Mollie Baldwin Upskilling of Personal and Home Care Aides Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1196 To amend subtitle A of title XX of the Social Security Act to fund additional projects that focus on competency-based training for personal or home care aides, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 15, 2021 Mr. KING introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To amend subtitle A of title XX of the Social Security Act to fund additional projects that focus on competency- based training for personal or home care aides, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Mollie Baldwin 4 Upskilling of Personal and Home Care Aides Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:42 May 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1196.IS S1196 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1196 IS SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES 1 PROFESSIONS WORKFORCE PROJECTS. 2 Section 2008 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 3 1397g) is amended by adding at the end the following new 4 subsection: 5 ‘‘(e) EXPANSION OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES 6 PROFESSIONS WORKFORCE PROJECTS.— 7 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY TO AWARD GRANTS.—The 8 Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of 9 Labor, shall award grants to eligible entities to con- 10 duct projects— 11 ‘‘(A) that employ upskilling training mod- 12 els that focus on competency-based training 13 for— 14 ‘‘(i) personal or home care aides (as 15 defined in subsection (b)); 16 ‘‘(ii) direct support professionals; 17 ‘‘(iii) home health aides; and 18 ‘‘(iv) nursing assistants; 19 ‘‘(B) that are designed to provide eligible 20 individuals with the opportunity to obtain edu- 21 cation and training for positions as personal or 22 home care aides (as so defined), direct support 23 professionals, home health aides, or nursing as- 24 sistants that pay a living wage and are expected 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:42 May 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1196.IS S1196 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1196 IS to either experience labor shortages or be in 1 high demand; and 2 ‘‘(C) for which grants were awarded under 3 subsection (a). 4 ‘‘(2) SELECTION OF PROJECTS.— 5 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENTS FOR ELIGIBLE ENTI- 6 TIES.—An eligible entity seeking to receive a 7 grant under this subsection to conduct a project 8 shall demonstrate— 9 ‘‘(i) that the eligible entity has suc- 10 cessfully conducted the project in the past; 11 and 12 ‘‘(ii) that the project implements the 13 core training competencies for personal or 14 home care aides described in subsection 15 (b)(3)(A). 16 ‘‘(B) PRIORITY FOR RURAL AREAS AND 17 UNDERSERVED URBAN AREAS.— 18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In awarding 19 grants under this subsection, the Secretary 20 shall give priority to projects that sup- 21 port— 22 ‘‘(I) rural areas (as defined in 23 section 2007(f)); or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:42 May 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1196.IS S1196 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1196 IS ‘‘(II) underserved urban areas 1 (including urban health professional 2 shortage areas (as defined in section 3 332 of the Public Health Service 4 Act)). 5 ‘‘(ii) THRESHOLD FOR PRIORITIZED 6 PROJECTS.—In awarding grants under this 7 subsection, the Secretary shall ensure that 8 not less than 50 percent of the grants 9 awarded under this subsection shall be for 10 projects described in clause (i). 11 ‘‘(3) REPORTS AND EVALUATION.— 12 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—An eligible en- 13 tity awarded a grant to expand a project under 14 this subsection shall submit interim reports to 15 the Secretary on the activities carried out under 16 the project and a final report on such activities 17 upon the conclusion of the entities’ participa- 18 tion in the project. 19 ‘‘(B) EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall, 20 by grant, contract, or interagency agreement, 21 evaluate the projects conducted under this sub- 22 section. Such evaluation shall include identifica- 23 tion of successful activities for creating oppor- 24 tunities for developing and sustaining, particu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:42 May 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1196.IS S1196 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1196 IS larly with respect to low-income individuals and 1 other entry-level workers, a health and human 2 services professions workforce that has acces- 3 sible entry points, that meets high standards 4 for education, training, certification, and pro- 5 fessional development, that provides increased 6 wages and affordable benefits, including health 7 care coverage, that are responsive to the 8 workforce’s needs, and that is responsive to the 9 needs of diverse racial and ethnic communities. 10 ‘‘(C) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Sec- 11 retary shall submit interim reports and, based 12 on the evaluation conducted under subpara- 13 graph (B), a final report to Congress on the 14 projects conducted under this subsection. 15 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—Any term used in this sub- 16 section that is also used in subsection (a) shall have 17 the same meaning for purposes of this subsection as 18 such term has in such subsection (a). 19 ‘‘(5) FUNDING.—Out of any funds in the 20 Treasury not otherwise appropriated, there are ap- 21 propriated to the Secretary to carry out this sub- 22 section $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 23 through 2032.’’. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:42 May 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1196.IS S1196 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS