[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2923 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2923

     To improve the literacy and English skills of limited English 
            proficient individuals, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 15, 2005

    Mr. Grijalva (for himself and Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 
                             the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To improve the literacy and English skills of limited English 
            proficient individuals, 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 ``Families Learning and Understanding 
English Together Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Census Bureau reports that 17.9 percent of United 
        States households speak a language other than English at home.
            (2) Many parents in many recently-immigrated families speak 
        little to no English, possess low literacy skills in their 
        native language due to limited education, and frequently 
        struggle to assist their children's English language 
        development.
            (3) The United States is a nation of immigrants, and even 
        today, according to the 2004 update of the Census, over 
        34,000,000 individuals who live in the United States were born 
        outside the country.

SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

     The purpose of this Act is to improve the educational, social, and 
economic advancement of families with limited English proficient 
individuals in need of literacy skills by expanding and enhancing 
family literacy services for such families.

SEC. 4. COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) Program Authorized.--From funds made available pursuant to 
section 8, and after reserving funds under section 5, the Secretary may 
award grants to family literacy providers to provide, directly or 
through a contract with another provider, family literacy services 
designed for families with limited English proficient individuals. Each 
grant under this Act shall be for a period of 1 year and may be renewed 
for a total of 5 additional years.
    (b) Application.--Family literacy providers who desire to receive a 
grant under this Act shall submit an application at such time, 
containing such information, and in such manner as the Secretary may 
require. Such application shall include the following:
            (1) An assurance that services provided with funds under 
        this Act shall be provided to the hardest-to-reach populations, 
        including populations with the greatest economic and social 
        need.
            (2) A description of the services that will be provided 
        with funds under this Act, including how the services will be 
        based on scientifically based reading research.
            (3) A description of the outcome measures, consistent with 
        section 6, that are based on scientifically based research and 
        will be employed by the family literacy provider to measure the 
        effectiveness of services provided with funds under this Act.
            (4) An assurance that, in providing family literacy 
        services through the grant, the family literacy provider will 
        collaborate with one or more of the following:
                    (A) A local educational agency.
                    (B) An elementary school.
                    (C) A secondary school.
                    (D) A nonprofit entity.
    (c) Grant Amount.--The amount of a grant under this Act for a 
fiscal year shall not be less than $150,000 or more than $1,000,000.
    (d) Matching Funds.--The Secretary may not award a grant under this 
Act to an applicant unless the applicant agrees to provide, from funds 
derived from non-Federal sources, matching funds in an amount that is 
not less than 20 percent of the amount of the grant. Such matching 
funds may be provided in the form of in-kind contributions.
    (e) Services Requirements.--Family literacy services under this Act 
shall be provided in sufficient intensity in terms of hours, and shall 
be of sufficient duration, to make sustainable changes in a family and 
shall integrate all of the following activities:
            (1) Interactive literacy activities between parents and 
        their children.
            (2) Training for parents regarding how to be the primary 
        teacher for their children and full partners in the education 
        of their children.
            (3) Parent literacy training that leads to economic self-
        sufficiency.
            (4) An age-appropriate education to prepare children for 
        success in school and life experiences.
    (f) Special Rule.--Family literacy services under this Act may be 
provided to a family only if--
            (1) each parent in the family has attained 16 years of age; 
        and
            (2) the family has at least one child from birth who has 
        not yet attained 8 years of age.

SEC. 5. RESERVATIONS.

    (a) Technical Assistance and Training.--From funds made available 
pursuant to section 8 for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall reserve 
$3,000,000 to provide, directly or through a grant, contract, or 
cooperative agreement with an entity that has experience in the 
development and operation of successful family literacy services 
programs, technical assistance and training for the purpose of--
            (1) assisting grantees that provide family literacy 
        services to improve the quality of such services; and
            (2) enabling grantees that demonstrate the effective 
        provision of family literacy services, based on improved 
        outcomes for children and their parents, to provide technical 
        assistance and training to other agencies and to service 
        providers that work in collaboration with such agencies to 
        provide family literacy services.
    (b) Evaluation.--From funds made available pursuant to section 8 
for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall reserve not more than 2 percent 
of such funds for the purpose of conducting an annual evaluation of the 
grant program conducted under this Act. Such evaluation shall be used 
by the Secretary--
            (1) for program improvement;
            (2) to further define the program's goals and objectives; 
        and
            (3) to determine program effectiveness.

SEC. 6. OUTCOME MEASURES.

    The Secretary shall require each family literacy provider receiving 
a grant under this Act to meet culturally appropriate and competent 
outcome measures described in the provider's application under section 
4, including outcome measures with respect to--
            (1) acquisition of the English language, including improved 
        educational levels;
            (2) improved parenting and life skills;
            (3) the improved ability of parents with limited English 
        proficiency to effectively interact with officials of the 
        schools their children attend;
            (4) reduced dependency on welfare;
            (5) increased employment opportunities or hours;
            (6) improved developmental skills and independent learning 
        of the children; and
            (7) increased parental participation in their children's 
        education and home environments that are supportive of 
        educational endeavors.

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act:
            (1) Application of esea terms.--The terms ``elementary 
        school'', ``limited English proficient'', ``local educational 
        agency'', ``scientifically based research'', and ``secondary 
        school'' have the meanings given such terms in section 9101 of 
        the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
        7801). The term ``scientifically based reading research'' has 
        the meaning given such term in section 1208 of the Elementary 
        and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6368).
            (2) Family literacy provider.--The term ``family literacy 
        provider'' means an entity that--
                    (A) is located in a geographic area containing at 
                least one public elementary school or secondary school 
                with a majority enrollment of children with limited 
                English proficiency; and
                    (B) is one of the following:
                            (i) A current grantee under subpart 3 of 
                        part B of title I of the Elementary and 
                        Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6381 
                        et seq.) (commonly referred to as ``William F. 
                        Goodling Even Start Family Literacy 
                        Programs''), the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 
                        et seq.), or any other Federal or State early 
                        childhood program.
                            (ii) An adult education provider.
                            (iii) A local educational agency.
                            (iv) A public or private nonprofit agency.
                            (v) Another entity that has the 
                        demonstrated ability to provide family literacy 
                        services to adults and families.
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Education.

SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

     There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act 
$50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 through 2011.
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