42 USC 629 - Grants for programs for mentoring children of prisoners

View all text of Subpart 2 [§ 629 - § 629i]

§ 629i. Grants for programs for mentoring children of prisoners

(a) Findings and purposes

(1) Findings

(A) In the period between 1991 and 1999, the number of children with a parent incarcerated in a Federal or State correctional facility increased by more than 100 percent, from approximately 900,000 to approximately 2,000,000. In 1999, 2.1 percent of all children in the United States had a parent in Federal or State prison.

(B) Prior to incarceration, 64 percent of female prisoners and 44 percent of male prisoners in State facilities lived with their children.

(C) Nearly 90 percent of the children of incarcerated fathers live with their mothers, and 79 percent of the children of incarcerated mothers live with a grandparent or other relative.

(D) Parental arrest and confinement lead to stress, trauma, stigmatization, and separation problems for children. These problems are coupled with existing problems that include poverty, violence, parental substance abuse, high-crime environments, intrafamilial abuse, child abuse and neglect, multiple care givers, and/or prior separations. As a result, these children often exhibit a broad variety of behavioral, emotional, health, and educational problems that are often compounded by the pain of separation.

(E) Empirical research demonstrates that mentoring is a potent force for improving children’s behavior across all risk behaviors affecting health. Quality, one-on-one relationships that provide young people with caring role models for future success have profound, life-changing potential. Done right, mentoring markedly advances youths’ life prospects. A widely cited 1995 study by Public/Private Ventures measured the impact of one Big Brothers Big Sisters program and found significant effects in the lives of youth—cutting first-time drug use by almost half and first-time alcohol use by about a third, reducing school absenteeism by half, cutting assaultive behavior by a third, improving parental and peer relationships, giving youth greater confidence in their school work, and improving academic performance.

(2) PurposesThe purposes of this section are to authorize the Secretary—

(A) to make competitive grants to applicants in areas with substantial numbers of children of incarcerated parents, to support the establishment or expansion and operation of programs using a network of public and private community entities to provide mentoring services for children of prisoners; and

(B) to enter into on a competitive basis a cooperative agreement to conduct a service delivery demonstration project in accordance with the requirements of subsection (g).

(b) DefinitionsIn this section:

(1) Children of prisoners

(2) Mentoring

(3) Mentoring services

(d) Application requirementsIn order to be eligible for a grant under this section, the chief executive officer of the applicant must submit to the Secretary an application containing the following:

(1) Program designA description of the proposed program, including—

(A) a list of local public and private organizations and entities that will participate in the mentoring network;

(B) the name, description, and qualifications of the entity that will coordinate and oversee the activities of the mentoring network;

(D) such information as the Secretary may require concerning the methods to be used to recruit, screen support, and oversee individuals participating as mentors, (which methods shall include criminal background checks on the individuals), and to evaluate outcomes for participating children, including information necessary to demonstrate compliance with requirements established by the Secretary for the program; and

(E) such other information as the Secretary may require.

(2) Community consultation; coordination with other programsA demonstration that, in developing and implementing the program, the applicant will, to the extent feasible and appropriate—

(A) consult with public and private community entities, including religious organizations, and including, as appropriate, Indian tribal organizations and urban Indian organizations, and with family members of potential clients;

(B) coordinate the programs and activities under the program with other Federal, State, and local programs serving children and youth; and

(C) consult with appropriate Federal, State, and local corrections, workforce development, and substance abuse and mental health agencies.

(3) Equal access for local service providers

(4) Records, reports, and audits

(5) Evaluation

(e) Federal share

(1) In generalA grant for a program under this section shall be available to pay a percentage share of the costs of the program up to—

(A) 75 percent for the first and second fiscal years for which the grant is awarded; and

(B) 50 percent for the third and each succeeding such fiscal years.

(2) Non-Federal share

(f) Considerations in awarding grantsIn awarding grants under this section, the Secretary shall take into consideration—

(1) the qualifications and capacity of applicants and networks of organizations to effectively carry out a mentoring program under this section;

(2) the comparative severity of need for mentoring services in local areas, taking into consideration data on the numbers of children (and in particular of low-income children) with an incarcerated parents 1

1 So in original. Probably should be “parent”.

(or parents) in the areas;

(3) evidence of consultation with existing youth and family service programs, as appropriate; and

(4) any other factors the Secretary may deem significant with respect to the need for or the potential success of carrying out a mentoring program under this section.

(g) Service delivery demonstration project

(1) Purpose; authority to enter into cooperative agreementThe Secretary shall enter into a cooperative agreement with an eligible entity that meets the requirements of paragraph (2) for the purpose of requiring the entity to conduct a demonstration project consistent with this subsection under which the entity shall—

(A) identify children of prisoners in need of mentoring services who have not been matched with a mentor by an applicant awarded a grant under this section, with a priority for identifying children who—

(i) reside in an area not served by a recipient of a grant under this section;

(ii) reside in an area that has a substantial number of children of prisoners;

(iii) reside in a rural area; or

(iv) are Indians;

(B) provide the families of the children so identified with—

(i) a voucher for mentoring services that meets the requirements of paragraph (5); and

(ii) a list of the providers of mentoring services in the area in which the family resides that satisfy the requirements of paragraph (6); and

(2) Eligible entity

(A) In generalSubject to subparagraph (B), an eligible entity under this subsection is an organization that the Secretary determines, on a competitive basis—

(i) has substantial experience—(I) in working with organizations that provide mentoring services for children of prisoners; and(II) in developing quality standards for the identification and assessment of mentoring programs for children of prisoners; and

(ii) submits an application that satisfies the requirements of paragraph (3).

(B) Limitation

(3) Application requirementsTo be eligible to be awarded a cooperative agreement under this subsection, an entity shall submit to the Secretary an application that includes the following:

(A) QualificationsEvidence that the entity—

(i) meets the experience requirements of paragraph (2)(A)(i); and

(ii) is able to carry out—(I) the purposes of this subsection identified in paragraph (1); and(II) the requirements of the cooperative agreement specified in paragraph (4).

(B) Service delivery plan

(i) Distribution requirementsSubject to clause (iii), a description of the plan of the entity to ensure the distribution of not less than—(I) 3,000 vouchers for mentoring services in the first year in which the cooperative agreement is in effect with that entity;(II) 8,000 vouchers for mentoring services in the second year in which the agreement is in effect with that entity; and(III) 13,000 vouchers for mentoring services in any subsequent year in which the agreement is in effect with that entity.

(ii) Satisfaction of priorities

(iii) Secretarial authority to modify distribution requirement

(D) Other

(4) Cooperative agreement requirementsA cooperative agreement awarded under this subsection shall require the eligible entity to do the following:

(A) Identify quality standards for providers

(B) Identify eligible providers

(D) Monitor and oversee delivery of mentoring services

(E) Records, reports, and audits

(F) Evaluations

(G) Limitation on administrative expenditures

(5) Voucher requirementsA voucher for mentoring services provided to the family of a child identified in accordance with paragraph (1)(A) shall meet the following requirements:

(A) Total payment amount; 12-month service period

(B) Periodic payments as services provided

(i) In general

(ii) Demonstration of the provision of services

(6) Provider requirementsIn order to participate in the demonstration project, a provider of mentoring services shall—

(A) meet the quality standards identified by the eligible entity in accordance with paragraph (1);

(B) agree to accept a voucher meeting the requirements of paragraph (5) as payment for the provision of mentoring services to a child on whose behalf the voucher is issued;

(C) demonstrate that the provider has the capacity, and has or will have nonfederal resources, to continue supporting the provision of mentoring services to the child on whose behalf the voucher is issued, as appropriate, after the conclusion of the 12-month period during which the voucher is in effect; and

(D) if the provider is a recipient of a grant under this section, demonstrate that the provider has exhausted its capacity for providing mentoring services under the grant.

(7) 3-year period; option for renewal

(A) In general

(B) Renewal

(8) Independent evaluation and report

(A) In general

(B) Deadline for reportNot later than 90 days after the end of the second fiscal year in which the demonstration project is conducted under this subsection, the Secretary shall submit the report required under subparagraph (A) to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate. The report shall include—

(i) the number of children as of the end of such second fiscal year who received vouchers for mentoring services; and

(ii) any conclusions regarding the use of vouchers for the delivery of mentoring services for children of prisoners.

(9) No effect on eligibility for other Federal assistance

(h) Independent evaluation; reports

(1) Independent evaluation

(2) ReportsNot later than 12 months after September 28, 2006, the Secretary shall submit a report to the Congress that includes the following:

(A) The characteristics of the mentoring programs funded under this section.

(B) The plan for implementation of the service delivery demonstration project authorized under subsection (g).

(C) A description of the outcome-based evaluation of the programs authorized under this section that the Secretary is conducting as of September 28, 2006, and how the evaluation has been expanded to include an evaluation of the demonstration project authorized under subsection (g).

(D) The date on which the Secretary shall submit a final report on the evaluation to the Congress.

(i) Authorization of appropriations; reservations of certain amounts

(1) Limitations on authorization of appropriations

(2) Reservations

(A) Research, technical assistance, and evaluation

(B) Service delivery demonstration project

(i) In generalSubject to clause (ii), for purposes of awarding a cooperative agreement to conduct the service delivery demonstration project authorized under subsection (g), the Secretary shall reserve not more than—(I) $5,000,000 of the amount appropriated under paragraph (1) for the first fiscal year in which funds are to be awarded for the agreement;(II) $10,000,000 of the amount appropriated under paragraph (1) for the second fiscal year in which funds are to be awarded for the agreement; and(III) $15,000,000 of the amount appropriated under paragraph (1) for the third fiscal year in which funds are to be awarded for the agreement.

(ii) Assurance of funding for general program grants

(Aug. 14, 1935, ch. 531, title IV, § 439, as added Pub. L. 107–133, title I, § 121, Jan. 17, 2002, 115 Stat. 2419; amended Pub. L. 109–288, § 8, Sept. 28, 2006, 120 Stat. 1249.)