ELEVATE Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 556 To amend the Social Security Act to establish a new employment, training, and supportive services program for the long-term unemployed and indi- viduals with barriers to employment, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 15, 2019 Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois (for himself, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, and Mr. EVANS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To amend the Social Security Act to establish a new employ- ment, training, and supportive services program for the long-term unemployed and individuals with barriers to employment, 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; AMENDMENT TO SOCIAL SECU- 3 RITY ACT; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 5 ‘‘Economic Ladders to End Volatility and Advance Train- 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:56 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H556.IH H556 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 556 IH ing and Employment Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘ELEVATE 1 Act of 2019’’. 2 (b) AMENDMENTS TO SOCIAL SECURITY ACT.—Ex- 3 cept as otherwise specifically provided, whenever in this 4 Act an amendment is expressed in terms of an amendment 5 to or repeal of a section or other provision, the reference 6 shall be considered to be made to that section or other 7 provision of the Social Security Act. 8 (c) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 9 this Act is as follows: 10 Sec. 1. Short title; amendment to social security act; table of contents. Sec. 2. Employment, training, and supportive services program. Sec. 3. Self-employment assistance benefits and relocation assistance benefits. Sec. 4. Employee retention work opportunity credit. Sec. 5. Conforming amendments. Sec. 6. Effective date; regulations. SEC. 2. EMPLOYMENT, TRAINING, AND SUPPORTIVE SERV- 11 ICES PROGRAM. 12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Social Security Act (42 13 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) is amended by inserting after title XII 14 the following: 15 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:56 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H556.IH H556 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 556 IH ‘‘TITLE XIII—REEMPLOYMENT 1 AND OTHER JOB-RELATED 2 ASSISTANCE AND BENEFITS 3 ‘‘PART A—EMPLOYMENT, TRAINING, AND 4 SUPPORTIVE SERVICES PROGRAM 5 ‘‘SEC. 1301. PURPOSE; DEFINITIONS; ADMINISTRATION. 6 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this part is to pro- 7 vide funds to States to initiate and expand the provision 8 of employment services, training and other services and 9 activities, and supportive services for eligible individuals 10 in order to— 11 ‘‘(1) promote subsidized employment programs 12 for public, private for-profit, private non-profit, and 13 social enterprise sector jobs; 14 ‘‘(2) expand the availability of jobs during eco- 15 nomic downturns or in areas with persistently high 16 unemployment or poverty; 17 ‘‘(3) provide economically and socially disadvan- 18 taged individuals (such as the long-term unem- 19 ployed, people with criminal records, former foster 20 youth, and other economically and socially disadvan- 21 taged populations) with the ability to gain job expe- 22 rience; 23 ‘‘(4) provide employers with new pathways into 24 the workforce development system enabling them to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:56 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H556.IH H556 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 556 IH have a greater role in the training and hiring of new 1 workers and labor market re-entrants; and 2 ‘‘(5) allow for sufficient State flexibility to de- 3 sign programs targeted at community-specific work- 4 force gaps and employer needs. 5 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this part: 6 ‘‘(1) ADULT AND DISLOCATED WORKER EM- 7 PLOYMENT AND TRAINING ACTIVITIES.—The term 8 ‘adult and dislocated worker employment and train- 9 ing activities’ means adult and dislocated worker 10 employment and training activities funded under 11 chapter 3 of subtitle B of title I of the Workforce 12 Innovation and Opportunity Act. 13 ‘‘(2) DISLOCATED WORKER.—The term ‘dis- 14 located worker’ has the meaning given that term in 15 section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Oppor- 16 tunity Act. 17 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘eligible 18 individual’ means an individual who, on the basis of 19 an assessment by the State, has been determined to 20 be unlikely to find unsubsidized employment due 21 to— 22 ‘‘(A) being an individual with a barrier to 23 employment; 24 ‘‘(B) being a dislocated worker; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:56 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H556.IH H556 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 556 IH ‘‘(C) local or national economic conditions. 1 ‘‘(4) EMPLOYMENT SERVICES.—The term ‘em- 2 ployment services’ means a subsidized job placement 3 in the public, private for-profit, private non-profit, or 4 social enterprise sector and includes payment or re- 5 imbursement of employer subsidies for wages, the 6 employer share of payroll taxes, employer costs for 7 unemployment insurance, employer costs for work- 8 ers’ compensation premiums, and costs attributable 9 to supervision and other administration directly re- 10 lated to the employment of an eligible individual in 11 the subsidized job placement. 12 ‘‘(5) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian tribe’ 13 has the meaning given that term in section 419(4). 14 ‘‘(6) INDIVIDUAL WITH A BARRIER TO EMPLOY- 15 MENT.—The term ‘individual with a barrier to em- 16 ployment’ has the meaning given that term in sec- 17 tion 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity 18 Act and includes an individual who is an offender 19 (as defined in such section). 20 ‘‘(7) INTEGRATED EDUCATION AND TRAIN- 21 ING.—The term ‘integrated education and training’ 22 has the meaning given that term in section 3 of the 23 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:56 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H556.IH H556 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 556 IH ‘‘(8) PAYROLL TAXES.—The term ‘payroll 1 taxes’ means taxes under section 3111, 3221, 3301, 2 or 3321 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and 3 any similar State or local tax imposed on employers. 4 ‘‘(9) SUPPORTIVE SERVICES.— 5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘supportive 6 services’ has the meaning given that term in 7 section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Op- 8 portunity Act. 9 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL SERVICES.—Such term 10 includes any of the following: 11 ‘‘(i) Stipends for an eligible individual 12 provided with unpaid training services. 13 ‘‘(ii) Legal services. 14 ‘‘(iii) Other supplemental services nec- 15 essary for an eligible individual to partici- 16 pate in the State program funded under 17 this part. 18 ‘‘(10) STATE EXPENDITURES.—The term ‘State 19 expenditures’ means all State or local funds that are 20 expended by the State or a local agency including 21 State or local funds that are matched or reimbursed 22 by the Federal Government and State or local funds 23 that are not matched or reimbursed by the Federal 24 Government. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:56 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H556.IH H556 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 556 IH ‘‘(11) TIER-1 PRACTICE.—Subject to subsection 1 (c), the term ‘tier-1 practice’ means a practice 2 that— 3 ‘‘(A) offers a new or potentially more effec- 4 tive strategy for addressing widely shared chal- 5 lenges; 6 ‘‘(B) has not been systematically studied 7 but is supported by a strong logic model; and 8 ‘‘(C) is a departure from existing work- 9 force strategies. 10 ‘‘(12) TIER-2 PRACTICE.—Subject to subsection 11 (c), the term ‘tier-2 practice’ means a practice that 12 will expand knowledge about the efficacy of a work- 13 force strategy and provide more information about 14 the feasibility of implementing proven workforce 15 strategies in different contexts and is, with respect 16 to a State— 17 ‘‘(A) a practice that has been implemented 18 by a State program and evaluated by a State or 19 by a neutral third party and the evaluation re- 20 sults indicate some potential for positive im- 21 pacts on participant or system-wide outcomes; 22 or 23 ‘‘(B) a practice that has not been pre- 24 viously implemented by the State, but is sup- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:56 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H556.IH H556 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 556 IH ported by strong evidence of positive change 1 and has been evaluated before using an out- 2 come, quasi-experimental, or random assign- 3 ment design, and evaluation findings indicate 4 some statistically significant positive change. 5 ‘‘(13) TIER-3 PRACTICE.—Subject to subsection 6 (c), the term ‘tier-3 practice’ means with respect to 7 a State, a practice that— 8 ‘‘(A) previously has been implemented by a 9 program funded by a State; and 10 ‘‘(B) previously has been evaluated using a 11 random assignment design and the evaluation 12 findings indicate some positive impacts on par- 13 ticipant or system wide outcomes. 14 ‘‘(14) TRAINING AND OTHER SERVICES OR AC- 15 TIVITIES.—The term ‘training and other services or 16 activities’ means any of the following services or ac- 17 tivities if provided in conjunction with a subsidized 18 job placement and determined by the State as nec- 19 essary to significantly increase the likelihood that 20 the job placement will be successful for the employer 21 and employee and may improve the prospect of ob- 22 taining and retaining unsubsidized jobs: 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:56 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H556.IH H556 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 556 IH ‘‘(A) Services provided through adult and 1 dislocated worker employment and training ac- 2 tivities. 3 ‘‘(B) Integrated education and training. 4 ‘‘(C) Education directly related to employ- 5 ment. 6 ‘‘(D) Vocational and employment services 7 integrated with trauma-informed substance use 8 disorder treatment, in collaboration with a sub- 9 stance use disorder treatment provider. 10 ‘‘(E) Casework and job coaching. 11 ‘‘(F) Union-provided job training services. 12 ‘‘(c) OUTCOME MEASURES REQUIRED.—A practice 13 shall not be considered to be a tier-1, tier-2, or tier-3 prac- 14 tice unless the practice is intended, studied, or evaluated 15 for purposes of making meaningful improvements in vali- 16 dated measures of important outcomes for eligible individ- 17 uals and their families, such as recidivism, health, employ- 18 ment, and economic well-being over the short and long- 19 term. 20 ‘‘(d) ADMINISTRATION.—Subject to section 1302(d), 21 the program under this part shall be administered by the 22 Secretary through the Assistant Secretary for the Admin- 23 istration for Children and Families within the Department 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:56 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H556.IH H556 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 556 IH of Health and Human Services and in consultation with 1 the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of Education. 2 ‘‘(e) STATE ENTITLEMENT.—This part constitutes 3 budget authority in advance of appropriations Acts and 4 represents the obligation of the Federal Government to 5 provide payments to States under section 1304(a). 6 ‘‘SEC. 1302. STATE PLAN REQUIREMENTS. 7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A State is not eligible for pay- 8 ment under section 1304 unless the State has submitted 9 to the Secretary a plan that describes— 10 ‘‘(1) the State’s strategy for creating or ex- 11 panding programs that offers subsidized employment 12 for eligible individuals and moving such individuals 13 into unsubsidized employment; 14 ‘‘(2) how such strategy fits with the State’s 15 overall strategy for, and assessment of, the State’s 16 workforce needs; 17 ‘‘(3) the employment services, training and 18 other services or activities, and supportive services to 19 be provided under the State program funded under 20 this part; 21 ‘‘(4) which specific populations of eligible indi- 22 viduals the State will serve, with a focus on how the 23 State plans to assess and serve the eligible individ- 24 uals with serious or multiple barriers to employment; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:56 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H556.IH H556 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 556 IH ‘‘(5) the strategies the State will use for out- 1 reach and engagement with the populations specified 2 under paragraph (4) to ensure that such populations 3 are aware of subsidized employment opportunities in 4 their community; 5 ‘‘(6) the strategies the State will use for out- 6 reach, engagement, and ongoing collaboration with 7 employers to promote employers’ use of the program 8 and ensure they have the training necessary to sup- 9 port eligible individuals; 10 ‘‘(7) the strategies the State will use, based on 11 such assessments, to create employability plans for 12 eligible individuals participating in the State pro- 13 gram funded under this part and, based on such 14 plans, assign and provide eligible individuals with 15 employment services, training and other services and 16 activities, and supportive services; 17 ‘‘(8) how the State will coordinate the State 18 program funded under this part with other relevant 19 systems and programs based on the populations 20 identified which may include criminal justice, child 21 support, juvenile justice, child welfare, homeless 22 services and other human services and workforce de- 23 velopment programs of the State, including pro- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:56 Feb 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H556.IH H556 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 556 IH grams supported through the Workforce Innovation 1 and Opportunity Act; 2 ‘‘(9) how the State will ensure employers par- 3 ticipating in the program comply with the non-dis- 4 placement requirements of section 1305(c); and 5 ‘‘(10) a plan for regular, rigorous evaluation of 6 the State program funded under this part, including 7 how the State plans to measure program outcomes 8 and impacts. 9 ‘‘(b) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—The State shall in- 10 clude with the plan a certification that supportive services 11 for eligible individuals will supplement, and not supplant, 12 other assistance provided by the State. 13 ‘‘(c) DEADLINES FOR SUBMISSION.— 14 ‘‘(1) INITIAL PLAN.—The initial State plan 15 under this section shall be submitted by the Sta [Text truncated for display. 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