I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 799 
To authorize the Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of 
Education, 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 
FEBRUARY 1, 2017 
Mr. HILL (for himself, Mr. RICHMOND, Mr. WALKER, Mr. WESTERMAN, and 
Mrs. LOVE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Com-
mittee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by 
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with-
in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To authorize the Attorney General, in consultation with the 
Secretary of Education, 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, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Shift Back to Society 
Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. OFFENDER EDUCATION RE-ENTRY PILOT PRO-
GRAM. 
(a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Attorney General, in con-
sultation with the Secretary of Education, shall establish 
a pilot program for 5 years which makes 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 Attorney General 
an application at such time, in such manner, and con-
taining such information as the Attorney General may rea-
sonably 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: 
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(1) The term ‘‘educational programming’’ 
means— 
(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)). 
(4) The term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ 
has the meaning given that term in section 101 of 
the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1001). 
(e) PROHIBITION
ON
NEW
AUTHORIZATION
OF 
FUNDS.—This section shall be carried out using amounts 
otherwise appropriated or made available to the Depart-
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ment of Justice. No additional funds are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out 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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