Public Act 90-0247 of the 90th General Assembly

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Public Act 90-0247

HB0918 Enrolled                                LRB9003757SMdv

    AN ACT relating to youth skills training, education,  job
placement, personal development, and leadership development.

    Be  it  enacted  by  the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:

    Section 1.  Short title.  This Act may be  cited  as  the
Illinois Youthbuild Act.

    Section   5.   Purpose.   The  purpose  of  the  Illinois
Youthbuild Act is:
    (a)  To   enable   economically   disadvantaged    youth,
especially youth who have not finished high school, to obtain
the  education,  job  skills  training,  personal counseling,
leadership  development  skills   training,   job   placement
assistance,  and  long-term  follow-up services necessary for
them to achieve permanent economic self-sufficiency, while at
the same  time  providing  valuable  community  service  that
addresses  urgent  community  needs  including the demand for
affordable housing and the need for  young  role  models  and
mentors for younger teenagers and children.
    (b)  To  provide communities the opportunity to establish
or rebuild neighborhood stability in  economically  depressed
and  low-income  areas,  as  well as historic areas requiring
restoration or  preservation,  while  providing  economically
disadvantaged  youth  and  youth  who  have not finished high
school  an  opportunity  for  meaningful   participation   in
society.
    (c)  To   allow  communities  to  expand  the  supply  of
affordable  housing  for  homeless   and   other   low-income
individuals   by   utilizing  the  energies  and  talents  of
economically disadvantaged youth and young  people  who  have
not graduated from high school.
    (d)  To foster the development of leadership skills and a
commitment to community development among youth.

    Section 10.  Definitions.  In this Act:
    "Applicant"  means  a  public  or  private not-for-profit
agency eligible to provide education and employment  training
under federal or State employment training programs.
    "Secretary" means the Secretary of Human Services.
    "Very  low-income"  means  a  person  or  household whose
income is at or  below  50%  of  the  median  family  income,
adjusted  for  household  size,  for  the  county  where  the
household is located.
    "Youthbuild"    means    any    program   that   provides
disadvantaged  youth  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.

    Section  15.  Program  requirements.   The  Secretary  is
authorized  to  make  grants to applicants for the purpose of
carrying out  Youthbuild  programs  as  approved  under  this
Section.    All programs funded pursuant to the provisions of
this  Section  shall  reflect  strong  youth  and   community
involvement.    In  addition,  funding  provided  under  this
Section shall be used by each Youthbuild program to  provide,
at a minimum, the following services:
    (a)  Acquisition,    rehabilitation,    acquisition   and
rehabilitation,  or  construction  of  housing  and   related
facilities  to  be  used  for  the  purpose of providing home
ownership for disadvantaged persons, residential housing  for
homeless  individuals,  and  low-income  and  very low-income
families,  or  transitional  housing  for  persons  who   are
homeless,     have     disabilities,     are     ill,     are
deinstitutionalized,    or    have    special    needs,   and
rehabilitation or construction of community facilities  owned
by not-for-profit or public agencies.
    (b)  Integrated   education   and   job  skills  training
services and activities which are evenly divided  within  the
program,  with 50% of students' time spent in classroom-based
instruction,   counseling,   and    leadership    development
instruction  and  50%  of  their  time  spent in experiential
training  on  the  construction  site.   The  programs  shall
include, at a minimum, the following elements:
         (1)  An education  component  which  includes  basic
    skills  instruction,  secondary  education  services, and
    other activities designed to lead to the attainment of  a
    high  school  diploma  or its equivalent.  The curriculum
    for this component shall  include  math,  language  arts,
    vocational   education,   life  skills  training,  social
    studies related to the cultural and community history  of
    the  students, leadership skills, and other topics at the
    discretion of the programs.  Bilingual services shall  be
    available    for    individuals    with   limited-English
    proficiency.  The  desired  minimum  teacher  to  student
    ratio shall be one teacher for every 18 students.
         (2)  A work experience and skills training component
    apprenticeship program that includes the construction and
    rehabilitation  activities  described  in subsection (a).
    The process of construction must be coupled  with  skills
    training   and   with   close   on-site   supervision  by
    experienced trainers.  The curriculum for this  component
    shall  contain  a  set  of locally agreed upon skills and
    competencies  that  are  systematically  taught,  with  a
    student's mastery assessed  individually  on  a  regular,
    ongoing  basis.   Safety  skills  shall  be taught at the
    outset.  The desired trainer to student  ratio  shall  be
    one  trainer  for  every 7 students.  The work experience
    and skills training component shall be coordinated to the
    maximum  extent  feasible  with   preapprenticeship   and
    apprenticeship programs.
         (3)  Assistance    in   attaining   post   secondary
    education  and  required  financial  aid  shall  be  made
    available to participants prior to graduation.
    (c)  Counseling services designed to assist  participants
to  positively  participate  in society, which should include
all of the following if necessary: outreach, assessment,  and
orientation;  individual  and  peer  counseling;  life skills
training, drug and alcohol abuse  education  and  prevention;
and  referral  to  appropriate  drug rehabilitation, medical,
mental  health,  legal,  housing,  and  other  services   and
resources   in  the  community.   The  desired  counselor  to
participant  ratio  shall  be  one  counselor  for  every  28
students.
    (d)  Leadership  development   training   that   provides
participants   with   meaningful   opportunities  to  develop
leadership skills such as decision making,  problem  solving,
and   negotiating.    The   program   must   also   encourage
participants  to  develop strong peer group ties that support
their mutual pursuit of skills and values.
    All programs must establish  a  youth  council  in  which
participants  are  afforded  opportunities  to develop public
speaking and negotiating skills, and  management  and  policy
making participation in specific aspects of the program.
    (e)  Stipends  and  wages.   A  training  subsidy, living
allowance, or stipend that will be no less than minimum  wage
must  be  provided to program participants for the time spent
at  the  worksite  in  construction  training.    For   those
participants  who  receive  public  assistance, this training
subsidy, living allowance, or stipend will not  affect  their
housing  benefits,  medical  benefits, child care benefits or
food stamp benefits.  Stipends and wages may  be  distributed
in a manner that offers incentives for good performance.
    (f)  Full  time  participation  in  a  Youthbuild program
shall be offered for a period of not less than 6  months  and
not more than 24 months.
    (g)  A   concentrated   effort  shall  be  made  to  find
construction, construction-related, and nonconstruction  jobs
for  all  graduates  of  the program who have performed well.
The skills training  curriculum  shall  provide  participants
with  basic  preparation  for  seeking and maintaining a job.
Follow-up counseling and assistance in job-seeking shall also
be provided to  participants  for  the  12  months  following
graduation from the program.
    (h)  All   programs  serving  28  trainees  or  more  are
required to have a full-time  director  responsible  for  the
coordination of all aspects of the Youthbuild program.

    Section  20.  Eligible activities.  Implementation grants
may be used to carry out the activities listed in Section 15.
Other eligible activities include the following:
    (a)  Legal fees for housing acquisition.
    (b)  Administrative costs of the applicant which may  not
exceed  15%  of  the  amount  of assistance provided, or such
higher percentage as the Secretary determines is necessary to
support  capacity  development   of   a   private   nonprofit
community-based organization.
    (c)  Defraying   costs   for  the  ongoing  training  and
technical assistance needs of the recipient that are  related
to   developing  and  carrying  out  the  Youthbuild  program
including:
         (1)  The Secretary may  reserve  up  to  5%  of  the
    Illinois  Youthbuild program appropriations to enter into
    a contract with Youthbuild USA to provide  assistance  to
    the  Secretary  in  the  provision  of  training  and  to
    technical   assistance   to,   or   in   the  management,
    supervision, and  coordination  of,  Youthbuild  programs
    under this Act.

    Section     25.  Eligible     participants.      Eligible
participants   are   youth   16  to  24  years  old  who  are
economically disadvantaged as defined in United States  Code,
Title  29,  Section  1503,  and  who  are  part of one of the
following groups:
    (a)  Persons who are not attending any  school  and  have
not received a secondary school diploma or its equivalent.
    (b)  Persons  currently  enrolled  in  a  traditional  or
alternative  school  setting  or a GED program and who are in
danger of dropping out of school.
    (c)  Very low-income persons.
    Up to 25% of the  participants  in  the  program  may  be
individuals  who  do not meet the requirements of subsections
(a), (b), and (c), but who have educational needs despite the
attainment of a high school diploma.

    Section  30.  Selection  criteria.    Priority   in   the
awarding of funds under this Act shall be given to applicants
with    experience    in   operating   Youthbuild   programs.
Organizations claiming to have operated  Youthbuild  programs
must  be  licensed by Youthbuild USA or be organizations that
have received federal HUD Youthbuild funding.

    Section 35.  Eligible entities.   Those  eligible  to  be
awarded  funds  under  this  Act  are  not-for-profit private
agencies, or public  agencies  with  experience  operating  a
Youthbuild  program  or  with a plan to incubate a Youthbuild
program until it  can  be  established  as  a  not-for-profit
private agency.

    Section  40.   Application  requirements.   The Secretary
shall require that an application for Youthbuild funds  under
this Act contain at a minimum:
    (1)  a  request  for  an implementation grant, specifying
the amount of the grant requested and its proposed uses;
    (2)  a description of the applicant and  a  statement  of
its   qualifications,   including   a   description   of  the
applicant's past experience running a Youthbuild program, and
with housing rehabilitation or construction  and  with  youth
and   youth   education,  youth  leadership  development  and
employment training programs, and its relationship with local
unions and youth apprenticeship programs, and other community
groups;
    (3)  a description of the proposed construction site  for
the program and evidence of site control;
    (4)  a  description  of  the educational and job training
activities, work opportunities, and other services that  will
be provided to participants;
    (5)  a   description  of  the  proposed  construction  or
rehabilitation  activities   to   be   undertaken   and   the
anticipated schedule for carrying out such activities;
    (6)  a description of the manner in which eligible youths
will  be  recruited  and selected, including a description of
the arrangements which  will  be  made  with  community-based
organizations, local educational agencies, including agencies
of  Native  American nations, public assistance agencies, the
courts  of  jurisdiction  for  status  and  youth  offenders,
shelters for homeless individuals  and  other  agencies  that
serve   homeless  youth,  foster  care  agencies,  and  other
appropriate public and private agencies;
    (7)  a description of the special efforts  that  will  be
undertaken  to  recruit eligible young women (including young
women with dependent  children)  with  appropriate  supports,
especially childcare;
    (8)  a  description  of  how the proposed program will be
coordinated with other federal, State, and  local  activities
and   activities   conducted   by  Native  American  nations,
including public schools, national service, crime  prevention
programs,   vocational,   adult,   and   bilingual  education
programs, and job training;
    (9)  assurances that there will be a sufficient number of
adequately trained supervisory personnel in the  program  who
have attained the level of journeyman or its equivalent;
    (10)  a  description of the applicant's relationship with
any local building trade unions which  may  exist,  regarding
their  involvement  in  training, and the relationship of the
Youthbuild program with established apprenticeship programs;
    (11)  a description of activities that will be undertaken
to develop the leadership skills of  participants,  including
their role in decision making;
    (12)  a  detailed  budget and a description of the system
of fiscal controls and auditing and accountability procedures
that will be used to ensure fiscal soundness;
    (13)  a description of  any  contracts  and  arrangements
entered  into  between  the  applicant and other agencies and
entities including all in-kind donations and grants from both
public and  private  entities  that  will  serve  to  augment
Illinois Youthbuild Act funds;
    (14)  identification  and  description  of  the financing
proposed for any:
         (A)  acquisition of the property;
         (B)  rehabilitation; or
         (C)  construction;
    (15)  identification and description of the  entity  that
will operate and manage the property;
    (16)  a certification that the applicant will comply with
the  requirements  of  the  Fair Housing Act, Title VI of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964, Section 504 of  the  Rehabilitation
Act of 1973, and the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, and will
affirmatively further fair housing; and
    (17)  the  qualifications  and  past  experience  of  the
person who will fill the full-time program director position.

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