Title: Chronic Absenteeism Reduction in Every School (CARES) Act
Policy area: Education

Summary:
Chronic Absenteeism Reduction in Every School (CARES) Act
This bill allows local educational agencies to use specified federal funds for mentoring programs and other activities that address chronically absent students (i.e., students who miss 10% or more of school days).
Such activities may include, among other things

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4220 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4220

 To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to allow 
   local educational agencies to use Federal funds for programs and 
              activities that address chronic absenteeism.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            August 30, 2019

Mr. Ryan (for himself and Ms. Herrera Beutler) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to allow 
   local educational agencies to use Federal funds for programs and 
              activities that address chronic absenteeism.

    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 ``Chronic Absenteeism Reduction in 
Every School (CARES) Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Students who are chronically absent-- meaning they miss 
        10 percent or more of the school year--are more likely to fall 
        behind academically, which can lead to hardships later in life. 
        These students are 68 percent less likely than their peers to 
        graduate. This leaves them prone to living in poverty, 
        suffering from diminished health, and being involved in the 
        criminal justice system later in life.
            (2) The Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights 
        Data Collection found that over 7,000,000 students were 
        chronically absent during the 2015-2016 school year. This makes 
        up 14 percent of all students.
            (3) Students of color are disproportionately chronically 
        absent compared to their White peers. Latino students are 17 
        percent more likely to be chronically absent, African-American 
        students are 40 percent more likely, and American Indian and 
        Pacific Islander students are over 50 percent more likely, 
        according to the Department of Education's Office of Civil 
        Rights Data Collection.
            (4) The Department of Education has found that chronic 
        absenteeism is widespread, stemming from a wide range of often 
        overlapping internal and external factors. External factors 
        include homelessness, challenges within families, and 
        transportation; while internal factors include health, fear of 
        bullying, concern for safety, and not valuing daily school 
        attendance. Therefore, it is critical to have cross-sector 
        collaborations and multifaceted strategies that incorporate 
        parents (or guardians, as appropriate), public-partner 
        partnerships, and community partners.
            (5) Studies have shown that mentors can help reduce chronic 
        absenteeism. Students who regularly meet with mentors are 52 
        percent less likely than their peers to skip a day of school 
        and 37 percent less likely to skip a class. In one program, 
        previously chronically absent students in 2012-2013 with 
        ``Success Mentors'' gained 51,562 additional days of school 
        compared to previously chronically absent students without 
        mentors at comparison schools; and 92,277 additional days 
        compared to comparison school students without mentors during 
        the 3-year initiative. A report on the impact of one mentoring 
        program found that it reduced school absenteeism by half. In 
        another study, youth showed a gain of more than a week of class 
        attendance.

SEC. 3. INTERVENTIONS TO ADDRESS CHRONIC ABSENTEEISM.

    Section 4108(5) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 7118(5)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (H)(iii) by striking ``or'' at the end;
            (2) in subparagraph (I), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; or''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(J) interventions for students who miss 10 
                percent or more of school days (as determined at any 
                time during a school year), which may include--
                            ``(i) implementing data collection systems 
                        that assist schools in collecting and tracking 
                        attendance data;
                            ``(ii) creating data-sharing and 
                        confidentiality agreements between schools, 
                        social service agencies, city and county 
                        governments, and partner agencies or community 
                        organizations working with students;
                            ``(iii) partnering with local health, 
                        transportation, and service providers to target 
                        intervention efforts;
                            ``(iv) training and integrating school 
                        personnel for mentoring;
                            ``(v) carrying out mentoring programs 
                        that--
                                    ``(I) are structured, managed, and 
                                appropriately match students with 
                                screened and well-trained adult 
                                volunteers for group and one-on-one 
                                mentoring relationships;
                                    ``(II) encourage mentors and 
                                students to meet frequently;
                                    ``(III) emphasize the importance of 
                                regular school attendance; and
                                    ``(IV) provide and facilitate the 
                                necessary student support services;
                            ``(vi) partnering with community 
                        organizations that offer mentoring services 
                        that consist of--
                                    ``(I) screening and training of 
                                adult volunteers;
                                    ``(II) matching students with the 
                                appropriate adult volunteer mentors;
                                    ``(III) support and oversight of 
                                the mentoring relationship;
                                    ``(IV) establishing goals and 
                                evaluation of outcomes for mentored 
                                students; and
                                    ``(V) planned and ongoing 
                                coordination between mentors and school 
                                personnel to identify individual 
                                student challenges causing chronic 
                                absenteeism in an effort to connect 
                                mentees to appropriate intervention 
                                efforts;
                            ``(vii) cross-age peer mentoring programs 
                        under which an older student serves a mentor 
                        for a younger student for the purpose of 
                        guiding and supporting the student's academic, 
                        social, and emotional development;
                            ``(viii) identifying issues that lead to 
                        school absences;
                            ``(ix) meeting with students and parents 
                        (or guardians, as appropriate) to engage 
                        students and improve performance;
                            ``(x) arranging for teacher home visits to 
                        develop relationships among students, parents 
                        (or guardians, as appropriate) and schools;
                            ``(xi) connecting students to existing 
                        school resources and activities, including 
                        school counseling services and existing 
                        community-based organizations;
                            ``(xii) using mentors to serve as a bridge 
                        between students, parents (or guardians, as 
                        appropriate), and schools;
                            ``(xiii) implementing evidence-based 
                        restorative justice strategies aimed at 
                        reducing suspensions in order to keep students 
                        in school; or
                            ``(xiv) providing personnel training to 
                        build positive school climates and promote 
                        social-emotional learning.''.
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