[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1709 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 1709

To authorize the Secretary of Labor to provide assistance to States for 
  the implementation of enhanced pre-vocational training programs, in 
order to improve the likelihood of enabling welfare recipients to make 
    transitions from public assistance to employment, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 4, 1998

  Mr. Specter introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
         referred to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To authorize the Secretary of Labor to provide assistance to States for 
  the implementation of enhanced pre-vocational training programs, in 
order to improve the likelihood of enabling welfare recipients to make 
    transitions from public assistance to employment, and for other 
                               purposes.

    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 Preparation and Retention 
Training Act of 1998''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) training programs carried out under the Job Training 
        Partnership Act (29 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.) that include a pre-
        vocational component have had placement success rates that are 
        better than the success rates of programs under that Act that 
        lack that component;
            (2) a need exists for skills training to enable individuals 
        who are welfare recipients to make transitions into 
        unsubsidized employment that provides career potential and 
        enables the individuals to achieve economic self-sufficiency;
            (3) current Federal law does not adequately address the 
        tremendously deleterious effect of unfavorable environmental 
        and cultural factors on the ability of such individuals to 
        obtain and retain gainful employment;
            (4) a need exists for a Federal commitment to the 
        development of pre-vocational training programs that focus on--
                    (A) improving the job readiness of individuals who 
                are welfare recipients;
                    (B) preparing the individuals psychologically and 
                attitudinally for employment;
                    (C) teaching the individuals learning and other 
                appropriate skills; and
                    (D) placing the individuals--
                            (i) in permanent unsubsidized employment; 
                        or
                            (ii) in skill training centers and, on 
                        completion of the skill training, in permanent 
                        unsubsidized employment; and
            (5) community-based organizations--
                    (A) have provided such pre-vocational training 
                programs to disadvantaged populations, with 
                demonstrable success; and
                    (B) should receive additional Federal assistance to 
                enable the organizations to enhance the ability of the 
                organizations to provide the training programs in 
                communities with large populations of welfare 
                recipients and enable the organizations to provide the 
                training programs to additional welfare recipients.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Labor.
            (2) Welfare recipient.--The term ``welfare recipient'' 
        means an individual receiving assistance under a State program 
        funded under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 
        U.S.C. 601 et seq.).
            (3) Welfare transition program.--The term ``welfare 
        transition program'' means a vocational training program 
        conducted by or at the direction of a State as part of a State 
        program described in paragraph (2).

SEC. 4. GRANTS TO STATES.

    (a) Grants.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary may make grants to States to 
        enable the States to assist community-based organizations in 
        implementing enhanced pre-vocational training programs for 
        eligible individuals.
            (2) Grant period.--The Secretary shall make the grants for 
        periods of 1 year.
    (b) State Plans.--To be eligible to receive a grant under this 
section, the State shall submit an application to the Secretary at such 
time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary 
may require. At a minimum, the application shall contain--
            (1) a State plan describing the pre-vocational training 
        programs to be carried out in the State with funds made 
        available through the grant; and
            (2) in particular, information describing the manner in 
        which the State will ensure that an appropriate community-based 
        organization in the State will carry out a pre-vocational 
        training program for incarcerated persons described in section 
        5(b)(2)(B), in accordance with section 5(b)(3)(B).
    (c) Award of Grants.--In awarding grants under this section, the 
Secretary shall take into consideration the needs of economically 
distressed urban and rural areas in the States, as determined by the 
Secretary.

SEC. 5. ASSISTANCE TO COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS.

    (a) Assistance.--
            (1) In general.--A State that receives a grant under 
        section 4 shall use the funds made available through the grant 
        to provide financial assistance to community-based 
        organizations, to enable the organizations to implement the 
        pre-vocational training programs referred to in section 4.
            (2) Assistance period.--The State shall make the assistance 
        for periods of 1 year.
    (b) Use of Funds.--
            (1) In general.--A community-based organization that 
        receives financial assistance under this section shall use the 
        assistance to implement a pre-vocational training program, 
        through which the organization shall provide pre-vocational 
        training and placement services to eligible individuals.
            (2) Eligible individuals.--To be eligible to receive 
        services through a pre-vocational training program under this 
        Act, an individual shall
                    (A) be a welfare recipient who--
                            (i) is enrolled in a welfare transition 
                        program; or
                            (ii) is eligible to be enrolled in, but has 
                        not participated in, a welfare transition 
                        program; or
                    (B) be a person who is incarcerated in a Federal, 
                State, or local prison, and will be released from the 
                prison within a reasonable period, as defined in 
                regulation by the Secretary.
            (3) Pre-vocational training.--
                    (A) Welfare recipients.--An organization selected 
                by a State to implement a pre-vocational training 
                program for eligible individuals described in paragraph 
                (2)(A) shall--
                            (i) provide pre-vocational training, 
                        through job training centers, designed to--
                                    (I) as quickly as practicable, 
                                enable the individuals to overcome the 
                                effects of inadequate educational 
                                preparation and unfavorable 
                                environmental and cultural factors, in 
                                order to prepare the individuals for 
                                employment;
                                    (II) improve the job readiness of 
                                the individuals;
                                    (III) prepare the individuals 
                                psychologically and attitudinally for 
                                employment; and
                                    (IV) enable the individuals to 
                                develop learning skills, communication 
                                and computational skills, punctuality, 
                                health and personal maintenance skills, 
                                job seeking skills (including 
                                interviewing skills), basic literacy, 
                                skills required for receipt of a 
                                secondary school diploma or its 
                                equivalent, professionalism, and 
                                responsiveness for authority; and
                            (ii) on completion of the pre-vocational 
                        training, place the individuals--
                                    (I) in permanent unsubsidized 
                                employment; or
                                    (II) in skill training centers that 
                                provide superior skill training for 
                                positions that are quickly obtainable 
                                and, on completion of the skill 
                                training, in permanent unsubsidized 
                                employment.
                    (B) Incarcerated persons.--An organization selected 
                by a State to implement a pre-vocational training 
                program for eligible individuals described in paragraph 
                (2)(B) shall provide the pre-vocational training 
                described in subparagraph (A)(i) in the Federal, State, 
                or local prison involved and provide the placement 
                services described in subparagraph (A)(ii)(II).
            (4) Limits.--The organization shall provide not less than 2 
        weeks and not more than 3 months of pre-vocational training to 
        an eligible individual through the program. The organization 
        shall not provide more than $1200 in services under the program 
        to an eligible individual.
            (5) Special rule.--No organization may charge a fee to an 
        eligible individual for services under the program, if the 
        individual is a citizen or resident alien.
            (6) Coordination.--A community-based organization providing 
        placement services under this subsection shall coordinate the 
        services with the efforts of local private sector businesses to 
        create jobs and employment opportunities.
    (c) Applications.--To be eligible to receive financial assistance 
under this section, a community-based organization shall submit an 
application to the State at such time, in such manner, and containing 
such information as the Secretary may require.

SEC. 6. MONITORING.

    The Secretary shall monitor the effectiveness of programs carried 
out under this Act by collecting information on--
            (1) the percentage of program participants who are placed 
        in employment after that participation;
            (2) the percentage of the participants who are retained in 
        employment after that participation; and
            (3) the economic impact of the employment of the 
        participants.

SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act 
$50,000,000 for fiscal years 1999 and 2000.
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