Child Safety Accounts Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2538 To create child safety accounts in the District of Columbia, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 7, 2019 Mr. BANKS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform A BILL To create child safety accounts in the District of Columbia, 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 ‘‘Child Safety Accounts 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 (1) The term ‘‘certified donation’’ means a do- 8 nation certified by the finance authority as eligible 9 for a tax credit. 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 May 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\H2538.IH H2538 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 2538 IH (2) The term ‘‘child safety account’’ means an 1 account created and managed by the treasurer of the 2 District of Columbia for each qualified student who 3 has experienced a safety issue and opts into a child 4 safety account. 5 (3) The term ‘‘Department’’ means the Office 6 of the State Superintendent of Education of the Dis- 7 trict of Columbia. 8 (4) The term ‘‘elementary school’’ means an in- 9 stitutional day or residential school (including a 10 school with a virtual presence), including a public el- 11 ementary charter school, that provides elementary 12 education, as determined under District of Columbia 13 law. 14 (5) The term ‘‘educational scholarships’’ means 15 a scholarship provided to a qualifying student to top 16 off the education of their choice. 17 (6) The term ‘‘eligible expenses’’ means any 18 education expense necessary for a qualified student, 19 including— 20 (A) tuition or courses at a qualified school; 21 (B) textbooks; 22 (C) tutoring by an authorized provider; 23 (D) transportation to and from a qualified 24 school; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 May 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\H2538.IH H2538 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 2538 IH (E) therapy necessary to cope with the 1 trauma of a safety incident; 2 (F) college courses; and 3 (G) other required education materials. 4 (7) The term ‘‘finance authority’’ means the 5 Chief Financial Officer of the District of Columbia 6 or an individual authorized authority designated by 7 the Mayor of the District of Columbia to manage the 8 child safety accounts. 9 (8) The term ‘‘fraud’’ means any child safety 10 account funds spent on items that does not qualify 11 as an eligible expense, or any other fraud related to 12 the use of such accounts (including falsifying infor- 13 mation related to a safety incident or District of Co- 14 lumbia residence for the purpose of receiving such 15 an account). 16 (9) The term ‘‘parent’’ has the meaning given 17 that term in section 8101 of the Elementary and 18 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 19 (10) The term ‘‘poverty line’’ means the poverty 20 line (as defined in section 673(2) of the Community 21 Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2)) appli- 22 cable to a family of the size involved. 23 (11) The term ‘‘qualified donor’’ means a tax- 24 payer, individual, or corporation, who— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 May 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\H2538.IH H2538 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 2538 IH (A) files a District of Columbia income tax 1 return; 2 (B) cannot be claimed as a dependent on 3 another taxpayer return; 4 (C) has donated to a scholarship granting 5 organization; and 6 (D) has been certified by the finance au- 7 thority to make the donation specified. 8 (12) The term ‘‘qualified school’’ means an ele- 9 mentary school or secondary school in the District of 10 Columbia that— 11 (A) ensures employees are permitted to 12 work in a school by District of Columbia law 13 and who are not a threat to student safety; 14 (B) ensures financial stability with yearly 15 independent financial audits provided to the fi- 16 nance authority; and 17 (C) ensures funds from child safety ac- 18 counts are spent appropriately for the education 19 of students. 20 (13) The term ‘‘qualified student’’ means any 21 student who— 22 (A) is a resident of the District of Colum- 23 bia; 24 (B) is enrolled in a qualified school; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 May 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\H2538.IH H2538 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 2538 IH (C) has attended a qualified school for not 1 less than 100 days. 2 (14) The term ‘‘safety issue’’ means a reported 3 incident of— 4 (A) bullying (physical, verbal, cyber); 5 (B) sexual harassment; 6 (C) sexual abuse; 7 (D) sexual misconduct; 8 (E) gang activity; 9 (F) fights; 10 (G) suicide attempts or threats; 11 (H) shootings; 12 (I) drug use; 13 (J) special safety needs; 14 (K) food safety needs; 15 (L) health related safety issues; 16 (M) act of violence against the qualified 17 student; or 18 (N) other safety concerns and fears as de- 19 termined by a qualified student and parent. 20 (15) The term ‘‘scholarship granting organiza- 21 tion’’ means an organization authorized by the fi- 22 nance authority to accept funds and use such funds 23 to provide scholarships to qualified students. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 May 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\H2538.IH H2538 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 2538 IH (16) The term ‘‘secondary school’’ means an in- 1 stitutional day or residential school (including a 2 school with a virtual presence), including a public 3 secondary charter school, that provides secondary 4 education, as determined under District of Columbia 5 law, except that the term does not include any edu- 6 cation beyond grade 12. 7 (17) The term ‘‘top off’’ means the payment of 8 tuition or other eligible expense above the amount 9 provided with the child safety account. 10 (18) The term ‘‘uncertified donation’’ means a 11 donation that is not eligible for a tax credit because 12 the amount of such donation exceeds the amount eli- 13 gible for such tax credit. 14 SEC. 3. CREATION OF CSA. 15 (a) REPORT.—Upon receipt of a report of an issue 16 of school safety at a qualified school, such school shall— 17 (1) submit such report to the Office of School 18 Security of the District of Columbia; and 19 (2) provide a copy of the report to each family 20 and educator involved. 21 (b) INVESTIGATION.—The Office of School Security 22 shall complete an investigation of the report not later than 23 15 days after receiving such report to determine whether 24 the report has merit. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 May 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\H2538.IH H2538 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 2538 IH (c) PARENTAL NOTICE.—The school shall inform the 1 parents of the student on whose behalf the report was sub- 2 mitted— 3 (1) whether the investigation has determined a 4 school safety issue exists at the school; and 5 (2) in a case in which the investigation deter- 6 mines that such a safety issue exists, that the par- 7 ents have an opportunity to enroll in a child safety 8 account. 9 SEC. 4. DUTIES OF THE OFFICE OF THE STATE SUPER- 10 INTENDENT OF EDUCATION OF THE DIS- 11 TRICT OF COLUMBIA. 12 The Office of the State Superintendent of Education 13 of the District of Columbia shall— 14 (1) carry out random quarterly audits of child 15 safety accounts to check for fraud; and 16 (2) seek to enter into a contract with a private 17 entity that shall administer the child safety account 18 program under this Act, including— 19 (A) registering vendors that provide the 20 services eligible to be purchased using child 21 safety accounts, including the registering of pri- 22 vate schools eligible to participate; and 23 (B) providing verification of purchases by 24 setting up an online platform with registered 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 May 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\H2538.IH H2538 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 2538 IH vendors allowing for instant authorization of 1 such purchases. 2 SEC. 5. ADMINISTRATION OF PROGRAM. 3 (a) CSA ACCOUNT CREATION AND FUNDING.—Upon 4 a parent signing an agreement on the proper usage and 5 responsibilities of a child safety account, the private entity 6 that has entered into a contract under section 4(2) shall— 7 (1) create a child safety account for the student 8 of the parent— 9 (A) which the student— 10 (i) is eligible to automatically renew 11 each year until the date on which the stu- 12 dent— 13 (I) graduates from a secondary 14 school; 15 (II) is no longer a qualified stu- 16 dent; or 17 (III) has turned 18 years of age; 18 and 19 (ii) in a case in which funds remain in 20 the child safety account after the period 21 described in clause (i), may use for post- 22 secondary education; and 23 (2) in a case in which funds remain after being 24 used in accordance with paragraph (1)(A)(ii), ensure 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 May 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\H2538.IH H2538 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 2538 IH that the funds from which will revert back to the 1 District of Columbia; 2 (3) ensure that the Department will deduct the 3 amount provided to such child safety account for 4 each year of the period described in paragraph 5 (1)(A)(i) in an amount equal to the average yearly 6 per pupil cost for qualified school of the student, ex- 7 cept that— 8 (A) the amount shall be prorated based on 9 the number of days remaining in the school 10 year if the safety incident occurs after the 11 school year has already started; and 12 (B) in the case of a student with an indi- 13 vidual education plan or an accommodation 14 plan issued under section 504 of the Rehabilita- 15 tion Act of 1973, such amount shall be in- 16 creased to equal the per pupil expenditure for 17 such a student; 18 (4) notify the Department and the qualified 19 school in which the student was previously enrolled 20 of the account creation, including the amount depos- 21 ited into the account; and 22 (5) provide the parent with a letter of account 23 creation until a debit card can be issued, which shall 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 May 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\H2538.IH H2538 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 2538 IH be accepted at a qualified school until such time pay- 1 ment can be made with the use of a debit card. 2 (b) FUNDS FOR THE PROGRAM.— 3 (1) PRIVATE ENTITY REQUIREMENTS.—Not 4 later than August 1 of each year, the private entity 5 shall submit to the finance authority the amount of 6 funds necessary for child safety accounts. In deter- 7 mining the amount of funds to request— 8 (A) for each family living at not more than 9 185 percent of the poverty line, the amount of 10 funds for a child safety account shall be an 11 amount equal to 90 percent of the uniform per 12 student amount used by the District of Colum- 13 bia to determine the amount of annual pay- 14 ments to District of Columbia public schools 15 with respect to the academic year involved; 16 (B) for each family living at or greater 17 than 186 percent of the poverty line, but not 18 greater than 300 percent of the poverty line, 19 the amount of funds for a child safety account 20 shall be an amount equal to 85 percent of the 21 uniform per student amount used by the Dis- 22 trict of Columbia to determine the amount of 23 annual payments to District of Columbia public 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 May 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\H2538.IH H2538 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 2538 IH schools with respect to the academic year in- 1 volved; and 2 (C) for each family living at greater than 3 300 percent of the poverty line, the amount of 4 funds for a child safety account shall be an 5 amount equal to 80 percent of the uniform per 6 student amount used by the District of Colum- 7 bia to determine the amount of annual pay- 8 ments to District of Columbia public schools 9 with respect to the academic year involved. 10 (2) FINANCE AUTHORITY REQUIREMENTS.— 11 The finance authority shall transfer to the private 12 entity the amount requested under paragraph (1) 13 from any funds or revenues available to the District 14 of Columbia public schools for purposes of the pro- 15 gram under this Act. 16 (3) ADMINISTRATIVE PURPOSES.—The private 17 entity shall use not more than 5 percent of the funds 18 received from the finance authority under paragraph 19 (2) for administrative purposes. 20 SEC. 6. FRAUD. 21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after the 22 date of enactment of this Act, the finance authority will 23 establish a committee to meet on a quarterly basis to re- 24 view any allegations of fraud found discovered as a result 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 May 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\H2538.IH H2538 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 2538 IH of the audits of child safety accounts under section 4, and 1 which shall be composed of the following members: 2 (1) An employee of each type of qualified 3 school. 4 (2) A home education expert. 5 (3) A member of the finance authority staff. 6 (b) FIRST MEETING.—The commission will have its 7 first meeting following the first quarterly audit carried out 8 by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education 9 of the District of Columbia. 10 (c) SIMPLE MISTAKE.—If a disputed expenditure is 11 determined to be a simple mistake, the parent will be re- 12 quired to repay the expense. 13 (d) EXPENDITURE FRAUD.—If the finance authority 14 determines that the disputed expenditure was not a simple 15 mistake on the part of the parent— 16 (1) in a case in which the amount of such ex- 17 penditure may lead to a conviction of misdemeanor 18 fraud under District of Columbia law— 19 (A) for a parent with no previous disputed 20 expenditures in such an amount that was deter- 21 mined to be fraud by the finance authority, the 22 parent shall be required to repay the disputed 23 amount, the child safety account shall be frozen 24 until such time as the repayment is made, and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:38 May 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\H2538.IH H2538 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 13 •HR 2538 IH upon repayment, the parent may resume using 1 the child safety account; and 2 (B) for a parent with a previous expendi- 3 ture in such an amount that was determined t [Text truncated for display. 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