[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 371 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 371

  To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to clarify the house 
        parent exemption to certain wage and hour requirements.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 24, 2007

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to clarify the house 
        parent exemption to certain wage and hour requirements.

    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 ``Appropriate and Consistent Care for 
Youth Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Private, nonprofit organizations dedicated to providing 
        residential care and treatment for children have long been a 
        vital part of the social service networks serving America's 
        communities.
            (2) No longer just serving orphans, these institutions tend 
        to the needs of the ``orphans of the living'', children and 
        youth who are unable to remain in their natural homes due to 
        emotional conflicts, life adjustment problems, relationship 
        disturbances, and spiritual and psychological scarring 
        associated with sexual, physical, and emotional abuse.
            (3) The effectiveness of these institutions in caring for 
        these troubled and abused children has long been due to the 
        love, care, and supervision provided by residential 
        houseparents.
            (4) These houseparents volunteer to permanently reside at 
        the group home in which they work in order to create a family 
        environment for those without a true sense of home, one that 
        offers a structured atmosphere where these vulnerable youth can 
        heal, grow, and become productive members of society.
            (5) Traditionally, these houseparents have received food, 
        lodging, insurance, and transportation free of charge, in 
        addition to a fixed salary.
            (6) Congress recognized the unique role houseparents serve, 
        and passed the Hershey Exemption (section 13(b)(24) of the Fair 
        Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 212(b)(24))) in 1974 to 
        assist with the provision of houseparents for orphaned and 
        disadvantaged youth by allowing for lodging and food provided 
        free of cost to be considered when determining an appropriate 
        salary for married houseparents serving with their spouse at 
        nonprofit educational institutions.
            (7) Since the addition of the Hershey Exemption, research 
        shows that due to the negative experiences some troubled youth 
        have faced, they find a better environment for growth in having 
        a single houseparent of the same sex.
            (8) Because the wage provision under the Hershey Exemption 
        was extended only to married houseparents serving with their 
        spouse, the Department of Labor has enforced a rule that single 
        houseparents need to be reimbursed on a 24-hour-a-day basis, 
        even for time they are sleeping or otherwise not directly 
        caring for residents of the home, and regardless of the 
        provision of free lodging, food, and other services.
            (9) This has placed an undue financial burden on these 
        nonprofit institutions who wish to provide the best possible 
        care for their residents, forcing some homes to close and 
        others to adopt an employment model where ``teams'' of 
        houseparents work 8-hour shifts to care for residents. This 
        ``team'' model drives up the cost and destroys the family-like 
        arrangement of the home.
            (10) In order to provide for more appropriate and 
        consistent care for these foster children and troubled youth, 
        this Act seeks to extend the Hershey Exemption to single 
        houseparents residing in educational institutions where they 
        receive lodging and board free of charge.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT OF 1938.

    Section 13(b)(24) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 
U.S.C. 212(b)(24)) is amended--
            (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking 
        ``and his spouse''; and
            (2) in the matter following subparagraph (B)--
                    (A) by striking ``and his spouse reside'' and 
                inserting ``resides'';
                    (B) by striking ``receive'' and inserting 
                ``receives''; and
                    (C) by striking ``are together'' and inserting 
                ``is''.
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