Essential Skills and Child Care for Health Professions Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3338 To remove barriers to health professions by providing resources to access foundational educational training, such as English as a foreign language and adult basic education, and to require the provision of child care, in demonstration projects funded under the health profession opportunity grant program under section 2008 of the Social Security Act. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 19, 2019 Ms. JUDY CHU of California introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To remove barriers to health professions by providing re- sources to access foundational educational training, such as English as a foreign language and adult basic edu- cation, and to require the provision of child care, in demonstration projects funded under the health profes- sion 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Essential Skills and 4 Child Care for Health Professions Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:41 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3338.IH H3338 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 3338 IH SEC. 2. PROVISION OF FOUNDATIONAL EDUCATIONAL 1 TRAINING AND CHILD CARE. 2 Section 2008 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 3 1397g) is amended by redesignating subsections (c) and 4 (d) as subsections (d) and (e), respectively, and by insert- 5 ing after subsection (b) the following: 6 ‘‘(c) PROVISION OF FOUNDATIONAL EDUCATIONAL 7 TRAINING AND CHILD CARE.— 8 ‘‘(1) REQUIRED SUPPORT.—A demonstration 9 project for which a grant is made under this section 10 shall include the following: 11 ‘‘(A) An assessment for adult basic skill 12 competency, and the use of innovative ap- 13 proaches to adult basic skills education so that 14 lower-skilled eligible individuals can enroll in 15 the project and go on to enter and complete 16 post-secondary training, through means includ- 17 ing the following: 18 ‘‘(i) Establishing a network of part- 19 ners that offer pre-training activities for 20 project participants who need to improve 21 basic academic skills or English language 22 proficiency before entering a health occu- 23 pational training career pathway program. 24 ‘‘(ii) Offering resources to enable 25 project participants to continue advancing 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:41 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3338.IH H3338 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 3338 IH adult basic skill proficiency while enrolled 1 in a career pathway program. 2 ‘‘(iii) Embedding adult basic skill 3 maintenance as part of ongoing post-grad- 4 uation career coaching and mentoring. 5 ‘‘(B) A guarantee that child care is an 6 available and affordable support service for 7 project participants through means such as the 8 following: 9 ‘‘(i) Referral to, and assistance with, 10 enrollment in a subsidized child care pro- 11 gram. 12 ‘‘(ii) Direct payment to a child care 13 provider if a slot in a subsidized child care 14 program is not available or reasonably ac- 15 cessible. 16 ‘‘(iii) Payment of co-payments or as- 17 sociated fees for child care. 18 ‘‘(2) ALLOWED SUPPORT.—The goods and serv- 19 ices provided under a demonstration project for 20 which a grant is made under this section may in- 21 clude assistance with accessing and completing high 22 school equivalency or adult basic education courses 23 as necessary to achieve success in the project and 24 make progress toward career goals.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:41 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3338.IH H3338 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 3338 IH SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 1 The amendments made by this Act shall take effect 2 on October 1, 2019. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:41 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3338.IH H3338 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS