article: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Truancy Prevention and Juvenile Crime Reduction Act of 1998''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. Congress makes the following findings: (1) Truancy is the first sign of trouble--the first indicator that a young person is giving up and losing his or her way. (2) Many students who become truant eventually drop out of school, and high school drop outs are two and a half times more likely to be on welfare than high school graduates; twice as likely to be unemployed, or if employed, earn lower salaries. (3) Truancy is the top-ranking characteristic of criminals--more common than such factors as coming from single- parent families and being abused as children. (4) High rates of truancy are linked to high daytime burglary rates and high vandalism. (5) As much as 44 percent of violent juvenile crime takes place during school hours. (6) As many as 75 percent of children ages 13-16 who are arrested and prosecuted for crimes are truants. (7) Some cities report as many as 70 percent of daily student absences are unexcused, and the total number of absences in a single city can reach 4,000 per day. (8) Society pays a significant social and economic cost due to truancy: only 34 percent of inmates have completed high school education; 17 percent of youth under age 18 entering adult prisons have not completed grade school (8th grade or less), 25 percent completed 10th grade, and 2 percent completed high school. (9) Truants and later high school drop outs cost the Nation $240 billion in lost earnings and foregone taxes over their lifetimes, and the cost of crime control is staggering. (10) In many instances, parents are unaware a child is truant. (11) Effective truancy prevention, early intervention, and accountability programs can improve school attendance and reduce daytime crime rates. (12) There is a lack of targeted funding for effective truancy prevention programs in current law. SEC. 3. GRANTS. (a) Definitions.--In this section: (1) Eligible partnership.--The term ``eligible partnership'' means a partnership between 1 or more qualified units of local government and 1 or more local educational agencies. (2) Local educational agency.--The term ``local educational agency'' has the meaning given the term in section 14101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8801). (3) Qualified unit of local government.--The term ``qualified unit of local government'' means a unit of local government that has in effect, as of the date on which the eligible partnership submits an application for a grant under this section, a statute or regulation that meets the requirements of paragraphs (12), (13), (14), and (15) of section 223(a) of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency and Prevention Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5633(a)). (4) Unit of local government.--The term ``unit of local government'' means any city, county, township, town, borough, parish, village, or other general purpose political subdivision of a State, or any Indian tribe. (b) Grant Authority.--The Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of Education, shall make grants in accordance with this section on a competitive basis to eligible partnerships to reduce truancy and the incidence of daytime juvenile crime. (c) Maximum Amount; Allocation; Renewal.-- (1) Maximum amount.--The total amount awarded to an eligible partnership under this section in any fiscal year shall not exceed $100,000. (2) Allocation.--Not less than 25 percent of each grant awarded to an eligible partnership under this section shall be allocated for use by the local educational agency or agencies participating in the partnership. (3) Renewal.--A grant awarded under this section for a fiscal year may be renewed for an additional period of not more than 2 fiscal years. (d) Use of Funds.-- (1) In general.--Grant amounts made available under this section may be used by an eligible partnership to comprehensively address truancy through the use of-- (A) parental involvement in prevention activities, including meaningful incentives for parental responsibility; (B) sanctions, including community service and drivers' license suspension for students who are habitually truant; (C) parental accountability, including fines, teacher-aid duty, community service; (D) in-school truancy prevention programs, including alternative education and in-school suspension; (E) involvement of the local law enforcement, social services, judicial, business, and religious communities, and nonprofit organizations; (F) technology, including automated telephone notice to parents and computerized attendance system; or (G) elimination of 40-day count and other unintended incentives to allow students to be truant after a certain time of school year. (2) Model programs.--In carrying out this section, the Attorney General may give priority to funding programs that attempt to replicate 1 or more of the following model programs: (A) The Truancy Intervention Project of the Fulton County, Georgia, Juvenile Court. (B) The TABS (Truancy Abatement and Burglary Suppression) program of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (C) The Roswell Daytime Curfew Program of Roswell, New Mexico. (D) The Stop, Cite and Return Program of Rohnert Park, California. (E) The Stay in School Program of New Haven, Connecticut. (F) The Atlantic County Project Helping Hand of Atlantic County, New Jersey. (G) The THRIVE (Truancy Habits Reduced Increasing Valuable Education) initiative of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (H) The Norfolk, Virginia project using computer software and data collection. (I) The Community Service Early Intervention Program of Marion, Ohio. (J) The Truancy Reduction Program of Bakersfield, California. (K) The Grade Court program of Farmington, New Mexico. (L) Any other model program that the Attorney General determines to be appropriate. (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1999, 2000, and 2001.
summary: Truancy Prevention and Juvenile Crime Reduction Act of 1998 - Directs the Attorney General to make grants to eligible partnerships of local governmental units and local educational agencies to reduce truancy and the incidence of daytime juvenile crime. Sets forth provisions regarding maximum grant awards, allocation of such awards, and grant renewal. Authorizes the use of grant amounts to comprehensively address truancy through: (1) parental involvement in prevention activities; (2) sanctions; (3) parental accountability; (4) in-school truancy prevention programs; (5) involvement of local law enforcement, social services, judicial, business, and religious communities, and nonprofit organizations; (6) technology; or (7) elimination of 40-day count and other unintended incentives to allow students to be truant after a certain time of school year. Authorizes the Attorney General to give priority to funding programs that attempt to replicate specified model programs. Authorizes appropriations.