[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1760 Introduced in House (IH)]
103d CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1760
To amend the Job Corps program of the Job Training Partnership Act to
establish a program to provide education and job training services to
youths who have been convicted of non-violent criminal offenses.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 21, 1993
Mrs. Lowey (for herself, Mr. Towns, Ms. DeLauro, Mrs. Maloney, Mr.
Frost, and Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Job Corps program of the Job Training Partnership Act to
establish a program to provide education and job training services to
youths who have been convicted of non-violent criminal offenses.
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 ``Job Corps Youth Sentencing
Alternative for Vocational Education and Training Act'' or the
``YOUTHSAVE Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
(1) Over 1,000,000 offenders are incarcerated in the
Nation's prisons and jails, and Federal and State correctional
systems face severe prison overcrowding.
(2) The annual costs of incarceration range as high as
$36,000 per inmate and represent one of the fastest growing
expenses facing States.
(3) Most juvenile offenders, regardless of the seriousness
of their crimes, are released at the age of 21, and are poorly
educated, unskilled, and unprepared to enter the workforce.
(4) Research on crime prevention shows that early
intervention directed at first-time offenders is essential to
helping them avoid a lifetime of crime.
(5) Studies have shown that inmates who receive job
training in prison are 3 times less likely to return to jail
after being released than their counterparts who do not receive
job training.
(6) The current system of juvenile incarceration usually
serves to warehouse offenders without providing effective
counseling, education, and job training necessary to reorient
youth inmates away from crime.
(7) Successful efforts to educate and train convicted
youths could result in substantial cost savings in terms of
reduced crime, incarceration, public assistance, and in higher
payroll tax revenues.
(8) The Job Corps program, authorized under part B of title
IV of the Job Training Partnership Act (29 U.S.C. 1691 et
seq.), is the Nation's only residential education and
vocational training program targeted to serve low-income youth
who face multiple barriers to becoming economically self-
sufficient.
(9) The Job Corps program has a documented record of
success during its 29 years of operation, including a 75
percent placement rate of successfully helping graduates obtain
permanent employment, return to school, or enter the armed
services, and such program returns $1.46 on every $1.00
invested in the program.
(10) Eligibility requirements of the Job Corps program
limit the participation of youths with certain behavioral
problems and youths who are being adjudicated or have been
convicted of crimes.
(11) Under section 433(a)(3) of the Job Training
Partnership Act (29 U.S.C. 1703(a)(3)), the Secretary of Labor
is authorized to undertake one or more pilot projects designed
to involve youths who have a history of behavioral problems in
order to provide these youths with the education, job training,
and counseling services that have proved so successful among
regular Job Corps participants.
(b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to establish separate Job Corps Youthsave centers for
youths who have been convicted of nonviolent criminal offenses
which shall be an alternative sentencing option for such
youths;
(2) to provide youth offenders at such centers with
intensive counseling, education, and job training in order to
help them become self-sufficient members of society; and
(3) to provide a disciplined environment at such centers in
which youth offenders can receive maximum benefit from regular
Job Corps services and other services geared specifically to
the needs of such offenders.
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF JOB CORPS YOUTHSAVE PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--Part B of title IV of the Job Training Partnership
Act (29 U.S.C. 1691 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 433A
the following new section:
``SEC. 433B. JOB CORPS YOUTHSAVE PROGRAM.
``(a) Authorization.--The Secretary is authorized to make
agreements in accordance with section 427 with entities described in
such section for the purpose of establishing and operating up to 10 Job
Corps Youthsave centers to provide comprehensive education and training
services to eligible youths described in subsection (b). Such Youthsave
centers shall be established and operated separately from the Job Corps
centers established and operated pursuant to section 427.
``(b) Eligible Youths.--A youth shall be eligible to become an
enrollee in the Job Corps at a center established and operated under
subsection (a) only if--
``(1) the youth meets the eligibility requirements
described in section 423 (except the requirements described in
paragraph (4) of such section); and
``(2) the youth has been convicted of a non-violent
criminal offense under Federal or State law and the sentence of
such offense is active at the time of enrollment.
``(c) Screening and Selection.--
``(1) In general.--(A) The Secretary, in consultation with
the individuals and entities described in subparagraph (B),
shall develop regulations for the screening and selection of
applicants for the Job Corps at centers established and
operated under subsection (a).
``(B) The individuals and entities described in this
subparagraph include the Attorney General, State attorneys
general, and appropriate individuals and entities such as
community action agencies, community-based organizations,
public employment agencies, individuals and entities
administering programs under title II, professional
organizations, labor organizations, and agencies and
individuals having contact with youths over a substantial
period of time and able to offer reliable information as to the
needs and problems of such youths.
``(2) Interviewing requirements.--The Secretary shall
ensure that the regulations described in paragraph (1) provide
for the interviewing of each applicant for the purpose of--
``(A) ensuring that the applicant understands that
enrollment in the Job Corps at a center established and
operated under subsection (a) is 1 sentencing option
available to such applicant;
``(B) ensuring that the applicant chooses such
option freely and for the purpose of receiving
education and job training services;
``(C) ensuring that the applicant understands the
Job Corps program and what will be expected of the
applicant in the event of acceptance;
``(D) obtaining from the applicant pertinent data
relating to background and needs of such applicant; and
``(E) determining whether the applicant's
educational and vocational needs can be met through the
Job Corps at a center established and operated under
subsection (a).
``(3) Special limitation.--The requirements described in
section 425(a) shall apply with respect to the screening and
selection of applicants for the Job Corps at centers
established and operated under subsection (a).
``(4) Dissemination.--The Secretary shall disseminate the
regulations developed under paragraph (1) to appropriate
individuals and organizations, including Federal and State
courts, probation officers, parole officers, appropriate social
service entities providing services to juvenile offenders, and
other law enforcement authorities and personnel.
``(d) Education and Training Services.--The Secretary may not enter
into an agreement with an entity described in section 427 for the
purpose of establishing and operating a center under subsection (a)
unless the entity agrees that it will provide enrollees with a
comprehensive program of education, vocational training, work
experience, planned vocational activities, physical rehabilitation and
development, and counseling.
``(e) Project Agreement.--Each center established and operated
under subsection (a) shall provide services and facilities under a
project agreement with 1 or more State or local agencies that--
``(1) requires such State and local agencies to provide, in
the aggregate, not less than 30 percent of the cost
attributable to operating such center; and
``(2) contains or is accompanied by such other information
and assurances as the Secretary may require.
``(f) Instructor Training.--The Secretary shall ensure that each
center established and operated under subsection (a) is staffed with
instructors who have received appropriate training in techniques in
dealing with youth offenders.
``(g) Maintenance of Information.--The Secretary shall maintain
information, separate from regular Job Corps statistics, on the
performance of the centers established and operated under subsection
(a) and the enrollees served by such centers, including placement
statistics and other related tracking information on the performance of
such enrollees.
``(h) Outreach.--The Secretary shall disseminate information
regarding the centers established and operated under subsection (a) to
appropriate Federal and State judges, juvenile delinquency prevention
personnel, attorneys, community-based organizations, and other
interested individuals and organizations for the purpose of increasing
awareness of and referrals to such centers.
``(i) Authorization of Appropriations.--
``(1) In general.--In addition to amounts authorized to be
appropriated under section 3(d) for a fiscal year, there are
authorized to be appropriated to carry out subsection (a)
$60,000,000 for fiscal year 1994 and such sums as may be
necessary for each of the fiscal years 1995 through 2004.
``(2) Availability.--Amounts appropriated under paragraph
(1) shall remain available until expended.''.
(b) Conforming Amendment.--The table of contents of the Job
Training Partnership Act is amended by inserting after the item
relating to section 433A the following new item:
``Sec. 433B. Job Corps Youthsave Program.''.
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