Chronic Absenteeism Reduction in Every School (CARES) Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4220 To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to allow local educational agencies to use Federal funds for programs and activi- ties that address chronic absenteeism. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUGUST 30, 2019 Mr. RYAN (for himself and Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to allow local educational agencies to use Federal funds for programs and activities that address chronic absenteeism. 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 ‘‘Chronic Absenteeism 4 Reduction in Every School (CARES) Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 The Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:25 Aug 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4220.IH H4220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4220 IH (1) Students who are chronically absent— 1 meaning they miss 10 percent or more of the school 2 year—are more likely to fall behind academically, 3 which can lead to hardships later in life. These stu- 4 dents are 68 percent less likely than their peers to 5 graduate. This leaves them prone to living in pov- 6 erty, suffering from diminished health, and being in- 7 volved in the criminal justice system later in life. 8 (2) The Department of Education’s Office of 9 Civil Rights Data Collection found that over 10 7,000,000 students were chronically absent during 11 the 2015–2016 school year. This makes up 14 per- 12 cent of all students. 13 (3) Students of color are disproportionately 14 chronically absent compared to their White peers. 15 Latino students are 17 percent more likely to be 16 chronically absent, African-American students are 17 40 percent more likely, and American Indian and 18 Pacific Islander students are over 50 percent more 19 likely, according to the Department of Education’s 20 Office of Civil Rights Data Collection. 21 (4) The Department of Education has found 22 that chronic absenteeism is widespread, stemming 23 from a wide range of often overlapping internal and 24 external factors. External factors include homeless- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:25 Aug 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4220.IH H4220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4220 IH ness, challenges within families, and transportation; 1 while internal factors include health, fear of bullying, 2 concern for safety, and not valuing daily school at- 3 tendance. Therefore, it is critical to have cross-sector 4 collaborations and multifaceted strategies that incor- 5 porate parents (or guardians, as appropriate), pub- 6 lic-partner partnerships, and community partners. 7 (5) Studies have shown that mentors can help 8 reduce chronic absenteeism. Students who regularly 9 meet with mentors are 52 percent less likely than 10 their peers to skip a day of school and 37 percent 11 less likely to skip a class. In one program, previously 12 chronically absent students in 2012–2013 with 13 ‘‘Success Mentors’’ gained 51,562 additional days of 14 school compared to previously chronically absent stu- 15 dents without mentors at comparison schools; and 16 92,277 additional days compared to comparison 17 school students without mentors during the 3-year 18 initiative. A report on the impact of one mentoring 19 program found that it reduced school absenteeism by 20 half. In another study, youth showed a gain of more 21 than a week of class attendance. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:25 Aug 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4220.IH H4220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4220 IH SEC. 3. INTERVENTIONS TO ADDRESS CHRONIC ABSENTEE- 1 ISM. 2 Section 4108(5) of the Elementary and Secondary 3 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7118(5)) is amended— 4 (1) in subparagraph (H)(iii) by striking ‘‘or’’ at 5 the end; 6 (2) in subparagraph (I), by striking the period 7 at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 8 (3) by adding at the end the following: 9 ‘‘(J) interventions for students who miss 10 10 percent or more of school days (as deter- 11 mined at any time during a school year), which 12 may include— 13 ‘‘(i) implementing data collection sys- 14 tems that assist schools in collecting and 15 tracking attendance data; 16 ‘‘(ii) creating data-sharing and con- 17 fidentiality agreements between schools, so- 18 cial service agencies, city and county gov- 19 ernments, and partner agencies or commu- 20 nity organizations working with students; 21 ‘‘(iii) partnering with local health, 22 transportation, and service providers to 23 target intervention efforts; 24 ‘‘(iv) training and integrating school 25 personnel for mentoring; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:25 Aug 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4220.IH H4220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4220 IH ‘‘(v) carrying out mentoring programs 1 that— 2 ‘‘(I) are structured, managed, 3 and appropriately match students 4 with screened and well-trained adult 5 volunteers for group and one-on-one 6 mentoring relationships; 7 ‘‘(II) encourage mentors and stu- 8 dents to meet frequently; 9 ‘‘(III) emphasize the importance 10 of regular school attendance; and 11 ‘‘(IV) provide and facilitate the 12 necessary student support services; 13 ‘‘(vi) partnering with community orga- 14 nizations that offer mentoring services that 15 consist of— 16 ‘‘(I) screening and training of 17 adult volunteers; 18 ‘‘(II) matching students with the 19 appropriate adult volunteer mentors; 20 ‘‘(III) support and oversight of 21 the mentoring relationship; 22 ‘‘(IV) establishing goals and eval- 23 uation of outcomes for mentored stu- 24 dents; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:25 Aug 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4220.IH H4220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 4220 IH ‘‘(V) planned and ongoing coordi- 1 nation between mentors and school 2 personnel to identify individual stu- 3 dent challenges causing chronic absen- 4 teeism in an effort to connect mentees 5 to appropriate intervention efforts; 6 ‘‘(vii) cross-age peer mentoring pro- 7 grams under which an older student serves 8 a mentor for a younger student for the 9 purpose of guiding and supporting the stu- 10 dent’s academic, social, and emotional de- 11 velopment; 12 ‘‘(viii) identifying issues that lead to 13 school absences; 14 ‘‘(ix) meeting with students and par- 15 ents (or guardians, as appropriate) to en- 16 gage students and improve performance; 17 ‘‘(x) arranging for teacher home visits 18 to develop relationships among students, 19 parents (or guardians, as appropriate) and 20 schools; 21 ‘‘(xi) connecting students to existing 22 school resources and activities, including 23 school counseling services and existing 24 community-based organizations; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:25 Aug 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4220.IH H4220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 4220 IH ‘‘(xii) using mentors to serve as a 1 bridge between students, parents (or 2 guardians, as appropriate), and schools; 3 ‘‘(xiii) implementing evidence-based 4 restorative justice strategies aimed at re- 5 ducing suspensions in order to keep stu- 6 dents in school; or 7 ‘‘(xiv) providing personnel training to 8 build positive school climates and promote 9 social-emotional learning.’’. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:25 Aug 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4220.IH H4220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS