 
      CHAPTER 28--HIGHER EDUCATION RESOURCES AND STUDENT ASSISTANCE
 
                     SUBCHAPTER VIII--MISCELLANEOUS
 
Sec. 1151. Grants to States for workplace and community 
        transition training for incarcerated youth offenders
        

(a) Findings

    Congress makes the following findings:
        (1) Over 150,000 youth offenders age 21 and younger are 
    incarcerated in the Nation's jails, juvenile facilities, and 
    prisons.
        (2) Most youth offenders who are incarcerated have been 
    sentenced as first-time adult felons.
        (3) Approximately 75 percent of youth offenders are high school 
    dropouts who lack basic literacy and life skills, have little or no 
    job experience, and lack marketable skills.
        (4) The average incarcerated youth has attended school only 
    through grade 10.
        (5) Most of these youths can be diverted from a life of crime 
    into productive citizenship with available educational, vocational, 
    work skills, and related service programs.
        (6) If not involved with educational programs while 
    incarcerated, almost all of these youths will return to a life of 
    crime upon release.
        (7) The average length of sentence for a youth offender is about 
    3 years. Time spent in prison provides a unique opportunity for 
    education and training.
        (8) Even with quality education and training provided during 
    incarceration, a period of intense supervision, support, and 
    counseling is needed upon release to ensure effective reintegration 
    of youth offenders into society.
        (9) Research consistently shows that the vast majority of 
    incarcerated youths will not return to the public schools to 
    complete their education.
        (10) There is a need for alternative educational opportunities 
    during incarceration and after release.

(b) ``Youth offender'' defined

    For purposes of this section, the term ``youth offender'' means a 
male or female offender under the age of 25, who is incarcerated in a 
State prison, including a prerelease facility.

(c) Grant program

    The Secretary of Education (in this section referred to as the 
``Secretary'') shall establish a program in accordance with this section 
to provide grants to the State correctional education agencies in the 
States, from allocations for the States under subsection (i) of this 
section, to assist and encourage incarcerated youths to acquire 
functional literacy, life, and job skills, through the pursuit of a 
postsecondary education certificate, or an associate of arts or 
bachelor's degree while in prison, and employment counseling and other 
related services which start during incarceration and continue through 
prerelease and while on parole.

(d) Application

    To be eligible for a grant under this section, a State correctional 
education agency shall submit to the Secretary a proposal for a youth 
offender program that--
        (1) identifies the scope of the problem, including the number of 
    incarcerated youths in need of postsecondary education and 
    vocational training;
        (2) lists the accredited public or private educational 
    institution or institutions that will provide postsecondary 
    educational services;
        (3) lists the cooperating agencies, public and private, or 
    businesses that will provide related services, such as counseling in 
    the areas of career development, substance abuse, health, and 
    parenting skills;
        (4) describes the evaluation methods and performance measures 
    that the State correctional education agency will employ, which 
    methods and measures--
            (A) shall be appropriate to meet the goals and objectives of 
        the proposal; and
            (B) shall include measures of--
                (i) program completion;
                (ii) student academic and vocational skill attainment;
                (iii) success in job placement and retention; and
                (iv) recidivism;

        (5) describes how the proposed programs are to be integrated 
    with existing State correctional education programs (such as adult 
    education, graduate education degree programs, and vocational 
    training) and State industry programs;
        (6) addresses the educational needs of youth offenders who are 
    in alternative programs (such as boot camps); and
        (7) describes how students will be selected so that only youth 
    offenders eligible under subsection (f) of this section will be 
    enrolled in postsecondary programs.

(e) Program requirements

    Each State correctional education agency receiving a grant under 
this section shall--
        (1) integrate activities carried out under the grant with the 
    objectives and activities of the school-to-work programs of such 
    State, including--
            (A) work experience or apprenticeship programs;
            (B) transitional worksite job training for vocational 
        education students that is related to the occupational goals of 
        such students and closely linked to classroom and laboratory 
        instruction;
            (C) placement services in occupations that the students are 
        preparing to enter;
            (D) employment-based learning programs; and
            (E) programs that address State and local labor shortages;

        (2) annually report to the Secretary and the Attorney General on 
    the results of the evaluations conducted using the methods and 
    performance measures contained in the proposal; and
        (3) provide to each State for each student eligible under 
    subsection (f) of this section not more than $1,500 annually for 
    tuition, books, and essential materials, and not more than $300 
    annually for related services such as career development, substance 
    abuse counseling, parenting skills training, and health education, 
    for each eligible incarcerated youth.

(f) Student eligibility

    A youth offender shall be eligible for participation in a program 
receiving a grant under this section if the youth offender--
        (1) is eligible to be released within 5 years (including a youth 
    offender who is eligible for parole within such time); and
        (2) is 25 years of age or younger.

(g) Length of participation

    A State correctional education agency receiving a grant under this 
section shall provide educational and related services to each 
participating youth offender for a period not to exceed 5 years, 1 year 
of which may be devoted to study in a graduate education degree program 
or to remedial education services for students who have obtained a 
secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent. Educational and 
related services shall start during the period of incarceration in 
prison or prerelease and may continue during the period of parole.

(h) Education delivery systems

    State correctional education agencies and cooperating institutions 
shall, to the extent practicable, use high-tech applications in 
developing programs to meet the requirements and goals of this section.

(i) Allocation of funds

    From the funds appropriated pursuant to subsection (j) of this 
section for each fiscal year, the Secretary shall allot to each State an 
amount that bears the same relationship to such funds as the total 
number of students eligible under subsection (f) of this section in such 
State bears to the total number of such students in all States.

(j) Authorization of appropriations

    There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
$17,000,000 for fiscal year 1999 and such sums as may be necessary for 
each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years.

(Pub. L. 105-244, title VIII, Sec. 821, Oct. 7, 1998, 112 Stat. 1813.)

                          Codification

    Section was enacted as part of the Higher Education Amendments of 
1998, and not as part of the Higher Education Act of 1965 which 
comprises this chapter.
