‘‘(3) providing structured post-release housing 
and transitional housing (including group homes for 
recovering substance abusers) through which offend-
ers are provided supervision and services imme-
diately following reentry into the community; 
‘‘(4) assisting offenders in securing permanent 
housing upon release or following a stay in transi-
tional housing; 
‘‘(5) assisting offenders in leaving a criminal 
street gang; 
‘‘(6) providing offenders who have left a crimi-
nal street gang with safety services upon release 
from prison, jail, or detention; 
‘‘(7) providing offenders with education, job 
training, responsible parenting and healthy relation-
ship skills training designed specifically for address-
ing the needs of incarcerated and transitioning fa-
thers and mothers, English as a second language 
programs, work experience programs, self-respect 
and life skills training, and other skills useful in 
achieving a successful transition from prison or jail; 
‘‘(8) facilitating collaboration among corrections 
and community corrections, technical schools, com-
munity colleges, and the workforce development and 
employment service sectors— 
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‘‘(A) to promote the employment of offend-
ers released from prison and jail, as appro-
priate, through efforts such as educating em-
ployers about existing financial incentives; 
‘‘(B) to facilitate the creation of job oppor-
tunities for offenders released from prison or 
jail, including transitional jobs and time-limited 
subsidized work experience (as appropriate); 
and 
‘‘(C) to connect offenders to employment 
(including supportive employment and employ-
ment services) before their release to the com-
munity, to provide work supports (including 
transportation and retention services), as ap-
propriate, and to identify labor market needs to 
ensure that education and training are appro-
priate; 
‘‘(9) developing programs and activities that 
support parent-child relationships, such as— 
‘‘(A) using videoconferencing to allow vir-
tual visitation when incarcerated offenders are 
more than 100 miles from their families; 
‘‘(B) the establishment of family days, 
which provide for longer visitation hours or 
family activities; 
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‘‘(C) the implementation of programs to 
help incarcerated parents stay connected to 
their children and learn responsible parenting 
and healthy relationship skills; and 
‘‘(D) programs for mentoring children of 
incarcerated offenders; 
‘‘(10) expanding family-based treatment centers 
that offer family-based comprehensive treatment 
services for offenders reentering the community; 
‘‘(11) conducting studies to determine the types 
of offenders who are returning to prison or jail, and 
which of those returning offenders represent the 
greatest risk to community safety; 
‘‘(12) developing and implementing procedures 
to assist relevant authorities— 
‘‘(A) in determining when release is appro-
priate; and 
‘‘(B) in the use of data to inform the re-
lease decision; 
‘‘(13) developing and implementing procedures 
to identify efficiently and effectively those violators 
of probation, parole, or post-incarceration super-
vision who should be returned to prison or jail; 
‘‘(14) establishing or expanding the use of re-
entry courts and other programs to— 
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‘‘(A) monitor offenders returning to the 
community; 
‘‘(B) provide offenders reentering the com-
munity with— 
‘‘(i) drug and alcohol testing and 
treatment; and 
‘‘(ii) mental and medical health as-
sessment and services; 
‘‘(C) facilitate restorative justice practices 
and convene family or community impact pan-
els, family impact educational classes, victim 
impact panels, or victim impact educational 
classes; 
‘‘(D) provide and coordinate the delivery of 
other community services to offenders, includ-
ing— 
‘‘(i) housing assistance; 
‘‘(ii) education; 
‘‘(iii) employment training; 
‘‘(iv) conflict resolution skills training; 
‘‘(v) family violence intervention pro-
grams; 
‘‘(vi) culturally and linguistically com-
petent services, as appropriate; and 
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‘‘(vii) other appropriate services, as 
determined by the Attorney General. 
‘‘(c) TASK FORCE ON FEDERAL PROGRAMS AND AC-
TIVITIES RELATING TO REENTRY OF OFFENDERS.— 
‘‘(1) TASK
FORCE
REQUIRED.—The Attorney 
General, in consultation with the Secretary of Hous-
ing and Urban Development, the Secretary of Labor, 
the Secretary of Education, the Secretary of Health 
and Human Services, the Secretary of Veterans Af-
fairs, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the heads of 
such other elements of the Federal Government as 
the Attorney General considers appropriate, and in 
collaboration with States, units of local government, 
territories, tribes, stakeholders, service providers, 
and nonprofit organizations, shall establish an inter-
agency task force on Federal programs and activities 
relating to the reentry of offenders into the commu-
nity. 
‘‘(2) DUTIES.—The task force established 
under paragraph (1) shall— 
‘‘(A) identify any reentry program or activ-
ity that may be resulting in overlapping or du-
plication of reentry services, the scope of such 
overlapping or duplication, and the relationship 
of such overlapping and duplication to public 
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safety, public health, and effectiveness and effi-
ciency; 
‘‘(B) identify methods to improve collabo-
ration and coordination programs and activities 
identified in subparagraph (A); 
‘‘(C) identify areas of responsibility in 
which improved collaboration and coordination 
of programs and activities identified in subpara-
graph (A) would result in increased effective-
ness or efficiency; 
‘‘(D) develop innovative interagency or 
intergovernmental programs, activities, or pro-
cedures that would improve outcomes of offend-
ers reentering the community and the children 
of offenders; 
‘‘(E) develop methods for increasing reg-
ular communication that would increase inter-
agency program effectiveness; 
‘‘(F) identify areas of research that can be 
coordinated across agencies with an emphasis 
on applying science-based practices to support, 
treatment, and intervention programs for of-
fenders reentering the community; 
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‘‘(G) identify funding areas that should be 
coordinated across agencies, and any gaps in 
funding for reentry services; and 
‘‘(H) identify successful reentry programs 
and collect best practices in offender reentry 
from demonstration grantees and other agencies 
and organizations, determine the extent to 
which such programs and practices can be rep-
licated, and make information on such pro-
grams and practices available to States, local-
ities, nonprofit organizations, and others. 
‘‘(3) REPORT.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 
after the date of enactment of the Fighting 
Gangs and Empowering Youth Act of 2011, the 
task force established under paragraph (1) shall 
submit to Congress a report on barriers to re-
entry of offenders to the community, including 
recommendations to overcome any barriers 
identified. 
‘‘(B) PUBLIC COMMENT.—The task force 
shall solicit and incorporate for public comment 
in preparing the report required in subpara-
graph (A). 
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‘‘(C) CONTENTS.—The report required by 
subparagraph (A) shall identify Federal and 
other barriers to successful reentry of offenders 
into the community and analyze the effects of 
the barriers on offenders and on children and 
other family members of offenders, including 
barriers relating to— 
‘‘(i) child support obligations and pro-
cedures; 
‘‘(ii) Social Security benefits (includ-
ing barriers in timely restoration of sus-
pended 
disability 
benefits 
immediately 
upon release), veterans benefits, food 
stamps, and other forms of Federal public 
assistance; 
‘‘(iii) Medicaid and Medicare laws, 
regulations, guidelines or procedures (in-
cluding barriers in timely restoration of 
benefits caused by delay in reinstatement 
of suspended Social Security disability ben-
efits); 
‘‘(iv) education programs, financial 
assistance, and full civic participation; 
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‘‘(v) temporary assistance to needy 
families (TANF) program funding criteria 
and other welfare benefits; 
‘‘(vi) sustainable employment and ca-
reer advancement, including barriers that 
are not directly connected to the crime 
committed and the risk that the offender 
presents to the community; 
‘‘(vii) laws, regulations, rules, and 
practices that restrict Federal employment 
licensure and participation in Federal con-
tracting programs; 
‘‘(viii) admissions to and evictions 
from Federal housing programs, includ-
ing— 
‘‘(I) examining the number and 
characteristics of offenders who are 
evicted from or denied eligibility for 
Federal housing programs; 
‘‘(II) the effect of eligibility deni-
als and evictions on homelessness, 
family stability, and family reunifica-
tion; 
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‘‘(III) the extent to which arrest 
records are the basis for denying ap-
plications; 
‘‘(IV) the implications of consid-
ering misdemeanor convictions that 
occurred more than 5 years before the 
date of an application and felony con-
victions that occurred more than 10 
years before the date of an applica-
tion, and the appropriateness of tak-
ing into account rehabilitation and 
other mitigating factors; and 
‘‘(V) the feasibility of using pro-
bationary or conditional eligibility 
based on participation in a supervised 
rehabilitation program or other appro-
priate social services; 
‘‘(ix) reentry procedures, case plan-
ning, and transitions of offenders from the 
custody of the Bureau of Prisons to a Fed-
eral parole or probation program, or to 
community corrections; 
‘‘(x) laws, regulations, rules, and 
practices that may require a parolee to re-
turn to the same county that the parolee 
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was living in prior to being arrested, and 
the potential for changing such laws, regu-
lations, rules, and practices; and 
‘‘(xi) prerelease planning procedures 
for offenders to ensure that the eligibility 
of an offender for Federal or State benefits 
(including Medicaid, Medicare, Social Se-
curity and veterans benefits) upon release 
is established prior to release, subject to 
any limitations in law, and to ensure that 
offenders are provided with referrals to ap-
propriate social and health services or are 
linked to appropriate nonprofit organiza-
tions. 
‘‘(4) ANNUAL REPORTS.—On an annual basis, 
the task force established under paragraph (1) shall 
submit to Congress a report on the activities of the 
task force, including specific recommendations of the 
task force on the matters described in paragraph 
(2). 
‘‘(5) STANDARDS FOR ANALYSIS.—Any statis-
tical analysis of population data under this section 
shall be conducted in accordance with the Federal 
Register Notice dated October 30, 1997, relating to 
classification standards. 
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‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 
2976 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act 
of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3797w) is amended in subsection 
(o)(1) by striking ‘$60,000,000’ and all that follows, and 
inserting ‘$60,000,000 for each fiscal years 2012 through 
2016’.’’. 
SEC. 112. CHILDREN OF INCARCERATED PARENTS AND 
FAMILIES. 
The Secretary of Health and Human Services may— 
(1) prepare and make available to States a re-
port on any recommendations regarding the role of 
State child protective services at the time of the ar-
rest of an individual; and 
(2) by regulation, establish such services as the 
Secretary determines necessary for the preservation 
of families that have been impacted by the incarcer-
ation of a family member, with special attention 
given to the impact on children. 
SEC. 113. REMOVAL OF LIMITATION ON AMOUNT OF FUNDS 
AVAILABLE FOR CORRECTIONS EDUCATION 
PROGRAMS UNDER THE ADULT EDUCATION 
AND FAMILY LITERACY ACT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 222(a)(1) of the Adult 
Education 
and 
Family 
Literacy 
Act 
(20 
U.S.C. 
9222(a)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘, of which not more 
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‘‘SEC. 821. GRANTS TO STATES FOR IMPROVED WORKPLACE 
AND COMMUNITY TRANSITION TRAINING FOR 
INCARCERATED YOUTH OFFENDERS. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘youth 
offender’ means a male or female offender who is— 
‘‘(1) 30 years of age or younger; and 
‘‘(2) incarcerated in a State prison, including a 
prerelease facility. 
‘‘(b) GRANT PROGRAM.—The Secretary of Education 
(in this section referred to as the ‘Secretary’)— 
‘‘(1) shall establish a program in accordance 
with this section to provide grants to the State cor-
rectional education agencies in the States, from allo-
cations for the States under subsection (h), to assist 
and encourage youth offenders to acquire functional 
literacy, life, and job skills, through— 
‘‘(A) the pursuit of a postsecondary edu-
cation certificate, or an associate or bachelor’s 
degree while in prison; and 
‘‘(B) employment counseling and other re-
lated services which start during incarceration 
and end not later than 1 year after release from 
confinement; and 
‘‘(2) may establish such performance objectives 
and reporting requirements for State correctional 
education agencies receiving grants under this sec-
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tion as the Secretary determines are necessary to as-
sess the effectiveness of the program under this sec-
tion. 
‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—To be eligible for a grant under 
this section, a State correctional education agency shall 
submit to the Secretary a proposal for a youth offender 
program that— 
‘‘(1) identifies the scope of the problem, includ-
ing the number of youth offenders in need of post-
secondary education and career and technical edu-
cation; 
‘‘(2) lists the accredited public or private edu-
cational institution or institutions that will provide 
postsecondary educational services; 
‘‘(3) lists the cooperating agencies, public and 
private, or businesses that will provide related serv-
ices, such as counseling in the areas of career devel-
opment, substance abuse, health, and parenting 
skills; 
‘‘(4) describes how the proposed program will 
educate youth offenders on how to withdraw them-
selves from criminal street gangs; 
‘‘(5) describes specific performance objectives 
and evaluation methods (in addition to, and con-
sistent with, any objectives established by the Sec-
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retary under subsection (b)(2)) that the State cor-
rectional education agency will use in carrying out 
its proposal, including— 
‘‘(A) specific and quantified student out-
come measures that are compared with out-
comes for non-program participants with simi-
lar demographic characteristics; and 
‘‘(B) measures, consistent with the data 
elements and definitions described in subsection 
(d)(1)(A), of— 
‘‘(i) program completion, including an 
explicit definition of what constitutes a 
program completion within the proposal; 
‘‘(ii) knowledge and skill attainment, 
including specification of instruments that 
will measure knowledge and skill attain-
ment; 
‘‘(iii) attainment of employment both 
before and after release; 
‘‘(iv) success in employment indicated 
by job retention and advancement; and 
‘‘(v) recidivism, including such sub-
indicators as time before subsequent of-
fense and severity of subsequent offense; 
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‘‘(6) describes how the proposed programs are 
to be integrated with existing State correctional edu-
cation programs (such as adult education, graduate 
education degree programs, and career and technical 
education) and State industry programs; 
‘‘(7) describes how the proposed programs will 
utilize technology to deliver the services under this 
section; and 
‘‘(8) describes how students will be selected so 
that only youth offenders eligible under subsection 
(e) will be enrolled in a program receiving a grant 
under this section. 
‘‘(d) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—Each State correc-
tional education agency receiving a grant under this sec-
tion shall— 
‘‘(1) annually report to the Secretary regard-
ing— 
‘‘(A) the results of the evaluations con-
ducted using data elements and definitions pro-
vided by the Secretary for the use of State cor-
rectional education programs; 
‘‘(B) any objectives or requirements estab-
lished by the Secretary pursuant to subsection 
(b)(2); and 
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‘‘(C) the additional performance objectives 
and evaluation methods contained in the pro-
posal described in subsection (c)(4), as nec-
essary to document the attainment of project 
performance objectives; and 
‘‘(2) expend on each participating eligible stu-
dent for an academic year, not more than the max-
imum Federal Pell Grant appropriated under section 
401 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 for such 
academic year, which shall be used for— 
‘‘(A) tuition, books, and essential mate-
rials; and 
‘‘(B) related services such as career devel-
opment, substance abuse counseling, parenting 
skills training, and health education. 
‘‘(e) STUDENT ELIGIBILITY.—A youth offender shall 
be eligible for participation in a program receiving a grant 
under this section if the youth offender is eligible to be 
released within 5 years (including a youth offender who 
is eligible for parole within such time). 
‘‘(f) LENGTH OF PARTICIPATION.—A State correc-
tional education agency receiving a grant under this sec-
tion shall provide educational and related services to each 
participating youth offender for a period not to exceed 5 
years, 1 year of which may be devoted to study in a grad-
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