[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 409 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 409

   To provide loan forgiveness to social workers who work for child 
                          protective agencies.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 13, 2003

 Mr. DeWine (for himself and Mr. Rockefeller) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To provide loan forgiveness to social workers who work for child 
                          protective agencies.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Approximately 3,000,000 reports of child abuse and 
        neglect must be investigated each year.
            (2) Approximately 1,000,000 of these reports are confirmed 
        and require ongoing intervention.
            (3) On any given day in the United States, more than 
        500,000 children are being served outside their homes by the 
        child welfare system.
            (4) These children are served in more than 150,000 foster 
        homes and more than 5,000 residential programs.
            (5) The child welfare workforce crisis has developed as the 
        result of the following 3 major factors:
                    (A) Overall low levels of unemployment and the 
                resulting increase in competition for workers in all 
                sectors of the economy.
                    (B) The increasing numbers of children and families 
                needing service coupled with the decreasing numbers of 
                workers in the employment pool.
                    (C) The relatively low pay and difficult working 
                conditions that exist in many child welfare agencies.
            (6) The vacancy rate in State child welfare agencies is 8.1 
        percent, and 14.3 percent for private agencies.
            (7) The overall turnover rate in child welfare agencies has 
        doubled since 1991, to 13.9 percent in public agencies and to 
        46.5 percent in private agencies.
            (8) The child welfare workforce crisis is real and is 
        already compromising the ability of the child welfare system to 
        effectively provide essential services to its children and 
        families. In addition, analysis of trends indicates that the 
        situation will worsen over the next decade. It is clear that 
        steps must be taken now to encourage more workers to enter the 
        child welfare services field and to improve the salaries, 
        working conditions, and training of workers who provide these 
        critically important services.

SEC. 2. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR CHILD WELFARE WORKERS.

    (a) Guaranteed Student Loans.--Part B of title IV of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965 is amended by inserting after section 428K (20 
U.S.C. 1078-11) the following:

``SEC. 428L. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR CHILD WELFARE WORKERS.

    ``(a) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this section--
            ``(1) to bring more highly trained individuals into the 
        child welfare profession; and
            ``(2) to keep more highly trained child welfare workers in 
        the child welfare field for longer periods of time.
    ``(b) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Child welfare services.--The term `child welfare 
        services' has the meaning given the term in section 425 of the 
        Social Security Act.
            ``(2) Child welfare agency.--The term `child welfare 
        agency' means the State agency responsible for administering 
        subpart 1 of part B of title IV of the Social Security Act and 
        any public or private agency under contract with the State 
        agency to provide child welfare services.
            ``(3) Institution of higher education.--The term 
        `institution of higher education' has the meaning given the 
        term in section 101.
            ``(4) State.--The term `State' has the meaning given the 
        term in section 1101(a)(1) of the Social Security Act for 
        purposes of title IV of such Act, and includes an Indian tribe.
    ``(c) Demonstration Program.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary may carry out a 
        demonstration program of assuming the obligation to repay, 
        pursuant to subsection (d), a loan made, insured, or guaranteed 
        under this part or part D (excluding loans made under sections 
        428B and 428C, or comparable loans made under part D) for any 
        new borrower after the date of enactment of this section, who--
                    ``(A) obtains a bachelor's or master's degree in 
                social work;
                    ``(B) obtains employment in public or private child 
                welfare services; and
                    ``(C) has worked full time as a social worker for 2 
                consecutive years preceding the year for which the 
                determination is made.
            ``(2) Award basis; priority.--
                    ``(A) Award basis.--Subject to subparagraph (B), 
                loan repayment under this section shall be on a first-
                come, first-served basis and subject to the 
                availability of appropriations.
                    ``(B) Priority.--The Secretary shall give priority 
                in providing loan repayment under this section for a 
                fiscal year to student borrowers who received loan 
                repayment under this section for the preceding fiscal 
                year.
            ``(3) Outreach.--The Secretary shall post a notice on a 
        Department Internet web site regarding the availability of loan 
        repayment under this section, and shall notify institutions of 
        higher education regarding the availability of loan repayment 
        under this section.
            ``(4) Regulations.--The Secretary is authorized to 
        prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to carry out the 
        provisions of this section.
    ``(d) Loan Repayment.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall assume the 
        obligation to repay--
                    ``(A) after the third consecutive year of 
                employment described in subsection (c)(1)(C), 20 
                percent of the total amount of all loans made under 
                this part or part D (excluding loans made under section 
                428B or 428C, or comparable loans made under part D) 
                for any new borrower after the date of enactment of 
                this section;
                    ``(B) after the fourth consecutive year of such 
                employment, 30 percent of the total amount of such 
                loans; and
                    ``(C) after the fifth consecutive year of such 
                employment, 50 percent of the total amount of such 
                loans.
            ``(2) Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
        construed to authorize the refunding of any repayment of a loan 
        made under this part or part D.
            ``(3) Interest.--If a portion of a loan is repaid by the 
        Secretary under this section for any year, the proportionate 
        amount of interest on such loan which accrues for such year 
        shall be repaid by the Secretary.
            ``(4) Special rule.--In the case of a student borrower not 
        participating in loan repayment pursuant to this section who 
        returns to an institution of higher education after graduation 
        from an institution of higher education for the purpose of 
        obtaining a degree described in subsection (c)(1)(A), the 
        Secretary is authorized to assume the obligation to repay the 
        total amount of loans made under this part or part D incurred 
        for a maximum of 2 academic years in returning to an 
        institution of higher education for the purpose of obtaining 
        such a degree. Such loans shall only be repaid for borrowers 
        who qualify for loan repayment pursuant to the provisions of 
        this section, and shall be repaid in accordance with the 
        provisions of paragraph (1).
            ``(5) Ineligibility of national service award recipients.--
        No student borrower may, for the same service, receive a 
        benefit under both this section and subtitle D of title I of 
        the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12601 
        et seq.).
    ``(e) Repayment to Eligible Lenders.--The Secretary shall pay to 
each eligible lender or holder for each fiscal year an amount equal to 
the aggregate amount of loans which are subject to repayment pursuant 
to this section for such year.
    ``(f) Application for Repayment.--
            ``(1) In general.--Each eligible individual desiring loan 
        repayment under this section shall submit a complete and 
        accurate application to the Secretary at such time, in such 
        manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may 
        require.
            ``(2) Conditions.--An eligible individual may apply for 
        loan repayment under this section after completing each year of 
        qualifying employment. The borrower shall receive forbearance 
        while engaged in qualifying employment unless the borrower is 
        in deferment while so engaged.
    ``(g) Evaluation.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall conduct, by grant or 
        contract, an independent national evaluation of the impact of 
        the demonstration program assisted under this section on the 
        field of child welfare services.
            ``(2) Competitive basis.--The grant or contract described 
        in paragraph (1) shall be awarded on a competitive basis.
            ``(3) Contents.--The evaluation described in this 
        subsection shall determine--
                    ``(A) whether the loan forgiveness program has 
                increased child welfare workers' education in the areas 
                covered by loan forgiveness;
                    ``(B) whether the loan forgiveness program has 
                contributed to increased time on the job for child 
                welfare workers as measured by--
                            ``(i) the length of time child welfare 
                        workers receiving loan forgiveness have worked 
                        in the child welfare field; and
                            ``(ii) the length of time such workers 
                        continue to work in such field after the 
                        workers meet the requirements for loan 
                        forgiveness under this section; and
                    ``(C) whether the loan forgiveness program has 
                increased the experience and the quality of child 
                welfare workers and has contributed to increased 
                performance in the outcomes of child welfare services 
                in terms of child well-being, permanency, and safety, 
                as determined after consultation with the Secretary of 
                Health and Human Services.
            ``(4) Interim and final evaluation reports.--The Secretary 
        shall prepare and submit to the President and Congress such 
        interim reports regarding the evaluation described in this 
        subsection as the Secretary determines appropriate, and shall 
        prepare and so submit a final report regarding the evaluation 
        by September 30, 2005.
    ``(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $20,000,000 for fiscal year 
2004, and such sums as may be necessary for each of the 4 succeeding 
fiscal years.''.
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