[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1281 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1281

To enhance after-school programs in rural areas of the United States by 
establishing a pilot program to help communities establish and improve 
                      rural after-school programs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 17, 2009

  Mrs. Lincoln (for herself and Mr. Begich) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To enhance after-school programs in rural areas of the United States by 
establishing a pilot program to help communities establish and improve 
                      rural after-school programs.

    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 ``Investment in After-School Programs 
Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. FINDING.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) 21 percent of the children in the United States attend 
        public schools in rural areas;
            (2) more than 14,000,000 school-age children (25 percent of 
        all school-age children) are left alone after school, including 
        more than 40,000 kindergartners;
            (3) only 6,500,000 (11 percent) of children in kindergarten 
        through twelfth grade participate in after-school programs, 
        although an additional 15,000,000 would participate if a 
        quality program were available in the communities of the 
        children;
            (4) in rural areas of the United States, 2,500,000 children 
        live in deep and persistent poverty;
            (5) among children living in rural areas, 19 percent live 
        in poverty, compared to 15 percent among non-rural children;
            (6) rural schools have fewer financial resources that non-
        rural schools, largely as a result of diminished local property 
        tax bases and inequitable distributions of State funds;
            (7) low literacy rates among parents in poor rural 
        communities affect the early language development and 
        educational aspirations of children;
            (8) children living in poverty experience less cognitive 
        stimulation and enrichment than children living in middle-
        income households;
            (9) the poorer and more diverse the rural population, the 
        lower the scores of the students of the population are on the 
        National Assessment of Educational Progress;
            (10) academic outcomes that are linked to after-school 
        programs include--
                    (A) better performance in school as measured by 
                achievement test scores and grades;
                    (B) better attitudes toward school and higher 
                educational aspirations;
                    (C) higher school attendance; and
                    (D) less disciplinary action;
            (11) investing in after-school programs helps children in 
        rural communities break out of the cycle of poverty and creates 
        opportunities for at-risk youth;
            (12) in areas in which resources are limited, after-school 
        programs are often the only source of supplemental enrichment 
        in literacy, nutrition education, technology, and preparation 
        for college entrance exams;
            (13) children attending rural schools have the lowest 
        median per-student funding for after-school programs under the 
        21st century community learning center program under part B of 
        title IV of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
        (20 U.S.C. 7171 et seq.), as compared to children attending 
        urban and suburban schools;
            (14) after-school program providers in rural communities 
        face unique barriers that include--
                    (A) higher transportation costs;
                    (B) fewer economies of scale, because of the 
                smaller population base, which results in less funding 
                per child; and
                    (C) fewer trained staff and community-based 
                organizations with whom to partner;
            (15) in the 30 years before the date of enactment of this 
        Act--
                    (A) the percentage of children in the United States 
                who are overweight has more than doubled; and
                    (B) the number of teenagers who are overweight has 
                nearly tripled;
            (16) rural, low-income children represent the highest 
        obesity group among all children in the United States; and
            (17) after-school programs provide--
                    (A) much-needed opportunities to promote and 
                support healthy lifestyles in youth in addition to 
                constructive learning environments; and
                    (B) effective venues for improving nutrition, 
                nutrition education, and physical activity.

SEC. 3. AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMS.

    Subtitle D of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act is 
amended by inserting after section 365 (7 U.S.C. 2008) the following:

``SEC. 366. AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMS.

    ``(a) Purpose.--The purpose of this section is to enhance after-
school programs in rural areas by helping communities--
            ``(1) to establish after-school programs; and
            ``(2) to improve existing programs by overcoming barriers 
        to service.
    ``(b) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) After-school program.--The term `after-school 
        program' means a program that carries out a broad array of 
        activities during periods when school is not in session (such 
        as before school, after school, or during summer recess and 
        other vacation periods) that advance student academic 
        achievement and promote positive youth development.
            ``(2) Eligible entity.--The term `eligible entity' means a 
        local educational agency (as such term is defined in section 
        9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
        U.S.C. 7801)), educational service agency, community-based 
        organization, another public or private entity, or a consortium 
        of 2 or more such agencies, organizations, or entities.
            ``(3) Rural area.--The term `rural area' means an area that 
        is served by an elementary or secondary school that is 
        designated with a school locale code of Distant Town, Remote 
        Town, Fringe Rural, Distant Rural, or Remote Rural, as 
        determined by the Secretary of Education.
    ``(c) Grants.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall make grants to 
        eligible entities to improve, expand, or establish after-school 
        programs in rural areas.
            ``(2) Requirement.--Each grant under this section shall be 
        in an amount of not less than $25,000.
    ``(d) Duration.--
            ``(1) Term of grant.--The term of a grant under this 
        section may not be for less than 3 years.
            ``(2) Renewal.--The Secretary may renew a grant under this 
        section for a period of not less than 3 years, based on the 
        performance of the eligible entity during the previous grant 
        term.
    ``(e) Uses.--As a condition of the receipt of a grant under this 
section, an eligible entity shall use the grant to fund projects and 
activities described in subsection (c), including transportation, 
professional development, training, recruitment and retention of staff, 
increasing access to technology, and planning.
    ``(f) Evaluation.--The Secretary may use not more than 1 percent of 
the funds under this section--
            ``(1) to conduct evaluations of the effectiveness of 
        programs and activities assisted under subsection (c); and
            ``(2) to disseminate the results of those evaluations for 
        the purpose of refining, improving, and strengthening programs.
    ``(g) Outreach, Training, and Technical Assistance.--The Secretary 
may use not more than 3 percent of the funds made available to carry 
out this section--
            ``(1) to conduct outreach, including bidders' conferences, 
        to ensure widespread knowledge of the availability of resources 
        described in subsection (c);
            ``(2) to disseminate information on best practices and 
        successful program models for serving children and youth in 
        rural areas; and
            ``(3) to provide capacity building, training, and technical 
        assistance to after-school programs and providers in rural 
        areas.
    ``(h) Application.--
            ``(1) In general.--To be considered for a grant under this 
        section, each eligible entity shall submit to the Secretary an 
        application at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by 
        such information as the Secretary may require.
            ``(2) Contents.--An application submitted pursuant to 
        paragraph (1) shall include--
                    ``(A) a description of the after-school program to 
                be funded, including--
                            ``(i) an assurance that the program will 
                        take place in a safe and easily accessible 
                        facility;
                            ``(ii) a description of how children and 
                        youth participating in the program will travel 
                        safely between the program site and home;
                            ``(iii) a description of how the eligible 
                        entity will disseminate information about the 
                        program, including the location of the program, 
                        to the community in a manner that is 
                        understandable and accessible;
                            ``(iv)(I) a description of the services to 
                        be provided to children and youth, which may 
                        include a broad array of activities, such as--
                                    ``(aa) academic enrichment and 
                                youth development activities;
                                    ``(bb) drug and violence prevention 
                                programs;
                                    ``(cc) counseling programs;
                                    ``(dd) art, music, physical 
                                fitness, and recreational programs;
                                    ``(ee) technology education 
                                programs;
                                    ``(ff) character education 
                                programs; and
                                    ``(gg) service-learning programs;
                            ``(II) the roles and responsibilities of 
                        the partners in providing the services; and
                            ``(III) how the services enhance an 
                        existing after-school program; and
                            ``(v) an assurance that the program will 
                        provide a nutritious snack or meal that meets 
                        nutrition standards established by the 
                        Secretary;
                    ``(B) an assurance that the proposed program was 
                developed, and will be carried out, in active 
                collaboration with the schools the students attend;
                    ``(C) an assurance that funds provided under this 
                section will be used to increase the level of State, 
                local, and other non-Federal funds that would, in the 
                absence of funds under this section, be made available 
                for programs and activities authorized under this 
                section, and in no case supplant Federal, State, local, 
                or non-Federal funds;
                    ``(D) a description of the partnership between a 
                local educational agency, a community-based 
                organization, or another public entity or private 
                entity, if applicable; and
                    ``(E) such additional assurances as the Secretary 
                determines to be necessary to ensure compliance with 
                this section.
    ``(i) Priority.--The Secretary shall give priority to applications 
that--
            ``(1) propose partnerships between 2 or more eligible 
        entities; or
            ``(2) propose that a majority of the students participating 
        in the after-school program are eligible for free or reduced 
        price school meals under the Richard B. Russell National School 
        Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) and section 4 of the Child 
        Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773).
    ``(j) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section--
            ``(1) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2010;
            ``(2) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2011; and
            ``(3) such sums as are necessary for each of fiscal years 
        2012 through 2014.''.
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