Helping Student Parents Succeed Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5222 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish notification require- ments for policies concerning expectant and parenting students, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOVEMBER 21, 2019 Mr. ALLRED (for himself and Mr. TRONE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish notification requirements for policies concerning expect- ant and parenting students, 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 ‘‘Helping Student Par- 4 ents Succeed Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. EXPECTANT AND PARENTING STUDENTS POLICIES. 6 Section 485 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 7 18 U.S.C. 1092) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 8 lowing: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:16 Dec 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5222.IH H5222 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 5222 IH ‘‘(n) EXPECTANT AND PARENTING STUDENTS POLI- 1 CIES.—Each institution of higher education participating 2 in any program under this title shall develop and make 3 available, including on the institution’s website, a state- 4 ment of policy concerning expectant and parenting stu- 5 dents, which shall include, at a minimum— 6 ‘‘(1) the institution’s policy regarding leaves of 7 absence related to pregnancy (and related medical 8 conditions), and the birth or adoption of a child, 9 which shall include— 10 ‘‘(A) any policies related to the availability 11 of parental leave; and 12 ‘‘(B) options, including time requirements, 13 for making up missed work for students who 14 take a leave of absence; 15 ‘‘(2) information regarding lactation accom- 16 modations available to students; 17 ‘‘(3) a description of the process for requesting 18 accommodations, and the type of accommodations 19 available to expectant and parenting students, in- 20 cluding— 21 ‘‘(A) information on accommodations for 22 pregnancy-related medical conditions; and 23 ‘‘(B) information on accommodations for 24 students who have parental responsibilities; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:12 Dec 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5222.IH H5222 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 5222 IH ‘‘(4) information regarding financial aid eligi- 1 bility for expectant and parenting students, includ- 2 ing— 3 ‘‘(A) the availability of dependent care al- 4 lowances for a parenting student for the pur- 5 poses of determining the student’s cost of at- 6 tendance; 7 ‘‘(B) the ability to change dependency sta- 8 tus, including during an award year, following 9 the birth of a child; 10 ‘‘(C) the availability of and eligibility re- 11 quirements for any emergency financial aid pro- 12 grams provided by the institution; and 13 ‘‘(D) an explanation of the effect that a 14 leave of absence may have on a student’s dem- 15 onstration of satisfactory academic progress, in- 16 cluding for the purposes of eligibility to partici- 17 pate in financial aid programs under this title; 18 ‘‘(5) information on available student support 19 services, programs, and community resources, such 20 as academic advising, child care (including child care 21 subsidy and assistance programs), housing (includ- 22 ing housing subsidies and utility assistance pro- 23 grams), food (including food assistance programs), 24 public benefits, health care, health insurance, mental 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:16 Dec 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5222.IH H5222 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 5222 IH health, transportation benefits, mentoring, and other 1 services available for expectant and parenting stu- 2 dents, both on-campus and in the community, and 3 under local, State, and Federal law; 4 ‘‘(6) information regarding the availability of 5 on-campus housing that permits students to live 6 with dependents; 7 ‘‘(7) information on the rights and protections 8 that are guaranteed to expectant and parenting stu- 9 dents under applicable Federal and State laws; 10 ‘‘(8) the institution’s procedures for addressing 11 complaints under title IX of the Education Amend- 12 ments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), including 13 procedures for reporting complaints under such title; 14 ‘‘(9) the institution’s procedures for addressing 15 complaints alleging discrimination based on a preg- 16 nancy-related disability under section 504 of the Re- 17 habilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 701 et seq.) or 18 the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 19 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), including procedures for re- 20 porting complaints under such laws; and 21 ‘‘(10) the contact information for the institu- 22 tion’s Office of Accessibility, the institution’s Title 23 IX coordinator, and any other relevant staff mem- 24 bers who serve as a point of contact for, or offer 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:16 Dec 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5222.IH H5222 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 5222 IH services available to, expectant and parenting stu- 1 dents.’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:16 Dec 04, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5222.IH H5222 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS