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90_HB0918eng
New Act
Creates the Illinois Youthbuild Act to be administered by
the Department of Children and Family Services. Provides
disadvantaged youth age 16 to 24, who meet certain criteria,
with opportunities for employment, education, leadership
development, entrepreneurial skills development, and training
in the construction or rehabilitation of housing for special
need populations, very low-income households, or low-income
households. Establishes requirements for Youthbuild
programs, eligible activities, entities eligible to
administer a Youthbuild program, and grant applications to
administer a Youthbuild program.
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1 AN ACT relating to youth skills training, education, job
2 placement, personal development, and leadership development.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
6 Illinois Youthbuild Act.
7 Section 5. Purpose. The purpose of the Illinois
8 Youthbuild Act is:
9 (a) To enable economically disadvantaged youth,
10 especially youth who have not finished high school, to obtain
11 the education, job skills training, personal counseling,
12 leadership development skills training, job placement
13 assistance, and long-term follow-up services necessary for
14 them to achieve permanent economic self-sufficiency, while at
15 the same time providing valuable community service that
16 addresses urgent community needs including the demand for
17 affordable housing and the need for young role models and
18 mentors for younger teenagers and children.
19 (b) To provide communities the opportunity to establish
20 or rebuild neighborhood stability in economically depressed
21 and low-income areas, as well as historic areas requiring
22 restoration or preservation, while providing economically
23 disadvantaged youth and youth who have not finished high
24 school an opportunity for meaningful participation in
25 society.
26 (c) To allow communities to expand the supply of
27 affordable housing for homeless and other low-income
28 individuals by utilizing the energies and talents of
29 economically disadvantaged youth and young people who have
30 not graduated from high school.
31 (d) To foster the development of leadership skills and a
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1 commitment to community development among youth.
2 Section 10. Definitions. In this Act:
3 "Applicant" means a public or private not-for-profit
4 agency eligible to provide education and employment training
5 under federal or State employment training programs.
6 "Secretary" means the Secretary of Human Services.
7 "Very low-income" means a person or household whose
8 income is at or below 50% of the median family income,
9 adjusted for household size, for the county where the
10 household is located.
11 "Youthbuild" means any program that provides
12 disadvantaged youth with opportunities for employment,
13 education, leadership development, entrepreneurial skills
14 development, and training in the construction or
15 rehabilitation of housing for special need populations, very
16 low-income households, or low-income households.
17 Section 15. Program requirements. The Secretary is
18 authorized to make grants to applicants for the purpose of
19 carrying out Youthbuild programs as approved under this
20 Section. All programs funded pursuant to the provisions of
21 this Section shall reflect strong youth and community
22 involvement. In addition, funding provided under this
23 Section shall be used by each Youthbuild program to provide,
24 at a minimum, the following services:
25 (a) Acquisition, rehabilitation, acquisition and
26 rehabilitation, or construction of housing and related
27 facilities to be used for the purpose of providing home
28 ownership for disadvantaged persons, residential housing for
29 homeless individuals, and low-income and very low-income
30 families, or transitional housing for persons who are
31 homeless, have disabilities, are ill, are
32 deinstitutionalized, or have special needs, and
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1 rehabilitation or construction of community facilities owned
2 by not-for-profit or public agencies.
3 (b) Integrated education and job skills training
4 services and activities which are evenly divided within the
5 program, with 50% of students' time spent in classroom-based
6 instruction, counseling, and leadership development
7 instruction and 50% of their time spent in experiential
8 training on the construction site. The programs shall
9 include, at a minimum, the following elements:
10 (1) An education component which includes basic
11 skills instruction, secondary education services, and
12 other activities designed to lead to the attainment of a
13 high school diploma or its equivalent. The curriculum
14 for this component shall include math, language arts,
15 vocational education, life skills training, social
16 studies related to the cultural and community history of
17 the students, leadership skills, and other topics at the
18 discretion of the programs. Bilingual services shall be
19 available for individuals with limited-English
20 proficiency. The desired minimum teacher to student
21 ratio shall be one teacher for every 18 students.
22 (2) A work experience and skills training component
23 apprenticeship program that includes the construction and
24 rehabilitation activities described in subsection (a).
25 The process of construction must be coupled with skills
26 training and with close on-site supervision by
27 experienced trainers. The curriculum for this component
28 shall contain a set of locally agreed upon skills and
29 competencies that are systematically taught, with a
30 student's mastery assessed individually on a regular,
31 ongoing basis. Safety skills shall be taught at the
32 outset. The desired trainer to student ratio shall be
33 one trainer for every 7 students. The work experience
34 and skills training component shall be coordinated to the
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1 maximum extent feasible with preapprenticeship and
2 apprenticeship programs.
3 (3) Assistance in attaining post secondary
4 education and required financial aid shall be made
5 available to participants prior to graduation.
6 (c) Counseling services designed to assist participants
7 to positively participate in society, which should include
8 all of the following if necessary: outreach, assessment, and
9 orientation; individual and peer counseling; life skills
10 training, drug and alcohol abuse education and prevention;
11 and referral to appropriate drug rehabilitation, medical,
12 mental health, legal, housing, and other services and
13 resources in the community. The desired counselor to
14 participant ratio shall be one counselor for every 28
15 students.
16 (d) Leadership development training that provides
17 participants with meaningful opportunities to develop
18 leadership skills such as decision making, problem solving,
19 and negotiating. The program must also encourage
20 participants to develop strong peer group ties that support
21 their mutual pursuit of skills and values.
22 All programs must establish a youth council in which
23 participants are afforded opportunities to develop public
24 speaking and negotiating skills, and management and policy
25 making participation in specific aspects of the program.
26 (e) Stipends and wages. A training subsidy, living
27 allowance, or stipend that will be no less than minimum wage
28 must be provided to program participants for the time spent
29 at the worksite in construction training. For those
30 participants who receive public assistance, this training
31 subsidy, living allowance, or stipend will not affect their
32 housing benefits, medical benefits, child care benefits or
33 food stamp benefits. Stipends and wages may be distributed
34 in a manner that offers incentives for good performance.
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1 (f) Full time participation in a Youthbuild program
2 shall be offered for a period of not less than 6 months and
3 not more than 24 months.
4 (g) A concentrated effort shall be made to find
5 construction, construction-related, and nonconstruction jobs
6 for all graduates of the program who have performed well.
7 The skills training curriculum shall provide participants
8 with basic preparation for seeking and maintaining a job.
9 Follow-up counseling and assistance in job-seeking shall also
10 be provided to participants for the 12 months following
11 graduation from the program.
12 (h) All programs serving 28 trainees or more are
13 required to have a full-time director responsible for the
14 coordination of all aspects of the Youthbuild program.
15 Section 20. Eligible activities. Implementation grants
16 may be used to carry out the activities listed in Section 15.
17 Other eligible activities include the following:
18 (a) Legal fees for housing acquisition.
19 (b) Administrative costs of the applicant which may not
20 exceed 15% of the amount of assistance provided, or such
21 higher percentage as the Secretary determines is necessary to
22 support capacity development of a private nonprofit
23 community-based organization.
24 (c) Defraying costs for the ongoing training and
25 technical assistance needs of the recipient that are related
26 to developing and carrying out the Youthbuild program
27 including:
28 (1) The Secretary may reserve up to 5% of the
29 Illinois Youthbuild program appropriations to enter into
30 a contract with Youthbuild USA to provide assistance to
31 the Secretary in the provision of training and to
32 technical assistance to, or in the management,
33 supervision, and coordination of, Youthbuild programs
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1 under this Act.
2 Section 25. Eligible participants. Eligible
3 participants are youth 16 to 24 years old who are
4 economically disadvantaged as defined in United States Code,
5 Title 29, Section 1503, and who are part of one of the
6 following groups:
7 (a) Persons who are not attending any school and have
8 not received a secondary school diploma or its equivalent.
9 (b) Persons currently enrolled in a traditional or
10 alternative school setting or a GED program and who are in
11 danger of dropping out of school.
12 (c) Very low-income persons.
13 Up to 25% of the participants in the program may be
14 individuals who do not meet the requirements of subsections
15 (a), (b), and (c), but who have educational needs despite the
16 attainment of a high school diploma.
17 Section 30. Selection criteria. Priority in the
18 awarding of funds under this Act shall be given to applicants
19 with experience in operating Youthbuild programs.
20 Organizations claiming to have operated Youthbuild programs
21 must be licensed by Youthbuild USA or be organizations that
22 have received federal HUD Youthbuild funding.
23 Section 35. Eligible entities. Those eligible to be
24 awarded funds under this Act are not-for-profit private
25 agencies, or public agencies with experience operating a
26 Youthbuild program or with a plan to incubate a Youthbuild
27 program until it can be established as a not-for-profit
28 private agency.
29 Section 40. Application requirements. The Secretary
30 shall require that an application for Youthbuild funds under
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1 this Act contain at a minimum:
2 (1) a request for an implementation grant, specifying
3 the amount of the grant requested and its proposed uses;
4 (2) a description of the applicant and a statement of
5 its qualifications, including a description of the
6 applicant's past experience running a Youthbuild program, and
7 with housing rehabilitation or construction and with youth
8 and youth education, youth leadership development and
9 employment training programs, and its relationship with local
10 unions and youth apprenticeship programs, and other community
11 groups;
12 (3) a description of the proposed construction site for
13 the program and evidence of site control;
14 (4) a description of the educational and job training
15 activities, work opportunities, and other services that will
16 be provided to participants;
17 (5) a description of the proposed construction or
18 rehabilitation activities to be undertaken and the
19 anticipated schedule for carrying out such activities;
20 (6) a description of the manner in which eligible youths
21 will be recruited and selected, including a description of
22 the arrangements which will be made with community-based
23 organizations, local educational agencies, including agencies
24 of Native American nations, public assistance agencies, the
25 courts of jurisdiction for status and youth offenders,
26 shelters for homeless individuals and other agencies that
27 serve homeless youth, foster care agencies, and other
28 appropriate public and private agencies;
29 (7) a description of the special efforts that will be
30 undertaken to recruit eligible young women (including young
31 women with dependent children) with appropriate supports,
32 especially childcare;
33 (8) a description of how the proposed program will be
34 coordinated with other federal, State, and local activities
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1 and activities conducted by Native American nations,
2 including public schools, national service, crime prevention
3 programs, vocational, adult, and bilingual education
4 programs, and job training;
5 (9) assurances that there will be a sufficient number of
6 adequately trained supervisory personnel in the program who
7 have attained the level of journeyman or its equivalent;
8 (10) a description of the applicant's relationship with
9 any local building trade unions which may exist, regarding
10 their involvement in training, and the relationship of the
11 Youthbuild program with established apprenticeship programs;
12 (11) a description of activities that will be undertaken
13 to develop the leadership skills of participants, including
14 their role in decision making;
15 (12) a detailed budget and a description of the system
16 of fiscal controls and auditing and accountability procedures
17 that will be used to ensure fiscal soundness;
18 (13) a description of any contracts and arrangements
19 entered into between the applicant and other agencies and
20 entities including all in-kind donations and grants from both
21 public and private entities that will serve to augment
22 Illinois Youthbuild Act funds;
23 (14) identification and description of the financing
24 proposed for any:
25 (A) acquisition of the property;
26 (B) rehabilitation; or
27 (C) construction;
28 (15) identification and description of the entity that
29 will operate and manage the property;
30 (16) a certification that the applicant will comply with
31 the requirements of the Fair Housing Act, Title VI of the
32 Civil Rights Act of 1964, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation
33 Act of 1973, and the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, and will
34 affirmatively further fair housing; and
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1 (17) the qualifications and past experience of the
2 person who will fill the full-time program director position.