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1 | AN ACT concerning State government.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Illinois Youthbuild Act is amended by | ||||||
5 | changing Sections 15, 25, 30, 35, and 40 and by adding Section | ||||||
6 | 45 as follows:
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7 | (20 ILCS 1315/15)
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8 | Sec. 15. Program requirements. The Secretary shall, | ||||||
9 | subject to appropriation,
is authorized to make
grants
to | ||||||
10 | applicants for the
purpose of carrying out Youthbuild programs | ||||||
11 | as approved under this Section.
All programs funded pursuant to | ||||||
12 | the provisions of this Section shall reflect
strong youth and | ||||||
13 | community involvement. In addition, funding provided under
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14 | this Section shall be used by each Youthbuild program to | ||||||
15 | provide, at a minimum,
the following services:
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16 | (a) Acquisition, rehabilitation, acquisition and | ||||||
17 | rehabilitation, or
construction
of housing and related | ||||||
18 | facilities to be used for the purpose of providing
home | ||||||
19 | ownership for disadvantaged persons, residential housing for | ||||||
20 | homeless
individuals, and low-income and very low-income | ||||||
21 | families, or transitional
housing for persons who are homeless, | ||||||
22 | have disabilities, are ill, are
deinstitutionalized, or have | ||||||
23 | special needs, and rehabilitation or construction
of
community |
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1 | facilities owned by not-for-profit or public agencies.
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2 | (b) Integrated education and job skills training services | ||||||
3 | and activities
which
are evenly divided within the program, | ||||||
4 | with 50% of students' time spent in
classroom-based | ||||||
5 | instruction, counseling, and leadership development
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6 | instruction and 50% of their time spent in experiential | ||||||
7 | training on the
construction
site. The programs shall include, | ||||||
8 | at a minimum, the following elements:
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9 | (1) An education component which includes basic skills | ||||||
10 | instruction,
secondary education services, and other | ||||||
11 | activities designed to lead to the
attainment of a high | ||||||
12 | school diploma or its equivalent. The curriculum for this
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13 | component shall include math, language arts, vocational | ||||||
14 | education, life skills
training, social studies related to | ||||||
15 | the cultural and community history of the
students, | ||||||
16 | leadership skills, and other topics at the discretion of | ||||||
17 | the
programs. Bilingual services shall be available for | ||||||
18 | individuals with
limited-English proficiency. The desired | ||||||
19 | minimum teacher to student ratio
shall be one teacher for | ||||||
20 | every 18
students.
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21 | (2) A work experience and skills training component | ||||||
22 | apprenticeship program
that includes the construction and | ||||||
23 | rehabilitation activities described in
subsection (a). The | ||||||
24 | process of construction must be coupled with skills
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25 | training and with close on-site supervision by experienced | ||||||
26 | trainers. The
curriculum for this component shall contain a |
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1 | set of locally agreed upon skills
and competencies that are | ||||||
2 | systematically taught, with a student's mastery
assessed | ||||||
3 | individually on a regular, ongoing basis. Safety skills | ||||||
4 | shall be
taught at the outset. The desired trainer to | ||||||
5 | student ratio shall be one
trainer for every 7 students. | ||||||
6 | The work experience and skills training
component shall be | ||||||
7 | coordinated to the maximum extent feasible with
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8 | preapprenticeship and apprenticeship programs.
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9 | (3) Assistance in attaining post secondary education | ||||||
10 | and required
financial aid shall be made available to | ||||||
11 | participants prior to graduation.
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12 | (c) Counseling services designed to assist participants to | ||||||
13 | positively
participate in society, which should include all of | ||||||
14 | the following if necessary:
outreach, assessment, and | ||||||
15 | orientation; individual and peer counseling; life
skills | ||||||
16 | training, drug and alcohol abuse education and prevention; and | ||||||
17 | referral
to appropriate drug rehabilitation, medical, mental | ||||||
18 | health, legal, housing, and
other services and resources in the | ||||||
19 | community. The desired counselor to
participant ratio shall be | ||||||
20 | one counselor for every 28 students.
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21 | (d) Leadership development training that provides | ||||||
22 | participants with
meaningful opportunities to develop | ||||||
23 | leadership skills such as decision making,
problem solving, and | ||||||
24 | negotiating. The program must also encourage participants
to | ||||||
25 | develop strong peer group ties that support their mutual | ||||||
26 | pursuit of skills
and values.
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1 | All programs must establish a youth council in which
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2 | participants are afforded opportunities to develop public | ||||||
3 | speaking and
negotiating skills, and management and policy | ||||||
4 | making participation in specific
aspects of the program.
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5 | (e) Stipends and wages. A training subsidy, living | ||||||
6 | allowance, or stipend
that will be no less than minimum wage | ||||||
7 | must be provided to program participants
for the time spent at | ||||||
8 | the worksite in construction training. For those
participants | ||||||
9 | who receive public assistance, this training subsidy, living
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10 | allowance, or stipend will not affect their housing benefits, | ||||||
11 | medical benefits,
child care benefits or food stamp benefits. | ||||||
12 | Stipends and wages may be
distributed in a manner that offers | ||||||
13 | incentives for good performance.
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14 | (f) Full time participation in a Youthbuild program shall | ||||||
15 | be offered for a
period of not less than 6 months and not more | ||||||
16 | than 24 months.
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17 | (g) A concentrated effort shall be made to find | ||||||
18 | construction,
construction-related, and nonconstruction jobs | ||||||
19 | for all graduates of the program
who have performed well. The | ||||||
20 | skills training curriculum shall provide
participants with | ||||||
21 | basic preparation for seeking and maintaining a job.
Follow-up | ||||||
22 | counseling and assistance in job-seeking shall also be provided | ||||||
23 | to
participants for at least
the 12 months following graduation | ||||||
24 | from the program.
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25 | (h) All programs serving 28 trainees or more are required | ||||||
26 | to have a
full-time director responsible for the coordination |
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1 | of all aspects of the
Youthbuild program.
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2 | (Source: P.A. 90-247, eff. 1-1-98.)
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3 | (20 ILCS 1315/25)
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4 | Sec. 25. Eligible participants. Eligible participants are | ||||||
5 | youth
16 to 24 years old who are economically disadvantaged as | ||||||
6 | defined in United
States Code, Title 29, Section 1503, and who | ||||||
7 | are part of one of the following
groups:
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8 | (a) Persons who are not attending any school and have not | ||||||
9 | received a
secondary school diploma or its equivalent.
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10 | (b) Persons currently enrolled in a traditional or | ||||||
11 | alternative school
setting or a GED program and who are in | ||||||
12 | danger of dropping out of school.
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13 | (c) A member of a low-income family, a youth in foster care | ||||||
14 | (including a youth aging-out of foster care), a youth offender, | ||||||
15 | a youth with a disability, a child of incarcerated parents, or | ||||||
16 | a migrant youth
Very low-income persons .
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17 | Not more than
Up to 25% of the participants in the program | ||||||
18 | may be
individuals who do not meet the requirements of | ||||||
19 | subsections (a) or
, (b) , and (c) ,
but who are deficient in | ||||||
20 | basic skills despite having attained a secondary school | ||||||
21 | diploma, General Educational Development (GED) certificate, or | ||||||
22 | other State-recognized equivalent, or who have been referred by | ||||||
23 | a local secondary school for participation in a Youthbuild | ||||||
24 | program leading to the attainment of a secondary school diploma
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25 | have educational needs despite the attainment of a high school |
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1 | diploma .
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2 | (Source: P.A. 90-247, eff. 1-1-98.)
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3 | (20 ILCS 1315/30)
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4 | Sec. 30. Selection criteria. Priority in the awarding of | ||||||
5 | funds
under this Act shall be given to applicants with | ||||||
6 | experience in operating
Youthbuild programs.
Organizations | ||||||
7 | claiming to have operated Youthbuild programs must be licensed
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8 | by Youthbuild USA or be organizations that have received | ||||||
9 | federal HUD
Youthbuild funding.
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10 | (Source: P.A. 90-247, eff. 1-1-98.)
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11 | (20 ILCS 1315/35)
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12 | Sec. 35. Eligible entities. Those eligible to be awarded | ||||||
13 | funds under
this Act are not-for-profit private agencies, or | ||||||
14 | public agencies with
experience operating a Youthbuild program | ||||||
15 | or
with a plan to incubate a Youthbuild program until it can be | ||||||
16 | established as a
program applicant
not-for-profit private | ||||||
17 | agency .
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18 | (Source: P.A. 90-247, eff. 1-1-98.)
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19 | (20 ILCS 1315/40)
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20 | Sec. 40. Application requirements. The Secretary shall | ||||||
21 | require that an
application for Youthbuild funds under this Act | ||||||
22 | contain at a minimum:
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23 | (1) a request for an implementation grant, specifying the |
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1 | amount of the
grant requested and its proposed uses;
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2 | (2) a description of the applicant and a statement of its | ||||||
3 | qualifications,
including a description of the applicant's | ||||||
4 | past experience running a Youthbuild
program, and with housing | ||||||
5 | rehabilitation or construction and with youth and
youth | ||||||
6 | education, youth leadership development and employment | ||||||
7 | training programs,
and its relationship with local unions and | ||||||
8 | youth apprenticeship programs, and
other community groups;
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9 | (3) a description of the proposed construction site for the | ||||||
10 | program and
evidence of site control;
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11 | (4) a description of the educational and job training | ||||||
12 | activities, work
opportunities, and other services that will be | ||||||
13 | provided to participants;
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14 | (5) a description of the proposed construction or | ||||||
15 | rehabilitation activities
to be undertaken and the anticipated | ||||||
16 | schedule for carrying out such activities;
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17 | (6) a description of the manner in which eligible youths | ||||||
18 | will be recruited
and selected, including a description of the | ||||||
19 | arrangements which will be made
with community-based | ||||||
20 | organizations, local educational agencies, including
agencies | ||||||
21 | of Native American nations,
public assistance agencies, the | ||||||
22 | courts of jurisdiction for status and youth
offenders, shelters | ||||||
23 | for homeless individuals and other agencies that serve
homeless | ||||||
24 | youth, foster care agencies, and other appropriate public and | ||||||
25 | private
agencies;
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26 | (7) a description of the special efforts that will be |
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1 | undertaken to recruit
eligible young women (including young | ||||||
2 | women with dependent children) with
appropriate supports, | ||||||
3 | especially childcare;
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4 | (8) a description of how the proposed program will be | ||||||
5 | coordinated with other
federal, State, and local activities and | ||||||
6 | activities conducted by Native
American
nations, including | ||||||
7 | public schools, national service, crime prevention programs,
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8 | vocational, adult, and bilingual education programs, and job | ||||||
9 | training;
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10 | (9) assurances that there will be a sufficient number of | ||||||
11 | adequately
trained supervisory personnel in the program who | ||||||
12 | have attained the level of
journeyman or its equivalent;
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13 | (10) a description of the applicant's relationship with any | ||||||
14 | local building
trade unions which may exist, regarding their | ||||||
15 | involvement in training, and the
relationship of the Youthbuild | ||||||
16 | program with registered
established apprenticeship
programs;
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17 | (11) a description of activities that will be undertaken to | ||||||
18 | develop the
leadership skills of participants, including their | ||||||
19 | role in decision making;
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20 | (12) a detailed budget and a description of the system of | ||||||
21 | fiscal controls
and auditing and accountability procedures | ||||||
22 | that will be used to ensure fiscal
soundness;
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23 | (13) a description of any contracts and arrangements | ||||||
24 | entered into between
the applicant and other agencies and | ||||||
25 | entities including all in-kind donations
and grants from both | ||||||
26 | public and private entities that will serve to augment
Illinois |
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1 | Youthbuild Act funds;
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2 | (14) identification and description of the financing | ||||||
3 | proposed for
any:
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4 | (A) acquisition of the property;
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5 | (B) rehabilitation; or
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6 | (C) construction;
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7 | (15) identification and description of the entity that will | ||||||
8 | operate and
manage the property;
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9 | (16) a certification that the applicant will comply with | ||||||
10 | the requirements of
the Fair Housing Act, Title VI of the Civil | ||||||
11 | Rights Act of 1964, Section 504 of
the Rehabilitation Act of | ||||||
12 | 1973, and the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, and
will | ||||||
13 | affirmatively further fair housing; and
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14 | (17) the qualifications and past experience of the person | ||||||
15 | who will fill the
full-time program director position.
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16 | (Source: P.A. 90-247, eff. 1-1-98.)
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17 | (20 ILCS 1315/45 new)
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18 | Sec. 45. Annual report. The Department of Human Services | ||||||
19 | shall prepare an annual report summarizing costs and outcome | ||||||
20 | data associated with the Youthbuild programs. The report must | ||||||
21 | include, but not be limited to, the following information: (i) | ||||||
22 | the number of participants in the program, (ii) the average | ||||||
23 | cost per participant, (iii) the number of participants who | ||||||
24 | achieve a high school diploma or its equivalent, and (iv) the | ||||||
25 | number of projects completed by Youthbuild participants during |
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1 | that year. The Department must submit the report to the General | ||||||
2 | Assembly by July 1, 2008 and by July 1 of each year thereafter.
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3 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
4 | becoming law.
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