DEMO Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3336 To provide grants for the conduct of demonstration projects designed to provide education and training for eligible individuals with an arrest or conviction record to enter and follow a career pathway in the health professions through occupations that pay well and are expected to experi- ence a labor shortage or be in high demand, under the health profession opportunity grant program under section 2008 of the Social Security Act. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 19, 2019 Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To provide grants for the conduct of demonstration projects designed to provide education and training for eligible individuals with an arrest or conviction record to enter and follow a career pathway in the health professions through occupations that pay well and are expected to experience a labor shortage or be in high demand, under the health profession opportunity grant program under section 2008 of the Social Security Act. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:41 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3336.IH H3336 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 3336 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Demonstrating that 2 Empowerment Makes Opportunities Act’’ or the ‘‘DEMO 3 Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS TO PRO- 5 VIDE CAREER PATHWAYS IN THE HEALTH 6 PROFESSIONS FOR CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS 7 WITH AN ARREST OF CONVICTION RECORD. 8 Section 2008 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 9 1397g) is amended by redesignating subsection (d) as sub- 10 section (e) and inserting after subsection (c) the following: 11 ‘‘(d) DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS TO PROVIDE CA- 12 REER PATHWAYS IN THE HEALTH PROFESSIONS FOR 13 CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS WITH AN ARREST OF CONVICTION 14 RECORD.— 15 ‘‘(1) GRANT AUTHORITY.—The Secretary, in 16 consultation with the Secretary of Labor, the Sec- 17 retary of Education, and the Attorney General, shall 18 award grants in accordance with this subsection to 19 eligible entities to conduct demonstration projects 20 for the purpose of providing education and training 21 for eligible individuals with arrest or conviction 22 records to enter and follow a career pathway in the 23 health professions through occupations that pay well 24 and are expected to experience a labor shortage or 25 be in high demand. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:41 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3336.IH H3336 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 3336 IH ‘‘(2) DURATION.—A demonstration project shall 1 be conducted under this subsection for not less than 2 3 years. 3 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—An appli- 4 cant seeking a grant under this subsection for a 5 demonstration project shall submit to the Secretary 6 an application for the grant, that includes the fol- 7 lowing: 8 ‘‘(A) A demonstration that the State in 9 which the project is to be conducted has in ef- 10 fect policies or laws that permit certain allied 11 health and behavioral health care credentials to 12 be awarded to people with certain arrest or con- 13 viction records (which policies or laws shall in- 14 clude appeals processes and other opportunities 15 to demonstrate rehabilitation to obtain licensure 16 and approval to work in the proposed health ca- 17 reers), and a plan described in the application 18 which will use a legally permitted career path- 19 way to train people with such a record to be 20 trained and employed in such a career. 21 ‘‘(B) A discussion of how the project or fu- 22 ture strategic hiring decisions will demonstrate 23 the experience and expertise of the project in 24 working with job seekers who have arrest or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:41 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3336.IH H3336 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 3336 IH conviction records or employers with experience 1 working with people with arrest or conviction 2 records. 3 ‘‘(C) A demonstration that the applicant 4 has experience working with low-income popu- 5 lations, or a description of the plan of the appli- 6 cant to work with a partner that has the experi- 7 ence. 8 ‘‘(D) An identification of promising inno- 9 vations or best practices that can be used to 10 provide the training. 11 ‘‘(E) A proof of concept or demonstration 12 that the applicant has done sufficient research 13 on workforce shortage or in-demand jobs for 14 which people with certain types of criminal 15 records can be hired. 16 ‘‘(F) A plan for recruiting students who 17 are eligible individuals into the project. 18 ‘‘(G) A plan for providing post-employment 19 support and ongoing training as part of a ca- 20 reer pathway under the project. 21 ‘‘(4) PREFERENCES IN CONSIDERING APPLICA- 22 TIONS.—In considering applications for a grant 23 under this subsection, the Secretary shall give pref- 24 erence to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:41 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3336.IH H3336 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 3336 IH ‘‘(A) applications submitted by applicants 1 who have completed a demonstration project 2 funded under this section, if an evaluation of 3 the project, which was funded by the Secretary, 4 found the project to have positive outcomes in 5 the categories of— 6 ‘‘(i) graduation and credential attain- 7 ment; 8 ‘‘(ii) job placement and retention; and 9 ‘‘(iii) evidence of addressing the work- 10 er shortage or in-demand jobs described in 11 the original application for funding for the 12 completed demonstration project; and 13 ‘‘(B) applications which have an emergency 14 cash fund to assist project participants finan- 15 cially in emergency situations. 16 ‘‘(5) SUPPORT TO BE PROVIDED.— 17 ‘‘(A) REQUIRED SUPPORT.—A project for 18 which a grant is made under this subsection 19 shall include access to legal assistance for 20 project participants for the purpose of address- 21 ing arrest or conviction records and associated 22 workforce barriers. 23 ‘‘(B) ALLOWED SUPPORT.—The goods and 24 services provided under a project for which a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:41 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3336.IH H3336 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 3336 IH grant is made under this subsection may in- 1 clude the following: 2 ‘‘(i) A reserve fund for financial as- 3 sistance to project participants in emer- 4 gency situations. 5 ‘‘(ii) Assistance with programs and 6 activities, including legal assistance, 7 deemed necessary to address arrest or con- 8 viction records as an employment barrier. 9 ‘‘(6) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary 10 shall provide technical assistance— 11 ‘‘(A) to assist eligible entities in applying 12 for grants under this subsection; 13 ‘‘(B) that is tailored to meet the needs of 14 grantees at each stage of the administration of 15 projects for which grants are made under this 16 subsection; and 17 ‘‘(C) that is tailored to meet the specific 18 needs of eligible entities in carrying out the 19 projects. 20 ‘‘(7) EVALUATIONS.— 21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, 22 by grant, contract, or interagency agreement, 23 conduct rigorous and well-designed evaluations 24 of the demonstration projects for which a grant 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:41 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3336.IH H3336 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 3336 IH is made under this subsection, which shall in- 1 clude identification of successful activities for 2 creating opportunities for developing and sus- 3 taining, particularly with respect to low-income 4 individuals with arrest or conviction records, a 5 health professions workforce that has accessible 6 entry points, that meets high standards for edu- 7 cation, training, certification, and professional 8 development, and that provides increased wages 9 and affordable benefits, including health care 10 coverage, that are responsive to the needs of the 11 workforce. 12 ‘‘(B) RULE OF INTERPRETATION.—Eval- 13 uations conducted pursuant to this paragraph 14 may include a randomized controlled trial, but 15 this paragraph shall not be interpreted to re- 16 quire an evaluation to include such a trial. 17 ‘‘(8) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 18 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligi- 19 ble entity’ means any of the following entities 20 that demonstrates in an application submitted 21 under this subsection that the entity has the ca- 22 pacity to fully develop and administer the dem- 23 onstration project described in the application: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:41 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3336.IH H3336 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 3336 IH ‘‘(i) A local workforce development 1 board established under section 107 of the 2 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity 3 Act. 4 ‘‘(ii) A State or territory, a political 5 subdivision of a State or territory, or an 6 agency of a State, territory, or such a po- 7 litical subdivision. 8 ‘‘(iii) An Indian tribe, a tribal organi- 9 zation, or a tribal college or university. 10 ‘‘(iv) An institution of higher edu- 11 cation (as defined in the Higher Education 12 Act of 1965). 13 ‘‘(v) A hospital (as defined in section 14 1861(e)). 15 ‘‘(vi) A skilled nursing facility (as de- 16 fined in section 1819(h)(1)(A)). 17 ‘‘(vii) A Federally qualified health 18 center (as defined in section 1861(aa)(4)). 19 ‘‘(viii) A nonprofit organization de- 20 scribed in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal 21 Revenue Code of 1986, a labor organiza- 22 tion, or an entity with shared labor-man- 23 agement oversight, that has a dem- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:41 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3336.IH H3336 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 3336 IH onstrated history of providing health pro- 1 fession training to eligible individuals. 2 ‘‘(ix) An opioid treatment program (as 3 defined in section 1861(iii)(2)). 4 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—The term 5 ‘eligible individual’ means an individual whose 6 income does not exceed 138 percent of the Fed- 7 eral poverty level. 8 ‘‘(9) APPROPRIATION.—Out of any funds in the 9 Treasury of the United States not otherwise appro- 10 priated, there are appropriated to the Secretary to 11 carry out this subsection $10,000,000 for fiscal year 12 2020.’’. 13 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 14 The amendment made by this Act shall take effect 15 on October 1, 2019. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:41 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3336.IH H3336 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS