42 U.S.C. § 12301 — Findings

Page 8273 TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE § 12301 Sec. 12353. Establishment of National Center on Family Resource and Support Programs. 12354. Evaluation. 12355. Authorization of appropriations. SUBCHAPTER II—WHITE HOUSE CONFERENCE ON CHILDREN, YOUTH, AND FAMILIES 12371. Findings. 12372. Authority of President and Secretary; final report. 12373. Conference administration. 12374. Conference committees. 12375. Report of Conference. 12376. Definitions. 12377. Authorization of appropriations. § 12301. Findings Congress finds that— (1) children and youth are inherently the most valuable resource of the United States; (2) the welfare, protection, healthy develop- ment, and positive role of children and youth in society are essential to the United States; (3) children and youth deserve love, respect, and guidance, as well as good health, shelter, food, education, productive employment op- portunities, and preparation for responsible participation in community life; (4) children and youth have increasing op- portunities to participate in the decisions that affect their lives; (5) the family is the primary caregiver and source of social learning and must be sup- ported and strengthened; (6) when a family is unable to ensure the sat- isfaction of basic needs of children and youth it is the responsibility of society to assist such family; and (7) it is the joint and several responsibility of the Federal Government, each State, and the political subdivisions of each State to as- sist children and youth to secure, to the max- imum extent practicable, equal opportunity to full and free access to— (A) the best possible physical and mental health; (B) adequate and safe physical shelter; (C) a high level of educational oppor- tunity; (D) effective training, apprenticeships, op- portunities for community service, and pro- ductive employment and participation in de- cisions affecting their lives; (E) a wide range of civic, cultural, and rec- reational activities that recognize young Americans as resources and promote self-es- teem and a stake in the communities of such Americans; and (F) comprehensive community services that are efficient, coordinated, readily avail- able, and involve families of young individ- uals. (Pub. L. 101–501, title IX, § 902, Nov. 3, 1990, 104 Stat. 1262.) Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Section effective Oct. 1, 1990, see section 1001(a) of Pub. L. 101–501, set out as an Effective Date of 1990 Amendment note under section 8621 of this title. SHORT TITLE Pub. L. 101–501, title IX, § 901, Nov. 3, 1990, 104 Stat. 1262, provided that: ‘‘This title [enacting this chapter] may be cited as the ‘Claude Pepper Young Americans Act of 1990’.’’ Pub. L. 101–501, title IX, § 955, Nov. 3, 1990, 104 Stat. 1278, provided that: ‘‘This chapter [chapter 3 (§§ 955–960) of subtitle A of title IX of Pub. L. 101–501, enacting part C of subchapter I of this chapter] may be cited as the ‘Family Resource Act’.’’ Pub. L. 101–501, title IX, § 981, Nov. 3, 1990, 104 Stat. 1280, provided that: ‘‘This subtitle [subtitle B (§§ 981–988) of title IX of Pub. L. 101–501, enacting sub- chapter II of this chapter] may be cited as the ‘1993 White House Conference on Children, Youth, and Fami- lies’.’’ PERFORMANCE PARTNERSHIP PILOTS Pub. L. 113–76, div. H, title V, § 526, Jan. 17, 2014, 128 Stat. 413, provided that: ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, ‘‘(1) ‘Performance Partnership Pilot’ (or ‘Pilot’) is a project that seeks to identify, through a demonstra- tion, cost-effective strategies for providing services at the State, regional, or local level that— ‘‘(A) involve two or more Federal programs (ad- ministered by one or more Federal agencies)— ‘‘(i) which have related policy goals, and ‘‘(ii) at least one of which is administered (in whole or in part) by a State, local, or tribal gov- ernment; and ‘‘(B) achieve better results for regions, commu- nities, or specific at-risk populations through mak- ing better use of the budgetary resources that are available for supporting such programs. ‘‘(2) ‘To improve outcomes for disconnected youth’ means to increase the rate at which individuals be- tween the ages of 14 and 24 (who are low-income and either homeless, in foster care, involved in the juve- nile justice system, unemployed, or not enrolled in or at risk of dropping out of an educational institution) achieve success in meeting educational, employment, or other key goals. ‘‘(3) The ‘lead Federal administering agency’ is the Federal agency, to be designated by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (from among the participating Federal agencies that have statu- tory responsibility for the Federal discretionary funds that will be used in a Performance Partnership Pilot), that will enter into and administer the par- ticular Performance Partnership Agreement on be- half of that agency and the other participating Fed- eral agencies. ‘‘(b) USE OF DISCRETIONARY FUNDS IN FISCAL YEAR 2014.—Federal agencies may use Federal discretionary funds that are made available in this Act [div. H of Pub. L. 113–76, see Tables for classification] to carry out up to 10 Performance Partnership Pilots. Such Pi- lots shall: ‘‘(1) be designed to improve outcomes for discon- nected youth, and ‘‘(2) involve Federal programs targeted on discon- nected youth, or designed to prevent youth from dis- connecting from school or work, that provide edu- cation, training, employment, and other related so- cial services. ‘‘(c) PERFORMANCE PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS.—Fed- eral agencies may use Federal discretionary funds, as authorized in subsection (b), to participate in a Per- formance Partnership Pilot only in accordance with the terms of a Performance Partnership Agreement that— ‘‘(1) is entered into between— ‘‘(A) the head of the lead Federal administering agency, on behalf of all of the participating Federal agencies (subject to the head of the lead Federal ad- ministering agency having received from the heads of each of the other participating agencies their written concurrence for entering into the Agree- ment), and Page 8274 TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE § 12301 ‘‘(B) the respective representatives of all of the State, local, or tribal governments that are partici- pating in the Agreement; and ‘‘(2) specifies, at a minimum, the following informa- tion: ‘‘(A) the length of the Agreement (which shall not extend beyond September 30, 2018); ‘‘(B) the Federal programs and federally funded services that are involved in the Pilot; ‘‘(C) the Federal discretionary funds that are being used in the Pilot (by the respective Federal account identifier, and the total amount from such account that is being used in the Pilot), and the pe- riod (or periods) of availability for obligation (by the Federal Government) of such funds; ‘‘(D) the non-Federal funds that are involved in the Pilot, by source (which may include private funds as well as governmental funds) and by amount; ‘‘(E) the State, local, or tribal programs that are involved in the Pilot; ‘‘(F) the populations to be served by the Pilot; ‘‘(G) the cost-effective Federal oversight proce- dures that will be used for the purpose of maintain- ing the necessary level of accountability for the use of the Federal discretionary funds; ‘‘(H) the cost-effective State, local, or tribal over- sight procedures that will be used for the purpose of maintaining the necessary level of accountability for the use of the Federal discretionary funds; ‘‘(I) the outcome (or outcomes) that the Pilot is designed to achieve; ‘‘(J) the appropriate, reliable, and objective out- come-measurement methodology that the Federal Government and the participating State, local, or tribal governments will use, in carrying out the Pilot, to determine whether the Pilot is achieving, and has achieved, the specified outcomes that the Pilot is designed to achieve; ‘‘(K) the statutory, regulatory, or administrative requirements related to Federal mandatory pro- grams that are barriers to achieving improved out- comes of the Pilot; and ‘‘(L) in cases where, during the course of the Pilot, it is determined that the Pilot is not achiev- ing the specified outcomes that it is designed to achieve, ‘‘(i) the consequences that will result from such deficiencies with respect to the Federal discre- tionary funds that are being used in the Pilot, and ‘‘(ii) the corrective actions that will be taken in order to increase the likelihood that the Pilot, upon completion, will have achieved such speci- fied outcomes. ‘‘(d) AGENCY HEAD DETERMINATIONS.—A Federal agen- cy may participate in a Performance Partnership Pilot (including by providing Federal discretionary funds that have been appropriated to such agency) only upon the written determination by the head of such agency that the agency’s participation in such Pilot— ‘‘(1) will not result in denying or restricting the eli- gibility of any individual for any of the services that (in whole or in part) are funded by the agency’s pro- grams and Federal discretionary funds that are in- volved in the Pilot, and ‘‘(2) based on the best available information, will not otherwise adversely affect vulnerable populations that are the recipients of such services. In making this determination, the head of the agency may take into consideration the other Federal discre- tionary funds that will be used in the Pilot as well as any non-Federal funds (including from private sources as well as governmental sources) that will be used in the Pilot. ‘‘(e) TRANSFER AUTHORITY.—For the purpose of car- rying out the Pilot in accordance with the Performance Partnership Agreement, and subject to the written ap- proval of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the head of each participating Federal agency may transfer Federal discretionary funds that are being used in the Pilot to an account of the lead Fed- eral administering agency that includes Federal discre- tionary funds that are being used in the Pilot. Subject to the waiver authority under subsection (f), such transferred funds shall remain available for the same purposes for which such funds were originally appro- priated: Provided, That such transferred funds shall re- main available for obligation by the Federal Govern- ment until the expiration of the period of availability for those Federal discretionary funds (which are being used in the Pilot) that have the longest period of avail- ability, except that any such transferred funds shall not remain available beyond September 30, 2018. ‘‘(f) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—In connection with a Fed- eral agency’s participation in a Performance Partner- ship Pilot, and subject to the other provisions of this section (including subsection (e)), the head of the Fed- eral agency to which the Federal discretionary funds were appropriated may waive (in whole or in part) the application, solely to such discretionary funds that are being used in the Pilot, of any statutory, regulatory, or administrative requirement that such agency head— ‘‘(1) is otherwise authorized to waive (in accordance with the terms and conditions of such other author- ity), and ‘‘(2) is not otherwise authorized to waive, provided that in such case the agency head shall— ‘‘(A) not waive any requirement related to non- discrimination, wage and labor standards, or alloca- tion of funds to State and substate levels; ‘‘(B) issue a written determination, prior to granting the waiver, with respect to such discre- tionary funds that the granting of such waiver for purposes of the Pilot— ‘‘(i) is consistent with both— ‘‘(I) the statutory purposes of the Federal pro- gram for which such discretionary funds were appropriated, and ‘‘(II) the other provisions of this section, in- cluding the written determination by the agen- cy head issued under subsection (d); ‘‘(ii) is necessary to achieve the outcomes of the Pilot as specified in the Performance Partnership Agreement, and is no broader in scope than is necessary to achieve such outcomes; and ‘‘(iii) will result in either— ‘‘(I) realizing efficiencies by simplifying re- porting burdens or reducing administrative bar- riers with respect to such discretionary funds, or ‘‘(II) increasing the ability of individuals to obtain access to services that are provided by such discretionary funds; and ‘‘(C) provide at least 60 days advance written no- tice to the Committees on Appropriations and other committees of jurisdiction in the House of Rep- resentatives and the Senate.’’ COMMISSION ON CHILD AND FAMILY WELFARE Pub. L. 102–521, § 5, Oct. 25, 1992, 106 Stat. 3406, pro- vided for establishment, membership, etc., of a Com- mission on Child and Family Welfare, specified that among other duties the Commission compile informa- tion and data on the issues that affect the best inter- ests of children, including domestic issues such as abuse, family relations, services and agencies for chil- dren and families, family courts, and juvenile courts, directed Commission to submit to President and Con- gress an interim report no later than Jan. 1, 1994, and a final report no later than Jan. 1, 1995, containing a detailed statement of the findings and conclusions of the Commission, together with recommendations for such legislation and administrative actions as consid- ered appropriate, and directed that the Commission terminate 90 days after the date it submitted its final report. Page 8275 TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE § 12302 Executive Documents EX. ORD. NO. 13459. IMPROVING THE COORDINATION AND EFFECTIVENESS OF YOUTH PROGRAMS Ex. Ord. No. 13459, Feb. 7, 2008, 73 F.R. 8003, provided: By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in recognition of the successful inter- agency collaboration resulting from the Helping Amer- ica’s Youth initiative, it is hereby ordered as follows: SECTION 1. Policy. It is the policy of the Federal Gov- ernment to promote achievement of positive results for at-risk youth through: (a) enhanced collaboration among government orga- nizations at the Federal, State, and local level, includ- ing with faith-based and other community organiza- tions, as well as among families, schools, and commu- nities, in order to leverage existing resources and im- prove outcomes; (b) identification and dissemination of promising strategies and practices that have been proven effective through rigorous evaluation; and (c) online publication of essential information to as- sist interested citizens and decision-makers, particu- larly at the community level, to plan, implement, and participate in effective programs for at-risk youth. SEC. 2. Establishment of the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs. The Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) shall establish within the Depart- ment of Health and Human Services for administrative purposes only, an Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs (Working Group), consistent with this order and reflecting the ongoing interagency collaboration under the Helping America’s Youth initiative. SEC. 3. Membership and Operation of the Working Group. (a) The Working Group shall consist exclusively of the following members or their designees, who shall be full-time Federal officers or employees: (i) the Secretary; (ii) the Attorney General; (iii) the Secretaries of Defense, the Interior, Agri- culture, Commerce, Labor, Housing and Urban Develop- ment, and Education; (iv) the Director of the Office of National Drug Con- trol Policy; (v) the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service; and (vi) other officers or full-time or permanent part- time employees of the United States, as determined by the Secretary, with the concurrence of the head of the department or agency concerned. (b) The Secretary (or the Secretary’s designee) shall serve as Chair, and the Attorney General (or the Attor- ney General’s designee) shall serve as Vice Chair, for a period of 2 years from the date of this order. Subse- quent Chairs and Vice Chairs shall be designated by the Secretary on a biennial basis. (c) In implementing this section, the Chair, and in the Chair’s absence the Vice Chair, shall convene and preside at meetings of the Working Group, determine its agenda, direct its work, and establish and direct subgroups of the Working Group, as appropriate, to deal with particular subject matters, that shall consist exclusively of members of the Working Group or their designees. The Chair, after consultation with the Vice Chair, shall designate an officer or employee of one of the member departments or agencies to serve as the Executive Secretary of the Working Group. The Execu- tive Secretary shall head any staff assigned to the Working Group and any subgroups thereof, and such staff shall consist exclusively of full-time or permanent part-time Federal employees. SEC. 4. Functions of the Working Group. Consistent with the policy set forth in section 1 of this order, the Working Group shall: (a) identify and engage key government and private or nonprofit organizations that can play a role in im- proving the coordination and effectiveness of programs serving and engaging youth, such as faith-based and other community organizations, businesses, volunteers, and other key constituencies; (b) develop a new Federal website on youth, built upon the Community Guide to Helping America’s Youth, with the first phase of this website to be launched with- in 10 months of the date of this order, by: (i) identifying and assessing the strengths and weak- nesses of existing Federal websites focusing on youth- serving entities in order to improve access to the most useful content; (ii) providing for training to youth-serving entities to enable effective use of the Federal website; (iii) developing additional strategies and tools and re- sources accessible through the Federal website that will help promote effective community-based efforts to reduce the factors that put youth at risk and the provi- sion of high-quality services to at-risk youth across the country; and (iv) developing strategies to ensure that the Federal website is routinely updated, improved, and publicized; (c) encourage all youth-serving Federal and State agencies, communities, grantees, and organizations to adopt high standards for assessing program results, in- cluding through the use of rigorous impact evaluations, as appropriate, so that the most effective practices can be identified and replicated, and ineffective or duplica- tive programs can be eliminated or reformed; (d)(i) identify and promote initiatives and activities that merit strong interagency collaboration because of their potential to offer cost-effective solutions to achieve better results for at-risk youth, including vol- unteer service in concert with the USA Freedom Corps and mentoring in concert with the Federal Mentoring Council; and, (ii) encourage rigorous evaluations, as appropriate, of such initiatives and activities to ascertain their effec- tiveness in improving academic, employment, social, and other individual outcomes, and make these find- ings publicly available, and (e) annually report to the President, through the As- sistant to the President for Domestic Policy, on its work and on the implementation of any recommenda- tions arising from its work, with the first such report to be submitted no later than 6 months after the date of this order. SEC. 5. Administration of the Working Group. (a) The Secretary shall, to the extent permitted by law, pro- vide administrative support and funding for the Work- ing Group. With the consent of the Secretary, other member de- partments or agencies may provide administrative sup- port to the Working Group, to the extent permitted by law and consistent with their statutory authority. (b) The heads of executive departments and agencies shall provide, as appropriate, such assistance and infor- mation as the Secretary may request to implement this order. (c) The website referred to in section 4(b) of this order shall be funded by contributions from executive depart- ments and agencies to the extent permitted by law and consistent with their statutory authority. SEC. 6. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: (i) authority granted by law to a department, agency, or the head thereof; or (ii) functions of the Director of the Office of Manage- ment and Budget relating to budget, administrative, or legislative proposals. (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appro- priations. (c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforce- able at law or in equity, by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. GEORGE W. BUSH. § 12302. Definitions As used in this chapter: