Title: Improving Access to Good Jobs for Parents Act
Policy area: Social Welfare

Summary:
Improving Access to Good Jobs for Parents Act
This bill establishes, and provides funds for, grants to support the coordination of specified job-related activities through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5888 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5888

   To amend part A of title IV of the Social Security Act to provide 
   grants for coordination of the TANF program with career pathways.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 21, 2018

 Mr. Neal (for himself, Mr. Levin, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Mr. Doggett, 
 Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. Pascrell, Mr. Crowley, 
 Mr. Danny K. Davis of Illinois, Ms. Sanchez, Mr. Higgins of New York, 
 Ms. Sewell of Alabama, and Ms. Judy Chu of California) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, 
and in addition to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, 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 amend part A of title IV of the Social Security Act to provide 
   grants for coordination of the TANF program with career pathways.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Improving Access to Good Jobs for 
Parents Act''.

SEC. 2. IMPROVING ACCESS TO GOOD JOBS FOR PARENTS.

    (a) In General.--Section 403(a) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 603(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(6) Grants for coordination of tanf with career 
        pathways.--
                    ``(A) Formula grants.--
                            ``(i) Application requirements.--An 
                        eligible applicant desiring to receive a grant 
                        under this subparagraph shall submit to the 
                        Secretary an application that sets forth a plan 
                        for how the grant will be used to--
                                    ``(I)(aa) increase the number of 
                                recipients of assistance under a State 
                                or tribal program funded under this 
                                part with a secondary or recognized 
                                postsecondary credential (as defined in 
                                section 3(52) of the WIOA);
                                    ``(bb) increase the number of the 
                                recipients engaged in training services 
                                described in section 134(c)(3)(D) of 
                                the WIOA;
                                    ``(cc) increase the ability of the 
                                recipients to enter or advance within 
                                an in-demand industry sector or 
                                occupation (as defined in section 3(23) 
                                of the WIOA);
                                    ``(dd) increase the use of career 
                                counselors, coordinators, or in-house 
                                navigators at providers of career and 
                                technical education (as defined in 
                                section 3(5) of the Carl D. Perkins 
                                Career and Technical Education 
                                Improvement Act of 2006), including 
                                community colleges, in providing 
                                intensive support services for the 
                                recipients throughout their 
                                participation in education or training 
                                provided under the plan; and
                                    ``(ee) increase the ability of the 
                                recipients to get a good job with 
                                livable wages, access to health care, 
                                paid family, medical, and sick leave, 
                                predictable schedules, potential for 
                                advancement, and other employment 
                                benefits that help parents balance 
                                child-rearing and working;
                                    ``(II) support the coordination and 
                                alignment of the State or tribal 
                                program funded under this part with the 
                                use of career pathways (as defined in 
                                section 3(7) of the WIOA), through a 
                                collaboration, in 1 or more geographic 
                                areas in the State (or, if the 
                                applicant is an Indian tribe, tribal 
                                organization, or tribal consortium, in 
                                1 or more geographical area under the 
                                jurisdiction of the Indian tribe, 
                                tribal organization, or any Indian 
                                tribe or tribal organization that is 
                                part of the tribal consortium), with a 
                                local board (as defined in section 
                                3(33) of the WIOA) or State board (as 
                                defined in section 3(57) of the WIOA), 
                                and at least 2 other entities, each of 
                                which is any of the following:
                                            ``(aa) 1 or more 
                                        representatives of a business 
                                        or other employers who may be 
                                        in an industry or sector 
                                        partnership (as defined in 
                                        section 3(26) of the WIOA) that 
                                        provides employment 
                                        opportunities that, at a 
                                        minimum, include high-quality, 
                                        work-relevant training and 
                                        development in an in-demand 
                                        industry sector or occupation 
                                        (as so defined) in the State 
                                        (or, if the applicant is an 
                                        Indian tribe, tribal 
                                        organization, or tribal 
                                        consortium, in the geographical 
                                        area under the jurisdiction of 
                                        the Indian tribe, tribal 
                                        organization, or any Indian 
                                        tribe or tribal organization 
                                        that is part of the tribal 
                                        consortium).
                                            ``(bb) A labor 
                                        organization.
                                            ``(cc) An institution of 
                                        higher education (as defined in 
                                        section 3(28) of the WIOA).
                                            ``(dd) A tribal college or 
                                        university (as defined in 
                                        section 316 of the Higher 
                                        Education Act of 1965).
                                            ``(ee) A vocational 
                                        rehabilitation program (as 
                                        defined in section 3(64) of the 
                                        WIOA).
                                            ``(ff) A program that helps 
                                        those who are basic skills 
                                        deficient (as defined in 
                                        section 3(5) of the WIOA).
                                            ``(gg) A provider of career 
                                        and technical education (as 
                                        defined in section 3(5) of the 
                                        Carl D. Perkins Career and 
                                        Technical Education Improvement 
                                        Act of 2006).
                                            ``(hh) A community-based 
                                        organization (as defined in 
                                        section 3(10) of the WIOA) or 
                                        other entity referred to in 
                                        section 3(26)(B) of the WIOA; 
                                        and
                                    ``(III) comply with the data 
                                reporting requirements prescribed under 
                                clause (vii).
                            ``(ii) Eligible applicants.--In clause (i), 
                        the term `eligible applicant' means, with 
                        respect to an application, an entity that is--
                                    ``(I)(aa) a State agency 
                                administering a State program funded 
                                under this part;
                                    ``(bb) a local agency administering 
                                the program in a sub-State area, if--
                                            ``(AA) such a State program 
                                        is administered on a county 
                                        level; and
                                            ``(BB) 30 days has elapsed 
                                        since the Secretary began 
                                        accepting applications for a 
                                        grant under this subparagraph, 
                                        and the State agency has not 
                                        submitted an application 
                                        pursuant to this subparagraph 
                                        or publicly declared an 
                                        intention to do so; or
                                    ``(cc) a tribal agency 
                                administering a tribal program funded 
                                under this part if 30 days has elapsed 
                                since the Secretary began accepting 
                                applications for a grant under this 
                                subparagraph, and the tribal agency has 
                                not submitted an application pursuant 
                                to this subparagraph or publicly 
                                declared an intention to do so; and
                                    ``(II) located in an eligible State 
                                with respect to the application.
                            ``(iii) Eligible state.--In clause (ii), 
                        the term `eligible State' means, with respect 
                        to an application, a State, Indian tribe, 
                        tribal organization, or tribal consortium, if--
                                    ``(I) in the case of a State, the 
                                total amount payable to the State under 
                                section 418(a)(2)(C) for the fiscal 
                                year preceding the fiscal year in which 
                                the application is submitted equals the 
                                amount allotted to the State under 
                                section 418(a)(2)(B) for such preceding 
                                fiscal year; and
                                    ``(II) in the case of any 
                                applicant, the applicant has in effect 
                                policies to prevent the imposition of a 
                                sanction under the program of the 
                                applicant funded under this part with 
                                respect to an individual who has not 
                                been offered employment or an 
                                opportunity to participate in a 
                                training program.
                            ``(iv) Core services.--In clause 
                        (iii)(I)(bb), the term `core services' means 
                        the following:
                                    ``(I) Work-related activities 
                                provided under the State program funded 
                                under this part or any other State 
                                program funded with qualified State 
                                expenditures (as defined in section 
                                409(a)(7)(B)(i)).
                                    ``(II) The provision of basic 
                                assistance to needy families under the 
                                State program funded under this part or 
                                any other State program funded with 
                                qualified State expenditures (as 
                                defined in section 409(a)(7)(B)(i)).
                                    ``(III) The provision of child care 
                                using funds made available under this 
                                part or any other State program funded 
                                with qualified State expenditures (as 
                                defined in section 409(a)(7)(B)(i)), 
                                including funds transferred under 
                                section 404(d)(1)(B).
                            ``(v) Approval; disapproval.--Within 30 
                        days after receiving an application submitted 
                        by an eligible applicant pursuant to this 
                        subparagraph, the Secretary shall--
                                    ``(I) approve the application if--
                                            ``(aa) the application 
                                        meets the requirements of 
                                        clause (i); and
                                            ``(bb) there is sufficient 
                                        research to support using the 
                                        plan set forth in the 
                                        application to achieve the 
                                        results described in clause 
                                        (i)(I); or
                                    ``(II) in any other case, 
                                disapprove the application, and provide 
                                the applicant with--
                                            ``(aa) a written notice of 
                                        the disapproval and a statement 
                                        of the reasons for the 
                                        disapproval; and
                                            ``(bb) an opportunity to 
                                        submit a revised application 
                                        pursuant to this subparagraph.
                            ``(vi) Grant authority.--The Secretary 
                        shall make a grant to each applicant whose 
                        application is approved under clause (v), in an 
                        amount that gives--
                                    ``(I) two-thirds weight to the 
                                percentage of the population of the 
                                United States whose income is less than 
                                125 percent of the poverty line (as 
                                determined according to data collected 
                                by the Census Bureau) and who reside in 
                                the geographical area or areas in which 
                                the plan set forth in the application 
                                is to be implemented; and
                                    ``(II) one-third weight to the 
                                number of adults in the geographical 
                                area or areas that are recipients of 
                                assistance under the State or tribal 
                                program funded under this part.
                            ``(vii) Use of funds.--
                                    ``(I) In general.--A grantee under 
                                this subparagraph shall use the grant 
                                to carry out the plan set forth in the 
                                approved application for the grant, 
                                subject to subclause (II).
                                    ``(II) Limitation.--Not more than 
                                10 percent of a grant made under this 
                                subparagraph may be used as described 
                                in clause (i)(III).
                                    ``(III) Supplement not supplant.--
                                Funds made available to carry out this 
                                paragraph shall be used to supplement 
                                the level of Federal, State, and local 
                                public funds that, in the absence of 
                                the availability, would be expended to 
                                provide assistance to needy families, 
                                and in no case to supplant the Federal, 
                                State, or local public funds.
                            ``(viii) Data reporting requirements.--The 
                        Secretary shall prescribe data reporting 
                        requirements for grantees under this 
                        subparagraph that, to the extent practicable, 
                        build on the structure of workforce development 
                        assessment systems, and measure how effective 
                        interventions are on addressing barrier 
                        removal, rehabilitation, and job readiness 
                        skills needed to enter work or career and 
                        technical education programs.
                    ``(B) Innovation grants.--
                            ``(i) Application requirements.--An 
                        eligible applicant desiring to receive a grant 
                        under this subparagraph shall submit to the 
                        Secretary an application that sets forth a plan 
                        that--
                                    ``(I) meets the requirements of 
                                subparagraph (A)(i); and
                                    ``(II) provides for the applicant 
                                to--
                                            ``(aa) conduct a rigorous 
                                        evaluation of the 
                                        implementation of the plan;
                                            ``(bb) submit the results 
                                        of the evaluation to the 
                                        Secretary; and
                                            ``(cc) make the results 
                                        available to the general 
                                        public.
                            ``(ii) Eligible applicants.--In clause (i), 
                        the term `eligible applicant' means, with 
                        respect to an application, a public or 
                        nonprofit organization that--
                                    ``(I) has not submitted an 
                                application pursuant to subparagraph 
                                (A);
                                    ``(II) is not participating in a 
                                collaboration described in such an 
                                application; and
                                    ``(III) is located in an eligible 
                                State (as defined in subparagraph 
                                (A)(iii)) with respect to the 
                                application.
                            ``(iii) Approval; disapproval.--
                        Subparagraph (A)(v) shall apply to an 
                        application submitted by an eligible applicant 
                        pursuant to this subparagraph.
                            ``(iv) Grant authority.--The Secretary 
                        shall make grants, on a competitive basis, to 
                        eligible applicants whose applications are 
                        approved under clause (iii).
                            ``(v) Use of funds.--Subparagraph (A)(vii) 
                        shall apply with respect to a grant made under 
                        this subparagraph.
                    ``(C) Limitation on use of funds.--Funds made 
                available to carry out this section shall be used to 
                supplement, and not supplant, the Federal, State, and 
                local, or tribal, funds that, in the absence of such 
                availability, would be expended to provide services to 
                individuals receiving assistance under a State or 
                tribal program funded under this part or in support of 
                workforce development activities (as defined in section 
                3(65) of the WIOA).
                    ``(D) Appropriation.--Out of funds in the Treasury 
                of the United States not otherwise appropriated, there 
                are appropriated to carry out this paragraph 
                $1,000,000,000 for each fiscal year, of which--
                            ``(i) 90 percent shall be available for 
                        grants under subparagraph (A); and
                            ``(ii) 10 percent shall be available for 
                        grants under subparagraph (B).
                    ``(E) WIOA defined.--In this paragraph, the term 
                `WIOA' means the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity 
                Act.''.
    (b) Exemption From Limitation on Payments to Territories.--Section 
1108(a)(2) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1308(a)(2)) is amended by inserting 
``403(a)(6),'' before ``406''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take 
effect on October 1, 2018.
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