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90_HB1284
New Act
Creates the Illinois Youthbuild Act to be funded by the
Department of Children and Family Services. Provides
disadvantaged youth age 16 to 24, who meet certain criteria,
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. Establishes requirements for Youthbuild
programs, eligible activities, entities eligible to
administer a Youthbuild program, and grant applications to
administer a Youthbuild program.
LRB9004851SMcw
LRB9004851SMcw
1 AN ACT relating to youth skills training, education, job
2 placement, personal development, and leadership development.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
6 Illinois Youthbuild Act.
7 Section 5. Purpose. The purpose of the Illinois
8 Youthbuild Act is:
9 (a) To enable economically disadvantaged youth,
10 especially youth who have not finished high school, to obtain
11 the education, job skills training, personal counseling,
12 leadership development skills training, job placement
13 assistance, and long-term follow-up services necessary for
14 them to achieve permanent economic self-sufficiency, while at
15 the same time providing valuable community service that
16 addresses urgent community needs including the demand for
17 affordable housing and the need for young role models and
18 mentors for younger teenagers and children.
19 (b) To provide communities the opportunity to establish
20 or rebuild neighborhood stability in economically depressed
21 and low-income areas, as well as historic areas requiring
22 restoration or preservation, while providing economically
23 disadvantaged youth and youth who have not finished high
24 school an opportunity for meaningful participation in
25 society.
26 (c) To allow communities to expand the supply of
27 affordable housing for homeless and other low-income
28 individuals by utilizing the energies and talents of
29 economically disadvantaged youth and young people who have
30 not graduated from high school.
31 (d) To foster the development of leadership skills and a
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1 commitment to community development among youth.
2 Section 10. Definition. In this Act:
3 "Director" means the Director of Children and Family
4 Services.
5 Section 15. Program requirements. The Director is
6 authorized to make grants to applicants for the purpose of
7 carrying out Youthbuild programs as approved under this
8 Section. All programs funded pursuant to the provisions of
9 this Section shall reflect strong youth and community
10 involvement. In addition, funding provided under this
11 Section shall be used by each Youthbuild program to provide,
12 at a minimum, the following services:
13 (a) Acquisition, rehabilitation, acquisition and
14 rehabilitation, or construction of housing and related
15 facilities to be used for the purpose of providing home
16 ownership for disadvantaged persons, residential housing for
17 homeless individuals, and low-income and very low-income
18 families, or transitional housing for persons who are
19 homeless, have disabilities, are ill, are
20 deinstitutionalized, or have special needs, and
21 rehabilitation or construction of community facilities owned
22 by not-for-profit or public agencies.
23 (b) Integrated education and job skills training
24 services and activities which are evenly divided within the
25 program, with 50% of students' time spent in classroom-based
26 instruction, counseling, and leadership development
27 instruction and 50% of their time spent in experiential
28 training on the construction site. The programs shall
29 include, at a minimum, the following elements:
30 (1) An education component which includes basic
31 skills instruction, secondary education services, and
32 other activities designed to lead to the attainment of a
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1 high school diploma or its equivalent. The curriculum
2 for this component shall include math, language arts,
3 vocational education, life skills training, social
4 studies related to the cultural and community history of
5 the students, leadership skills, and other topics at the
6 discretion of the programs. Bilingual services shall be
7 available for individuals with limited-English
8 proficiency. The desired minimum teacher to student
9 ratio shall be one teacher for every 18 students.
10 (2) A work experience and skills training component
11 apprenticeship program that includes the construction and
12 rehabilitation activities described in subsection (a).
13 The process of construction must be coupled with skills
14 training and with close on-site supervision by
15 experienced trainers. The curriculum for this component
16 shall contain a set of locally agreed upon skills and
17 competencies that are systematically taught, with a
18 student's mastery assessed individually on a regular,
19 ongoing basis. Safety skills shall be taught at the
20 outset. The desired trainer to student ratio shall be
21 one trainer for every 7 students. The work experience
22 and skills training component shall be coordinated to the
23 maximum extent feasible with preapprenticeship and
24 apprenticeship programs.
25 (3) Assistance in attaining post secondary
26 education and required financial aid shall be made
27 available to participants prior to graduation.
28 (c) Counseling services designed to assist participants
29 to positively participate in society, which should include
30 all of the following if necessary: outreach, assessment, and
31 orientation; individual and peer counseling; life skills
32 training, drug and alcohol abuse education and prevention;
33 and referral to appropriate drug rehabilitation, medical,
34 mental health, legal, housing, and other services and
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1 resources in the community. The desired counselor to
2 participant ratio shall be one counselor for every 28
3 students.
4 (d) Leadership development training that provides
5 participants with meaningful opportunities to develop
6 leadership skills such as decision making, problem solving,
7 and negotiating. The program must also encourage
8 participants to develop strong peer group ties that support
9 their mutual pursuit of skills and values.
10 All programs must establish a youth council in which
11 participants are afforded opportunities to develop public
12 speaking and negotiating skills, and management and policy
13 making participation in specific aspects of the program.
14 (e) Stipends and wages. A training subsidy, living
15 allowance, or stipend that will be no less than the minimum
16 wage must be provided to program participants for the time
17 spent at the worksite in construction training. For those
18 participants who receive public assistance, this training
19 subsidy, living allowance, or stipend will not affect their
20 housing benefits, medical benefits, child care benefits, or
21 food stamp benefits. Stipends and wages may be distributed
22 in a manner that offers incentives for good performance.
23 (f) Full time participation in a Youthbuild program
24 shall be offered for a period of not less than 6 months and
25 not more than 24 months.
26 (g) A concentrated effort shall be made to find
27 construction, construction-related, and nonconstruction jobs
28 for all graduates of the program who have performed well.
29 The skills training curriculum shall provide participants
30 with basic preparation for seeking and maintaining a job.
31 Follow-up counseling and assistance in job-seeking shall also
32 be provided to participants for the 12 months following
33 graduation from the program.
34 (h) All programs serving 28 trainees or more are
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1 required to have a full-time director responsible for the
2 coordination of all aspects of the Youthbuild program.
3 Section 20. Eligible activities. Implementation grants
4 may be used to carry out the activities listed in Section 15.
5 Other items for which implementation grants may be used
6 include the following:
7 (a) Legal fees for housing acquisition.
8 (b) Administrative costs of the applicant which may not
9 exceed 15% of the amount of assistance provided, or such
10 higher percentage as the Director determines is necessary to
11 support capacity development of a private nonprofit
12 community-based organization.
13 (c) Defraying costs for the ongoing training and
14 technical assistance needs of the recipient that are related
15 to developing and carrying out the Youthbuild program
16 including;
17 (1) The Director may reserve up to 5% of the
18 Illinois Youthbuild program appropriations to enter into
19 a contract with Youthbuild USA to provide assistance to
20 the Director in the provision of training and technical
21 assistance to, or in the management, supervision, and
22 coordination of, Youthbuild programs under this Act.
23 Section 25. Eligible participants. Eligible
24 participants are youth 16 to 24 years old who are
25 economically disadvantaged as defined in United States Code,
26 Title 29, Section 1503, and who are part of one of the
27 following groups:
28 (a) Persons who are not attending any school and have
29 not received a secondary school diploma or its equivalent.
30 (b) Persons currently enrolled in a traditional or
31 alternative school setting or a GED program and who are in
32 danger of dropping out of school.
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1 (c) Very low-income persons whose incomes are at or less
2 than 50% of the median income for the area, adjusted for
3 family size, as estimated by the Department of Housing and
4 Urban Development.
5 Up to 25% of the participants in the program may be
6 individuals who do not meet the requirements of subsections
7 (a), (b), and (c), but who have educational needs despite the
8 attainment of a high school diploma.
9 Section 30. Selection criteria. Priority in the
10 awarding of funds under this Act shall be given to applicants
11 with experience in operating Youthbuild programs.
12 Organizations claiming to have operated Youthbuild programs
13 must be licensed by Youthbuild USA or be organizations that
14 have received federal HUD Youthbuild funding.
15 Section 35. Eligible entities. Those eligible to be
16 awarded funds under this Act are not-for-profit private
17 agencies, or public agencies with experience operating a
18 Youthbuild program or with a plan to incubate a Youthbuild
19 program until it can be established as a not-for-profit
20 private agency.
21 Section 40. Application requirements. The Director
22 shall require that an application for Youthbuild funds under
23 this Act contain at a minimum:
24 (1) a request for an implementation grant, specifying
25 the amount of the grant requested and its proposed uses;
26 (2) a description of the applicant and a statement of
27 its qualifications, including a description of the
28 applicant's past experience running a Youthbuild program, and
29 with housing rehabilitation or construction and with youth
30 and youth education, youth leadership development and
31 employment training programs, and its relationship with local
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1 unions and youth apprenticeship programs, and other community
2 groups;
3 (3) a description of the proposed construction site for
4 the program and evidence of site control;
5 (4) a description of the educational and job training
6 activities, work opportunities, and other services that will
7 be provided to participants;
8 (5) a description of the proposed construction or
9 rehabilitation activities to be undertaken and the
10 anticipated schedule for carrying out such activities;
11 (6) a description of the manner in which eligible youths
12 will be recruited and selected, including a description of
13 the arrangements which will be made with community-based
14 organizations, local educational agencies, including agencies
15 of Native American nations, public assistance agencies, the
16 courts of jurisdiction for status and youth offenders,
17 shelters for homeless individuals and other agencies that
18 serve homeless youth, foster care agencies, and other
19 appropriate public and private agencies;
20 (7) a description of the special efforts that will be
21 undertaken to recruit eligible young women (including young
22 women with dependent children) with appropriate supports,
23 especially childcare;
24 (8) a description of how the proposed program will be
25 coordinated with other federal, State, and local activities
26 and activities conducted by Native American nations,
27 including public schools, national service, crime prevention
28 programs, vocational, adult, and bilingual education
29 programs, and job training;
30 (9) assurances that there will be a sufficient number of
31 adequately trained supervisory personnel in the program who
32 have attained the level of journeyman or its equivalent;
33 (10) a description of the applicant's relationship with
34 any local building trade unions which may exist, regarding
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1 their involvement in training, and the relationship of the
2 Youthbuild program with established apprenticeship programs;
3 (11) a description of activities that will be undertaken
4 to develop the leadership skills of participants, including
5 their role in decision making;
6 (12) a detailed budget and a description of the system
7 of fiscal controls and auditing and accountability procedures
8 that will be used to ensure fiscal soundness;
9 (13) a description of any contracts and arrangements
10 entered into between the applicant and other agencies and
11 entities including all in-kind donations and grants from both
12 public and private entities that will serve to augment
13 Illinois Youthbuild Act funds;
14 (14) identification and description of the financing
15 proposed for any:
16 (A) acquisition of the property;
17 (B) rehabilitation; or
18 (C) construction;
19 (15) identification and description of the entity that
20 will operate and manage the property;
21 (16) a certification that the applicant will comply with
22 the requirements of the Fair Housing Act, Title VI of the
23 Civil Rights Act of 1964, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation
24 Act of 1973, and the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, and will
25 affirmatively further fair housing; and
26 (17) the qualifications and past experience of the
27 person who will fill the full-time program director position.