Short title

This Act may be cited as the

Rural Mothers and Fathers Choice Act

Findings and purpose

(a)

Findings

Congress finds the following:(1)After generations of unfair policies, failing academics, poor health outcomes, and struggling economies, many residents of rural communities across the United States feel trapped in a system that puts additional burdens on its citizens.(2)Children entering kindergarten who live in rural communities often face barriers due to lower incomes and lack of access to quality early childhood education providers. These barriers increase the chance that rural children may be categorized as academically under prepared.(3)According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, the economic impact of the childcare gap in rural areas falls between $32,790,000,000 and $49,930,000,000. This lack of childcare options makes it more difficult for rural parents to return to work.(4)Schools attended by rural students offer limited access to advanced coursework, offering less science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (referred to in this Act as STEM) teaching capacity and fewer STEM extracurricular activities. In turn, rural students are significantly less likely to enroll in STEM degree programs at the college level.(5)According to the National Student Clearinghouse, only 55 percent of rural students enrolled in college directly out of high school in 2022, compared with 64 percent of suburban students and 59 percent of urban students. Also, only 80 percent of college students from rural communities continue their higher education into the second year, compared with 85 percent of suburban students and 81 percent of urban students.(6)Longitudinal studies of academic growth indicate the increased importance of summer academic opportunities for rural children, who suffer larger academic summer loss than non-rural students. As a result, while rural students start kindergarten slightly ahead of non-rural students, they fall behind by middle school, according to the American Educational Research Association.(7)Due to the lack of high-quality educational supports in rural schools, rural students who struggle to read are less likely to catch up than non-rural students. According to the University of New Hampshire, the average reading achievement of a rural third grader who scores in the tenth percentile of reading achievement in kindergarten is approximately 6 to 7 points lower than the reading achievement of the average suburban and urban third grader with comparable kindergarten achievement and socioeconomic background.(8)Between the 2017–2018 and 2021–2022 school years, chronic absenteeism increased 47 percent among rural students, compared to 44 percent for students in urban districts.(9)According to the Health Resources & Services Administration, rural children are less likely to have one or more preventive medical and dental visits in the past 12 months (59.6 percent) than urban children (66.7 percent). This disparity holds at all levels of household income. Rural children are also more likely to be overweight or obese (36 percent) relative to urban children (31.6 percent).(10)According to the American College of Education, job training program completion rates vary significantly between urban and rural areas. Rural populations face additional barriers due to geographic isolation, limited broadband access, fewer job training options and smaller training cohorts that restrict program availability. Rural community colleges often struggle to maintain enough enrollment to offer identical certifications.(11)Roughly 1 in 7 public high school students fails to earn their high school diploma in 4 years. A 16- to 24-year-old coming from a high-income family is about 7 times as likely to have completed high school as a 16- to 24-year-old coming from a low-income family.(12)The average national cost to confine a youth in a juvenile justice facility is $214,620 per year. Comparatively, per pupil annual spending for a student in kindergarten through grade 12 is only $17,620, however spending in States with largely rural populations tends to be in the $13,000–$11,000 range per student.(b)

Purpose

The purpose of this Act is to establish a 10-year, place-based Federal program designed to strengthen families in rural and tribal communities by providing resources to enhance educational and employment choices that strengthen communities, including by—(1)promoting evidence-based literacy and academic success, including through—(A)kindergarten readiness;(B)reading and mathematics proficiency;(C)improving school attendance and reducing chronic absenteeism;(D)on-time high school graduation; and(E)alignment of career and technical education pathways with local work opportunities;(2)empowering family choice, including through—(A)supporting household income, employment, and financial stability through meaningful workforce development;(B)childcare and after-school programs to support working parents;(C)broadband-enabled access to telehealth and mobile health services;(D)distance learning opportunities for workforce development;(E)transportation support for childcare and career stability; and(F)emphasis on the role of the mother and father in the family; and(3)returning control of services to the States, including through—(A)durable rural service networks across education, health, workforce, and early childhood sectors;(B)mental and behavioral health services;(C)substance use recovery supports;(D)child abuse prevention and services;(E)support for rural businesses and economic growth;(F)data systems and shared dashboards; and(G)healthcare and child care workforces.

Definitions

In this Act:(1)

Hub and spoke site

The term hub and spoke site means central, permanent facilities (referred to as a hub site) operated by an eligible entity from which services funded under this Act are coordinated and delivered to families in the service area on an ongoing basis, and affiliated locations (each referred to as a spoke site), which may include mobile units, partner facilities, schools, health clinics, or other community locations, through which the eligible entity or partners of the eligible entity deliver a subset of those services to families in the service area. An eligible entity may operate more than one hub and spoke site within its service area.(2)

Eligible entity

The term eligible entity means—(A)a lead entity that is—(i)a nonprofit organization that—(I)has its headquarters in a rural area; and(II)has not less than 10 years of positive measurable outcomes with respect to one or more activities described in section 2(b); or(ii)a Tribal government or organization authorized by a Tribal government to serve as a lead entity for carrying out a grant under this Act; and(B)continuous active partners, which may include—(i)a nonprofit organization or governmental agency serving students in kindergarten through grade 12;(ii)an early childcare provider (defined as an early childhood education program under section 103 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1003));(iii)a health or behavioral healthcare provider;(iv)an economic development agency; or(v)a local or Tribal government.(3)

Family support hub

The term family support hub means a location that provides family-based services, including services described in section 4(c)(1), that are provided by the lead entity or a partner entity of the eligible entity receiving funds under this Act. A hub site may serve as a family support hub.(4)

Rural area

The term rural area means—(A)a micropolitan urban area of 10,000 to 49,999 residents or a rural tract outside of an urban area, as provided by the United States Department of Agriculture;(B)a county that has a population of less than 50,000 people; or(C)lands designated as tribal or frontier counties.(5)

Secretary

The term Secretary means the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Grant program authorized; uses of funds

(a)

Program authorized

(1)

In general

From amounts appropriated to carry out this Act, the Secretary shall award planning and implementation grants to eligible entities to enable those eligible entities to carry out the activities described in this section.(2)

Reservation of funds

From amounts appropriated to carry out this Act, the Secretary shall reserve 10 percent for such planning and implementation grants for eligible entities described in section 3(2)(A)(ii).(3)

Administrative costs

(A)

In General

The Secretary shall reserve not less than 5 percent and not more than 7 percent of amounts appropriated to carry out this Act for the costs of administration, evaluation, and technical assistance.(B)

Technical assistance provider

From the amounts reserved under subparagraph (A), not less than 30 percent shall be used to award a grant, on a competitive basis, to a single national entity to serve as the technical assistance provider for program grantees. Such entity shall have—(i)a strong national record of supporting communities in improving child and student outcomes through place-based strategies;(ii)a nationally accessible technology platform for efficiently scaling capabilities of place-based implementation;(iii)an externally validated framework for building cross sector partnerships resulting in better outcomes for children and families; and(iv)experience supporting the diverse needs of rural and Tribal place-based partnerships.(4)

Allocation between planning and implementation

Of the amounts appropriated under section 10 for a fiscal year and remaining after the reservation of funds under paragraph (3), the Secretary shall allocate 10 percent for planning grants awarded under subsection (b) and 90 percent for implementation grants awarded under subsection (c). The reservation in paragraph (2) shall be applied proportionally within each of the planning grant and implementation grant funding allocations.(b)

Planning grants

The Secretary shall award not more than 3 planning grants to eligible entities for a 12-month period, in an amount equal to not more than $500,000 each, to enable eligible entities receiving a planning grant to—(1)develop goals, objectives, and activities;(2)collect baseline data; and(3)secure necessary partnerships and agreements.(c)

Implementation grants

The Secretary shall award not more than 6 implementation grants to eligible entities for a 10-year period, in an amount equal to $6,000,000 each per year (subject to appropriations and performance requirements). An eligible entity that receives an implementation grant under this section shall use grant funds over a 10-year period to carry out activities through hub and spoke sites in not fewer than 4 of the 6 categories listed in paragraphs (1) through (6), including not less than 1 activity under paragraph (2) or (3) and not less than 1 activity under paragraph (4) or (5):(1)Support fixed or mobile family support hubs, which shall include one or more of the following:(A)Carrying out case management services and providing referrals to support family choices in the pursuit of meeting a family’s educational, health, and workforce needs.(B)Conducting home visits to help families develop plans to reach their personal goals, and providing family outreach to support activities to meet those goals.(C)Providing parenting and caregiver guidance to empower parental choice.(D)Providing mental health and substance use disorder screening or treatment.(E)Providing telehealth services to remote communities.(F)Providing legal or financial counseling.(2)Support early childhood services, which shall include one or more of the following:(A)Improving infant or toddler capacity at childcare sites within the service area.(B)Family, friend, and neighbor caregiver support systems to raise individual awareness of options in support of informed family choices.(C)Coordinating services across State, local, and provider networks to reduce duplication and improve efficiencies.(D)Providing transportation for childcare access.(3)Supports for students in kindergarten through grade 12, either in school or after school, which shall include one or more of the following:(A)Evidence-based literacy programming and tutoring services.(B)Attendance interventions.(C)Tutoring in reading or mathematics.(D)After-school programming.(E)Career and technical education vertical alignment with workforce partners.(F)School-based mental health services.(4)Economic mobility activities, which shall include one or more of the following:(A)Apprenticeships and work-based learning, except that participation in a Department of Labor Registered Apprenticeship shall not be required.(B)Childcare-linked training.(C)Small business coaching.(D)Workforce training.(5)Health access services, which shall include one or more of the following:(A)Community health workers.(B)Evidence-based substance use disorder treatment.(C)Maternal safety bundles, as determined by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.(D)Mobile and tele-health services.(6)Infrastructure enablers, which shall include one or more of the following:(A)Broadband hotspots.(B)Local data systems.(C)Partnerships with transportation companies to increase availability.(D)Childcare facility upgrades.(E)Driver’s education and transportation vouchers.(d)

Waiver

The Secretary may waive the requirement in subsection (c) to address not fewer than 4 categories of activities if—(1)an applicant demonstrates in the application that the eligible entity serves an extremely high-need or tribal area; and(2)the Secretary finds that a narrower set of activities will more effectively achieve the stated program outcomes.

Family governance and community engagement

(a)

In general

Each eligible entity receiving a grant under this Act shall establish a Family Advisory Council, which shall consist of not less than 7 members, not less than 40 percent of whom shall be parents or caregivers who reside in the area that will be served by the eligible entity through the grant under this Act.(b)

Duties

Each Family Advisory Council shall vote on recommendations regarding the budget and plans of the eligible entity regarding the activities carried out with a grant under this Act.

Application; selection criteria

(a)

Application

An eligible entity desiring to receive a grant under this Act shall submit an application to the Secretary not later than 45 days after the publication of a Notice of Funding Availability. The Secretary shall publish a Notice of Funding Availability not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and, to the extent practicable, not earlier than 60 days after such date, and shall award grants not later than 120 days after the close of the application period. Applications shall contain such information as the Secretary may require, including, at a minimum, each of the following:(1)Abstract.(2)Proposal Narrative.(3)Organizational Capacity.(4)Work Plan.(5)Budget and Budget Justification.(6)Letters of Commitment and Support.(7)Staffing Plan.(b)

Selection

In selecting eligible entities to receive an implementation grant or planning grant, the Secretary shall consider the following, with the following percentages of weighted consideration:(1)Need (20 percent).(2)Family engagement and governance (10 percent).(3)Integrated service plan (15 percent).(4)Workforce and partner capacity (10 percent).(5)Prior experience and evidence of capability (25 percent).(6)Evidence use and literacy alignment (10 percent).(7)Sustainability and match strategy (10 percent).(c)

Priority

In selecting eligible entities to receive a grant under this Act, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible entities that—(1)are located in counties with a population of less than 50,000 people; or(2)serve communities that are classified as distressed by the Economic Innovation Group, as of the date of enactment of this Act, or as subsequently updated by the Economic Innovation Group’s Distressed Communities Index.

Performance data and evaluation; reporting

(a)

Grant period

An implementation grant under this Act shall be for a 10-year period, if the eligible entity receiving the grant successfully completes a performance review under this section after year 3 and year 6 of the grant period.(b)

Reporting

Not less than twice per year, each eligible entity that receives a grant under this Act shall prepare and submit to the Secretary a report that contains, at a minimum, the following information with respect to the populations served by the eligible entity using grant funds:(1)Data about household income, employment, and food security.(2)Data about developmental screening, kindergarten readiness, and childcare availability and affordability.(3)Data about chronic absenteeism in elementary and secondary school, literacy rates in grade 3, mathematics proficiency rates in grade 8, and high school graduation rates.(4)Data about illegal substance use, dependency recovery engagement, avoidable emergency department visits, and maternal health indicators.

Funding

(a)

Matching funds

(1)

In general

Subject to paragraph (2), each eligible entity that receives an implementation grant awarded under this Act shall—(A)have zero matching requirement for years 1 through 3 of the grant period;(B)contribute an amount equal to 10 percent of the amount of such grant funds for years 4 through 6 of the grant period; and(C)contribute an amount equal to 20 percent of the amount of such grant funds for years 7 through 10 of the grant period.(2)

Cash or in-kind

Matching requirements may be met through cash or in kind contributions.(b)

Supplement not supplant

An eligible entity shall use Federal funds received under this Act only to supplement the funds that would, in the absence of such Federal funds, be made available from other Federal, State, and local sources to carry out activities under this Act, and not to supplant such funds.(c)

Flexibility

An eligible entity receiving a grant under this Act may coordinate funds received under this Act with funds received under programs administered by the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Labor, provided that such funds are used in a manner that is consistent with the requirements of each applicable program and that grant funds under this Act are used in accordance with the supplement-not-supplant requirement under subsection (c).

Authorization of appropriations

There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2027 and each of the following 9 fiscal years.