FLUENT Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7587 To improve the literacy and English skills of English language learners, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 13, 2020 Mr. GRIJALVA (for himself, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. SAN NICOLAS, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. NORTON, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. CA´RDENAS, and Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To improve the literacy and English skills of English language learners, 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 ‘‘Families Learning and 4 Understanding English Together Act of 2020’’ or the 5 ‘‘FLUENT Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 7 The Congress finds the following: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:51 Aug 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7587.IH H7587 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7587 IH (1) The Census Bureau’s American Community 1 Survey of 2018 estimated 21.9 percent of United 2 States households speak a language other than 3 English at home. 4 (2) Many parents in many recently immigrated 5 families speak little to no English, can possess low 6 literacy skills in their native language due to limited 7 education, and frequently struggle to assist their 8 children’s English language development. 9 (3) The United States is a nation of immi- 10 grants, and even today, according to the Census Bu- 11 reau’s American Community Survey of 2018, more 12 than 44,000,000 individuals who live in the United 13 States were born outside the country. 14 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 15 The purpose of this Act is to improve the educational, 16 social, and economic advancement of families with English 17 language learners in need of literacy skills by expanding 18 and enhancing family literacy activities and services for 19 such families. 20 SEC. 4. COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAM. 21 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—From funds made 22 available pursuant to section 9, and after reserving funds 23 under section 9(b), the Secretary may award grants to 24 family literacy providers to provide, directly or through a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:51 Aug 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7587.IH H7587 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7587 IH contract with another provider, family literacy services de- 1 signed for families with English language learners. Each 2 grant under this Act shall be for a period of 1 year and 3 may be renewed for a total of 5 additional years. 4 (b) APPLICATION.—Family literacy providers who de- 5 sire to receive a grant under this Act shall submit an ap- 6 plication at such time, containing such information, and 7 in such manner as the Secretary may require. Such appli- 8 cation shall include the following: 9 (1) An assurance that services provided with 10 funds under this Act shall be provided to the hard- 11 est-to-reach populations, including populations with 12 the greatest economic and social need. 13 (2) A description of the services that will be 14 provided with funds under this Act, including how 15 the services will be based on research-based reading 16 instruction for children who are English learners 17 and parents who are English language learners. 18 (3) A description of the outcome measures, con- 19 sistent with section 6, that are based on research 20 and will be employed by the family literacy provider 21 to measure the effectiveness of services provided 22 with funds under this Act. 23 (4) An assurance that, in providing family lit- 24 eracy services through the grant, the family literacy 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:51 Aug 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7587.IH H7587 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7587 IH provider will collaborate with one or more of the fol- 1 lowing: 2 (A) A local educational agency. 3 (B) An elementary school. 4 (C) A secondary school. 5 (D) A nonprofit entity. 6 (c) GRANT AMOUNT.—The amount of a grant under 7 this Act for a fiscal year shall not be less than $150,000 8 or more than $1,000,000. 9 (d) SERVICES REQUIREMENTS.—Family literacy 10 services under this Act shall be provided in sufficient in- 11 tensity in terms of hours, and shall be of sufficient dura- 12 tion, to make sustainable changes in a family and shall 13 integrate all of the following activities: 14 (1) Interactive literacy activities between par- 15 ents and their children. 16 (2) Training for parents regarding how to be 17 the primary teacher for their children and full part- 18 ners in the education of their children. 19 (3) Parent literacy training that leads to eco- 20 nomic self-sufficiency. 21 (4) An age-appropriate education to prepare 22 children for success in school and life experiences. 23 (e) SPECIAL RULE.—Family literacy services under 24 this Act may be provided to a family only if— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:51 Aug 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7587.IH H7587 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7587 IH (1) each parent in the family has attained 16 1 years of age; and 2 (2) the family has at least one child who has 3 not yet attained 8 years of age. 4 SEC. 5. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING. 5 (a) ACTIVITIES BY SECRETARY.—The Secretary, act- 6 ing through the Assistant Secretary for Elementary and 7 Secondary Education, shall, through grants or contracts 8 as described in subsection (b), provide technical assistance 9 and training to grantees under this Act for the purposes 10 described in subsection (c). 11 (b) ACTIVITIES BY NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make 13 grants to, or enter into contracts with, at least 2 eli- 14 gible national organizations to provide technical as- 15 sistance and training to grantees under this Act for 16 the purposes described in subsection (c). 17 (2) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘el- 18 igible national organization’’ means a national orga- 19 nization with expertise in providing family literacy 20 services to English language learner populations. 21 (c) PURPOSES.—The purposes of technical assistance 22 and training provided under this section are the following: 23 (1) Assisting grantees under this Act to im- 24 prove the quality of their family literacy services. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:51 Aug 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7587.IH H7587 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7587 IH (2) Enabling such grantees that demonstrate 1 the effective provision of family literacy services, 2 based on improved outcomes for children and their 3 parents, to provide technical assistance and training 4 to government agencies and to family literacy pro- 5 viders that work in collaboration with such agencies 6 to improve the quality of their family literacy serv- 7 ices. 8 (3) Assisting such grantees in the implementa- 9 tion of literacy curriculum and training activities, in- 10 cluding curriculum and training activities that sup- 11 port building on a child’s native language. 12 (d) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 90 days 13 after the end of each fiscal year, the Secretary shall sub- 14 mit to the Committee on Education and Labor of the 15 House of Representatives and the Committee on Health, 16 Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate a report 17 on the technical assistance and training provided pursuant 18 to subsections (a) and (b). Each such report shall describe 19 the actions taken by the Secretary to ensure that such 20 technical assistance and training is of high quality and 21 is responsive to the needs of grantees under this Act. 22 SEC. 6. OUTCOME MEASURES. 23 The Secretary shall require each family literacy pro- 24 vider receiving a grant under this Act to meet culturally 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:51 Aug 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7587.IH H7587 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7587 IH appropriate and competent outcome measures described in 1 the provider’s application under section 4, including out- 2 come measures with respect to— 3 (1) acquisition of the English language, includ- 4 ing improved educational levels; 5 (2) literacy skills and building of a home lan- 6 guage; 7 (3) improved parenting and life skills; 8 (4) the improved ability of parents who are 9 English language learners to effectively interact with 10 officials of the schools their children attend; 11 (5) improved developmental skills and inde- 12 pendent learning of the children; 13 (6) increased parental participation in their 14 children’s education and home environments that are 15 supportive of educational endeavors; and 16 (7) employability skills. 17 SEC. 7. EVALUATION. 18 The Secretary shall conduct an annual evaluation of 19 the grant program under this Act. Such evaluation shall 20 be used by the Secretary— 21 (1) for program improvement; 22 (2) to further define the program’s goals and 23 objectives; and 24 (3) to determine program effectiveness. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:51 Aug 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7587.IH H7587 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 7587 IH SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 1 For purposes of this Act: 2 (1) APPLICATION OF ESEA TERMS.—The terms 3 ‘‘elementary school’’, ‘‘English learner’’, ‘‘local edu- 4 cational agency’’, and ‘‘secondary school’’ have the 5 meanings given such terms in section 8101 of the 6 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 7 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 8 (2) ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNER; FAMILY LIT- 9 ERACY ACTIVITIES.—The terms ‘‘English language 10 learner’’ and ‘‘family literacy activities’’ have the 11 meanings given the terms in section 203 of the 12 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 13 U.S.C. 3272). 14 (3) FAMILY LITERACY PROVIDER.—The term 15 ‘‘family literacy provider’’ means an entity that— 16 (A) is located in a geographic area con- 17 taining at least one public elementary school or 18 secondary school with a majority enrollment of 19 children who are English learners; and 20 (B) is one of the following: 21 (i) A grantee under the Head Start 22 Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.), or any other 23 Federal or State early childhood program. 24 (ii) An adult education provider. 25 (iii) A local educational agency. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:51 Aug 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7587.IH H7587 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 7587 IH (iv) A public or private nonprofit 1 agency. 2 (v) Another entity that has the dem- 3 onstrated ability to provide family literacy 4 services to English language learning 5 adults and families. 6 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 7 the Secretary of Education. 8 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 9 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro- 10 priated to carry out this Act $50,000,000 for each of fiscal 11 years 2021 through 2025. 12 (b) RESERVATIONS.—From funds made available 13 pursuant to subsection (a) for a fiscal year, the Secretary 14 shall reserve— 15 (1) not more than 2 percent of such funds for 16 conducting the annual evaluation required by section 17 7; and 18 (2) $5,000,000 for technical assistance and 19 training under section 5. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:51 Aug 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7587.IH H7587 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS