Volunteer Innovation Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2240 To establish a national and community service pay for results program. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 24, 2021 Mr. YOUNG (for himself and Mr. REED) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To establish a national and community service pay for results program. 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 ‘‘Volunteer Innovation 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. NATIONAL SERVICE PAY FOR RESULTS PILOT PRO- 6 GRAM. 7 Subtitle H of title I of the National and Community 8 Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12653 et seq.) is amend- 9 ed— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:29 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2240.IS S2240 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2240 IS (1) by redesignating parts IV and V as parts V 1 and VI, respectively; and 2 (2) by inserting after part III the following: 3 ‘‘PART IV—NATIONAL SERVICE PAY FOR 4 RESULTS PROGRAM 5 ‘‘SEC. 198L. DEFINITIONS. 6 ‘‘In this part: 7 ‘‘(1) B CORPS ENTITY.—The term ‘B Corps en- 8 tity’ means a private for-profit entity that— 9 ‘‘(A) has social sustainability or environ- 10 mental performance standards; 11 ‘‘(B) has accountability standards; and 12 ‘‘(C) is transparent in reporting the enti- 13 ty’s social or environmental performance. 14 ‘‘(2) B CORPS PARTNERSHIP.—The term ‘B 15 Corps partnership’ means a partnership between a B 16 Corps entity and one or more community-based enti- 17 ties (as such term is defined in section 101). 18 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en- 19 tity’ means— 20 ‘‘(A) a B Corps partnership; or 21 ‘‘(B) a community-based entity (as defined 22 in section 101). 23 ‘‘(4) INTERVENTION.—The term ‘intervention’ 24 means a specific service delivered to achieve an im- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:29 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2240.IS S2240 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2240 IS pact through a national service pay for results 1 project. 2 ‘‘(5) NATIONAL SERVICE PAY FOR RESULTS 3 MODEL.—The term ‘national service pay for results 4 model’ means a method of financing national service 5 programs in which— 6 ‘‘(A) Federal funds are awarded to a eligi- 7 ble entity, only if the eligible entity achieves 8 certain outcomes agreed on by the entity and 9 the Corporation; 10 ‘‘(B) the eligible entity coordinates with 11 the Chief Executive Officer and investors to 12 identify— 13 ‘‘(i) an intervention expected to 14 produce the outcome; and 15 ‘‘(ii) investors to fund the delivery of 16 the intervention; and 17 ‘‘(C) the eligible entity implements the 18 intervention through the use of participants. 19 ‘‘(6) NATIONAL SERVICE PAY FOR RESULTS 20 PROJECT.—The term ‘national service pay for re- 21 sults project’ means a project that finances national 22 service programs using a national service pay for re- 23 sults model. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:29 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2240.IS S2240 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2240 IS ‘‘(7) PARTICIPANT.—The term ‘participant’ has 1 the meaning given the term in section 101. 2 ‘‘SEC. 198M. NATIONAL SERVICE PAY FOR RESULTS PILOT 3 PROGRAM. 4 ‘‘(a) PLANNING PERIOD.—Not later than 15 days 5 after the date of enactment of this section, the Corpora- 6 tion shall begin a planning and consultation period in 7 order to assess appropriate outreach needed to potential 8 applicants. The Corporation shall conduct an internal re- 9 view and assessment to plan appropriate allocation of staff 10 and other resources needed to ensure successful implemen- 11 tation of the program under this section. 12 ‘‘(b) NOTICE.— 13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 12 months 14 after the date of enactment of this part, the Chief 15 Executive Officer shall publish in the Federal Reg- 16 ister a request for proposals from eligible entities for 17 national service pay for results projects in accord- 18 ance with this section. 19 ‘‘(2) MANNER OF NOTICE.—The Corporation 20 shall provide advance notice to potential eligible enti- 21 ty applicants of any national service priorities to be 22 in effect for a fiscal year, in the same manner as 23 such notice is provided under section 122(f)(2). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:29 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2240.IS S2240 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2240 IS ‘‘(c) REQUIRED OUTCOMES FOR NATIONAL SERVICE 1 PAY FOR RESULTS PROJECT.—To qualify as a national 2 service pay for results project under this part, a project 3 must effectively utilize participants to produce 1 or more 4 measurable, clearly defined outcomes that result in Fed- 5 eral savings and social benefit through any of the activities 6 described in subparagraphs (B) of paragraphs (1) through 7 (5) of section 122(a). 8 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION REQUIRED.—The notice described 9 in subsection (b) shall require a eligible entity to submit, 10 not later than 6 months after the date of publication in 11 the Federal Register under subsection (b), an application 12 for the national service pay for results project that ad- 13 dresses each of the following: 14 ‘‘(1) The outcome goals of the project. 15 ‘‘(2) The anticipated number of participants 16 needed to implement the project. 17 ‘‘(3) The criteria used to determine the eligi- 18 bility of a participant for the project, including how 19 the potential participants will be identified, how such 20 participants will be recruited for the project, and 21 how such participants will be trained for their roles 22 in the project. 23 ‘‘(4) A description of each intervention in the 24 project and anticipated outcomes of the intervention. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:29 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2240.IS S2240 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2240 IS ‘‘(5) A plan for implementing each intervention 1 through the use of participants. 2 ‘‘(6) Rigorous evidence demonstrating that the 3 intervention can be expected to produce the desired 4 outcomes. 5 ‘‘(7) The target population that will be served 6 by the project. 7 ‘‘(8) The expected social benefits to individuals 8 who receive the intervention, the participants work- 9 ing on the project, and others who may be impacted. 10 ‘‘(9) The projected cost to the eligible entity to 11 carry out the project, and any costs to the Federal, 12 State, or local government associated with the 13 project. 14 ‘‘(10) Projected Federal, State, and local gov- 15 ernment savings and other savings, including an es- 16 timate of the savings to the Federal Government, on 17 a program-by-program basis and in the aggregate, if 18 the project is implemented and the outcomes are 19 achieved as a result of the intervention. 20 ‘‘(11) If savings resulting from the successful 21 completion of the project are estimated to accrue to 22 a State or local government, the likelihood of the 23 State or local government to realize those savings. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:29 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2240.IS S2240 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2240 IS ‘‘(12) A description of the expertise of the eligi- 1 ble entity, including a summary of the experience of 2 the eligible entity in delivering the proposed inter- 3 vention or a similar intervention, or demonstrating 4 that the eligible entity has the expertise necessary to 5 deliver the proposed intervention. 6 ‘‘(13) An explanation of the experience of the 7 eligible entity in raising private and philanthropic 8 capital to fund social service investments. 9 ‘‘(14) A description of the expertise of investors 10 that the eligible entity intends to partner with, to 11 the extent that the eligible entity may have identified 12 those investors by the time the application is sub- 13 mitted. 14 ‘‘(15) A summary of the unmet need in the 15 area where the intervention will be delivered or 16 among the target population who will receive the 17 intervention. 18 ‘‘(16) The proposed payment terms, the meth- 19 odology used to calculate outcome payments, the 20 payment schedule, and performance thresholds. 21 ‘‘(17) The project budget. 22 ‘‘(18) The project timeline, provided that, not- 23 withstanding section 187, all projects shall be lim- 24 ited to a duration of 5 years. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:29 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2240.IS S2240 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2240 IS ‘‘(19) The criteria used to determine the eligi- 1 bility of an individual to be served by the project, in- 2 cluding how selected populations will be identified, 3 how they will be referred to the project, and how 4 they will be enrolled in the project. 5 ‘‘(20) The evaluation design. 6 ‘‘(21) The metrics that will be used in the eval- 7 uation to determine whether the outcomes have been 8 achieved as a result of the intervention and how the 9 metrics will be measured. 10 ‘‘(22) An explanation of how the metrics used 11 in the evaluation to determine whether the outcomes 12 achieved as a result of the intervention are inde- 13 pendent, objective indicators of impact and are not 14 subject to manipulation by the eligible entity or in- 15 vestor. 16 ‘‘(23) A summary explaining the independence 17 of the evaluator from the other entities involved in 18 the project and the evaluator’s experience in con- 19 ducting rigorous evaluations of program effective- 20 ness including, where available, well-implemented 21 randomized controlled trials on the intervention or 22 similar interventions. 23 ‘‘(24) Any potential payment disputes related to 24 the outcomes of the evaluation. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:29 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2240.IS S2240 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2240 IS ‘‘(25) The capacity of the eligible entity to de- 1 liver the intervention to the number of participants 2 the eligible entity proposes to serve in the project. 3 ‘‘(26) The assurances described in sections 4 131(e) and 132(a), except that such assurances shall 5 apply to the project carried out using assistance pro- 6 vided under this part. 7 ‘‘(e) PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES AND INELIGIBLE OR- 8 GANIZATIONS.— 9 ‘‘(1) COMMUNITY-BASED ENTITY.—Section 10 132A shall apply to community-based entities car- 11 rying out a national service pay for results project 12 under this part and to participants in those projects. 13 ‘‘(2) B CORPS ENTITY.—For purposes of sec- 14 tion 132(a)(1) and section 132A(a)(8)(A), a B 15 Corps entity shall not be considered a business orga- 16 nized for profit. 17 ‘‘SEC. 198N. AWARDING NATIONAL SERVICE PAY FOR RE- 18 SULTS PILOT PROGRAM FUNDS. 19 ‘‘(a) TIMELINE IN AWARDING AGREEMENT.— 20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 months 21 after the deadline for applications in accordance 22 with section 198M has expired, the Chief Executive 23 Officer shall select not less than 4 and not more 24 than 6 community-based entities or eligible entities 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:29 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2240.IS S2240 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 2240 IS to participate in national service pay for results 1 projects. 2 ‘‘(2) FEWER APPLICANTS.—Notwithstanding 3 paragraph (1), if fewer than 4 community-based en- 4 tities or eligible entities meet the requirements of 5 this part, the Chief Executive Officer may select 6 fewer than 4 entities or partnerships. 7 ‘‘(b) CONSIDERATIONS IN AWARDING AGREEMENT.— 8 In determining whether to enter into an agreement for a 9 national service pay for results project (the application for 10 which was submitted under section 198M) the Chief Exec- 11 utive Officer shall— 12 ‘‘(1) seek to ensure geographic diversity in se- 13 lected entities, including by selecting not less than 1 14 eligible entity that plans to serve a rural community 15 and not less than 1 eligible entity that plans to serve 16 an urban community; and 17 ‘‘(2) consider— 18 ‘‘(A) the anticipated utilization of partici- 19 pants, and whether the eligible entity plans to 20 utilize participants who come from a high-risk 21 background; 22 ‘‘(B) the value to the Federal Government 23 of the outcomes expected to be achieved if the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:29 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2240.IS S2240 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 2240 IS outcomes specified in the agreement are 1 achieved as a result of the intervention; 2 ‘‘(C) the likelihood, based on evidence pro- 3 vided in the application and other evidence, that 4 the eligible entity will achieve those outcomes; 5 ‘‘(D) the savings to the Federal Govern- 6 ment if the outcomes specified in the agreement 7 are achieved as a result of the intervention; 8 ‘‘(E) the savings to State and local govern- 9 ments if the outcomes specified in the agree- 10 ment are achieved as a result of the interven- 11 tion; and 12 ‘‘(F) the expected quality of the evaluation 13 that would be conducted with respect to the 14 agreement. 15 ‘‘(c) AGREEMENT AUTHORITY.— 16 ‘‘(1) AGREEMENT REQUIREMENTS.—The Chief 17 Executive Officer may enter into an agreement for 18 a national service pay for results project with an eli- 19 gible entity selected under this part if the Chief Ex- 20 ecutive Officer determines that each of the following 21 requirements are met: 22 ‘‘(A) The eligible entity agrees to achieve 1 23 or more outcomes as a result of the interven- 24 tion, as specified in the agreement and vali- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:29 Jul 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2240.IS S2240 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 2240 IS dated by independent evaluation, in order to re- 1 ceive payment. 2 ‘‘(B) The Federal payment to the eligible 3 entity for each specified outcome achieved as a 4 result of the intervention is less than or equal 5 to the value of the outcome to the Federal Gov- 6 ernment over a period not to exceed 10 years, 7 as determined by the Chief Executive Officer, in 8 consultation with the entity. 9 ‘‘(C) The project will begin not more than 10 12 months after the eligible entity has been se- 11 lected. 12 ‘‘(D) Notwithstanding section 187, the du- 13 ration of the project does not exceed 5 years. 14 ‘‘(E) The eligible entity has demonstrated, 15 through the application submitted under section 16 198M, that, based on prior rigorous experi- 17 mental evaluations or rigorous quasi-experi- 18 mental studies, the intervention ca [Text truncated for display. 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