Child Safety Accounts Act

Child Safety Accounts Act

This bill creates child safety accounts (CSAs) in the District of Columbia for students experiencing safety issues at school (e.g., incidents of bullying, sexual misconduct, fighting or physical assaults on the student, gang activity or drug usage, or food safety needs). Once the Office of School Security determines that an issue exists, parents are given the opportunity to enroll in CSAs for tuition and fees at qualified schools, tutoring services, textbooks, transportation costs, therapy costs to cope with safety incidents, and college courses.

The bill sets forth procedures for scholarship granting organizations to accept donations for CSAs and pay out scholarships for students.

CSA donors must be taxpayers, individuals, or corporations who

• file District income tax returns,
• cannot be claimed as a dependent on another taxpayer return,
• has donated to a scholarship granting organization, and
• has been certified by the Chief Financial Officer of the District to make the donation.

Finally, this bill establishes a District program to provide tax credits against income tax imposed by the District on (1) certified donors to CSAs, and (2) parents for eligible expenses above the amount provided by the CSA.