42 U.S.C. § 12656 — Urban Youth Corps
submitted 33 years ago by Pub. L. 103-82 to r/title-42-THE-PUBLIC-HEALTH-AND-WELFARE · 1,556 words · no verdicts yet
Congress created the Urban Youth Corps at HUD and Transportation. It fixes up public housing, roads, and transit in poor urban areas. Members ages 16 to 25 earn a living allowance and can get education awards. The Secretaries pay up to 75 percent of project costs, with the rest from other sources.
(a) Findings: Congress found: (1) Urban Youth Corps work -- fixing up, reclaiming, and beautifying public housing, recreation sites, youth and senior centers, roads, and public works in cities -- helps both the young workers and their communities. It does this by (A) giving them education and job experience; (B) helping them understand the challenges people face in urban communities; and (C) giving them a way to pay for college or pay back education debt. (2) Many low-income housing units in cities have become unsafe and run-down, and crumbling roads, transit systems, and transportation facilities have added to urban blight. (3) Because of this, urban housing, public works, and transportation resources need a lot of labor-intensive repair, reclamation, and beautification work that has been neglected -- and current government staff levels cannot handle it alone. (4) Urban youth corps have a strong track record fixing, reclaiming, and beautifying these resources cost-effectively, especially when they partner with government housing, public works, and transportation agencies.
(b) Purpose: This section exists to (1) carry out service projects, in a cost-effective way, that fix, reclaim, beautify, and improve public housing and public works and transportation facilities in high-poverty urban areas, where existing employees would not otherwise do the work; (2) help government housing, public works, and transportation agencies; (3) expose young people to public service and help them understand their communities better; (4) expand educational opportunities for Corps members by helping them pursue college or job training; and (5) spark lasting interest among young people in serving their communities and country.
(c) Definitions: (1) An "appropriate service project*" is any project to fix, reclaim, or beautify urban public housing, public works, or transportation resources or facilities. (2) "Corps" and "Urban Youth Corps" mean the Corps set up under subsection (d)(1). (3) A "qualified urban youth corps" is a program run by a state, local government, or nonprofit that (A) can offer meaningful, full-time, productive work to people ages 16 to 25 in an urban, public works, or transportation setting; (B) gives participants a mix of work experience, basic and life skills, education, training, and support services; and (C) lets participants build citizenship values and skills by serving their community and country. (4) "Secretary" means the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development or the Secretary of Transportation. (5) "State" includes every U.S. state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands.
(d) Establishment of Urban Youth Corps: (1) Establishment -- The law creates an Urban Youth Corps inside both HUD and the Department of Transportation. It's made up of people ages 16 to 25 who the Secretaries enroll as participants. To enroll, a person must meet the criteria in section 139(b) of the National and Community Service Act of 1990. The Secretaries can enroll people without following normal civil service rules, and may give preference to people who are economically, physically, or educationally disadvantaged. (2) Use of qualified urban youth corps -- The Secretaries can sign contracts or cooperative agreements with any qualified urban youth corps to carry out appropriate service projects. As part of the Transportation Department's piece of the Corps, the Secretary of Transportation may also give grants to states -- and through states, to local governments -- to set up, run, or support qualified urban youth corps that work on transportation projects. (3) Service projects -- Each Secretary may use the Corps, or any qualified urban youth corps, to do appropriate service projects that the Secretary is already allowed to do under other laws covering public housing or public works. (4) Preference for certain projects -- When picking a project, the Secretaries must favor ones that (A) give the public long-term benefits; (B) build a work ethic and sense of public service in participants; (C) need a lot of labor; (D) can be planned and started quickly; and (E) offer academic, hands-on, or community education opportunities. (5) Consistency -- Every project on public housing or public works or transportation property must follow the laws and policies governing that property, and every plan or document that governs how it's run.
(e) Living allowances: The Secretaries must give each Urban Youth Corps participant* a living allowance. It cannot be more than the maximum allowance set under section 140(a)(3) of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 for other national service participants.
(f) Terms of service: Each participant agrees to serve for a term the Secretary sets, following the same term-of-service rules that apply under section 139(b) of the National and Community Service Act of 1990.
(g) Educational awards: (1) Eligibility -- Each participant can earn a national service education award, the same way described in subtitle D of the National and Community Service Act of 1990, if they meet whatever requirements the Secretary sets. The award's time limit, allowed uses, and amount are set by that same law. (2) Forbearance on Stafford loans -- For purposes of section 1078 of title 20, if a Corps member who is a borrower asks in writing, the lender must grant the borrower a forbearance on terms otherwise consistent with the Secretary of Education's regulations. This applies during periods when the borrower is serving as an Urban Youth Corps participant and is eligible for a national service education award under paragraph (1).
(h) Nondisplacement: The rule against pushing out existing workers -- found in section 177 of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 -- applies to everything the Urban Youth Corps does, and to everything a qualified urban youth corps does under this section.
(i) Cost sharing: (1) Projects by qualified urban youth corps -- Each Secretary may pay up to 75 percent of the cost of a project done by a qualified urban youth corps. The other 25 percent must come from non-federal sources -- money, services, facilities, materials, equipment, or some mix of these. (2) Donations -- Each Secretary may accept donated funds, services, facilities, materials, or equipment to run the Urban Youth Corps and its projects. But nothing here requires cost-sharing* for a project the Corps runs directly, without a qualified urban youth corps partner. (3) Funds available under the National and Community Service Act -- To run the Urban Youth Corps or support a qualified urban youth corps, the Secretaries can apply for and receive money under section 121(b) of the National and Community Service Act of 1990.
The Congress finds the following:
The rehabilitation, reclamation, and beautification of urban public housing, recreational sites, youth and senior centers, and public roads and public works facilities through the efforts of young people in the United States in an Urban Youth Corps can benefit these youths, while also benefiting their communities, by—
providing them with education and work opportunities;
furthering their understanding and appreciation of the challenges faced by individuals residing in urban communities; and
providing them with a means to pay for higher education or to repay indebtedness they have incurred to obtain higher education.
A significant number of housing units for low-income individuals in urban areas has become substandard and unsafe and the deterioration of urban roadways, mass transit systems, and transportation facilities in the United States have contributed to the blight encountered in many cities in the United States.
As a result, urban housing, public works, and transportation resources are in need of labor intensive rehabilitation, reclamation, and beautification work that has been neglected in the past and cannot be adequately carried out by Federal, State, and local government at existing personnel levels.
Urban youth corps have established a good record of rehabilitating, reclaiming, and beautifying these kinds of resources in a cost-efficient manner, especially when they have worked in partnership with government housing, public works, and transportation authorities and agencies.
It is the purpose of this section—
to perform, in a cost-effective manner, appropriate service projects to rehabilitate, reclaim, beautify, and improve public housing and public works and transportation facilities and resources in urban areas suffering from high rates of poverty where work will not be performed by existing employees;
to assist government housing, public works, and transportation authorities and agencies;
to expose young people in the United States to public service while furthering their understanding and appreciation of their community;
to expand educational opportunity for individuals who participate in the Urban Youth Corps established by this section by providing them with an increased ability to pursue postsecondary education or job training; and
to stimulate interest among young people in the United States in lifelong service to their communities and the United States.
For purposes of this section:
The term “appropriate service project” means any project for the rehabilitation, reclamation, or beautification of urban public housing and public works and transportation resources or facilities.
The term “Corps” and “Urban Youth Corps” mean the Urban Youth Corps established under subsection (d)(1).
The term “qualified urban youth corps” means any program established by a State or local government or by a nonprofit organization that—
is capable of offering meaningful, full-time, productive work for individuals between the ages of 16 and 25, inclusive, in an urban or public works or transportation setting;
gives participants a mix of work experience, basic and life skills, education, training, and support services; and
provides participants with the opportunity to develop citizenship values and skills through service to their communities and the United States.
The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development or the Secretary of Transportation.
The term “State” means any State of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands of the United States, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
There is hereby established in the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Transportation an Urban Youth Corps. The Corps shall consist of individuals between the ages of 16 and 25, inclusive, who are enrolled as participants in the Corps by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and the Secretary of Transportation. To be eligible for enrollment in the Corps, an individual shall satisfy the criteria specified in section 139(b) of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 [42 U.S.C. 12593(b)]. The Secretaries may enroll such individuals in the Corps without regard to the civil service and classification laws, rules, or regulations of the United States. The Secretaries may establish a preference for the enrollment in the Corps of individuals who are economically, physically, or educationally disadvantaged.
The Secretaries are authorized to enter into contracts and cooperative agreements with any qualified urban youth corps to perform appropriate service projects described in paragraph (3). As part of the Urban Youth Corps established in the Department of Transportation, the Secretary of Transportation may make grants to States (and through States to local governments) for the purpose of establishing, operating, or supporting qualified urban youth corps that will perform appropriate service projects relating to transportation resources or facilities.
The Secretaries may each utilize the Corps or any qualified urban youth corps to carry out appropriate service projects that the Secretary involved is authorized to carry out under other authority of law involving public housing projects or public works resources or facilities.
In selecting an appropriate service project to be carried out under this section, the Secretaries shall give a preference to those projects which—
will provide long-term benefits to the public;
will instill in the participant* a work ethic and a sense of public service;
will be labor intensive;
can be planned and initiated promptly; and
will provide academic, experiential, or community education opportunities.
Each appropriate service project carried out under this section in any public housing project or public works resource or facility shall be consistent with the provisions of law and policies relating to the management and administration of such projects, facilities, or resources, with all other applicable provisions of law, and with all management, operational, and other plans and documents which govern the administration of such projects, facilities, or resources.
The Secretaries shall provide each participant in the Urban Youth Corps with a living allowance in an amount not to exceed the maximum living allowance authorized by section 140(a)(3) 1 of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 for participants in a national service program assisted under subtitle C of title I of such Act [42 U.S.C. 12571 et seq.].
Each participant in the Urban Youth Corps shall agree to participate in the Corps for a term of service established by the Secretary involved, consistent with the terms of service required under section 139(b) of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 [42 U.S.C. 12593(b)] for participants in a national service program assisted under subtitle C of title I of such Act [42 U.S.C. 12571 et seq.].
Each participant in the Urban Youth Corps shall be eligible for a national service educational award in the manner prescribed in subtitle D of title I of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 [42 U.S.C. 12601 et seq.] if such participant complies with such requirements as may be established under this subtitle by the Secretary involved respecting eligibility for the award. The period during which the award may be used, the purposes for which the award may be used, and the amount of the award shall be determined as provided under such subtitle.
For purposes of section 1078 of title 20, in the case of borrowers who are participants in the Urban Youth Corps, upon written request, a lender shall grant a borrower forbearance on such terms as are otherwise consistent with the regulations of the Secretary of Education, during periods in which the borrower is serving as such a participant and eligible for a national service educational award under paragraph (1).
The nondisplacement requirements of section 177 of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 [42 U.S.C. 12637] shall be applicable to all activities carried out by the Urban Youth Corps and to all activities carried out under this section by a qualified urban youth corps.
The Secretaries are each authorized to pay not more than 75 percent of the costs of any appropriate service project carried out pursuant to this section by a qualified urban youth corps. The remaining 25 percent of the costs of such a project may be provided from nonfederal sources in the form of funds, services, facilities, materials, equipment, or any combination of the foregoing.
The Secretaries are each authorized to accept donations of funds, services, facilities, materials, or equipment for the purposes of operating the Urban Youth Corps and carrying out appropriate service projects by the Corps. However, nothing in this section shall be construed to require any cost sharing for any project carried out directly by the Corps.
In order to carry out the Urban Youth Corps or to support qualified urban youth corps under this section, the Secretaries shall be eligible to apply for and receive assistance under section 121(b) of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 [42 U.S.C. 12571(b)].
Source credit: (Pub. L. 103–82, title I, § 106, Sept. 21, 1993, 107 Stat. 854.)
- 1993Enacted · Pub. L. 103-82 · 107 Stat. 854
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 103-82 on 1993-09-21.
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