I 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5774 
To provide effective employment, training, and career and technical education 
programs and to address barriers that result from family responsibilities, 
and to encourage and support individuals to enter nontraditional occupa-
tional fields. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 10, 2008 
Ms. LINDA T. SA´NCHEZ of California (for herself, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. 
BORDALLO, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. LEWIS 
of Georgia, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. SUTTON, Mr. 
TOWNS, Ms. WATSON, and Mr. WELCH of Vermont) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To provide effective employment, training, and career and 
technical education programs and to address barriers 
that result from family responsibilities, and to encourage 
and support individuals to enter nontraditional occupa-
tional fields. 
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 ‘‘Pathways Advancing 
Career Training Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. PURPOSE AND FINDINGS. 
(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is— 
(1) to create workforce pathways for individuals 
who face barriers during employment transitions and 
help to meet the employment needs of high-skilled, 
high-wage industries, including those facing signifi-
cant skilled labor shortages; 
(2) to provide assistance to States for effective 
employment and training programs to address bar-
riers to employment that result from current or 
prior family responsibilities, including time out of 
the workforce to care for a child or family members; 
and 
(3) to provide assistance to States for effective 
employment and training programs to encourage and 
support individuals to enter occupational fields that 
are nontraditional for their gender. 
(b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) A high quality, productive, and diverse 
workforce is necessary to compete in the global econ-
omy. 
(2) Nearly 14,000,000 individuals in the United 
States are the sole breadwinners and caretakers for 
their families and nearly a third of them (31 per-
cent) have family incomes below the poverty level. 
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(3) More than 7,000,000 individuals in the 
United States face barriers to entering or re-enter-
ing the workforce due to extended periods of time 
spent caring for family members, and nearly half of 
them (42 percent) have family incomes below the 
poverty level. 
(4) Employment in high-skill, high-wage, non-
traditional careers offers wages and advancement 
opportunities to help families achieve economic self- 
sufficiency. 
(5) Job training and career and technical edu-
cation programs continue to be highly sex-seg-
regated, resulting in a dearth of female students fill-
ing the pipeline for jobs in the growing high-skill, 
high-wage labor market, especially in the areas of 
technology and the skilled trades. 
(6) The employment and training needs of indi-
viduals who have taken time out of the workforce to 
care for children or family members, and individuals 
pursuing nontraditional occupations are not suffi-
ciently met through existing systems. 
(7) Individuals who face barriers during em-
ployment transitions represent an untapped work-
force pool to address growing skilled labor shortages. 
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SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
Except as otherwise specified in this Act, as used in 
this Act the following definition apply: 
(1) AREA CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION 
SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘area career and technical edu-
cation school’’ has the same meaning given such 
term in section 3(a)(22) of the Carl D. Perkins Ca-
reer and Technical Education Improvement Act of 
2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302(a)(22)). 
(2) COMMUNITY-BASED
ORGANIZATION.—The 
term ‘‘community-based organization’’ means a pub-
lic or private nonprofit organization of demonstrated 
effectiveness that— 
(A) is representative of a community or 
significant segments of a community; and 
(B) 
provides 
educational, 
preparatory, 
training, or related services to individuals in the 
community. 
(3) DISPLACED HOMEMAKER.—The term ‘‘dis-
placed homemaker’’ means an individual who— 
(A)(i) has worked primarily without remu-
neration to care for a home or family and for 
that reason has diminished marketable skills; or 
(ii) has been dependent on the income of 
another household member but is no longer 
supported by that income; or 
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(iii) is a parent whose youngest dependent 
child will become ineligible to receive assistance 
under part A of title IV of the Social Security 
Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) not later than two 
years after the date on which the parent applies 
for assistance under the title; or 
(iv) is a victim of domestic violence as de-
fined by section 40002(a)(6) of the Violence 
Against Women Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 13701 
note); and 
(B) is unemployed or underemployed and 
is experiencing difficulty in obtaining or up-
grading employment. 
(4) ELIGIBLE STATE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘eli-
gible State agency’’ means the State agency respon-
sible for the administration of workforce investment 
activities authorized under the Workforce Invest-
ment Act of 1998. 
(5) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT.—The term ‘‘eligible 
recipient’’ means a community-based organization, a 
one-stop operator, a post-secondary educational in-
stitution, a local educational agency providing edu-
cation to students who have completed or left with-
out completing secondary school, an area career and 
technical education school providing education to 
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students who have completed or left without com-
pleting secondary school, a postsecondary vocational 
institution or other entity that has demonstrated an 
ability to meet the employment and training needs 
of displaced homemakers, single parents and individ-
uals preparing for nontraditional training and em-
ployment. 
(6) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 
‘‘local educational agency’’ has the same meaning 
given such term under section 14101 of the Elemen-
tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 7801). 
(7) 
NONTRADITIONAL
EMPLOYMENT.—The 
term ‘‘nontraditional employment,’’ means, with re-
spect to an individual, an occupation or field of work 
for which members of such individual’s gender com-
prise less than 25 percent of the individuals em-
ployed in such occupation or field of work. 
(8) ONE-STOP OPERATOR.—The term ‘‘one-stop 
operator’’ means one or more entities designated or 
certified under section 121(d) of the Workforce In-
vestment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2841(d)). 
(9) PREPARATORY SERVICES.—The term ‘‘pre-
paratory services’’ means services, programs, or ac-
tivities designed to assist individuals in selecting or 
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participating in an appropriate education or training 
program or in securing, retaining, or improving em-
ployment, such as— 
(A) services, programs, or activities related 
to outreach in the recruitment of potential par-
ticipants; 
(B) career and personal counseling, includ-
ing group counseling; 
(C) life skills development, including finan-
cial literacy; 
(D) vocational and skill assessment and 
testing; 
(E) career planning; 
(F) use of a self-sufficiency calculator to 
identify income needs and career paths that 
lead to self-sufficiency; 
(G) job search and placement activities; 
(H) 
pre-vocational 
training, 
including 
learning skills, remediation, communication 
skills, interviewing skills and resume writing, 
punctuality, professional conduct, pre-appren-
ticeship assistance, job readiness, and other 
services to prepare individuals to succeed in em-
ployment or training; and 
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(I) other appropriate services, programs, or 
activities. 
(10) POSTSECONDARY EDUCATIONAL INSTITU-
TION.—The term ‘‘postsecondary educational institu-
tion’’ has the same meaning given such term in sec-
tion 3(a)(22) of the Carl D. Perkins Career and 
Technical Education Improvement Act of 2006 (20 
U.S.C. 2302(a)(22)). 
(11) POSTSECONDARY
VOCATIONAL
INSTITU-
TION.—The term ‘‘postsecondary vocation institu-
tion’’ has the same meaning given such term in sec-
tion 102(c) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 1002(c)). 
(12) 
SECRETARY.—The 
term 
‘‘Secretary’’ 
means the Secretary of Labor. 
(13) SELF-SUFFICIENCY STANDARD.—The term 
‘‘self-sufficiency standard’’ means a measure of how 
much income families need to cover their basic costs 
without subsidies. It uses a consistent methodology 
that calculates the costs of living and working (in-
cluding taxes) based upon sub-State geographic loca-
tion and family size and composition. 
(14) SINGLE PARENT.—The term ‘‘single par-
ent’’ means an individual who is unmarried, or has 
been abandoned by their spouse, and— 
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(A) has a minor child or children for which 
the parent has either full or joint custody; or 
(B) is pregnant. 
(15) SUPPORTIVE SERVICES.—The term ‘‘sup-
portive services’’ means services such as transpor-
tation, child care, dependent care, home health care 
for family members, and needs-based payments, that 
are necessary to enable an individual to participate 
in employment and training activities and retain em-
ployment. 
(16) TRAINING.—The term ‘‘training’’ means 
training or education related to the preparation of 
individuals for employment, including training activi-
ties authorized under section 134(d)(4)(D) of the 
Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 
2864(d)(4)(D)) and career and technical education, 
as defined by section 3(a)(5) of the Carl D. Perkins 
Career and Technical Education Improvement Act of 
2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302(a)(5)). 
SEC. 4. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 
The Secretary of Labor is authorized to provide 
grants to States to enable such States to develop or en-
hance programs described in sections 9 and 10 of this Act. 
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SEC. 5. ALLOCATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—After reserving the amount des-
ignated under section 12(c)(2) of this Act, the remaining 
funds appropriated shall be divided into 3 equal groups 
on the basis of— 
(1) the relative number of unemployed individ-
uals in areas of substantial unemployment in each 
State, compared to the total number of unemployed 
individuals in areas of substantial unemployment in 
all States; 
(2) the relative excess number of unemployed 
individuals in each State, compared to the total ex-
cess number of unemployed individuals in all States; 
and 
(3) the relative number of disadvantaged adults 
in each State, compared to the total number of dis-
advantaged adults in all States. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 
terms ‘‘substantial unemployment’’, ‘‘excess number of 
unemployed individuals’’, and ‘‘disadvantaged adult’’ have 
the meanings given such terms in section 132(b)(1)(B)(v) 
of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 
2862(b)(1)(B)(v)). 
(c) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Funds provided 
under this Act shall be used to supplement not supplant 
other Federal, State, and local public funds expended to 
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(5) provides assurances that none of the funds 
expended under this Act will be used to acquire 
equipment (including computer software) in any in-
stance in which such acquisition results in a direct 
financial benefit to any organization representing 
the interests of the purchasing entity, the employees 
of the purchasing entity, or any affiliate of such an 
organization; 
(6) describes how the eligible State agency will 
measure and report the progress of the students who 
are served pursuant to this Act, including progress 
on the indicators of performance described in section 
7 of this Act; and 
(7) describes the methods proposed for the joint 
planning and coordination of programs carried out 
under this Act with other Federal programs. 
(e) PLAN OPTION.—The eligible State agency may 
fulfill the requirements of subsection (d) by submitting the 
plan required under this section as a part of the plan sub-
mitted under section 112 of the Workforce Investment Act 
of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2822). 
(f) PLAN APPROVAL.—The Secretary shall consider 
a plan or revision of a State plan approved, unless the 
Secretary determines, within 120 days of submission, that 
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the State plan, or revision, respectively, does not meet the 
requirements of this section. 
SEC. 7. ACCOUNTABILITY. 
(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to es-
tablish activities to assess the effectiveness of the State 
in creating workforce pathways for individuals with bar-
riers to employment including single parents, displaced 
homemakers and individuals pursuing nontraditional 
training and employment, and to maximize the return on 
investment of Federal funds. 
(b) CORE INDICATORS OF PERFORMANCE FOR DIS-
PLACED
HOMEMAKER
AND
SINGLE
PARENT
PRO-
GRAMS.—Each eligible State agency shall identify in the 
State plan the process used to collect data on the core 
indicators of performance from eligible recipients that in-
clude, at a minimum, measures of each of the following: 
(1) The core indicators of performance required 
by section 136(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Workforce Invest-
ment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2871(b)(2)(A)(i)) ad-
justed based upon— 
(A) specific economic, geographic, and de-
mographic factors in the State and in local 
workforce investment areas within the State; 
(B) the characteristics of the population to 
be served; 
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(C) the demonstrated difficulties in serving 
the population; and 
(D) the type of services to be provided. 
(2) Participation in and completion of pre-
paratory services. 
(c) CORE INDICATORS OF PERFORMANCE FOR NON-
TRADITIONAL EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMS.—Each eligible 
State agency shall identify in the State plan the process 
used to collect data on the core indicators of performance 
from eligible recipients that include, at a minimum, meas-
ures of each of the following— 
(1) The core indicators of performance required 
by section 136(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Workforce Invest-
ment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2871(b)(2)(A)(i)) ad-
justed based upon: 
(A) specific economic, geographic, and de-
mographic factors in the State and in local 
workforce investment areas within the State; 
(B) the characteristics of the population to 
be served; 
(C) the demonstrated difficulties in serving 
the population; and 
(D) the type of services to be provided. 
(2) Participation in and completion of pre-
paratory services. 
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(3) Participation in and completion of employ-
ment and training programs that lead to nontradi-
tional training and employment. 
(4) Placement in and retention of nontradi-
tional employment. 
(d) ADDITIONAL INDICATORS.—An eligible agency, 
with input from eligible recipients, may identify in the 
State plan additional indicators of performance for em-
ployment and training activities authorized under this Act, 
such as attainment of self-sufficiency. 
(e) ANNUAL REPORT BY STATE AGENCY.—Each eli-
gible State agency shall transmit to the Secretary an an-
nual report of data compiled in accordance with section 
7(b) and (c) disaggregated by gender, race, age, disability, 
national origin, ethnicity, English proficiency status and 
status as a displaced homemaker, single parent, or indi-
vidual training for nontraditional employment. The eligible 
State agency may submit the report required under this 
section as a part of the report submitted under section 
136(d)(1) of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 
U.S.C. 2871(d)(1)). 
(f) ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY.—The Sec-
retary shall transmit to Congress annually a national re-
port that describes the extent to which the purposes of 
the Act are being achieved. The Secretary’s report shall 
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include individual State annual reports and a compilation 
of those State reports with national data disaggregated 
by gender, race, age, disability, national origin, ethnicity, 
English proficiency status, and status as a displaced 
homemaker, single parent, or individual training for non-
traditional employment. 
SEC. 8. EVALUATION OF PROGRAMS FOR SINGLE PARENTS 
AND DISPLACED HOMEMAKERS AND PRO-
GRAMS 
FOR 
NONTRADITIONAL 
EMPLOY-
MENT. 
(a) MULTI-SITE EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall, 
through the award of competitive grants, contracts, or co-
operative agreements with an independent institution of 
higher education, public or private nonprofit organization, 
or agency, conduct at least 1 multi-site evaluation under 
this section by the end of fiscal year 2012. Such an evalua-
tion shall address— 
(1) the general effectiveness of programs and 
activities described in sections 9 and 10 of this Act 
including: 
(A) the extent to which such programs im-
proved the self-sufficiency and employment out-
comes of participants in comparison to com-
parably-suited individuals who did not partici-
pate in such programs; 
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