall meet at the call 

7 of the Chairperson, not less frequently than 4 times each 

8 year. The first meeting shall be not less than 6 months 

9 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

10 SEC. 3. DUTIES OF THE COUNCIL. 

11 The duties of the Council shall be— 

12 (1) to ensure communication among agencies 

13 administering programs designed to serve youth, es14 pecially those in disadvantaged situations; 

15 (2) to assess the needs of youth, especially 

16 those in disadvantaged situations, and those who 

17 work with youth, and the quantity and quality of 

18 Federal programs offering services, supports, and 

19 opportunities to help youth in their educational, so20 cial, emotional, physical, vocational, and civic devel21 opment; 

22 (3) to set objectives and quantifiable 5-year 

23 goals for such programs; 

24 (4) to make recommendations for the allocation 

25 of resources in support of such goals and objectives; 
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1 (5) to identify target populations of youth who 

2 are disproportionately at risk and assist agencies in 

3 focusing additional resources on them; 

4 (6) to develop a plan, including common indica5 tors of youth well-being, and assist agencies in co6 ordinating to achieve such goals and objectives; 

7 (7) to assist Federal agencies, at the request of 

8 one or more such agency, in collaborating on model 

9 programs and demonstration projects focusing on 

10 special populations, including youth in foster care, 

11 migrant youth, projects to promote parental involve12 ment, and projects that work to involve young people 

13 in service programs; 

14 (8) to solicit and document ongoing input and 

15 recommendations from— 

16 (A) youth, especially those in disadvan17 taged situations, by forming an advisory council 

18 of youth to work with the Council; 

19 (B) national youth development experts, 

20 parents, faith and community-based organiza21 tions, foundations, business leaders, youth serv22 ice providers, and teachers; 

23 (C) researchers; and 

24 (D) State and local government officials; 

25 and 
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1 (9) to work with Federal agencies to conduct 

2 high-quality research and evaluation, identify and 

3 replicate model programs, and provide technical as4 sistance, and, subject to the availability of appro5 priations, to fund additional research to fill identi6 fied needs. 

7 SEC. 4. ASSISTANCE OF STAFF. 

8 (a) DIRECTOR AND STAFF.—The Chairperson, in 

9 consultation with the Council, shall employ and set the 

10 rate of pay for a Director and any necessary staff to assist 

11 in carrying out its duties. 

12 (b) STAFF OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Upon request 

13 of the Council, the head of any Federal department or 

14 agency may detail, on a reimbursable basis, any of the 

15 personnel of that department or agency to the Council to 

16 assist it in carrying out its duties under this Act. 

17 SEC. 5. POWERS OF THE COUNCIL. 

18 (a) MAILS.—The Council may use the United States 

19 mails in the same manner and under the same conditions 

20 as other departments and agencies of the United States. 

21 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES.—Upon 

22 the request of the Council, the Administrator of General 

23 Services shall provide to the Council, on a reimbursable 

24 basis, the administrative support services necessary for the 

25 Council to carry out its responsibilities under this Act. 
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1 SEC. 6. ASSISTANCE TO STATES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of ap3 propriations, the Council may provide technical assistance 

4 and make grants to States to support State councils for 

5 coordinating State youth efforts. 

6 (b) APPLICATIONS.—Applicants for grants must be 

7 States. Applications for grants under this section shall be 

8 submitted at such time and in such form as determined 

9 by the Council. 

10 (c) PRIORITY.—Priority for grants will be given to 

11 States that— 

12 (1) have already initiated an interagency coordi13 nation effort focused on youth; 

14 (2) plan to work with at least 1 locality to sup15 port a local youth council for coordinating local 

16 youth efforts; 

17 (3) demonstrate the inclusion of nonprofit orga18 nizations, including faith-based and community19 based organizations, in the work of the State coun20 cil; and 

21 (4) demonstrate the inclusion of young people, 

22 especially those in disadvantaged situations, in the 

23 work of the State council. 

24 SEC. 7. REPORT. 

25 Not later than 1 year after the Council holds its first 

26 meeting, and on an annual basis for a period of 4 years 
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1 thereafter, the Council shall transmit to the President and 

2 to Congress a report of the findings and recommendations 

3 of the Council. The report shall— 

4 (1) include a comprehensive compilation of re5 cent research and statistical reporting by various 

6 Federal agencies on the overall wellbeing of youth; 

7 (2) include the assessment of the needs of 

8 youth and those who serve them, the goals and ob9 jectives, the target populations of at-risk youth, and 

10 the plan called for in section 3; 

11 (3) report on the link between quality of service 

12 provision, technical assistance and successful youth 

13 outcomes and recommend ways to coordinate and 

14 improve Federal training and technical assistance, 

15 information sharing, and communication among the 

16 various programs and agencies serving youth; 

17 (4) include recommendations to better integrate 

18 and coordinate policies across agencies at the Fed19 eral, State, and local levels, including recommenda20 tions for legislation and administrative actions; 

21 (5) include a summary of actions the Council 

22 has taken at the request of Federal agencies to fa23 cilitate collaboration and coordination on youth serv24 ing programs and the results of those collaborations, 

25 if available; and 
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1 (6) include a summary of the input and rec2 ommendations from the groups identified in section 

3 3(8). 

4 SEC. 8. TERMINATION. 

5 The Council shall terminate 60 days after transmit6 ting its fifth and final report pursuant to section 6. 

7 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

8 There is authorized to be appropriated for fiscal years 

9 2005 through 2009 such sums as may be necessary to 

10 carry out this Act.

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