 CHAPTER 70--STRENGTHENING AND IMPROVEMENT OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY 
                                 SCHOOLS
 
                   SUBCHAPTER XI--COORDINATED SERVICES
 
Sec. 8401. Findings and purpose


(a) Findings

    The Congress finds the following:
        (1) Growing numbers of children are negatively affected by 
    influences outside of the classroom which increase such children's 
    risk of academic failure.
        (2) Factors such as poor nutrition, unsafe living conditions, 
    physical and sexual abuse, family and gang violence, inadequate 
    health care, unemployment, lack of child care, and substance abuse, 
    adversely affect family relationships and the ability of a child to 
    learn.
        (3) Parents and other caregivers in today's high pressure 
    society often face demands which place restraints on such parents' 
    and caregivers' time and affect such parents' and caregivers' 
    ability to adequately provide for the needs of the families of such 
    parents and caregivers.
        (4) Access to health and social service programs can address the 
    basic physical and emotional needs of children so that children can 
    fully participate in the learning experiences offered children in 
    school.
        (5) Services for at-risk students need to be more convenient, 
    and less fragmented, regulated and duplicative, in order to meet the 
    needs of children and their families.
        (6) School personnel, parents, and support service providers 
    often lack knowledge of, and access to, available services for at-
    risk students and their families in the community, and have few 
    resources to coordinate services and make services accessible.
        (7) Service providers, such as teachers, social workers, health 
    care and child care providers, juvenile justice workers and others, 
    are often trained in separate disciplines that provide little 
    support for the coordination of services.
        (8) Coordination of services is more cost effective because such 
    coordination substitutes prevention for expensive crisis 
    intervention.
        (9) Coordinating health and social services with education can 
    help the Nation meet the National Education Goals by ensuring better 
    outcomes for children.

(b) Purpose of coordinating services

    The purpose of this subchapter is to provide elementary and 
secondary school students and their families better access to the 
social, health and education services necessary for students to succeed 
in school and for their families to take an active role in ensuring that 
such students receive the best possible education.

(Pub. L. 89-10, title XI, Sec. 11001, as added Pub. L. 103-382, title I, 
Sec. 101, Oct. 20, 1994, 108 Stat. 3867.)
