I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3246 

To award funds to States and local areas for subsidized employment programs 

for youth. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 14, 2021 

Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois (for himself, Ms. KAPTUR, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. 

GRIJALVA, Mr. POCAN, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. BUSH, Ms. 

TLAIB, Ms. NORTON, Mr. EVANS, Mr. CARSON, Mr. TRONE, and Mr. 

KAHELE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, 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 award funds to States and local areas for subsidized 

employment programs for 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 ‘‘Connecting Youth to 

5 Jobs Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

7 The purposes of this Act are to— 


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1 (1) offer employment to all young people who 

2 seek it, especially those who have been historically 

3 disadvantaged; 

4 (2) create subsidized employment opportunities 

5 for young people to address National, State, and 

6 local priorities, such as infrastructure enhancement, 

7 manufacturing, public works, community develop8 ment, and the arts; and 

9 (3) support young people with services, includ10 ing housing, healthcare, transportation, child care, 

11 and access to technology. 

12 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

13 In this Act: 

14 (1) QUALIFYING EMERGENCY.—The term 

15 ‘‘qualifying emergency’’ means— 

16 (A) a public health emergency declared by 

17 the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

18 pursuant to section 319 of the Public Health 

19 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d); 

20 (B) an event for which the President de21 clared a major disaster or an emergency under 

22 section 401 or 501, respectively, of the Robert 

23 T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency As24 sistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170 and 5191); or 


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1 (C) a national emergency declared by the 

2 President under section 201 of the National 

3 Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.). 

4 (2) ELIGIBLE YOUTH.—The term ‘‘eligible 

5 youth’’ means an individual who is not younger than 

6 age 14 and not older than age 24, without regard 

7 to immigration status or past or current involvement 

8 with the juvenile or criminal justice system. 

9 (3) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘local edu10 cational agency’’ and ‘‘State educational agency’’ 

11 have the meanings given the terms in section 8101 

12 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

13 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

14 (4) HIGH-POVERTY AREA.—The term ‘‘high15 poverty area’’ means a census tract with a youth 

16 poverty rate of at least 20 percent during the most 

17 recent 5 consecutive years. 

18 (5) HISTORICALLY HIGH YOUTH UNEMPLOY19 MENT LEVELS.—The term ‘‘historically high youth 

20 unemployment levels’’ means any local area with a 

21 youth unemployment rate of at least 10 percent, as 

22 measured over the most recent decennial censuses, 

23 or by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the most 

24 recent 5-year period for which data are available. 


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1 (6) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

2 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

3 meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher 

4 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

5 (7) PUBLIC EDUCATION ENTITY.—The term 

6 ‘‘public education entities’’ includes— 

7 (A) a local educational agency; 

8 (B) a State educational agency; or 

9 (C) a public institution of higher edu10 cation. 

11 (8) REGISTERED APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM.— 

12 The term ‘‘registered apprenticeship programs’’ 

13 means an apprenticeship program registered under 

14 the Act of August 16, 1937 (commonly known as 

15 the ‘‘National Apprenticeship Act’’; 50 Stat. 664, 

16 chapter 663; 29 U.S.C. 50 et seq.), including any re17 quirement, standard, or rule promulgated under 

18 such Act, as such requirement, standard, or rule was 

19 in effect on December 30, 2019 (or successor re20 quirements, standards or rule). 

21 (9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

22 the Secretary of Labor. 

23 (10) SUPPORTIVE SERVICES.—The term ‘‘sup24 portive services’’ means services such as transpor25 tation, child care, dependent care, housing, and 


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1 needs-related payments, that are necessary to enable 

2 an individual to participate in activities authorized 

3 under this Act. 

4 (11) WORK-BASED LEARNING.—The term 

5 ‘‘work-based learning’’ has the meaning given the 

6 term in section 3 of the Carl D. Perkins Career and 

7 Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302), 

8 except that such term includes work-based learning 

9 in virtual settings. 

10 (12) WIOA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘in-demand in11 dustry sector or occupation’’, ‘‘individual with a dis12 ability’’, ‘‘in-school youth’’ , ‘‘local area’’, ‘‘local 

13 board’’, ‘‘out-of-school youth’’, ‘‘outlying area’’, 

14 ‘‘poverty line’’, ‘‘recognized postsecondary creden15 tial’’, ‘‘State’’, ‘‘State board’’, and ‘‘unit of general 

16 local government’’ have the meanings given the 

17 terms in section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and 

18 Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102). 

19 (13) YOUTH WITH A BARRIER TO EMPLOY20 MENT.—The term ‘‘youth with a barrier to employ21 ment’’ means an eligible youth who— 

22 (A) is a homeless child or youth (as such 

23 term is defined in section 725 of the McKinney24 Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

25 11434a)); 


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1 (B) has been incarcerated or has past or 

2 current involvement with the criminal or juve3 nile justice systems; 

4 (C) is a current or former foster youth; 

5 (D) is an individual with a disability; 

6 (E) is pregnant or parenting; 

7 (F) is a school dropout (as defined by 

8 State law); 

9 (G) is from a family with an income level 

10 at or below 200 percent of the poverty line; or 

11 (H) is a member of another young-adult 

12 population, including racial groups, that is ex13 periencing disparate levels of youth disconnec14 tion, as defined by the local workforce develop15 ment board of the local area in which the youth 

16 resides. 

17 TITLE I—YOUTH PUBLIC 

18 EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM 

19 SEC. 101. FORMULA GRANTS TO STATES AND LOCAL AREAS. 

20 (a) FUNDING ALLOTMENTS AND ALLOCATIONS.— 

21 (1) STATE ALLOTMENTS.—To assist States and 

22 outlying areas, and to enable States and outlying 

23 areas to assist local areas, in carrying out subsidized 

24 employment programs described in subsection (b) for 

25 youth with a barrier to employment, from the funds 


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1 appropriated under section 105(a), the Secretary of 

2 Labor shall— 

3 (A) make an allotment in accordance with 

4 section 127(b)(1)(C)(ii) of the Workforce Inno5 vation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 

6 3162(b)(1)(C)(ii)) to each State that meets the 

7 requirements of section 102 or 103 of such Act 

8 (29 U.S.C. 3112, 3113); and 

9 (B) award a grant to each outlying area 

10 that complies with the requirements of title I of 

11 the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 

12 (29 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.) to carry out subsidized 

13 youth employment programs for such youth. 

14 (2) WITHIN STATE ALLOCATION.— 

15 (A) STATEWIDE ACTIVITIES.—Each State 

16 shall reserve 25 percent of the allotment re17 ceived under paragraph (1)(A) to carry out 

18 statewide subsidized employment programs de19 scribed in subsection (b). 

20 (B) ALLOCATIONS TO LOCAL AREAS.—A 

21 Governor of a State that receives an allotment 

22 under paragraph (1), in coordination with rel23 evant State and local stakeholders, shall use 

24 any remaining amounts (after reserving funds 

25 under subparagraph (A)), to allocate funds to 


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1 local areas, as long as not less than 65 percent 

2 of such remaining amount is allocated to— 

3 (i) high-poverty local areas with the 

4 highest youth unemployment rate com5 pared to other local areas in the State; and 

6 (ii) local areas with historically high 

7 levels of youth unemployment within the 

8 State. 

9 (b) USES OF FUNDS.— 

10 (1) SUBSIDIZED EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMS.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—Funds allotted to 

12 States for statewide programs, and funds allo13 cated to local areas under subsection (a), shall 

14 be used to carry out subsidized employment 

15 programs described in paragraph (3) that— 

16 (i) lead to unsubsidized, full-time em17 ployment for youth with a barrier to em18 ployment in such State or local area; or 

19 (ii) provide the necessary skills and 

20 competency attainment of at least 1 recog21 nized postsecondary credential to further 

22 the education or career of such youth. 

23 (2) FUNDING DISTRIBUTION.—Of the funds al24 lotted to States, or allocated to local areas, as de25 scribed in paragraph (1) for a fiscal year: 


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1 (A) Not less than 60 percent shall be used 

2 for wages and employment benefits to individ3 uals employed in subsidized employment pro4 grams funded under this section. 

5 (B) Not less than 30 percent for the first 

6 fiscal year for which such funds are so allotted 

7 or allocated, and not less than 20 percent for 

8 each fiscal year thereafter, shall be used to pro9 vide career services described in section 

10 134(c)(2) of the Workforce Innovation and Op11 portunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3174(c)(2)), training 

12 services, or youth workforce investment activi13 ties. 

14 (C) Any remaining funds may be used for 

15 administrative and other allowable costs (such 

16 as supplies, materials, equipment, and health 

17 and safety resources) incurred by the State or 

18 local area, as determined by the Secretary. 

19 (3) CONDITIONS.—Except as otherwise deter20 mined by the Secretary, the following conditions 

21 shall apply to each subsidized employment program 

22 funded under this section: 

23 (A) Each youth with a barrier to employ24 ment residing in the State or local area funding 

25 such program shall be entitled to an opporVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:34 Jun 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3246.IH H3246

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1 tunity to be employed by such program, and no 

2 other individual shall be provided such oppor3 tunity. 

4 (B) Each individual employed under such 

5 program shall be paid a wage, which shall at 

6 least be the highest of the following: 

7 (i) $15 an hour. 

8 (ii) The minimum wage under the ap9 plicable State or local minimum wage law. 

10 (iii) The prevailing rates of pay for in11 dividuals employed in similar occupations 

12 by the same employer. 

13 (iv) The Federal minimum wage in ef14 fect under section 6(a)(1) of the Fair 

15 Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 

16 206(a)(1)). 

17 (C) With respect to a wage determined 

18 under subparagraph (B), the Secretary may 

19 promulgate regulations to increase such wage 

20 after consideration of industry, geographical re21 gion, skill requirements, and individual pro22 ficiency. 

23 (D) An individual may self-attest to being 

24 a youth with a barrier to employment, and 


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1 verification of such eligibility may occur after 

2 the individual is employed under the program. 

3 (E) Earnings from such program shall not 

4 be regarded as income and shall not be re5 garded as a resource for the month of receipt 

6 and the following 12 months, for purposes of 

7 determining the eligibility of an individual (or 

8 the individual’s spouse or family) for benefits or 

9 assistance, or the amount or extent of benefits 

10 or assistance, under any Federal program or 

11 under any State or local program financed in 

12 whole or in part with Federal funds. 

13 (F) Such program shall coordinate with 

14 the workforce systems and activities promoted 

15 by the State or local board to connect youth 

16 with a barrier to employment to educational or 

17 career opportunities. 

18 (G) Such program shall establish or ex19 pand diversity and inclusion opportunities and 

20 collect disaggregated data on related efforts. 

21 SEC. 102. COMPETITIVE GRANTS TO ELIGIBLE ENTITIES. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts appropriated 

23 under section 105(b), the Secretary shall award grants, 

24 on a competitive basis, to eligible entities for activities de25 scribed in subsection (d). 


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1 (b) REQUIREMENTS ON USES OF FUNDS.—In award2 ing funds under this section the Secretary shall ensure the 

3 following: 

4 (1) DIRECT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—Not less 

5 than 40 percent of such funds are used to provide 

6 direct financial assistance to eligible youth to sup7 port such youth with financial needs with respect to 

8 entering, remaining enrolled in, and completing a 

9 subsidized employment program described in section 

10 101(b) (including related costs of training, supplies, 

11 food and nutrition, housing, transportation, child 

12 care, mental health and substance abuse services, 

13 payment of fines, or other targeted costs determined 

14 allowable by the Secretary). 

15 (2) IN-DEMAND INDUSTRY SECTORS OR OCCU16 PATIONS.—Not less than 40 percent of such funds 

17 are used to connect eligible youth to employers for 

18 in-demand industry sectors or occupations, work19 based learning opportunities, registered apprentice20 ship programs, or to reconnect to a public education 

21 entity. 

22 (3) DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION ACTIVITIES.— 

23 Not less than 10 percent of such funds are used for 

24 promoting, creating, or expanding diversity and inVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:34 Jun 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3246.IH H3246

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1 clusion activities for the purposes of diversifying 

2 workforce systems. 

3 (c) ELIGIBLE ENTITY DEFINED.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘eligible entity’’ 

5 means an entity that the Secretary determines to 

6 serve a high number or high percentage of youth 

7 with a barrier to employment who are employed in 

8 a subsidized employment programs described in sec9 tion 101(b). 

10 (2) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘eligible entity’’ 

11 includes— 

12 (A) a community-based organization; 

13 (B) a State and unit of general local gov14 ernment in a partnership with a community15 based organization; 

16 (C) a partnership among States and units 

17 of general local government, community-based 

18 organizations, public education entities, reg19 istered apprenticeships, and employers from in20 demand industry sectors or occupations; 

21 (D) a partnership among community-based 

22 organizations and juvenile and adult correc23 tional facilities; 

24 (E) a labor organization or joint labor25 management organization; or 


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1 (F) a tribal organization (as defined in 

2 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and 

3 Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b)) or 

4 an urban Indian organization (as defined in 

5 section 4 of the Indian Health Care Improve6 ment Act (25 U.S.C. 1603))’’. 

7 (d) USES OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity that receives 

8 a grant under this section— 

9 (1) shall use the grant to match youth with a 

10 barrier to employment to subsidized employment 

11 programs funded under section 101, and provide 

12 hands-on work experience that does not supplant the 

13 work of existing employees; and 

14 (2) may use a grant received under this section 

15 to carry out 1 or more of the following: 

16 (A) Establish or expand diversity and in17 clusion opportunities and collect disaggregated 

18 data on related efforts. 

19 (B) Provide (directly or through partner20 ships) technical assistance and supportive serv21 ices to eligible youth and their families to help 

22 navigate supportive services and other Federal 

23 and State assistance programs to support the 

24 recruitment, retention, and completion of a pro25 gram funded under section 101. 


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1 (C) Coordinate partnerships with programs 

2 funded under section 101 to connect eligible 

3 youth to educational or career opportunities, in4 cluding to employers for in-demand industry 

5 sectors or occupations, work-based learning op6 portunities, registered apprenticeship programs, 

7 or to reconnect to a public education entity. 

8 (D) Form comprehensive youth service de9 livery systems to improve education and em10 ployment outcomes for youth and to strategi11 cally connect local sectors, systems, and re12 sources by strategically coordinating resources 

13 and public, private, and nonprofit funding to 

14 create youth pathways to further the education, 

15 skills, and access to jobs and successful careers, 

16 by— 

17 (i) conducting and improving outreach 

18 to underrepresented youth and families 

19 with respect to the programs funded under 

20 section 101; 

21 (ii) making appropriate use of existing 

22 education, child welfare, social services, 

23 and workforce development data collection 

24 systems to facilitate the entity’s ability to 

25 recruit youth participants; and 


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1 (iii) developing wide-ranging higher 

2 education or employment pathways for 

3 youth. 

4 (E) Assist in the transition between sub5 sidized youth employment programs and unsub6 sidized employment or education. 

7 (F) In the case of an eligible entity de8 scribed in subsection (d)(2)(D), assist in the 

9 transition from incarceration with the goal of 

10 reducing rates of recidivism and ensuring incar11 cerated youth and formerly incarcerated youth 

12 have access to employment and educational op13 portunities. 

14 SEC. 103. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

15 Nothing in this title shall be construed to prohibit 

16 an individual receiving assistance under this title from 

17 being represented by a labor organization. 

18 SEC. 104. PERFORMANCE EVALUATION, DATA COLLECTION, 

19 AND ACCOUNTABILITY. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

21 first grant is awarded under section 101, and annually 

22 thereafter, each program funded under section 101 shall 

23 be evaluated by the State board of the State receiving an 

24 allotment under section 101 to carry out such program 


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1 or the local board of the local area receiving an allocation 

2 under section 101 to carry out such program. 

3 (b) PERFORMANCE DATA COLLECTION.—The Sec4 retary of Labor shall collect data on— 

5 (1) the performance of each program using the 

6 disaggregated indicators of performance in section 

7 116(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Workforce Innovation and 

8 Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3141(b)(2)(A)(i)); 

9 (2) the completion rates of the program; 

10 (3) the rate of full-time unsubsidized employ11 ment after program completion; 

12 (4) the rate of reconnection to public education 

13 entities after program completion; and 

14 (5) the diversity and equal opportunity in such 

15 programs. 

16 (c) ACCOUNTABILITY METRICS.—The Secretary shall 

17 establish a youth work-readiness indicator. 

18 SEC. 105. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

19 Not later than December 31, 2024, and annually 

20 thereafter, the Secretary of Labor shall submit a publicly 

21 available report to the Committee on Education and Labor 

22 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

23 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate 

24 that includes— 


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1 (1) a review and assessment of all information 

2 related to the programs funded under this Act; 

3 (2) any relevant guidance issued by the Sec4 retary with respect to such programs; and 

5 (3) an analysis of equity, diversity, and inclu6 sion activities, best practices, and recommendations 

7 for improvement with respect to increasing the suc8 cess of such programs and outcomes for youth, and 

9 participant demographics (while maintaining privacy 

10 protections), disaggregated by race, ethnicity, sex, 

11 age, and subpopulations described in subparagraphs 

12 (B) and (C) of section 129(a)(1) of the Workforce 

13 Innovation and Opportunity Act. 

14 SEC. 106. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

15 (a) MANDATORY FUNDS.—There are authorized to be 

16 appropriated, and there are appropriated (in addition to 

17 any other amounts appropriated to carry out this section 

18 101 and out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise 

19 appropriated), such sums as may be necessary to carry 

20 out section 101 for fiscal year 2022 and each of the suc21 ceeding 9 fiscal years. 

22 (b) COMPETITIVE GRANTS.—There are authorized to 

23 be appropriated $10,000,000,000 to carry out section 102 

24 for fiscal year 2022 and each of the succeeding 9 fiscal 

25 years. 


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1 TITLE II—GAO REPORT 

2 SEC. 201. GAO REPORT. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 

4 date of the published report in section 105, and every 4 

5 years thereafter, the Comptroller General of the United 

6 States shall conduct an independent evaluation of the ac7 tivities funded under this Act and submit to Congress a 

8 report that shall be made publicly available. 

9 (b) EVALUATION.—In conducting the evaluation 

10 under subsection (a), the Comptroller General shall con11 sider, as applicable and appropriate, information from the 

12 report under section 105. 

13 (c) REPORT.—The report described in subsection (a) 

14 shall review, assess, and provide recommendations, as ap15 propriate, on the following: 

16 (1) Compliance with the requirements estab17 lished under this Act. 

18 (2) The effectiveness of the requirements estab19 lished under this Act, associated challenges, and 

20 trends in the youth progress made toward the goals 

21 described in section 101(b)(1)(A). 

22 (3) Federal guidance, best practices, and fund23 ing recommendations for related Federal youth em24 ployment activities and any innovative State and 

25 local actions that improve or further the education 


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1 or career of youth participants, including employ2 ment opportunities that lead to long-term, unsub3 sidized employment. 

4 TITLE III—YOUTH STUDENT IN5 COME EXCLUSION UNDER 

6 THE SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRI7 TION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM 

8 SEC. 301. YOUTH STUDENT INCOME EXCLUDED UNDER THE 

9 FOOD AND NUTRITION ACT OF 2008. 

10 Section 5(d)(7) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 

11 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2014(d)(7)) is amended by inserting be12 fore the semicolon at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘and income earned by a household member who is 

14 less than 22 years of age, who is an elementary or 

15 secondary school student, and who lives with a nat16 ural, adoptive, or stepparent’’. 

Æ 


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