42 U.S.C. § 9921 — Discretionary authority of Secretary

Page 7963 TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE § 9921 (3) Employment practices A religious organization’s exemption pro- vided under section 2000e–1 of this title regard- ing employment practices shall not be affected by its participation in, or receipt of funds from, programs described in subsection (a). (c) Limitations on use of funds for certain pur- poses No funds provided directly to a religious orga- nization to provide assistance under any pro- gram described in subsection (a) shall be ex- pended for sectarian worship, instruction, or proselytization. (d) Fiscal accountability (1) In general Except as provided in paragraph (2), any reli- gious organization providing assistance under any program described in subsection (a) shall be subject to the same regulations as other nongovernmental organizations to account in accord with generally accepted accounting principles for the use of such funds provided under such program. (2) Limited audit Such organization shall segregate govern- ment funds provided under such program into a separate account. Only the government funds shall be subject to audit by the govern- ment. (e) Treatment of eligible entities and other inter- mediate organizations If an eligible entity or other organization (re- ferred to in this subsection as an ‘‘intermediate organization’’), acting under a contract, or grant or other agreement, with the Federal Gov- ernment or a State or local government, is given the authority under the contract or agreement to select nongovernmental organizations to pro- vide assistance under the programs described in subsection (a), the intermediate organization shall have the same duties under this section as the government. (Pub. L. 97–35, title VI, § 679, as added Pub. L. 105–285, title II, § 201, Oct. 27, 1998, 112 Stat. 2749.) Editorial Notes PRIOR PROVISIONS A prior section 679 of Pub. L. 97–35 was classified to section 9908 of this title, prior to the general amend- ment of this chapter by Pub. L. 105–285. § 9921. Discretionary authority of Secretary (a) Grants, contracts, arrangements, loans, and guarantees (1) In general The Secretary shall, from funds reserved under section 9903(b)(3) of this title, make grants, loans, or guarantees to States and pub- lic agencies and private, nonprofit organiza- tions, or enter into contracts or jointly fi- nanced cooperative arrangements with States and public agencies and private, nonprofit or- ganizations (and for-profit organizations, to the extent specified in paragraph (2)(E)) for each of the objectives described in paragraphs (2) through (4). (2) Community economic development (A) Economic development activities The Secretary shall make grants described in paragraph (1) on a competitive basis to private, nonprofit organizations that are community development corporations to provide technical and financial assistance for economic development activities de- signed to address the economic needs of low- income individuals and families by creating employment and business development op- portunities. (B) Consultation The Secretary shall exercise the authority provided under subparagraph (A) after con- sultation with other relevant Federal offi- cials. (C) Governing boards For a community development corporation to receive funds to carry out this paragraph, the corporation shall be governed by a board that shall consist of residents of the commu- nity and business and civic leaders and shall have as a principal purpose planning, devel- oping, or managing low-income housing or community development projects. (D) Geographic distribution In making grants to carry out this para- graph, the Secretary shall take into consid- eration the geographic distribution of fund- ing among States and the relative propor- tion of funding among rural and urban areas. (E) Reservation Of the amounts made available to carry out this paragraph, the Secretary may re- serve not more than 1 percent for each fiscal year to make grants to private, nonprofit or- ganizations or to enter into contracts with private, nonprofit or for-profit organizations to provide technical assistance to aid com- munity development corporations in devel- oping or implementing activities funded to carry out this paragraph and to evaluate ac- tivities funded to carry out this paragraph. (3) Rural community development activities The Secretary shall provide the assistance described in paragraph (1) for rural commu- nity development activities, which shall in- clude providing— (A) grants to private, nonprofit corpora- tions to enable the corporations to provide assistance concerning home repair to rural low-income families and concerning plan- ning and developing low-income rural rental housing units; and (B) grants to multistate, regional, private, nonprofit organizations to enable the orga- nizations to provide training and technical assistance to small, rural communities con- cerning meeting their community facility needs. (4) Neighborhood innovation projects The Secretary shall provide the assistance described in paragraph (1) for neighborhood in- novation projects, which shall include pro- viding grants to neighborhood-based private, Page 7964 TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE § 9922 nonprofit organizations to test or assist in the development of new approaches or methods that will aid in overcoming special problems identified by communities or neighborhoods or otherwise assist in furthering the purposes of this chapter, and which may include providing assistance for projects that are designed to serve low-income individuals and families who are not being effectively served by other pro- grams. (b) Evaluation The Secretary shall require all activities re- ceiving assistance under this section to be eval- uated for their effectiveness. Funding for such evaluations shall be provided as a stated per- centage of the assistance or through a separate grant awarded by the Secretary specifically for the purpose of evaluation of a particular activ- ity or group of activities. (c) Annual report The Secretary shall compile an annual report containing a summary of the evaluations re- quired in subsection (b) and a listing of all ac- tivities assisted under this section. The Sec- retary shall annually submit the report to the Chairperson of the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House of Representatives and the Chairperson of the Committee on Labor and Human Resources of the Senate. (Pub. L. 97–35, title VI, § 680, as added Pub. L. 105–285, title II, § 201, Oct. 27, 1998, 112 Stat. 2750.) Editorial Notes PRIOR PROVISIONS A prior section 680 of Pub. L. 97–35 was classified to section 9909 of this title, prior to the general amend- ment of this chapter by Pub. L. 105–285. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries CHANGE OF NAME Committee on Labor and Human Resources of Senate changed to Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of Senate by Senate Resolution No. 20, One Hundred Sixth Congress, Jan. 19, 1999. PROCEDURES TO PERMIT GRANT FUNDS OR INTANGIBLE PROPERTY ACQUIRED BY GRANT FUNDS TO BECOME SOLE PROPERTY OF GRANTEES Pub. L. 118–47, div. D, title II, Mar. 23, 2024, 138 Stat. 666, provided in part: ‘‘That the Secretary [of Health and Human Services] shall establish procedures regard- ing the disposition of intangible assets and program in- come that permit such assets acquired with, and pro- gram income derived from, grant funds authorized under section 680 of the CSBG Act [Community Serv- ices Block Grant Act, 42 U.S.C. 9921] to become the sole property of such grantees after a period of not more than 12 years after the end of the grant period for any activity consistent with section 680(a)(2)(A) of the CSBG Act [42 U.S.C. 9921(a)(2)(A)]: Provided further, That intangible assets in the form of loans, equity in- vestments and other debt instruments, and program in- come may be used by grantees for any eligible purpose consistent with section 680(a)(2)(A) of the CSBG Act: Provided further, That these procedures shall apply to such grant funds made available after November 29, 1999’’. Similar provisions were contained in the following prior appropriation acts: Pub. L. 117–328, div. H, title II, Dec. 29, 2022, 136 Stat. 4873. Pub. L. 117–103, div. H, title II, Mar. 15, 2022, 136 Stat. 460. Pub. L. 116–260, div. H, title II, Dec. 27, 2020, 134 Stat. 1584. Pub. L. 116–94, div. A, title II, Dec. 20, 2019, 133 Stat. 2572. Pub. L. 115–245, div. B, title II, Sept. 28, 2018, 132 Stat. 3084. Pub. L. 115–141, div. H, title II, Mar. 23, 2018, 132 Stat. 730. Pub. L. 115–31, div. H, title II, May 5, 2017, 131 Stat. 533. Pub. L. 114–113, div. H, title II, Dec. 18, 2015, 129 Stat. 2614. Pub. L. 113–235, div. G, title II, Dec. 16, 2014, 128 Stat. 2481. Pub. L. 113–76, div. H, title II, Jan. 17, 2014, 128 Stat. 378. Pub. L. 112–74, div. F, title II, Dec. 23, 2011, 125 Stat. 1078. Pub. L. 111–117, div. D, title II, Dec. 16, 2009, 123 Stat. 3251. Pub. L. 111–8, div. F, title II, Mar. 11, 2009, 123 Stat. 775. Pub. L. 110–161, div. G, title II, Dec. 26, 2007, 121 Stat. 2180. Pub. L. 109–149, title II, Dec. 30, 2005, 119 Stat. 2855. Pub. L. 108–447, div. F, title II, Dec. 8, 2004, 118 Stat. 3134. Pub. L. 108–199, div. E, title II, Jan. 23, 2004, 118 Stat. 249. Pub. L. 108–7, div. G, title II, Feb. 20, 2003, 117 Stat. 319. Pub. L. 107–116, title II, Jan. 10, 2002, 115 Stat. 2196. Pub. L. 106–554, § 1(a)(1) [title II], Dec. 21, 2000, 114 Stat. 2763, 2763A–23. Pub. L. 106–113, div. B, § 1000(a)(4) [title II], Nov. 29, 1999, 113 Stat. 1535, 1501A–235. § 9922. Community food and nutrition programs (a) Grants The Secretary may, through grants to public and private, nonprofit agencies, provide for com- munity-based, local, statewide, and national programs— (1) to coordinate private and public food as- sistance resources, wherever the grant recipi- ent involved determines such coordination to be inadequate, to better serve low-income pop- ulations; (2) to assist low-income communities to identify potential sponsors of child nutrition programs and to initiate such programs in un- derserved or unserved areas; and (3) to develop innovative approaches at the State and local level to meet the nutrition needs of low-income individuals. (b) Allotments and distribution of funds (1) Not to exceed $6,000,000 in appropriations Of the amount appropriated for a fiscal year to carry out this section (but not to exceed $6,000,000), the Secretary shall distribute funds for grants under subsection (a) as follows: (A) Allotments From a portion equal to 60 percent of such amount (but not to exceed $3,600,000), the Secretary shall allot for grants to eligible agencies for statewide programs in each State the amount that bears the same ratio to such portion as the low-income and unem- ployed population of such State bears to the low-income and unemployed population of all the States.