PRINTER'S NO. 3487
No. 2449 Session of 2002
INTRODUCED BY J. TAYLOR, ALLEN, M. BAKER, BELFANTI, BISHOP,
BROWNE, BUNT, CLARK, L. I. COHEN, M. COHEN, COLAFELLA, COY,
BROOKS, CRUZ, CURRY, DALEY, DeWEESE, DiGIROLAMO, FREEMAN,
GEORGE, GRUCELA, HARHAI, HENNESSEY, HERMAN, HERSHEY, JOSEPHS,
KELLER, KIRKLAND, LAUGHLIN, LEDERER, MACKERETH, MANDERINO,
McGEEHAN, McGILL, MELIO, MICOZZIE, PALLONE, PETRARCA, PIPPY,
PISTELLA, PRESTON, ROEBUCK, ROSS, RUBLEY, SANTONI, SHANER,
SOLOBAY, STABACK, STEELMAN, STURLA, THOMAS, TIGUE, TRELLO,
WALKO, WATSON, G. WRIGHT AND YOUNGBLOOD, MARCH 26, 2002
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON CHILDREN AND YOUTH, MARCH 26, 2002
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.
1 (2) Pennsylvania is home to about 1.7 million children
2 who are between six and 16 years of age. It has long been
3 recognized that government in partnership with families and
4 local communities must provide educational opportunities for
5 our children.
6 (3) As society has changed, it is now time to recognize
7 that this same partnership must be created to foster
8 opportunities for our children and youth during the nonschool
9 hours, particularly those hours following the end of the
10 school day.
11 (4) As more parents have and are entering the work
12 force, more school-age children and youth are left alone or
13 unsupervised at the end of the school day. Tens of thousands
14 of young people in this Commonwealth are home alone in the
15 after-school hours.
16 (5) Constructive after-school activities and programs
17 have been shown to assist children and youth in school
18 achievement and performance, to develop life skills necessary
19 to succeed at work and to advance their own healthy
20 development to move successfully from childhood to adulthood.
21 (6) Communities are safer when young people have
22 constructive after-school activities and programs that
23 provide a positive alternative to television, drugs, alcohol,
24 sexual activity and possible pregnancy, crime and gangs.
25 (7) The hours in which young people are most involved in
26 delinquent behavior are those that occur after school,
27 particularly between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.
28 (8) Working parents are more productive when their
29 children are involved in safe, dependable constructive
30 activities during the nonschool hours.
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1 (9) Providing school-age children and youth with
2 constructive activities on a regular basis has been shown to
3 assist in producing better outcomes for young people and
4 communities and contribute to decreasing teenage pregnancy
5 and juvenile delinquency.
6 The purpose of this act is to recognize the shared
7 responsibility of the public and private sectors to support
8 regular, constructive programs for children and youth in the
9 nonschool hours in order to foster the development of children
10 and youth into constructive, productive citizens of this
11 Commonwealth and to create new resources in support of such
12 programs.
13 Section 3. Definitions.
14 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
15 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
16 context clearly indicates otherwise:
17 "Department." The Department of Community and Economic
18 Development of the Commonwealth.
19 "Fund." The Youth Development Fund established under this
20 act.
21 "Secretary." The Secretary of Community and Economic
22 Development of the Commonwealth.
23 "Youth development programs." Programs receiving grants
24 under this act.
25 Section 4. Grant eligibility criteria.
26 (a) General rule.--Activities offered by eligible program
27 sponsors may include, but are not limited to: homework tutoring
28 and academic enrichment; arts and cultural activities;
29 recreational and athletic activities; science and math
30 enrichment; computer and technology skills and life skills.
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1 (b) Sponsors.--Programs for which counties or home rule
2 charter entities receive grants for local use must be sponsored
3 by public or nonprofit organizations and must be available on a
4 regular, daily basis during the nonschool hours, primarily 3
5 p.m. through 6 p.m. during the school year. Programs may also be
6 offered for the full day during school holidays and vacations
7 during the course of the year.
8 (c) Children and youth.--Children and youth who are between
9 six and 16 years of age shall be eligible for the programs
10 offered through the fund.
11 (d) Applicants.--Any county or similar home rule charter
12 entity shall be eligible to apply for grants to be made
13 available under this act.
14 Section 5. Youth Development Fund.
15 The Youth Development Fund is hereby established in the State
16 Treasury. The moneys of the fund are appropriated on a
17 continuing basis to carry out the provisions of this act. The
18 secretary shall utilize the fund to award grants to eligible
19 program sponsors in order to provide constructive programs for
20 eligible school-age children and youth on a regular, daily basis
21 in the nonschool hours during the course of the school year.
22 Section 6. Applications.
23 Applicants must complete an annual application for grants
24 from the fund on a form prescribed by the secretary. The form
25 shall include, but not be limited to:
26 (1) A detailed plan identifying specific activities for
27 the programs receiving grants and their relationship to the
28 purpose of this act and a timetable for the implementation
29 and achievement of such with special attention to maximizing,
30 to the extent possible, the utilization of existing resources
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1 of the applicant, school districts, libraries and community
2 agencies which have an immediate capacity for providing
3 services and which can most effectively address the youth
4 development needs of the eligible children and youth.
5 (2) A complete description of any required family fees
6 for the youth development programs to be supported. The
7 application may not be approved for a grant if the youth
8 development program provides for fees in excess of $5 per
9 week for children and youth living in communities in which
10 more than 35% of the children are eligible for participation
11 in the Federal school lunch program.
12 (3) A proposed budget and a description of the proposed
13 use of the grant funds, including the mechanism for the
14 distribution of these funds.
15 (4) The local share, as identified in section 8(b), to
16 be used, which local shares may include existing resources
17 available from the community, but may not result in the
18 supplication of any local funds.
19 (5) A description of any costs associated with the
20 administration of the youth development programs.
21 (6) At the conclusion of the fiscal year period, a
22 program fiscal report indicating progress in meeting and
23 achieving the detailed plan under paragraph (1). The report
24 shall also be included in subsequent applications and past
25 performance shall be taken into account in determining new
26 applications.
27 Section 7. Appropriation.
28 The sum of $15,000,000 is appropriated to the Department of
29 Community and Economic Development and shall be transferred to
30 the Youth Development Fund. This appropriation shall not lapse
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1 but shall be a continuing appropriation.
2 Section 8. Distribution of grants.
3 (a) General rule.--Grants from the fund shall be distributed
4 equitably among successful applicants, with a base amount of
5 $50,000 available per applicant. The secretary shall distribute
6 any remaining moneys to successful applicants that have
7 submitted a qualifying application, using the following two
8 factors:
9 (1) Population of children and youth in the county or
10 home rule charter entity between six and 16 years of age, as
11 determined by the census or an acceptable alternative method.
12 (2) Number of children and youth eligible for the school
13 breakfast or lunch program.
14 The secretary shall take into account these two factors, giving
15 additional, appropriate weight in favor of communities in which
16 a higher percentage of children and youth are eligible for the
17 school breakfast or lunch program and in which a school district
18 has a market value personal income aid ratio of .5000 or
19 greater.
20 (b) Matching funds.--Each applicant eligible to participate
21 in youth development programs must also demonstrate that it
22 provides or will provide local community funds, public or
23 private, equal to at least 20% of the amount it received under
24 this act.
25 (c) Supplanting of local funds prohibited.--Grants made
26 available under this act may not supplant local funds currently
27 used to support allowable activities from the fund.
28 Section 9. Annual report to General Assembly.
29 The department shall submit an annual report to the General
30 Assembly on the activities of the fund. The report shall
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1 include, but not be limited to, an overview of the youth
2 development programs funded and their utilization by children
3 and youth, recommendations for improvements to this act and
4 legislative action if deemed necessary.
5 Section 10. Effective date.
6 This act shall take effect in 180 days.
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