I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3398 

To improve the English language and literacy skills of English language 

learners and their families, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 20, 2021 

Mr. GRIJALVA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To improve the English language and literacy skills of 

English language learners and their families, 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 ‘‘Families Learning and 

5 Understanding English Together Act of 2021’’ or the 

6 ‘‘FLUENT Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 The Congress finds the following: 

9 (1) The Census Bureau’s American Community 

10 Survey of 2018 estimated 21.9 percent of United 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 3398 IH

1 States households speak a language other than 

2 English at home. 

3 (2) In many recently immigrated families, care4 givers speak little to no English, can possess low lit5 eracy skills in their primary language due to limited 

6 or interrupted education, and frequently struggle to 

7 assist their children’s English and primary language 

8 and literacy development. 

9 (3) The United States is a Nation of immi10 grants, and even today, according to the Census Bu11 reau’s American Community Survey of 2018, more 

12 than 44,000,000 individuals who live in the United 

13 States were born outside the country. 

14 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

15 The purpose of this Act is to improve the educational, 

16 social, and economic advancement of families with English 

17 language learners who have unmet literacy needs by ex18 panding and enhancing family literacy activities and serv19 ices for such families. 

20 SEC. 4. COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAM. 

21 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—From funds made 

22 available pursuant to section 9, and after reserving funds 

23 under section 9(b), the Secretary may award grants to 

24 family literacy providers to provide, directly or through a 

25 contract with another provider, family literacy services deVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:20 Jun 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3398.IH H3398

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 3398 IH

1 signed for English language learners and their families. 

2 Each grant under this Act shall be for a period of 1 year 

3 and may be renewed for a total of 5 additional years. 

4 (b) APPLICATION.—Family literacy providers who de5 sire to receive a grant under this Act shall submit an ap6 plication at such time, containing such information, and 

7 in such manner as the Secretary may require. Such appli8 cation shall include the following: 

9 (1) An assurance that services provided with 

10 funds under this Act shall be provided to the hard11 est-to-reach populations, prioritizing English lan12 guage learner populations with the greatest eco13 nomic, educational, and social need. 

14 (2) A description of the services that will be 

15 provided with funds under this Act, including the 

16 manner in which the services will be research-based 

17 literacy instruction for children who are English 

18 learners and caregivers who are English language 

19 learners. 

20 (3) A description of the outcome measures, con21 sistent with section 6, that are based on research 

22 and will be employed by the family literacy provider 

23 to measure the effectiveness of services provided 

24 with funds under this Act. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 3398 IH

1 (4) An assurance that, in providing family lit2 eracy services through the grant, the family literacy 

3 provider will collaborate with one or more of the fol4 lowing: 

5 (A) A State or Tribal local educational 

6 agency. 

7 (B) A public elementary school. 

8 (C) A public secondary school. 

9 (D) A nonprofit entity (such as a commu10 nity-based organization, library, community col11 lege, or early childhood provider). 

12 (5) A requirement that any preservice educators 

13 or paraprofessionals who facilitate family or adult 

14 literacy activities be trained and under the direct su15 pervision of a highly qualified family literacy pro16 vider trained in research-based methods of early lan17 guage and literacy promotion. 

18 (c) GRANT AMOUNT.—The amount of a grant under 

19 this Act for a fiscal year shall not be less than $150,000 

20 or more than $1,000,000. 

21 (d) SERVICES REQUIREMENTS.—Family literacy 

22 services under this Act shall be provided in sufficient in23 tensity in terms of hours, and shall be of sufficient dura24 tion, to make sustainable changes in a family and shall 

25 integrate all of the following activities: 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 3398 IH

1 (1) Interactive literacy activities between care2 givers and their children that includes online and 

3 digital learning resources. 

4 (2) Education that helps caregivers learn how 

5 to advocate for their children and support their chil6 dren’s primary and English language and literacy 

7 development and educational success. 

8 (3) Adult literacy education which includes dig9 ital and systems literacy that improves conceptual 

10 knowledge and reasoning skills. 

11 (4) An age-appropriate education plan, devel12 oped in partnership with caregivers, to prepare chil13 dren for success in school, career, and civic life. 

14 (e) SPECIAL RULE.—Family literacy services under 

15 this Act may be provided to a family only if— 

16 (1) each caregiver in the family has attained 16 

17 years of age; and 

18 (2) the family has at least one child who has 

19 not yet attained 8 years of age. 

20 SEC. 5. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING. 

21 (a) ACTIVITIES BY SECRETARY.—The Secretary, act22 ing through the Assistant Secretary for Elementary and 

23 Secondary Education, shall, through grants or contracts 

24 as described in subsection (b), provide technical assistance 

25 and training to family literacy providers receiving a grant 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 3398 IH

1 under section 4 for the purposes described in subsection 

2 (c). 

3 (b) ACTIVITIES BY NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make 

5 grants to, or enter into contracts with, at least 2 eli6 gible national organizations to provide technical as7 sistance and training to family literacy providers re8 ceiving a grant under section 4 for the purposes de9 scribed in subsection (c). 

10 (2) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘el11 igible national organization’’ means a national orga12 nization with expertise in providing family literacy 

13 services to English language learner populations. 

14 (c) PURPOSES.—The purposes of technical assistance 

15 and training provided under this section are the following: 

16 (1) Assisting family literacy providers receiving 

17 a grant under section 4 to improve the quality of 

18 their family literacy services. 

19 (2) Enabling such family literacy providers that 

20 demonstrate the effective provision of family literacy 

21 services, based on improved outcomes for children 

22 and their caregivers, to provide technical assistance 

23 and training to government agencies and to family 

24 literacy providers that work in collaboration with 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 3398 IH

1 such agencies to improve the quality of their family 

2 literacy services. 

3 (3) Assisting such providers in the implementa4 tion of literacy curriculum and training activities, in5 cluding curriculum and training activities that sup6 port building on a child’s primary language. 

7 (d) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 90 days 

8 after the end of each fiscal year, the Secretary shall sub9 mit to the Committee on Education and Labor of the 

10 House of Representatives and the Committee on Health, 

11 Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate a report 

12 on the technical assistance and training provided pursuant 

13 to subsections (a) and (b). Each such report shall describe 

14 the actions taken by the Secretary to ensure that such 

15 technical assistance and training is of high quality and 

16 is responsive to the needs of grantees under this Act. 

17 SEC. 6. OUTCOME MEASURES. 

18 The Secretary shall require each family literacy pro19 vider receiving a grant under this Act to meet culturally 

20 appropriate and competent outcome measures described in 

21 the provider’s application under section 4, including out22 come measures with respect to— 

23 (1) acquisition of the English language, includ24 ing improvement in academic achievement and aca25 demic language fluency and comprehension; 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 3398 IH

1 (2) literacy skills and building of the primary 

2 language; 

3 (3) improved caregiving and life skills, such as 

4 communication and problem-solving skills; 

5 (4) the improved ability of caregivers who are 

6 English language learners to effectively communicate 

7 and partner with school personnel at the preschool, 

8 elementary, or secondary school their children at9 tend; 

10 (5) improvement in the developmental skills and 

11 ability of the children to direct, regulate, and assess 

12 their own learning; 

13 (6) increased caregiver participation in their 

14 children’s education, interactive literacy activities, 

15 and home environments to support children’s learn16 ing and growth; and 

17 (7) improved general, cross-cutting abilities 

18 such as applied academic skills, critical thinking 

19 skills, interpersonal skills, communication skills, per20 sonal qualities, and skills in resource management, 

21 information use, systems thinking, and technology 

22 use. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 3398 IH

1 SEC. 7. EVALUATION. 

2 The Secretary shall conduct an annual evaluation of 

3 the grant program under this Act. Such evaluation shall 

4 be used by the Secretary— 

5 (1) for program improvement; 

6 (2) to further define the program’s goals and 

7 objectives; and 

8 (3) to determine program effectiveness. 

9 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 

10 For purposes of this Act: 

11 (1) ADULT EDUCATION PROVIDER.—The term 

12 ‘‘adult education provider’’ has the meaning given 

13 the term ‘‘eligible provider’’ in section 203 of the 

14 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 

15 U.S.C. 3272). 

16 (2) APPLICATION OF ESEA TERMS.—The terms 

17 ‘‘elementary school’’, ‘‘English learner’’, ‘‘local edu18 cational agency’’, and ‘‘secondary school’’ have the 

19 meanings given such terms in section 8101 of the 

20 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

21 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

22 (3) ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNER; FAMILY LIT23 ERACY ACTIVITIES.—The terms ‘‘English language 

24 learner’’ and ‘‘family literacy activities’’ have the 

25 meanings given the terms in section 203 of the 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 3398 IH

1 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 

2 U.S.C. 3272). 

3 (4) FAMILY LITERACY PROVIDER.—The term 

4 ‘‘family literacy provider’’ means an entity that— 

5 (A) except in a case in which the Secretary 

6 waives the requirement of this subparagraph 

7 with respect to an entity, is located in a geo8 graphic area containing at least one public ele9 mentary school or secondary school with either 

10 a majority enrollment or recent increase in en11 rollment of children who have been identified as 

12 English learners; and 

13 (B) is one of the following: 

14 (i) A grantee under the Head Start 

15 Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.), or any other 

16 Federal or State early childhood program. 

17 (ii) An adult education provider. 

18 (iii) A local educational agency. 

19 (iv) A public or private nonprofit 

20 agency. 

21 (v) Another entity that has the dem22 onstrated ability to provide family literacy 

23 services to English language learning 

24 adults and families. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
11 

•HR 3398 IH

1 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of Education. 

3 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro5 priated to carry out this Act $50,000,000 for each of fiscal 

6 years 2022 through 2026. 

7 (b) RESERVATIONS.—From funds made available 

8 pursuant to subsection (a) for a fiscal year, the Secretary 

9 shall reserve— 

10 (1) not more than 2 percent of such funds for 

11 conducting the annual evaluation required by section 

12 7; and 

13 (2) $5,000,000 for technical assistance and 

14 training under section 5. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS