I
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1019
To provide grants to cities to establish teen resource and education centers
to provide education, employment, recreation, social, and cultural aware-
ness assistance to at-risk youth.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 18, 1993
Ms. WATERS (for herself, Mr. MARTINEZ, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. TORRES,
Mr. EDWARDS of California, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. MATSUI, Ms. ESHOO,
Ms. PELOSI, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. TUCKER, Mr. BECERRA, and Mr.
CLYBURN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Education and Labor
A BILL
To provide grants to cities to establish teen resource and
education centers to provide education, employment,
recreation, social, and cultural awareness assistance to
at-risk 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.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Gang Prevention and
Youth Recreation Act of 1993’’.
SEC. 2. GRANTS TO CITIES TO PROVIDE EDUCATION, EM-
PLOYMENT, RECREATION, SOCIAL, AND CUL-
TURAL AWARENESS ASSISTANCE TO AT-RISK
YOUTH.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services, in con-
sultation with the Secretary of Education, shall, from
amounts appropriated under section 10, provide grants to
not more than 10 selected cities for the purpose of assist-
ing such cities in establishing and operating teen resource
and education centers in such cities to provide education,
employment, recreation, social, and cultural awareness as-
sistance to at-risk youth.
SEC. 3. APPLICATION.
To receive a grant under section 2, a city shall submit
to the Secretary an application in such form and contain-
ing such information as the Secretary may require.
SEC. 4. TEEN RESOURCE AND EDUCATION CENTERS.
The Secretary may not make a grant under section
2 to a city unless the city agrees that it will use all
amounts received from such grant to establish and oper-
ate, in conjunction with local social service agencies, at
least 2 teen resource and education centers in such city
to provide education, employment, recreation, social, and
cultural awareness assistance to at-risk youth. Teen re-
source and education centers established and operated
using amounts from a grant under section 2 shall, at a
minimum, meet the following requirements:
(1) EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE.—The teen re-
source and education centers shall provide edu-
cational assistance to at-risk youth for the purpose
of—
(A) providing information on institutions
of higher education to at-risk youth interested
in attending such institutions;
(B) establishing a scholarship search and
resource program at the centers to provide as-
sistance to such youth in the preparation of fi-
nancial aid applications, scholarship applica-
tions, and other relevant forms and applica-
tions; and
(C) establishing and carrying out pre-
paratory courses for high school equivalency ex-
aminations and college entrance examinations
at the center.
(2) EMPLOYMENT AND SKILLS TRAINING AS-
SISTANCE.—The teen resource and education centers
shall provide employment and skills training assist-
ance to at-risk youth by hiring teen peer counselors
to—
(A) provide training to such youth in basic
job skills, including interviewing, personal ap-
pearance, and communication with coworkers
and superiors;
(B) provide job referral services to such
youth; and
(C) establish job banks for such youth by
providing listings of job openings in local busi-
nesses.
(3) RECREATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES.—The teen
resource and education centers shall provide rec-
reational opportunities for at-risk youth by—
(A) establishing sports teams for such
youth and seeking financial support or sponsor-
ship of such teams from local businesses;
(B) establishing and carrying out coopera-
tive work activities at such centers, such as a
garden to give such youth a chance to work to-
gether to achieve positive results from their ef-
forts and to distribute the food harvested from
such garden to the families of such youth and
to neighborhood soup kitchens;
(C) establishing and carrying out creative
activities, such as writing, music, media, and
visual art classes to provide such youth with the
opportunity to channel creative energies and de-
velop creative talents; and
(D) establishing and carrying out a read-
ing program to introduce such youth to the im-
portance of reading.
(4) DEVELOPMENT
OF
SOCIAL
SKILLS.—The
teen resource and education centers shall provide for
the development of the social skills of at-risk youth
by—
(A) hiring adult counselors and providing
support groups at such centers for the purpose
of counseling such youth on social and personal
issues, including issues relating to—
(i) problems facing young minorities;
(ii) teen-age pregnancy and early par-
enthood, including pregnancy prevention
and pregnancy management, family plan-
ning, and sex education, including edu-
cation relating to acquired immune defi-
ciency syndrome (AIDS);
(iii) job preparedness and unemploy-
ment; and
(iv) crime; and
(B) sponsoring trips for such youth to mu-
seums, State capitals, concerts, plays, and other
cultural and educational settings and events.
(5) CULTURAL AWARENESS.—The teen resource
and education centers shall assist in raising the cul-
tural awareness of at-risk youth by—
(A) establishing and carrying out classes
on the history and culture of African-Ameri-
cans, Hispanics, and other cultural groups to
supplement courses taught in elementary and
secondary schools and to bolster the social and
personal self-esteem and pride of such youth;
and
(B) encouraging such youth to produce
plays, stories, and artwork that reflect their cul-
tural heritage and pride.
(6) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO COLLEGE GRAD-
UATES
WORKING
AT
TEEN
RESOURCE
AND
EDU-
CATION CENTERS.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—The teen resource and
education centers shall provide financial assist-
ance from amounts received from a grant under
section 2 to graduates of institutions of higher
education who work full-time at such centers
for the purpose of assisting such graduates to
repay student loans obtained by such graduates
to attend such schools.
(B) AMOUNT OF ASSISTANCE.—The center
may provide financial assistance under subpara-
graph (A) in an amount equal to not more than
25 percent of the total amount owed by a grad-
uate during any year that such graduate is
working at such center for the repayment of
student loans of such graduate. Such assistance
may be provided to a graduate for up to 4 years
that such graduate is working at such center.
SEC. 5. CITY REPORT.
The Secretary may not make a grant under section
2 to a city unless the city agrees that it will submit, for
any fiscal year in which such city receives a grant under
such section, a report to the Secretary describing the use
of such grant, including—
(1) the number of at-risk youth receiving assist-
ance at each teen resource and education center es-
tablished in such city under section 4;
(2) the types of services and referrals received
by such at-risk youth; and
(3) any other information the Secretary deter-
mines to be appropriate.
SEC. 6. SELECTION.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall select cities
to receive grants under section 2 which have a large num-
ber of at-risk youth.
(b) GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY.—To the extent prac-
ticable, the Secretary shall make grants to cities under
section 2 in a manner which will equitably distribute such
grants among the various regions of the United States.
SEC. 7. ALLOCATION.
The Secretary may not make a grant under section
2 in a fiscal year to any city in an amount totaling more
than 10 percent of amounts appropriated under section
10 for that fiscal year.
SEC. 8. REPORTS.
(a) INTERIM REPORT.—Not later than February 1,
1996, the Secretary shall submit to the Congress an in-
terim report containing—
(1) a compilation of the information contained
in the city reports received by the Secretary pursu-
ant to section 5; and
(2) a process evaluation of the effectiveness of
the grant program.
(b) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than February 1,
1997, the Secretary shall submit to the Congress a final
report containing the information described in subsection
(a).
SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act, the following definitions
apply:
(1) AT-RISK YOUTH.—The term ‘‘at-risk youth’’
means individuals who have attained the age of 10
but have not attained the age of 23 and who live in
a city in which—
(A) drug and gang activity, or other vio-
lent community activity, are prevalent;
(B) a large number of youth are unlikely
to complete an elementary or secondary edu-
cation;
(C) a large number of youth are runaway
or homeless youth;
(D) a large number of individuals receive
public assistance; and
(E) a large number of individuals are sin-
gle parents.
(2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The
term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the
meaning given such term under section 1201(a) of
the Higher Education Act of 1965.
(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means
the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro-
priated $1,000,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 1994
and 1995 to carry out section 2.
(b) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated under
subsection (a) shall remain available until expended.
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