[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 715 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 715

               To establish parents as teachers programs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                April 1 (legislative day, March 3), 1993

   Mr. Bond (for himself, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Rockefeller, Mr. Chafee, Mr. 
Heflin, Mr. Cochran, Mr. Shelby, Mr. Stevens, Mr. Inouye, Mr. Danforth, 
Mr. Lieberman, and Mr. Cohen) introduced the following bill; which was 
 read twice and referred to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
               To establish parents as teachers programs.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) increased parental involvement in the education of 
        their children appears to be the key to long-term gains for 
        youngsters;
            (2) providing seed money is an appropriate role for the 
        Federal Government to play in education;
            (3) children participating in the parents as teachers 
        program in Missouri are found to have increased cognitive or 
        intellectual skills, language ability, social skills and other 
        predictors of school success;
            (4) most early childhood programs begin at age 3 or 4 when 
        remediation may already be necessary; and
            (5) many children receive no health screening between birth 
        and the time they enter school, thus such children miss the 
        opportunity of having developmental delays detected early.

SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.

    It is the purpose of this Act to encourage States and eligible 
entities to develop and expand parent and early childhood education 
programs in an effort to--
            (1) increase parents' knowledge of and confidence in child-
        rearing activities, such as teaching and nurturing their young 
        children;
            (2) strengthen partnerships between parents and schools; 
        and
            (3) enhance the developmental progress of participating 
        children.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    For the purposes of this Act--
            (1) the term ``developmental screening'' means the process 
        of measuring the progress of children to determine if there are 
        problems or potential problems or advanced abilities in the 
        areas of understanding and use of language, perception through 
        sight, perception through hearing, motor development and hand-
        eye coordination, health, and physical development;
            (2) the term ``eligible entity'' means an entity in a State 
        operating a parents as teachers program on the date of 
        enactment of this Act;
            (3) the term ``eligible family'' means any parent with one 
        or more children between birth and 3 years of age;
            (4) the term ``lead agency'' means--
                    (A) except as provided in subparagraph (B), the 
                office, agency, or other entity in a State designated 
                by the Governor to administer the parents as teachers 
                program authorized by this Act; or
                    (B) in the case of a grant awarded under this Act 
                to an eligible entity, such eligible entity;
            (5) the term ``parent education'' includes parent support 
        activities, the provision of resource materials on child 
        development and parent-child learning activities, private and 
        group educational guidance, individual and group learning 
        experiences for the parent and child, and other activities that 
        enable the parent to improve learning in the home; and
            (6) the term ``parent educator'' means a person hired by 
        the lead agency of a State or designated by local entities who 
        administers group meetings, home visits and developmental 
        screening for eligible families, and is trained by the Parents 
        As Teachers National Center established under section 7.

SEC. 4. PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.

    (a) Authority.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary is authorized to make grants 
        in order to pay the Federal share of the cost of establishing, 
        expanding, or operating parents as teachers programs in a 
        State.
            (2) Eligible recipients.--The Secretary may make a grant 
        under paragraph (1) to a State, except that, in the case of a 
        State having an eligible entity, the Secretary shall make the 
        grant directly to the eligible entity.
    (b) Funding Rule.--Grant funds awarded under this section shall be 
used so as to supplement, and to the extent practicable, increase the 
level of funds that would, in the absence of such funds, be made 
available from non-Federal sources, and in no case may such funds be 
used so as to supplant funds from non-Federal sources.

SEC. 5. PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Requirements.--Each State or eligible entity receiving a grant 
pursuant to section 4 shall conduct a parents as teachers program 
which--
            (1) establishes and operates parent education programs, 
        including programs of developmental screening of children; and
            (2) designates a lead State agency which--
                    (A) shall hire parent educators who have had 
                supervised experience in the care and education of 
                children;
                    (B) shall establish the number of group meetings 
                and home visits required to be provided each year for 
                each participating family, with a minimum of 2 group 
                meetings and 10 home visits for each participating 
                family;
                    (C) shall be responsible for administering the 
                periodic screening of participating children's 
                educational, hearing and visual development, using the 
                Denver Developmental Test, Zimmerman Preschool Language 
                Scale, or other approved screening instruments; and
                    (D) shall develop recruitment and retention 
                programs for hard-to-reach populations.
    (b) Limitation.--Grant funds awarded under this Act shall only be 
used for parents as teachers programs which serve families during the 
period beginning with the birth of a child and ending when the child 
attains the age of 3.

SEC. 6. SPECIAL RULES.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of this section--
            (1) no person, including home school parents, public school 
        parents, or private school parents, shall be required to 
        participate in any program of parent education or developmental 
        screening pursuant to the provisions of this Act;
            (2) no parents as teachers program assisted under this Act 
        shall take any action that infringes in any manner on the right 
        of parents to direct the education of their children; and
            (3) the provisions of section 438(c) of the General 
        Education Provisions Act shall apply to States and eligible 
        entities awarded grants under this Act.

SEC. 7. PARENTS AS TEACHERS NATIONAL CENTER.

    The Secretary shall establish a Parents As Teachers National Center 
to disseminate information to, and provide technical and training 
assistance to, States and eligible entities establishing and operating 
parents as teachers programs.

SEC. 8. EVALUATIONS.

    The Secretary shall complete an evaluation of the parents as 
teachers programs assisted under this Act within 4 years from the date 
of enactment of this Act, including an assessment of such programs' 
impact on at-risk children.

SEC. 9. APPLICATION.

    Each State or eligible entity desiring a grant under this Act shall 
submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner and 
accompanied by such information as the Secretary may reasonably 
require. Each such application shall describe the activities and 
services for which assistance is sought.

SEC. 10. PAYMENTS AND FEDERAL SHARE.

    (a) Payments.--The Secretary shall pay to each State or eligible 
entity having an application approved under section 9 the Federal share 
of the cost of the activities described in the application.
    (b) Federal Share.--
            (1) In general.--The Federal share--
                    (A) for the first year for which a State or 
                eligible entity receives assistance under this Act 
                shall be 100 percent;
                    (B) for the second such year shall be 100 percent;
                    (C) for the third such year shall be 75 percent;
                    (D) for the fourth such year shall be 50 percent; 
                and
                    (E) for the fifth such year shall be 25 percent.
            (2) Non-federal share.--The non-Federal share of payments 
        under this Act may be in cash or in kind, fairly evaluated, 
        including planned equipment or services.

SEC. 11. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated $20,000,000 for fiscal year 
1993, and such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 
1994 through 1997, to carry out this Act.

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