Vocational Rehabilitation bill

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Title I: Workforce Investment Systems

Subtitle A: Workforce Investment Definitions

Subtitle B: Statewide and Local Workforce Investment

Systems

Subtitle C: Job Corps

Subtitle D: National Programs

Subtitle E: Administration

Subtitle F: Repeals and Conforming Amendments

Title II: Adult Education and Literacy

Subtitle A: Adult Education and Literacy Programs

Subtitle B: Repeals

Title III: Workforce Investment-Related Activities

Subtitle A: Wagner-Peyser Act

Subtitle B: Linkages with Other Programs

Subtitle C: Twenty-First Century Workforce Commission

Subtitle D: Application of Civil Rights and

Labor-Management Laws to the Smithsonian Institution

Title IV: Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998

Title V: General Provisions

Workforce Investment Partnership Act of 1998 - Establishes a coordinated system of Federal aid programs for vocational education, adult education, and job training at State and local levels.

Title I: Workforce Investment Systems - Replaces the Job Training Partnership Act and certain other Federal job training law with new workforce investment systems.

Subtitle A: Workforce Investment Definitions - Sets forth definitions for such workforce investment programs.

Subtitle B: Statewide and Local Workforce Investment Systems - Chapter 1: State Provisions - Directs State Governors to establish and appoint the members of a statewide partnership to assist in the development of the State plan.

(Sec. 112) Sets forth requirements for State plans.

Chapter 2: Local Provisions - Directs State Governors to designate local workforce investment areas in accordance with specified requirements. Provides for automatic designations in the case of large local governments, counties, and other local political subdivisions. Allows any small State eligible for minimum allotments to be designated as a single State local area.

(Sec. 117) Requires that local workforce investment boards, and youth councils within such boards, be established in each local area of a State.

(Sec. 118) Sets forth requirements for local plans.

Chapter 3: Workforce Investment Activities Providers - Authorizes the local chief elected official and the local partnership to: (1) develop and implement operating agreements to appoint one-stop partners; (2) designate or certify one-stop operators; and (3) conduct oversight with respect to the one-stop delivery system in the local area.

(Sec. 122) Requires certain procedures for determination and identification of eligible providers of training services by program.

(Sec. 123) Authorizes local boards to identify eligible providers of youth activities.

Chapter 4: Youth Activities - Directs the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary under this title) to make allotments to States with approved State plans, and grants to outlying areas, to assist them and their local areas in providing workforce investment activities for eligible youth.

(Sec. 127) Sets forth formulas for determining amounts of such State allotments and grants to outlying areas for such activities.

(Sec. 128) Sets forth requirements for within-State allocations.

(Sec. 129) Sets forth requirements for State and local use of funds for youth activities.

Requires the following local program elements: (1) tutoring, activities to promote study skills, and instruction to complete secondary school, including dropout prevention strategies; (2) alternative secondary school services; (3) summer employment opportunities; (4) appropriate paid and unpaid work experiences, including internships and job shadowing; (5) occupational skill training; (6) leadership development; (7) supportive services; (8) adult mentoring; (9) followup services; and (10) comprehensive guidance and counseling, which may include drug and alcohol abuse counseling and referral.

Requires that at least 30 percent of funds for such youth activities be devoted to out-of-school youth.

Chapter 5: Adult and Dislocated Worker Employment and Training Activities - Directs the Secretary to make allotments to States with approved State plans, and grants to outlying areas, to assist them and their local areas in providing workforce investment activities for adults and for dislocated workers.

(Sec. 132) Sets forth formulas for determining amounts of such State allotments and grants to outlying areas for such activities.

(Sec. 133) Sets forth requirements for within-State allocations.

(Sec. 134) Sets forth both required and allowable statewide workforce investment activities, including mandatory: (1) rapid response activities; and (2) additional assistance to localities experiencing disasters, mass layoffs, plant closings, or other events that substantially increase unemployment.

Sets forth both required and permissible local employment and training activities.

Requires establishment of a one-stop delivery system at the State level, with at least one physical center in each local area. Requires such centers to provide specified core, intensive, and training services to participants.

Gives priority to public assistance recipients and other low-income individuals for receipt of limited local adult intensive and training services. Sets forth customer choice requirements.

Requires use of individual training accounts, with specified exceptions.

Authorizes local areas to use certain funds for additional permissible local activities, including intensive and customized services and supportive services for certain participants, and needs-related payments for certain adults and dislocated workers who do not, or no longer, qualify for unemployment compensation.

Chapter 6: General Provisions - Sets forth accountability requirements for: (1) State and local performance measures and sanctions; (2) reports and information dissemination; (3) State program evaluation; and (4) fiscal and management accountability information systems.

(Sec. 137) Authorizes appropriations for: (1) youth activities; (2) adult employment and training activities; and (3) dislocated worker employment and training activities.

Subtitle C: Job Corps - Revises provisions for the Job Corps (currently under the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA), which this title repeals and replaces.)

(Sec. 145) Provides for Job Corps: (1) recruitment standards; (2) graduate readjustment allowances through local one-stop customer service centers; (3) industry councils; (4) management information.

Revises Job Corps requirements for: (1) individual eligibility; (2) screening, selection, assignment, and enrollment; (3) Job Corps Centers; (4) program activities and continued services; (5) counseling and job placement; (6) support; (7) operating plan; (8) standards of conduct; (9) community participation; (10) advisory committees; and (11) experimental, research, and demonstration projects.

(Sec. 161) Extends through FY 2003 the authorization of appropriations for the Job Corps.

Subtitle D: National Programs - Provides for workforce investment activities and supplemental services under programs for: (1) Indians, Native Alaskans, and Native Hawaiians; (2) migrant and seasonal farmworkers; and (3) veterans. (Replaces similar programs currently under JTPA.)

(Sec. 169) Directs the Secretary to make youth opportunity grants to eligible local partnerships to provide specified activities to increase the long-term employment of eligible youth who live in empowerment zones, enterprise communities, and high poverty areas.

Directs the Secretary to provide assistance to an entity to establish a role model academy for out-of-school youth in a residential center located on the site of a closed or realigned military installation.

(Sec. 170) Directs the Secretary of Labor to provide technical assistance to States to help with transitions, general performance improvement, and dislocated worker training improvement.

(Sec. 171) Directs the Secretary to publish a biennial plan for demonstration, pilot, multiservice, research, and multistate projects. Sets forth requirements for such projects under such plan, including competitive award procedures and peer review.

(Sec. 172) Directs the Secretary to provide for continuing evaluation of programs and activities under this title. Authorizes the Secretary to conduct evaluations of other federally funded employment-related programs and activities.

(Sec. 173) Authorizes the Secretary to make national emergency grants for: (1) employment and training assistance to workers affected by major economic dislocations; (2) disaster relief employment; and (3) additional assistance for dislocated workers, under certain conditions.

(Sec. 174) Authorizes appropriations for specified programs and activities under this subtitle.

Subtitle E: Administration - Sets forth requirements for: (1) labor standards, prohibitions on worker displacement, and other requirements relating to use of funds; (2) prompt allocation of funds; (3) monitoring; (4) fiscal controls and sanctions; (5) reports, recordkeeping, and investigations; (6) administrative adjudication; (7) judicial review; (8) nondiscrimination; (9) State legislative authority; (10) workforce flexibility partnership plans; (11) use of certain real property; and (12) continuation of State activities and policies.

(Sec. 181) Declares that a State shall not be prohibited by the Federal Government from drug use testing of participants in subtitle B workforce investment programs and sanctioning those who test positive. Requires establishment of testing procedures that ensure maximum privacy for participants.

Subtitle F: Repeals and Conforming Amendments - Repeals: (1) the JTPA; and (2) the Displaced Homemakers Self-Sufficiency Assistance Act.

(Sec. 199) Repeals certain provisions relating to employment and training assistance under various Federal laws, including the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act, the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, and the Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965.

Title II: Adult Education and Literacy - Adult Education and Family Literacy Act - Replaces the Adult Education Act (AEA), the National Literacy Act of 1991, and other adult education and literacy programs.

(Sec. 204) Provides that nothing in subtitle A of this title shall be construed to affect home schools, or to compel a parent engaged in home schooling to participate in an English literacy program, family literacy services, or adult education.

(Sec. 205) Authorizes appropriations for adult education and literacy programs under subtitle A of this title.

Subtitle A: Adult Education and Literacy Programs - Chapter 1: Federal Provisions - Directs the Secretary of Education (the Secretary under this title) to reserve certain portions of adult education and literacy funds for: (1) the National Institute for Literacy; (2) national leadership activities; and (3) incentive grants. Directs the Secretary to allot the remainder of such funds for grants to the eligible agencies of States.

(Sec. 212) Directs the Secretary to publish specified performance measures to assess the progress of each eligible agency in enhancing and developing more fully the literacy skills of the adult population in the State or outlying area. Requires each eligible agency, in developing a State plan, to negotiate with the Secretary the expected levels of performance for such measures.

Chapter 2: State Provisions - Makes each eligible agency responsible for State administration of programs under this subtitle.

(Sec. 222) Specifies percentages for distribution of State grant funds to eligible providers (including programs for corrections education and other institutionalized individuals), State leadership activities, and administrative expenses of the eligible State agency.

Sets the State share requirement at 25 percent of the total amount expended for adult education in the State. Authorizes the Secretary to decrease a 12 percent required share with respect to an outlying area.

(Sec. 223) Requires the eligible agency to use reserved funds for one or more specified State leadership activities in adult education and literacy.

(Sec. 224) Requires five-year State plans from eligible agencies as a condition for grants. Allows the eligible agency to submit such State plan as part of a comprehensive plan or application for Federal education assistance. Sets forth requirements for State plan contents and approval procedures.

(Sec. 225) Sets forth requirements for adult education and literacy programs for corrections education and other institutionalized individuals.

Chapter 3: Local Provisions - Directs each eligible agency to use State grant funds to award multiyear grants or contracts to eligible providers to develop, implement, and improve adult education and literacy activities.

(Sec. 232) Sets forth local application requirements.

(Sec. 233) Sets forth local administrative cost limits.

Chapter 4: General Provisions - Sets forth administrative provisions relating to supplementation of other funds and maintenance of effort.

(Sec. 242) Revises requirements for the National Institute for Literacy (currently under AEA), to be governed by an Interagency Group consisting of the Secretary and the Secretaries of Labor and of Health and Human Services. Renames the Institute's Board its Advisory Board.

(Sec. 243) Directs the Secretary to establish a program of specified national leadership activities for adult education.

Subtitle B: Repeals - Repeals the AEA, the National Literacy Act of 1991, and certain adult education and literacy program provisions of the Refugee Education Assistance Act of 1980.

Title III: Workforce Investment-Related Activities - Subtitle A: Wagner-Peyser Act - Amends the Wagner-Peyser Act to direct the Secretary to: (1) assist in the coordination and development of a nationwide system of public labor exchange services, provided as part of the one-stop customer service systems of the States; (2) assist in the development of continuous improvement models for such nationwide system that ensure private sector satisfaction and meet the demands of jobseekers; and (3) ensure, for individuals otherwise eligible for unemployment compensation, the provision of reemployment services and other activities in which they must participate to receive the compensation.

(Sec. 306) Provides for coordination of State plans under the Wagner-Peyser Act and this Act.

(Sec. 307) Repeals the mandate for a Federal Advisory Council on problems relating to employment.

(Sec. 309) Sets forth requirements for a nationwide employment statistics system. Authorizes appropriations.

Subtitle B: Linkages with Other Programs - Provides for linkages between programs under this title and specified employment and training assistance programs under: (1) the Trade Act of 1974; (2) veterans employment programs; and (3) the Older Americans Act of 1965.

Subtitle C: Twenty-First Century Workforce Commission - Twenty-First Century Workforce Commission Act - Establishes the Twenty-First Century Workforce Commission to study and report to the President and the Congress on all matters relating to the information technology workforce in the United States.

(Sec. 339) Authorizes appropriations.

Subtitle D: Application of Civil Rights and Labor-Management Laws to the Smithsonian Institution - Applies to the Smithsonian Institution (SI) prohibitions on employment discrimination on the basis of: (1) race, color, religion, sex, and national origin, under the Civil Rights Act of 1964; (2) age, under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967; and (3) disability, under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Applies to SI labor-management requirements under specified Federal civil service law.

Title IV: Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998 - Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998 - Revises and extends the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (RA).

(Sec. 402) Provides for establishment of: (1) linkages between State vocational rehabilitation programs and workforce investment activities carried out under the Workforce Investment Partnership Act of 1998 (WIPA); and (2) special responsibilities for the Secretary of Education for coordination of all activities with respect to individuals with disabilities within and across programs administered by the Federal Government.

(Sec. 403) Requires the Commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA, which is in the Office of the Secretary of Education) and the Director of the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research to reserve specified funds to carry out certain activities for outreach to minorities.

(Sec. 404) Extends through FY 2003 the authorization of appropriations for Basic Vocational Rehabilitation Services programs.

Revises requirements for State Vocational Rehabilitation Services plans, individual eligibility, individualized rehabilitation employment plans, vocational rehabilitation services, group services, non-Federal shares for establishment of programs, State Rehabilitation Councils, evaluation standards and performance indicators, and monitoring and review.

Maintains formulas for State allotments for Basic Vocational Rehabilitation Services, but eliminates certain additional allotments and payments to States. Revises reallotment requirements. Revises the formula for reservation of funds for American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Services. Revises requirements for title I payments to States.

Requires a State Governor (or other appropriate State officer) to redesignate the agency conducting the client assistance program under certain conditions. Extends through FY 2003 the authorization of appropriations for such program.

Eliminates RA title I (current part C) authority for Innovation and Expansion Grants.

Increases to 60 months the maximum effective duration of an approved application for an American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Services grant.

Revises requirements for vocational rehabilitation services client information. Directs the Secretaries of Education and of Health and Human Services to enter into a memorandum of understanding to exchange data of mutual importance that concern clients of designated State agencies, including data maintained either by the RSA or by the Social Security Administration from its Summary Earnings and Records and Master Beneficiary Records.

Directs the Secretary of Labor to provide the RSA Commissioner with labor market information that facilitates evaluation of the Basic Vocational Rehabilitation Services program and allows comparison of the progress of individuals with disabilities who are assisted under such program in securing, retaining, regaining, and advancing in employment with the progress made by individuals who are assisted under this Act.

(Sec. 405) Revises RA title II (Research and Training) to extend through FY 2003 the authorization of appropriations for: (1) expenses of the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (Institute), including certain expenses of the Rehabilitation Research Advisory Council; and (2) research and other covered activities.

Requires the Institute's Director to: (1) include in a public education program information on assistive technology services and devices, and disseminate engineering information about them; (2) provide for development and dissemination of models to address consumer-driven information needs related to assistive technology devices and services; and (3) publish for public comment drafts of five-year plans outlining and explaining priorities for rehabilitation research, demonstration projects, training, and related activities.

Eliminates grant or contract assistance for: (1) a pediatric rehabilitation research program; (2) a Rehabilitation Research and Training Center in the Pacific Basin; and (3) a center for research and training concerning the delivery of rehabilitation services to rural areas.

(Sec. 406) Revises RA title III (Professional Development and Special Projects and Demonstrations) to direct the Secretary to ensure that all title III grants and contracts are awarded on a competitive basis.

Revises and extends through FY 2003 the authorization of appropriations for training programs. Changes from discretionary to mandatory the Commissioner's authority to make grants and contracts for personnel training. Authorizes the Commissioner to make grants and contracts for training: (1) regarding related Federal statutes; (2) personnel providing services to individuals with disabilities under this Act (jointly funded with the Department of Labor); or (3) leading to an academic degree or certificate in various rehabilitation-related areas. Continues requirements for training grants for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and other higher education institutions with minority enrollments of at least 50 percent. Includes hard-of-hearing individuals (as well as deaf or deaf-blind individuals) among those for whom interpreters may be trained under a discretionary grant program.

Eliminates: (1) discretionary technical assistance to State rehabilitation agencies and community rehabilitation programs; (2) various grants and contracts relating to vocational rehabilitation services for individuals with disabilities; (3) loan guarantees for community rehabilitation programs; and (4) comprehensive rehabilitation centers.

Revises and extends through FY 2003 the authorization of appropriations for: (1) special demonstration programs; (2) migrant and seasonal farmworkers programs; and (3) recreational programs.

Eliminates certain title III discretionary grants for: (1) reader services for blind individuals; and (2) interpreter services for deaf individuals.

Authorizes the Commissioner to require title III grant recipients to submit information to measure project outcomes and performance.

(Sec. 407) Amends RA title IV (National Council on Disability) to revise the deadline for the Council's annual progress report on national disability policy. Extends through FY 2003 the authorization of appropriations for the Council.

(Sec. 408) Revises RA title V (Rights and Advocacy) to direct the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (the Access Board) to promulgate regulations for Federal agency procurement of electronic and information technology that allows individuals with disabilities to produce and have access to information and data in a manner comparable to that of individuals without disabilities.

Extends through FY 2003 the authorization of appropriations for title V with respect to protection and advocacy of individual rights. Reserves certain funds for a grant to the eligible system serving the American Indian consortium. Applies certain limitations under the Assisted Suicide Funding Restriction Act of 1997 to the use of RA allotments or grants for protection and advocacy of individual rights.

(Sec. 409) Amends RA title VI (Employment Opportunities for Individuals with Disabilities) (the Employment Opportunities for Individuals with Disabilities Act) to eliminate current part A (Community Service Pilot Programs for Individuals with Disabilities).

Sets forth a new part A (Projects in Telecommuting and Self-Employment for Individuals with Disabilities). Directs the Commissioner to award competitive, one-time, time-limited grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements to eligible entities to establish and operate: (1) projects in telecommuting for individuals with disabilities; and (2) projects in self-employment for individuals with disabilities. Authorizes the Commissioner to establish procedures for dual-purpose applications. Authorizes appropriations through FY 2003.

Revises and extends through FY 2003 the authorization of appropriations for: (1) part B (Projects with Industry); (2) part C (Supported Employment Services for Individuals with the Most Significant Disabilities). ("Most significant" replaces the term "severe" disabilities.)

(Sec. 410) Amends RA title VII (Independent Living Services and Centers for Independent Living) to revise and extend through FY 2003 the authorization of appropriations for: (1) services to Individuals with Significant Disabilities, including Independent Living Services and Centers for Independent Living; and (2) Independent Living Services for Older Individuals Who Are Blind.

(Sec. 411) Repeals RA title VIII (Special Demonstrations and Training Projects).

(Sec. 412) Amends the Helen Keller National Center Act to extend through FY 2003 the authorization of appropriations for: (1) the Helen Keller National Center for Youths and Adults Who Are Deaf-Blind; and (2) the Center's Federal Endowment Fund. Directs the Center to establish and maintain a national registry of individuals who are deaf-blind.

(Sec. 413) Amends a specified Joint Resolution of the Congress to allow the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities to solicit, as well as accept, certain donations.

Title V: General Provisions - Allows for State unified plans for two or more specified one-stop customer service system programs, including programs under titles I, II, or III of this Act, as well as specified programs under the Food Stamp Act of 1977, the Trade Act of 1974, the Wagner-Peyser Act, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Older Americans Act of 1965, State unemployment compensation and Federal unemployment insurance, and certain work programs under the Social Security Act, as well as activities of the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training, and training activities of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

(Sec. 502) Directs the Secretaries of Labor and of Education, after consultation with representatives of certain groups, to issue definitions for performance measures established under titles I and II of this Act and definitions for core indicators of performance for performance measures established under title III of this Act.

(Sec. 503) Provides for incentive grants for States exceeding certain performance levels under titles I and II of this Act and under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act.

(Sec. 504) Provides that nothing in this Act shall be construed to: (1) supersede the privacy protections afforded parents and students under the General Education Provisions Act as amended by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974; or (2) permit the development of a national database of personally identifiable information on individuals receiving services under title I of this Act.

(Sec. 505) Sets forth Buy American requirements.