I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6106 
To strengthen student achievement and graduation rates and prepare children 
and youth for college, careers, and citizenship through innovative partner-
ships that meet the comprehensive needs of children and youth. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 5, 2020 
Ms. JUDY CHU of California (for herself, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. NORTON, and Mr. 
GRIJALVA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committee on En-
ergy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To strengthen student achievement and graduation rates and 
prepare children and youth for college, careers, and citi-
zenship through innovative partnerships that meet the 
comprehensive needs of children and 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Developing Innovative Partnerships and Learning Op-
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portunities that Motivate Achievement Act’’ or the ‘‘DI-
PLOMA Act’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Findings. 
Sec. 3. Purposes. 
Sec. 4. Definitions. 
Sec. 5. Demonstration program authorized; allotment to States. 
Sec. 6. Demonstration competitive program authorized. 
Sec. 7. State child and youth strategy. 
Sec. 8. Coordinating body; State applications. 
Sec. 9. State use of funds. 
Sec. 10. Local consortium application; local child and youth strategy. 
Sec. 11. Local use of funds. 
Sec. 12. Construction. 
Sec. 13. Accountability and transparency. 
Sec. 14. Authorization of appropriations. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The future strength of the Nation’s democ-
racy, as well as the Nation’s economy, is dependent 
upon the investments made in children and youth 
today. 
(2) Evidence demonstrates that effective part-
nerships among schools and communities increase 
student achievement by addressing the academic 
needs of students as well as the challenges the stu-
dents face outside the classroom. For example: 
(A) Chicago Public Schools leads one of 
the Nation’s largest community school initia-
tives and found that students in grades 9 to 12 
who attend a community school have 61 percent 
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fewer school-day absences than their non-com-
munity school counterparts. When compared to 
non-community school counterparts, students in 
grades 9 to 12 were found to have more positive 
educational experiences; students in grades 4 to 
8 had higher Emotional Health scores on the 
survey; and students in grades K to 3 had 53 
percent fewer suspensions and 55 percent fewer 
misconducts. 
(B) In a 7-year study of 200 Chicago pub-
lic schools, sociologist Anthony Bryk found that 
in schools where grassroots organizations forge 
strong connections with their schools, trust lev-
els and parent involvement are greater. 
(C) United Way of Salt Lake’s Promise 
Partnership, an initiative across multiple school 
districts in the Salt Lake, Utah area, has 
helped increase student achievement and grad-
uation rates. At one of United Way’s partner 
schools, Granite Park Junior High, the percent-
age of students completing 9th grade and on 
track to graduate has more than doubled in 2 
years. Their efforts also have increased pre-
school opportunities in their poorest neighbor-
hoods so that 1,000 additional low-income stu-
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dents attend high-quality preschool. Third 
grade reading proficiency scores rose 15.5 per-
cent from 2013–2014, and chronic absence de-
creased from 21 percent to 14 percent from 
2013–2014. A Promise Partnership Regional 
Council, which was formed in 2014, includes 
education, business, government, and nonprofit 
leaders, guides the initiative and focuses on 
keeping the work aligned. 
(D) In Wisconsin, where formal partner-
ships with community agencies are required for 
grant programs, non-traditional partners have 
proven to be instrumental for smaller commu-
nities to enrich after school programs. Those 
partners have included local trucking compa-
nies, statewide nonprofit organizations like the 
Grange, Farm Bureau, small retailers, and re-
tirees. 
(E) Union City Public Schools (New Jer-
sey) school district proves that by breaking 
down institutional ‘‘silos’’ and creating deep 
partnerships, through collaboration and munic-
ipal involvement, schools can be vibrant places 
of hope despite poverty, unemployment, and 
lack of affordable housing. 
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(F) Social Justice Humanitas Academy in 
Los Angeles, California, enrolls approximately 
500 students with 88 percent eligible for free or 
reduced school lunch. Students are supported 
by 
Individualized 
Pupil 
Education 
Plans 
(IPEP) that determine how teachers and part-
ners involved in the Community School can best 
help struggling students and reflect the close 
relationships between students and teachers. At 
the conclusion of the 2013–2014 school year, 
the graduation rate rose from 83 percent to 
93.9 percent, and 99 percent of those graduates 
enrolled in college. The suspension rate was 
0.02 percent, compared to 1.02 percent across 
the Los Angeles Unified School District. 
(G) By meeting the comprehensive needs 
of students, Communities In Schools, a national 
dropout prevention organization, found that 99 
percent of participating students stayed in 
school, 78 percent of participating students met 
or made progress toward their attendance goals, 
90 percent met or made progress toward their 
behavior goals, and 88 percent met or made 
progress toward their academic improvement 
goals. 
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(3) In adopting the Every Student Succeeds 
Act (Public Law 114–95), Congress recognized com-
munity schools as a strategy to significantly improve 
the coordination and integration, accessibility, and 
effectiveness of services for children and families, 
particularly for children attending high-poverty 
schools, including high-poverty rural schools. 
(4) Approximately 84 percent of 9th graders 
graduate from high school within 4 years. Of stu-
dents who graduate from high school, 69 percent en-
roll in a 2- or 4-year college in the fall after com-
pleting high school. Only about half (58 percent) of 
first-time, full-time college freshmen seeking a 4- 
year degree receive a bachelor’s degree within 6 
years or less. 
(5) Over the past 4 decades, the United States 
has slipped from being first in the world in high 
school and college graduation rates to 21st and 
14th, respectively, putting the Nation at a growing 
competitive disadvantage with other countries. 
(6) In a study conducted by Hanover Research, 
data showed that quality partnerships between 
schools and their communities can result in im-
proved attendance, motivation, conduct, and aca-
demic achievement. Community-level strategies like 
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focusing on parental involvement, community build-
ing, and cultural competence were shown to con-
tribute to decreases in the achievement gap between 
lower- and upper-income students. 
(7) Research from the Government Account-
ability Office found that students who change 
schools less frequently are more likely to perform at 
grade level and less likely to repeat a grade than 
their less stable peers. 
(8) In research studies in psychology, health, 
and education by Teachers College, Columbia Uni-
versity, school ‘‘connectedness’’ is identified as im-
portant to student learning, achievement, and well- 
being. When students feel a sense of connection with 
the larger world and community institutions, they 
are more engaged in instructional activities and ex-
press greater commitment to school. 
(9) It has been learned from successful experi-
ences that hundreds of thousands of arts, cultural, 
service, sports, colleges and other youth organiza-
tions, as well as civic and faith-based groups want 
to partner with schools and educators to reinforce 
learning, but far too often, neither the school nor 
the community know how to effectively connect with 
each other. 
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(10) In order for the United States to compete 
in a global economy, the co-partnering efforts of gov-
ernment, social services, business, arts, home, com-
munity-based organizations, and philanthropy need 
to concentrate their efforts where they are most 
needed: in our schools. 
(11) Research from Johns Hopkins University 
has shown that access to summer learning opportu-
nities leads to significant student learning gains not 
experienced by students who cannot access summer 
learning opportunities. 
(12) A 2011 study conducted by the RAND 
Corporation found that students who attend summer 
learning programs, particularly those featuring indi-
vidualized instruction, parental involvement, and 
small class sizes, experience clear benefits in over-
coming the achievement gap between low- and 
upper-income students. 
(13) Research from the Community School 
Partnership finds that community schools see a re-
turn of $7.11 for every dollar of investment in com-
munity schools coordinators. 
SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 
The purposes of this Act are— 
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(1) to create engaging learning experiences 
that— 
(A) 
strengthen 
academic 
achievement, 
build civic capacity, and provide a continuum of 
supports and opportunities for children, youth, 
and families; and 
(B) prepare children and youth for college, 
careers, and citizenship through results-focused 
partnerships that mobilize and coordinate 
school and community resources; 
(2) to ensure the academic, physical, social, 
emotional, health, mental health, and civic develop-
ment of disadvantaged children and youth and there-
by strengthen their families and communities; 
(3) to engage and support parents, care givers, 
and families in their role as first educators of their 
children; 
(4) to promote community and family engage-
ment in education; 
(5) to leverage and integrate the human and fi-
nancial assets of local communities, schools, State 
governments, the Federal Government, and the nat-
ural assets of communities— 
(A) toward better results for children, 
youth, and families; and 
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(B) for sustained civic capacity; 
(6) to develop school improvement strategies 
that incorporate approaches that meet the com-
prehensive needs of children and youth, such as full 
service community schools, community-based and in-
tegrated student services, and related approaches; 
and 
(7) to ensure that schools and neighborhoods 
are safe and provide a positive climate for learning. 
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) CHILD
WITH
A
DISABILITY.—The term 
‘‘child with a disability’’ has the meaning given the 
term in section 602 of the Individuals with Disabil-
ities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1401). 
(2) CHRONICALLY ABSENT.—The term ‘‘chron-
ically absent’’, when used with respect to a student, 
means a student who misses not less than 10 per-
cent or not less than 20 days of school days in an 
academic year. 
(3) COMMUNITY-BASED, INTEGRATED STUDENT 
SERVICES.—The term ‘‘community-based, integrated 
student services’’ means interventions, coordinated 
through a single point of contact, that improve stu-
dent achievement by connecting community re-
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sources with the academic and social service needs 
of students. 
(4) 
COMMUNITY
ENGAGEMENT
IN
EDU-
CATION.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘community 
engagement in education’’ means systematic ef-
forts to involve, engage, and collaborate with 
parents, community residents, members of 
school communities, community partners, and 
other stakeholders in exploring the needs of 
their students and schools, developing plans to 
address those needs, and working together to 
address those needs. 
(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘community 
engagement in education’’ includes effective 
community engagement in an ongoing process 
to develop a welcoming school and school sys-
tem, mobilize the community’s assets to support 
student achievement and growth, engage those 
individuals and stakeholders who traditionally 
have not participated in the school or school 
system, improve working relationships, and 
deepen the commitment to student success. 
(5) DIGITAL
LEARNING.—The term ‘‘digital 
learning’’ means instructional practices that effec-
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