[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 710 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 710

    To provide grants for demonstration projects to coordinate the 
      administration of services to needy families with children.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 26, 1995

  Mr. Menendez (for himself, Mrs. Meek of Florida, Mr. Hilliard, Mr. 
   Frost, Ms. Woolsey, Mr. Serrano, Mr. Dellums, and Mr. Hastings of 
   Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
          Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To provide grants for demonstration projects to coordinate the 
      administration of services to needy families with children.

    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 ``Family Service Center Act''.

SEC. 2. DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS TO COORDINATE THE ADMINISTRATION OF 
              SERVICES TO NEEDY FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN.

    (a) In General.--In order to coordinate the administration of 
programs that provide services to needy families with children, the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services (in this section referred to as 
``the Secretary'') may authorize States to conduct demonstration 
projects in accordance with this section.
    (b) Description of Project.--Each State desiring to conduct a 
demonstration project under this section may submit to the Secretary an 
application that contains a description of the measures to be employed 
to coordinate the administration of--
            (1) programs for needy families with children that are 
        administered by the Secretary; and
            (2) programs administered by the State, which offer 
        services for children, youth, or needy families with children, 
        that the State considers appropriate to include in the 
        demonstration project.
    (c) Projects Aimed at a Diversity of Clients.--The Secretary shall 
ensure that, as a group, the demonstration projects authorized to be 
conducted under this section serve urban, rural, and linguistically and 
culturally diverse clients and include the broadest possible range of 
services.
    (d) Project Requirements.--Each State authorized to conduct a 
demonstration project under this section shall--
            (1) ensure that the project provides--
                    (A) each client with a single place and 
                organization providing access to, and information and 
                counseling about, services for needy families with 
                children;
                    (B) access points in clients' neighborhoods for 
                communication with service providers regarding their 
                applications and benefits through electronic data 
                processing and communications technology; and
                    (C) approaches to integrating the administration of 
                services that are linguistically and culturally 
                appropriate to the clientele of the project; and
            (2) conduct the project in accordance with such other 
        requirements as the Secretary may prescribe.
    (e) Grants; Duration of Projects.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall make grants to each 
        State whose application to conduct a demonstration project 
        under this subsection is approved by the Secretary, to assist 
        the State in carrying out the project for a period of not more 
        than 3 years.
            (2) Renewal.--The Secretary may extend for not more than 3 
        additional years the authority to conduct any demonstration 
        project under this section, upon approval by the Secretary 
        based on the effectiveness of the project in achieving the 
        objectives of this section.
            (3) Timing of grant payments.--The Secretary may pay grants 
        under this section in advance or in installments, as the 
        Secretary determines appropriate.
    (f) State Evaluation of Project.--
            (1) In general.--Each State that conducts a demonstration 
        project under this section shall, as a part of the project--
                    (A) conduct an evaluation of the effectiveness and 
                outcomes of the project in improving the coordination 
                and delivery, and in reducing the administrative costs, 
                of services to needy families with children; and
                    (B) cooperate with the Secretary in the conduct of 
                national evaluations of the effectiveness and cost 
                savings of all such demonstration projects.
            (2) Report.--
                    (A) In general.--Each State authorized to conduct a 
                demonstration project under this section shall submit 
                to the Secretary a report on the results of the 
                evaluation described in paragraph (1).
                    (B) Timing.--The report required by subparagraph 
                (A) with respect to a demonstration project shall be 
                submitted within 6 months after the earlier of--
                            (i) the completion of the project; or
                            (ii) the end of the 3-year period that 
                        begins with the commencement of the project.
    (g) State Report on Impediments to Delivery of Services, and on 
Measures Taken To Eliminate or Reduce Such Impediments.--Each State 
authorized to conduct a demonstration project under this section shall 
submit to the Secretary at such time as the Secretary may prescribe a 
report that describes--
            (1) the administrative policies and laws of the Federal 
        Government and of the State or of a political subdivision of 
        the State, that the State has identified as impediments to the 
        coordination of the delivery of services to needy families with 
        children; and
            (2) the measures that the State has taken or intends to 
        take to eliminate or reduce the impediments described in 
        paragraph (1) that are attributable to administrative policies 
        and laws of the State or of a political subdivision of the 
        State.
    (h) Federal Evaluations.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall conduct evaluations of 
        the implementation and outcomes of the demonstration projects 
        authorized under this section.
            (2) Reports.--Not later than 3 years after the date of the 
        enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, the 
        Secretary shall submit to the Congress a report the results of 
        the evaluations conducted under paragraph (1) that includes the 
        recommendations of the Secretary as to any statutory changes 
        that would improve integration of services provided through 
        programs included in the demonstration projects conducted under 
        this section.
            (3) Funding.--The Secretary may reserve up to 5 percent of 
        the amounts appropriated for grants under this section for the 
        purpose of conducting and reporting on evaluations of the 
        demonstration projects authorized under this section.
    (i) No Waiver Authority.--This section shall not be construed to 
authorize the Secretary or appropriate agency head to waive or modify 
any requirement of any program described in subsection (b).
    (j) State Defined.--As used in this section, the term ``State'' 
includes the several States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 
of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the 
United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Trust 
Territory of the Pacific Islands.
                                 <all>