I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5016 
To authorize the Secretary of Education, in consultation with the Attorney 
General, to establish a pilot program to make grants to historically 
Black colleges and universities to provide educational programs to offend-
ers who have recently been, or will soon be, released from incarceration, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 13, 2021 
Mr. HILL (for himself, Ms. SEWELL, Mr. COHEN, and Mr. TURNER) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Edu-
cation and Labor 
A BILL 
To authorize the Secretary of Education, in consultation 
with the Attorney General, to establish a pilot program 
to make grants to historically Black colleges and univer-
sities to provide educational programs to offenders who 
have recently been, or will soon be, released from incar-
ceration, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Shift Back to Society 
Act of 2021’’. 
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SEC. 2. OFFENDER EDUCATION RE-ENTRY PILOT PRO-
GRAM. 
(a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary of Education, 
in consultation with the Attorney General, shall establish 
a pilot program for 5 years which awards grants to not 
more than 10 historically Black colleges and universities 
to provide educational programming to eligible offenders 
in order to facilitate re-entry into the community. 
(b) APPLICATION.—The chief executive officer of a 
historically Black college or university seeking a grant 
under this section shall submit to the Secretary of Edu-
cation an application at such time, in such manner, and 
containing such information as the Secretary of Education 
may reasonably require. 
(c) MATCHING FUNDS.—The portion of the costs of 
a program provided by a grant under subsection (a) may 
not exceed 50 percent. The recipient of a grant under this 
section may meet the matching requirement under this 
subsection by making in-kind contributions of goods or 
services that are directly related to the purpose for which 
such grant was awarded. 
(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) The term ‘‘educational programming’’, when 
used with respect to a historically Black college or 
university, means— 
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(A) general education development (GED) 
programming; or 
(B) educational courses which are transfer-
able for course credit at that historically Black 
college or university. 
(2) The term ‘‘eligible offender’’ means an indi-
vidual who was convicted of a criminal offense and— 
(A) has been released from incarceration 
for not longer than one year; or 
(B) is scheduled to be released from incar-
ceration in not longer than one year. 
(3) The term ‘‘historically Black college or uni-
versity’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘part B in-
stitution’’ under section 322(2) of the Higher Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061(2)). 
(e) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
$5,000,000 for each fiscal year in which grants are award-
ed under this section. 
SEC. 3. GAO STUDY. 
Not later than 270 days after the conclusion of the 
pilot program under section 2, the Comptroller General 
of the United States shall submit to Congress a report 
which describes the results of the pilot program. 
Æ 
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