PRINTER'S NO. 741
No. 682 Session of 2001
INTRODUCED BY TARTAGLIONE, KITCHEN, HELFRICK, WAGNER, STOUT,
LOGAN, COSTA, MUSTO, SCHWARTZ, O'PAKE, STACK, BOSCOLA,
THOMPSON, BODACK AND RHOADES, MARCH 21, 2001
REFERRED TO AGING AND YOUTH, MARCH 21, 2001
AN ACT
1 Establishing the Youth Development Fund; providing for powers
2 and duties of the Secretary of Community and Economic
3 Development; providing for grants; requiring certain reports;
4 and making an appropriation.
5 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
6 hereby enacts as follows:
7 Section 1. Short title.
8 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Youth
9 Development Safe Communities Act.
10 Section 2. Legislative findings and purpose.
11 The General Assembly finds and declares as follows:
12 (1) The healthy development of children and youth into
13 successful productive adult citizens of this Commonwealth
14 requires a partnership of parents, families and local
15 communities, as well as State and local government.
16 (2) Pennsylvania is home to about 1.7 million children
17 who are between six and 16 years of age. It has long been
18 recognized that government in partnership with families and
1 local communities must provide educational opportunities for
2 our children.
3 (3) As society has changed, it is now time to recognize
4 that this same partnership must be created to foster
5 opportunities for our children and youth during the nonschool
6 hours, particularly those hours following the end of the
7 school day.
8 (4) As more parents have and are entering the work
9 force, more school-age children and youth are left alone or
10 unsupervised at the end of the school day. Tens of thousands
11 of young people in this Commonwealth are home alone in the
12 after-school hours.
13 (5) Constructive after-school activities and programs
14 have been shown to assist children and youth in school
15 achievement and performance, to develop life skills necessary
16 to succeed at work and to advance their own healthy
17 development to move successfully from childhood to adulthood.
18 (6) Communities are safer when young people have
19 constructive after-school activities and programs that
20 provide a positive alternative to television, drugs, alcohol,
21 sexual activity and possible pregnancy, crime and gangs.
22 (7) The hours in which young people are most involved in
23 delinquent behavior are those that occur after school,
24 particularly between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.
25 (8) Working parents are more productive when their
26 children are involved in safe, dependable constructive
27 activities during the nonschool hours.
28 (9) Providing school-age children and youth with
29 constructive activities on a regular basis has been shown to
30 assist in producing better outcomes for young people and
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1 communities and contribute to decreasing teenage pregnancy
2 and juvenile delinquency.
3 The purpose of this act is to recognize the shared
4 responsibility of the public and private sectors to support
5 regular, constructive programs for children and youth in the
6 nonschool hours in order to foster the development of children
7 and youth into constructive, productive citizens of this
8 Commonwealth and to create new resources in support of such
9 programs.
10 Section 3. Definitions.
11 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
12 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
13 context clearly indicates otherwise:
14 "Department." The Department of Community and Economic
15 Development of the Commonwealth.
16 "Fund." The Youth Development Fund established under this
17 act.
18 "Secretary." The Secretary of Community and Economic
19 Development of the Commonwealth.
20 "Youth development programs." Programs receiving grants
21 under this act.
22 Section 4. Grant eligibility criteria.
23 (a) General rule.--Activities offered by eligible program
24 sponsors may include, but are not limited to: homework tutoring
25 and academic enrichment; arts and cultural activities;
26 recreational and athletic activities; science and math
27 enrichment; computer and technology skills and life skills.
28 (b) Sponsors.--Programs for which local counties or home
29 rule charter entities shall receive grants for local use must be
30 sponsored by public or nonprofit organizations and must be
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1 available on a regular, daily basis during the nonschool hours,
2 primarily 3 p.m. through 6 p.m. during the school year. Programs
3 may also be offered for the full day during school holidays and
4 vacations during the course of the year.
5 (c) Children and youth.--Children and youth who are between
6 six and 16 years of age shall be eligible for the programs
7 offered through the Youth Development Fund.
8 (d) Applicants.--Any Pennsylvania county or similar home
9 rule charter entity shall be eligible to apply for grants to be
10 made available under this act.
11 Section 5. Establishment of Youth Development Fund.
12 The Youth Development Fund is hereby established in the State
13 Treasury. The secretary shall utilize the fund to award grants
14 to eligible program sponsors in order to provide constructive
15 programs for eligible school-age children and youth on a
16 regular, daily basis in the nonschool hours during the course of
17 the school year.
18 Section 6. Applications.
19 Applicants must complete an annual application for grants
20 from the fund on a form prescribed by the secretary. The form
21 shall include, but not be limited to:
22 (1) A detailed plan identifying specific activities for
23 the programs receiving grants and their relationship to the
24 purpose of the act and a timetable for the implementation and
25 achievement of such with special attention to maximizing, to
26 the extent possible, the utilization of existing resources of
27 the applicant, school districts, libraries and community
28 agencies which have an immediate capacity for providing
29 services and which can most effectively address the youth
30 development needs of the eligible children and youth.
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1 (2) A complete description of any required family fees
2 for the program to be supported. Fees may not be a barrier to
3 participation. Applications must provide that if fees are to
4 be charged, they not exceed $5 per week for children and
5 youth living in communities in which more than 35% of the
6 children are eligible for participation in the Federal school
7 lunch program.
8 (3) A proposed budget and a description of the proposed
9 use of the grant funds, including the mechanism for the
10 distribution of these funds.
11 (4) The local share, as identified in section 8(b), to
12 be used, which local shares may include existing resources
13 available from the community, but may not result in the
14 supplication of any local funds.
15 (5) A description of any costs associated with the
16 administration of the program.
17 (6) At the conclusion of the fiscal year period, a
18 program fiscal report indicating progress in meeting and
19 achieving the detailed plan under paragraph (1). The report
20 shall also be included in subsequent applications and past
21 performance shall be taken into account in determining new
22 applications.
23 Section 7. Appropriation.
24 The sum of $15,000,000 is appropriated to the Department of
25 Community and Economic Development on an ongoing basis and shall
26 be transferred to the Youth Development Fund.
27 Section 8. Distribution of grants.
28 (a) General rule.--Grants from the fund shall be distributed
29 equitably among successful applicants, with a base amount of
30 $50,000 available per applicant. The secretary shall distribute
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1 any remaining moneys to successful applicants that have
2 submitted a qualifying application, using the following two
3 factors:
4 (1) Population of children and youth in the county or
5 home rule charter entity between six and 16 years of age, as
6 determined by the census or an acceptable alternative method.
7 (2) Number of children and youth eligible for the school
8 breakfast or lunch program. The secretary shall take into
9 account these two factors, giving additional, appropriate
10 weight in favor of communities in which a higher percentage
11 of children and youth are eligible for the school breakfast
12 or lunch program and in which a school district has a market
13 value personal income aid ratio of .5000 or greater.
14 (b) Matching funds.--Each applicant eligible to participate
15 in youth development programs must also demonstrate that it is
16 providing or will provide local community funds, public or
17 private, equal to at least 20% of the amount it received under
18 this act.
19 (c) Supplanting of local funds prohibited.--Grants made
20 available under this act may not supplant local funds currently
21 used to support allowable activities under the fund.
22 Section 9. Annual report to General Assembly.
23 The department shall submit an annual report to the General
24 Assembly on the activities of the fund. The report shall
25 include, but not be limited to, an overview of the programs
26 funded and their utilization by children and youth,
27 recommendations for improvements to this act and legislative
28 action if deemed necessary.
29 Section 10. Effective date.
30 This act shall take effect in 180 days.
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