I 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7204 
To strengthen student achievement and graduation rates and prepare young 
people for college, careers, and citizenship through innovative partner-
ships that meet the comprehensive needs of children and youth. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 30, 2018 
Ms. JUDY CHU of California (for herself, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. NORTON, 
Ms. MENG, Ms. LEE, and Mr. DESAULNIER) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Work-
force, 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 com-
mittee concerned 
A BILL 
To strengthen student achievement and graduation rates and 
prepare young people for college, careers, and citizenship 
through innovative partnerships that meet the com-
prehensive needs of children and youth. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Developing Innovative Partnerships and Learning Op-
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portunities that Motivate Achievement Act’’ or the ‘‘DI-
PLOMA Act’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Findings. 
Sec. 3. Purposes. 
Sec. 4. Definitions. 
Sec. 5. Demonstration program authorized; allotment to States. 
Sec. 6. State child and youth strategy. 
Sec. 7. Coordinating body; State applications. 
Sec. 8. State use of funds. 
Sec. 9. Local consortium application; local child and youth strategy. 
Sec. 10. Local use of funds. 
Sec. 11. Construction. 
Sec. 12. Accountability and transparency. 
Sec. 13. Authorization of appropriations. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The future strength of the Nation’s democ-
racy, as well as the Nation’s economy, is dependent 
upon the investments made in children and youth 
today. 
(2) Evidence demonstrates that effective part-
nerships among schools and communities increase 
student achievement by addressing the academic 
needs of students as well as the challenges the stu-
dents face outside the classroom. For example: 
(A) Chicago Public Schools leads one of 
the Nation’s largest community school initia-
tives and found that students in grades 9 to 12 
have 61 percent fewer school-day absences than 
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their non-community school counterparts. When 
compared to non-community school counter-
parts, students in grades 9 to 12 were found to 
have more positive educational experiences; stu-
dents in grades 4 to 8 had higher Emotional 
Health scores on the survey; and students in 
grades K to 3 had 53 percent fewer suspensions 
and 55 percent fewer misconducts. 
(B) In a 7-year study of 200 Chicago pub-
lic schools, sociologist Anthony Bryk dem-
onstrates that in schools where grassroots orga-
nizations forge strong connections with their 
schools, trust levels are greater, the school envi-
ronment is civil, and parent involvement is 
greater. 
(C) United Way of Salt Lake’s Promise 
Partnership, an initiative across multiple school 
districts in the Salt Lake, Utah area, has 
helped increase student achievement and grad-
uation rates. At one of United Way’s partner 
schools, Granite Park Junior High, the percent-
age of students completing 9th grade and on 
track to graduate has more than doubled in 2 
years. Their efforts also have increased pre-
school opportunities in their poorest neighbor-
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hoods so that 1,000 additional low-income stu-
dents attend high-quality preschool. Third 
grade reading proficiency scores rose 15.5 per-
cent from 2013–2014, and chronic absence de-
creased from 21 percent to 14 percent from 
2013–2014. A Promise Partnership Regional 
Council, which was formed in 2014, includes 
education, business, government and nonprofit 
leaders, guides the initiative and focuses on 
keeping the work aligned. 
(D) In Wisconsin, where partnerships are 
required for grant programs, non-traditional 
partners have proven to be instrumental for 
smaller communities to enrich after school pro-
grams. Those have included local trucking com-
panies, statewide nonprofit organizations like 
the Grange, Farm Bureau, small retailers, and 
retirees. 
(E) Union City (New Jersey) school dis-
trict proves that by breaking down institutional 
‘‘silos’’ and creating deep partnerships, collabo-
ration and municipal involvement, schools can 
be vibrant places of hope despite poverty, unem-
ployment, and lack of affordable housing. 
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(F) Social Justice Humanitas Academy in 
Los Angeles, California enrolls approximately 
500 students with 88 percent eligible for free or 
reduced school lunch. Students are supported 
by 
Individualized 
Pupil 
Education 
Plans 
(IPEP) that determine how teachers and part-
ners involved in the Community School can best 
help struggling students and reflect the close 
relationships between students and teachers. At 
the conclusion of the 2013–2014 school year, 
the graduation rate rose from 83 percent to 
93.9 percent, and 99 percent of those graduates 
enrolled in college. The suspension rate was 
0.02 percent, compared to 1.02 percent across 
the Los Angeles Unified School District. 
(G) By meeting the comprehensive needs 
of students, Communities In Schools, a national 
dropout prevention organization, found that 99 
percent of participating students stayed in 
school, 78 percent of participating students met 
or made progress toward their attendance goals, 
90 percent met or made progress toward their 
behavior goals, and 88 percent met or made 
progress toward their academic improvement 
goals. 
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(3) In adopting the Every Student Succeeds 
Act (Public Law 114–95), Congress recognized com-
munity schools as a strategy to significantly improve 
the coordination and integration, accessibility, and 
effectiveness of services for children and families, 
particularly for children attending high-poverty 
schools, including high-poverty rural schools. 
(4) Approximately 84 percent of 9th graders 
graduate from high school within 4 years. Of stu-
dents who graduate from high school, 69 percent en-
roll in a 2- or 4-year college in the fall after com-
pleting high school. Only about half (58 percent) of 
first-time, full-time college freshmen seeking a 4- 
year degree receive a bachelor’s degree within 6 
years or less. 
(5) Over the past 4 decades, the United States 
has slipped from being first in the world in high 
school and college graduation rates to 21st and 
14th, respectively, putting the Nation at a growing 
competitive disadvantage with other countries. 
(6) In a study conducted by Hanover Research, 
data showed that quality partnerships between 
schools and their communities can result in im-
proved attendance, motivation, conduct, and aca-
demic achievement. Community-level strategies like 
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focusing on parental involvement, community build-
ing, and cultural competence were shown to con-
tribute to decreases in the achievement gap between 
lower- and upper-income students. 
(7) Research from the Government Account-
ability Office found that students who change 
schools less frequently are more likely to perform at 
grade level and less likely to repeat a grade than 
their less stable peers. 
(8) In research by Teachers College, Columbia 
University, studies in psychology, health, and edu-
cation feature school ‘‘connectedness’’ as important 
to student learning, achievement, and well-being. 
When students feel a sense of connection with the 
larger world and community institutions, they are 
more engaged in instructional activities and express 
greater commitment to school. 
(9) We know from successful experiences that 
hundreds of thousands of arts, cultural, service, 
sports, colleges and other youth organizations, as 
well as civic and faith-based groups want to partner 
with schools and educators to reinforce learning, but 
far too often, neither the school nor the community 
know how to effectively connect with each other. 
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(10) In order for the United States to compete 
in a global economy, the co-partnering efforts of gov-
ernment, social services, business, arts, home, com-
munity-based organizations, and philanthropy need 
to concentrate their efforts where they are most 
needed: in our schools. 
(11) Research from Johns Hopkins University 
shows that access to summer learning opportunities 
leads to significant student learning gains not expe-
rienced by students who cannot access summer 
learning opportunities. 
(12) A 2011 study conducted by the RAND 
Corporation found that students who attend summer 
learning programs, particularly those featuring indi-
vidualized instruction, parental involvement, and 
small class sizes, experience clear benefits in over-
coming the achievement gap between low- and 
upper-income students. 
SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 
The purposes of this Act are— 
(1) to create engaging learning experiences 
that— 
(A) 
strengthen 
academic 
achievement, 
build civic capacity, and provide a continuum of 
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supports and opportunities for children, youth, 
and their families; and 
(B) prepare young people for college, ca-
reers, and citizenship through results-focused 
partnerships at all levels that mobilize and co-
ordinate school and community resources; 
(2) to ensure the academic, physical, social, 
emotional, health, mental health, and civic develop-
ment of disadvantaged youth and thereby strengthen 
their families and communities; 
(3) to engage and support parents, care givers, 
and families in their role as first educators of their 
children; 
(4) to promote community and family engage-
ment in the academic and developmental needs of 
children and youth; 
(5) to leverage and integrate the human and fi-
nancial assets of local communities, schools, State 
governments, the Federal Government, and the nat-
ural assets of communities— 
(A) toward better results for children, 
youth, and families; and 
(B) for sustained civic capacity; and 
(6) to develop school improvement strategies 
that incorporate approaches that meet the com-
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