SELF Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4615 To establish a competitive grant program to support the development, imple- mentation, and evaluation of successful educator and school leader profes- sional development programs on family engagement that will increase the capacity of educators and school leaders to work with families to develop and support the social-emotional learning of children. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 Mr. KING (for himself and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Edu- cation, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To establish a competitive grant program to support the development, implementation, and evaluation of success- ful educator and school leader professional development programs on family engagement that will increase the capacity of educators and school leaders to work with families to develop and support the social-emotional learning of children. 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 02:27 Sep 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4615.IS S4615 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4615 IS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Social-Emotional 2 Learning for Families Act of 2020’’ or the ‘‘SELF Act 3 of 2020’’. 4 SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts appropriated to 6 carry out this section, the Secretary shall award grants, 7 on a competitive basis, to local educational agencies to de- 8 velop, implement, and evaluate educator and school leader 9 professional development programs on social-emotional 10 learning and family engagement. Local educational agen- 11 cies may work in partnership with the entities described 12 in subsection (e)(3) to carry out such programs. The ob- 13 jective of such programs will be to increase the capacity 14 of educators and school leaders to work with families to 15 develop and support the social-emotional learning of chil- 16 dren. 17 (b) GRANT AWARDS.— 18 (1) MAXIMUM GRANT AMOUNT.—The total 19 amount of each grant awarded under this section 20 may not exceed $1,200,000. 21 (2) GRANT PERIOD.—A grant awarded under 22 this section shall be for a period of 5 years, and may 23 be renewed. 24 (3) NUMBER OF GRANTS.—The Secretary shall 25 award not more than 100 grants under this section. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:27 Sep 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4615.IS S4615 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4615 IS (4) RURAL SET ASIDE.—The Secretary shall re- 1 serve 10 percent of the funds appropriated to carry 2 out this section to award grants to rural local edu- 3 cational agencies that are eligible local educational 4 agencies under section 5211(b) of the Elementary 5 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6 7345(b)). 7 (c) APPLICATIONS.—An application submitted by a 8 local educational agency for a grant under this section 9 shall demonstrate through descriptions in the grant appli- 10 cation— 11 (1) the ability to provide instructional space for 12 proposed programming; 13 (2) a commitment to the development, imple- 14 mentation, and evaluation of successful educator and 15 school leader professional development programs on 16 family engagement that will increase the capacity of 17 educators and school leaders to work with families to 18 develop and support the social-emotional learning of 19 children; 20 (3) a plan to ensure that the proposed pro- 21 grams will serve diverse groups, such as Native 22 Americans and underrepresented or economically 23 disadvantaged families; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:27 Sep 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4615.IS S4615 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4615 IS (4) a long-term commitment to the proposed 1 programs to be carried out with the grant, including 2 a plan to continue the actions described in para- 3 graphs (1) through (3) for a period of not less than 4 5 years; 5 (5) how the local educational agency intends to 6 measure outcomes related to the grant; and 7 (6) how the population to be served with grant 8 funds is experiencing youth trauma resulting from 9 recent natural disasters (such as hurricanes, 10 wildfires, or tornados), the opioid epidemic, or a 11 qualifying emergency. 12 (d) SELECTION.—In awarding grants under this sec- 13 tion, the Secretary shall— 14 (1) give priority to— 15 (A) high-need local educational agencies, 16 as defined in section 200 of the Higher Edu- 17 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1021); and 18 (B) local educational agencies that serve 19 populations that are likely to have an increased 20 likelihood of youth trauma resulting from recent 21 natural disasters (such as hurricanes, wildfires, 22 or tornados), the opioid epidemic, or a quali- 23 fying emergency; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:27 Sep 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4615.IS S4615 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4615 IS (2) ensure that, to the maximum extent prac- 1 ticable, the projects funded under this section are lo- 2 cated in diverse geographic regions of the United 3 States. 4 (e) USES OF FUNDS.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—A local educational agency 6 receiving a grant under this section shall use such 7 funds to carry out programs at elementary schools 8 and secondary schools served by the local edu- 9 cational agency that— 10 (A) involves instruction of evidence-based 11 social-emotional learning through locally rel- 12 evant materials for educators and school leaders 13 and families; 14 (B) provides professional development for 15 educators and school leaders to engage families 16 and support the development of the social-emo- 17 tional learning of families; 18 (C) provides direct instruction on social- 19 emotional learning to families during times 20 when families are available and in places that 21 are safe, convenient, and easily accessible; 22 (D) encourages participation of families in 23 the programs offered by the local educational 24 agency under this section, including programs 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:27 Sep 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4615.IS S4615 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4615 IS supported by partner entities as described 1 under paragraph (3); and 2 (E) is designed to result in improved meas- 3 urable outcomes related to children, including 4 positive social behavior and academic outcomes. 5 (2) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.—In the 6 case of a local educational agency that is a State 7 educational agency, such entity shall award sub- 8 grants, on a competitive basis, to local educational 9 agencies to carry out the program described in para- 10 graph (1). 11 (3) PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS.—Each 12 local educational agency awarded a grant under this 13 section may carry out the program funded under the 14 grant in partnership with one or more of the fol- 15 lowing: 16 (A) Institutions of higher education, in- 17 cluding Tribal Colleges and Universities. 18 (B) Nonprofit organizations. 19 (C) Community-based organizations. 20 (f) REPORTS.— 21 (1) REPORTS FROM GRANT RECIPIENTS.—A 22 local educational agency that receives a grant under 23 this section shall submit to the Secretary, not later 24 than 1 year after the date of receipt of grant funds, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:27 Sep 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4615.IS S4615 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4615 IS a report containing any relevant information, as re- 1 quested by the Secretary, in accordance with the in- 2 formation required of the Secretary under paragraph 3 (2). 4 (2) ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later 5 than 2 years after the first grant is awarded under 6 this section, and annually thereafter, the Secretary 7 shall submit to the Committee on Health, Edu- 8 cation, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the 9 Committee on Education and Labor of the House of 10 Representatives and make publicly available, a re- 11 port on activities and results under this section. 12 Such report shall describe— 13 (A) the total number of grant applications 14 received during the year preceding the report; 15 (B) the number and geographic distribu- 16 tion of the grants for such year and for all 17 grants awarded under this section; 18 (C) participation of minority-serving insti- 19 tutions, including Tribal Colleges and Univer- 20 sities; 21 (D) participation of underrepresented and 22 economically disadvantaged families; 23 (E) overall program outcomes and issues 24 of concern; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:27 Sep 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4615.IS S4615 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4615 IS (F) recommendations for program revi- 1 sions to achieve the desired program outcome. 2 (g) DEFINITIONS.— 3 (1) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘elementary 4 school’’, ‘‘local educational agency’’, ‘‘professional 5 development’’, ‘‘secondary school’’, ‘‘specialized in- 6 structional support personnel’’, and ‘‘State edu- 7 cational agency’’ have the meanings given the terms 8 in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary 9 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 10 (2) EDUCATOR AND SCHOOL LEADER PROFES- 11 SIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS.—The term ‘‘edu- 12 cator and school leader professional development 13 programs’’ includes professional development pro- 14 grams for educators, principals, school leaders, spe- 15 cialized instructional support personnel, and other 16 school-based personnel. 17 (3) EDUCATORS AND SCHOOL LEADERS.—The 18 term ‘‘educators and school leaders’’ means edu- 19 cators, principals, school leaders, specialized instruc- 20 tional support personnel, and other school-based per- 21 sonnel. 22 (4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 23 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:27 Sep 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4615.IS S4615 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4615 IS meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the 1 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 2 (5) INSTRUCTION.—The term ‘‘instruction’’ 3 means activities that— 4 (A) emphasize communication of knowl- 5 edge concerning social-emotional learning in 6 adults and children; 7 (B) provide opportunities to practice so- 8 cial-emotional learning through interactive ac- 9 tivities between families and their children; and 10 (C) are aligned with and integrated into 11 family involvement and engagement standards 12 that may exist in the applicable State or that 13 may be developed. 14 (6) MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTION.—The 15 term ‘‘minority-serving institution’’ means an insti- 16 tution of higher education described in section 17 371(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 18 U.S.C. 1067q(a)). 19 (7) QUALIFYING EMERGENCY.—The term 20 ‘‘qualifying emergency’’ means— 21 (A) a public health emergency related to 22 the coronavirus declared by the Secretary of 23 Health and Human Services pursuant to sec- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:27 Sep 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4615.IS S4615 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 4615 IS tion 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 1 U.S.C. 247d); 2 (B) an event related to the coronavirus for 3 which the President declared a major disaster 4 or an emergency under section 401 or 501, re- 5 spectively, of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 6 Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 7 U.S.C. 5170 and 5191); or 8 (C) a national emergency related to the 9 coronavirus declared by the President under 10 section 201 of the National Emergencies Act 11 (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.). 12 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 13 the Secretary of Education. 14 (9) SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING.—The term 15 ‘‘social-emotional learning’’ includes— 16 (A) self-awareness, or having a realistic 17 perception of one’s own values, interests, and 18 strengths, and being able to recognize one’s 19 own emotions; 20 (B) self-management, or how well one 21 manages emotions, impulses, and stress, and is 22 able to establish and achieve goals and exercise 23 self-discipline; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:27 Sep 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4615.IS S4615 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 4615 IS (C) social awareness, or the ability to take 1 the perspective of and empathize with someone 2 else and to appreciate and respect diversity; 3 (D) relationship skills, or the ability to 4 participate in healthy, cooperative, and caring 5 relationships, and effectively resolve conflicts; 6 and 7 (E) responsible decision making, or the 8 ability to recognize and generate good choices, 9 evaluate the likely consequences of actions, and 10 take responsibility for one’s decisions. 11 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 12 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 13 $130,000,000, of which not more than $10,000,000 may 14 be used by the Secretary for reports and technical assist- 15 ance. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:27 Sep 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4615.IS S4615 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS