TITLE V--COMMUNITY SERVICE EMPLOYMENT FOR OLDER AMERICANS
short title
Sec. 501. This title may be cited as the "Older American Community Service Employment Act".
older american community service employment program
Sec. 502.(a) In order to foster and promote useful part-time opportunities in community service
activities for unemployed low-income persons who are fifty-five years or older and who have poor
employment prospects, the Secretary of Labor (hereinafter in this title referred to as the "Secretary")
is authorized to establish an older American community service employment program.
(b)(1) In order to carry out the provisions of this title, the Secretary is authorized to enter into
agreements with public or private nonprofit agencies or organizations, including national
organizations, agencies of a State government or a political subdivision of a State (having elected or
duly appointed governing officials), or a combination of such political subdivisions, or tribal
organizations in order to further the purposes and goals of the program. Such agreements may
include provisions for the payment of costs, as provided in subsection (c) of this section, of projects
developed by such organizations and agencies in cooperation with the Secretary in order to make the
program effective or to supplement the program. No payment shall be made by the Secretary toward
the cost of any project established or administered by any organization or agency unless the
Secretary determines that such project--
(A) will provide employment only for eligible individuals except for necessary technical,
administrative, and supervisory personnel, but such personnel shall, to the fullest extent possible, be
recruited from among eligible individuals;
(B) will provide employment for eligible individuals in the community in which such individuals
reside, or in nearby communities;
(C) will employ eligible individuals in service related to publicly owned and operated facilities and
projects, or projects
sponsored by organizations, other than political parties, exempt
from taxation under the provisions of section 501(c)(3) of title
26, except projects involving the construction, operation, or
maintenance of any facility used or to be used as a place for
sectarian religious instruction or worship;
(D) will contribute to the general welfare of the
community;
(E) will provide employment for eligible individuals;
(F)(i) will result in an increase in employment
opportunities over those opportunities which would otherwise be
available; (ii) will not result in the displacement of currently
employed workers (including partial displacement, such as a
reduction in the hours of nonovertime work or wages or employment
benefits); and (iii) will not impair existing contracts or result
in the substitution of Federal funds for other funds in
connection with work that would otherwise be performed;
(G) will not employ or continue to employ any eligible
individual to perform work the same or substantially the same as
that performed by any other person who is on layoff;
(H) will utilize methods of recruitment and selection
(including listing of job vacancies with the employment agency
operated by any State or political subdivision thereof) which
will assure that the maximum number of eligible individuals will
have an opportunity to participate in the project;
(I) will include such training as may be necessary to make
the most effective use of the skills and talents of those
individuals who are participating, and will provide for the
payment of the reasonable expenses of individuals being trained,
including a reasonable subsistence allowance;
(J) will assure that safe and healthy conditions of work
will be provided, and will assure that persons employed in community service jobs assisted under this title shall be paid wages
which shall not be lower than whichever is the highest of (i) the
minimum wage which would be applicable to the employee under the
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, if section 6(a)(1) of such Act
applied to the participant and if the participant were not exempt
under section 13 thereof, (ii) the State or local minimum wage
for the most nearly comparable covered employment, or (iii) the
prevailing rates of pay for persons employed in similar public
occupations by the same employer,
(K) will be established or administered with the advice of
persons competent in the field of service in which employment is
being provided, and of persons who are knowledgeable with regard
to the needs of older persons;
(L) will authorize pay for necessary transportation costs
of eligible individuals which may be incurred in employment in
any project funded under this title, in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Secretary;
(M) will assure that, to the extent feasible, such project
will serve the needs of minority, limited English-speaking, and
Indian eligible individuals, and eligible individuals who have
the greatest economic need, at least in proportion to their
numbers in the State and take into consideration their rates of
poverty and unemployment;
(N)(i) will prepare an assessment of--
(I) the participants' skills and talents;
(II) their need for supportive services; and
(III) their physical capabilities;
except to the extent such project has, for the particular
participant involved, an assessment of such skills and talents,
such need, or such capabilities prepared recently pursuant to
another employment or training program (such as a program under
the Job Training Partnership Act (29 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.) or the
Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act
(20 U.S.C. 3201 et seq.));
(ii) will provide to eligible individuals training and
employment counseling based on strategies that identify
appropriate employment objectives and the need for supportive
services, developed as a result of the assessment provided for in
clause (i); and
(iii) will provide counseling to participants on their
progress in meeting such objectives and satisfying their need for
supportive services;
(O) will authorize funds to be used, to the extent
feasible, to include individuals participating in such project
under any State unemployment insurance plan; and
(P) will post in such project workplace a notice, and will
make available to each person associated with such project a
written explanation, clarifying the law with respect to allowable
and unallowable political activities under chapter 15 of title 5,
applicable to the project and to each category of individuals
associated with such project and containing the address and
telephone number of the Inspector General of the Department of
Labor, to whom questions regarding the application of such
chapter may be addressed.
(2) The Secretary is authorized to establish, issue, and
amend such regulations as may be necessary to effectively carry
out the provisions of this title.
(3) The Secretary shall develop alternatives for innovative
work modes and provide technical assistance in creating job
opportunities through work sharing and other experimental methods
to prime sponsors, labor organizations, groups representing
business and industry and workers as well as to individual
employers, where appropriate.
(4) The Secretary may enter into an agreement with the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to establish
a Senior Environmental Employment Corps.
(c)(1) The Secretary is authorized to pay not to exceed 90
percent of the cost of any project which is the subject of an
agreement entered into under subsection (b) of this section,
except that the Secretary is authorized to pay all of the costs
of any such project which is (A) an emergency or disaster
project, or (B) a project located in an economically depressed
area, as determined by the Secretary in consultation with the
Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of Health and Human
Services.
(2) The non-Federal share shall be in cash or in kind. In
determining the amount of the non-Federal share, the Secretary is
authorized to attribute fair market value to services and
facilities contributed from non-Federal sources.
(3) Of the amount for any project to be paid by the
Secretary under this subsection, not more than 13.5 percent for
fiscal year 1987 and each fiscal year thereafter shall be
available for paying the costs of administration for such
project, except that--
(A) whenever the Secretary determines that it is necessary
to carry out the project assisted under this title, based on
information submitted by the public or private nonprofit agency
or organization with which the Secretary has an agreement under
subsection (b) of this section, the Secretary may increase the
amount available for paying the cost of administration to an
amount not more than 15 percent of the cost of such project; and
(B) whenever the public or private nonprofit agency or
organization with which the Secretary has an agreement under
subsection (b) of this section demonstrates to the Secretary
that--
(i) major administrative cost increases are being incurred
in necessary program components, including liability insurance,
payments for workers' compensation, costs associated with
achieving unsubsidized placement goals, and other operation
requirements imposed by the Secretary;
(ii) the number of employment positions in the project or
the number of minority eligible individuals participating in the
project will decline if the amount available for paying the cost
of administration is not increased; or
(iii) the size of the project is so small that the amount
of administrative expenses incurred to carry out the project
necessarily exceed 13.5 percent of the amount for such project;
the Secretary shall increase the amount available for the fiscal
year for paying the cost of administration to an amount not more
than 15 percent of the cost of such project.
(d)(1) Whenever a national organization or other program
sponsor conducts a project within a planning and service area in
a State such organization or program sponsor shall conduct such
project in consultation with the area agency on aging of the
planning and service area and shall submit to the State agency
and the area agency on aging a description of such project to be
conducted in the State, including the location of the project, 30
days prior to undertaking the project, for review and comment
according to guidelines the Secretary shall issue to assure
efficient and effective coordination of programs under this
title.
(2) The Secretary shall review on his own initiative or at
the request of any public or private agency or organization, or
an agency of the State government, the distribution of programs
under this title within the State including the distribution
between urban and rural areas within the State. For each
proposed reallocation of programs within a State, the Secretary
shall give notice and opportunity for a hearing on the record by
all interested individuals and make a written determination of
his findings and decision.
(e)(1) The Secretary, in addition to any other authority
contained in this title, shall conduct experimental projects
designed to assure second career training and the placement of
eligible individuals in employment opportunities with private
business concerns. The Secretary shall enter into such
agreements with States, public agencies, nonprofit private
organizations and private business concerns as may be necessary
to conduct the experimental projects authorized by this
subsection. The Secretary, from amounts reserved under section
506(a)(2)(A) in any fiscal year, may pay all of the costs of any
agreements entered into under the provisions of this subsection.
The Secretary shall, to the extent feasible, assure equitable
geographic distribution of projects authorized by this subsection.
(2) The Secretary shall issue, and amend from time to time,
criteria designed to assure that agreements entered into under
paragraph (1) of this subsection--
(A) will involve different kinds of work modes, such as
flex-time, job sharing, and other arrangements relating to
reduced physical exertion;
(B) will emphasize projects involving second careers and
job placement and give consideration to placement in growth industries in jobs reflecting new technological skills; and
(C) require the coordination of projects carried out under
such agreements, with the programs carried out under section 124
of the Job Training Partnership Act (29 U.S.C. 1534).
(3)(A) The Secretary shall carry out an evaluation of the
second career training and job placement projects authorized by
this subsection.
(B) The evaluation shall include but not be limited to the
projects described in paragraph (2).
(C) The Secretary shall prepare and submit, not later than
one year after December 29, 1981, to the Congress an interim
report describing agreements entered into under paragraph (1) and
the design for the evaluation required by this paragraph. The
Secretary shall prepare and submit to the President and the
Congress a final report on the evaluation required by this
paragraph not later than February 1, 1984, together with his
findings and such recommendations, including recommendations for
additional legislation, as the Secretary deems appropriate.
(D) The Secretary shall make the final report submitted
under subparagraph (C) available to interested private business
concerns.
(4) For the purpose of this subsection, "eligible
individual" means any individual who is 55 years of age or older
and who has an income equal to or less than the intermediate
level retired couples budget as determined annually by the Bureau
of Labor Statistics.
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administration
Sec. 503.(a) In order to effectively carry out the
provisions of this title, the Secretary shall, through the
Commissioner of the Administration on Aging, consult with the
State agency on aging designated under section 305(a)(1) and the
appropriate area agencies on aging established under section
305(a)(2) with regard to--
(1)(A) the localities in which community service projects
of the type authorized by this title are most needed;
(B) consideration of the employment situations and the type
of skills possessed by available local individuals who are eligible to participate; and
(C) potential projects and the number and percentage of
eligible individuals in the local population.
(2) The Secretary of Labor and the Commissioner shall
coordinate the programs under this title and the programs under
titles III, IV, VI to increase job opportunities available to
older individuals.
(b)(1) The Secretary shall coordinate the program assisted
under this title with programs authorized under the Job Training
Partnership Act, the Community Services Block Grant Act, and the
Vocational Education Act of 1984. The Secretary shall coordinate
the administration of this title with the administration of
titles III, IV, and VI by the Commissioner to increase the
likelihood that eligible individuals for whom employment
opportunities under this title are available and who need
services under such titles receive such services. Appropriations
under this chapter may not be used to carry out any program under
the Job Training Partnership Act, the Community Services Block
Grant Act, or the Vocational Education Act of 1984. The
preceding sentence shall not be construed to prohibit carrying
out projects under this title jointly with programs, projects, or
activities under any Act specified in such sentence.
(2) The Secretary shall distribute to grantees under this
title, for distribution to program enrollees, and at no cost to
grantees or enrollees, informational materials developed and
supplied by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and other
appropriate Federal agencies which the Secretary determines are
designed to help enrollees identify age discrimination and
understand their rights under the Age Discrimination in
Employment Act of 1967.
(c) In carrying out the provisions of this title, the
Secretary is authorized to use, with their consent, the services,
equipment, personnel, and facilities of Federal and other
agencies with or without reimbursement, and on a similar basis to
cooperate with other public and private agencies and
instrumentalities in the use of services, equipment, and
facilities.
(d) Payments under this title may be made in advance or by
way of reimbursement and in such installments as the Secretary
may determine.
(e) The Secretary shall not delegate any function of the
Secretary under this title to any other department or agency of
the Federal Government.
(f) In carrying out the provisions of this title, the
Secretary may fund and expand projects concerning the Senior
Environmental Employment Corps and energy conservation from sums
appropriated under section 508 for such fiscal year.
participants not federal employees
Sec. 504.(a) Eligible individuals who are employed in any
project funded under this title shall not be considered to be
Federal employees as a result of such employment and shall not be
subject to the provisions of part III of title 5.
(b) No contract shall be entered into under this title with
a contractor who is, or whose employees are, under State law,
exempted from operation of the State workmen's compensation law,
generally applicable to employees, unless the contractor shall
undertake to provide either through insurance by a recognized
carrier or by self-insurance, as authorized by State law, that
the persons employed under the contract shall enjoy workmen's
compensation coverage equal to that provided by law for covered
employment.
interagency cooperation
SEC. 505.(a) The Secretary shall consult with, and obtain
the written views of, the Commissioner prior to the establishment
of rules or the establishment of general policy in the
administration of this title.
(b) The Secretary shall consult and cooperate with the
Director of the Office of Community Services, the Secretary of
Health and Human Services, and the heads of other Federal
agencies carrying out related programs, in order to achieve
optimal coordination with such other programs. In carrying out
the provisions of this section, the Secretary shall promote
programs or projects of a similar nature. Each Federal agency
shall cooperate with the Secretary in disseminating information
relating to the availability of assistance under this title and
in promoting the identification and interests of individuals
eligible for employment in projects assisted under this title.
(c) In administering projects under this title concerning
the Senior Environmental Employment Corps and energy
conservation, the Secretary shall consult with the Administrator
of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Secretary of
Energy and shall enter into an agreement with the Administrator
and the Secretary of Energy to coordinate programs conducted by
them with such projects.
(d)(1) The Secretary shall promote and coordinate carrying
out projects under this title jointly with programs, projects, or
activities under other Acts that provide training and employment
opportunities to eligible individuals.
(2) The Secretary shall consult with the Secretary of
Education to promote and coordinate carrying out projects under
this title jointly with employment and training programs in which
eligible individuals may participate that are carried out under
the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education
Act (20 U.S.C. 2301 et seq.).
equitable distribution of assistance
Sec. 506.(a)(1)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B) and
paragraph (2), from sums appropriated under this title for each
fiscal year, the Secretary shall first reserve such sums as may
be necessary for national grants or contracts with public
agencies and public or nonprofit private organizations to
maintain the level of activities carried on under such grants or
contracts at least at the level of such activities supported
under this title and under any other provision of Federal law
relating to community service employment programs for older
Americans in fiscal year 1978.
(B)(i)(I) For each fiscal year in which the sums under this
title exceeds the amount appropriated under this title for fiscal
year 1978, the Secretary shall reserve not more than 45 percent
of such excess, except as provided in subclause (II), to carry
our clauses (ii), (iii), and (iv).
(II) The Secretary shall reserve a sum sufficient to carry
out clauses (iii) and (iv).
(III) The Secretary in awarding grants and contracts under
this paragraph from the sum reserved under this paragraph shall,
to the extent feasible, assure an equitable distribution of
activities under such grants and contracts designed to achieve
the allotment among the States described in paragraph (3) of this
subsection.
(ii) The Secretary shall reserve such sums as may be
necessary for national grants or contracts with public or
nonprofit national Indian aging organizations with the ability to
provide employment services to older Indians and with national
public or nonprofit Pacific Island and Asian American aging
organizations with the ability to provide employment to older
Pacific Island and Asian Americans.
(iii) If the amount appropriated under this title for a
fiscal year exceeds 102 percent of the amount appropriated under
this title for fiscal year 1991, for each fiscal year described
in clause (iv), the Secretary shall reserve for recipients of
national grants and contracts under this paragraph such portion
of the excess amount as the Secretary determines to be
appropriate and is--
(I) at least 25 percent of the excess amount; pr
(II) the portion required to increase the amount made
available under this paragraph to each of the recipients so that
the amount equals 1.3 percent of the amount appropriates under
this title for fiscal year 1991.
(iv) From the portion reserved under clause (iii), the
Secretary shall increase the amount made available under this
paragraph to each of the recipients--
(I) for each fiscal year before the fiscal year described
in subclause (II), so that such amount equals, or more closely
approaches, such 1.3 percent; and
(II) for the first fiscal year for which the portion is
sufficient to available under this paragraph to each of the
recipients the amount equal to such 1.3 percent, so that such
amount is not less than such 1.3 percent.
(v) For each fiscal year after the fiscal year described in
clause (ii)(II), the Secretary shall make available under this
paragraph to each of the recipients an amount not less than such
1.3 percent.
(C) Preference in awarding grants or contracts under this
paragraph shall be given to national organizations, and agencies,
of proven ability in providing employment services to eligible
individuals under this program and similar programs. The
Secretary, in awarding grants and contracts under this section,
shall, to the extent feasible, assure an equitable distribution
of activities under such grants and contracts, in the aggregate,
among the States, taking into account the needs of underserved
States, subject to subparagraph (B)(i)(III).
(2)(A) From sums appropriated under this title for each
fiscal year after September 30, 1978, the Secretary shall reserve
an amount which is at least 1 percent but not more than 3 percent
of the amount appropriated in excess of the amount appropriated
for fiscal year 1978 for the purpose of entering into agreements
under section 502(e), relating to improved transition to private
employment.
(B) After the Secretary makes the reservations required by
paragraph (i)(B) and subparagraph (A), the remainder of such
excess shall be allotted to the appropriate public agency of each
State pursuant toe paragraph (3).
(3) The Secretary shall allot to the State agency on aging
of each State the remainder of the sums appropriated for any
fiscal year under section 508 of this title so that each State
will receive an amount which bears the same ratio to such
remainder as the product of the number of persons aged fifty-five
or over in the State and the allotment percentage of such State
bears to the sum of the corresponding product for all States,
except that (A) no State shall be allotted less than one-half of
1 percent of the remainder of the sums appropriated for the
fiscal year for which the determination is made, or $100,000,
whichever is greater, and (B) Guam, American Samoa, the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands,
and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands shall each be
allotted an amount which is not less than one-fourth of 1 percent
of the remainder of the sums appropriated for the fiscal year for
which the determination is made, or $50,000, whichever is
greater. For the purpose of the exception contained in this
paragraph the term "State" does not include Guam, American Samoa,
the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin
Islands, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.
(4) For the purpose of this subsection--
(A) the allotment percentage of each State shall be 100
percent less that percentage which bears the same ratio to 50
percent as the per capita income of such State bears to the per
capita income of the United States, except that (i) the allotment
percentage shall in no case be more than 75 percent or less than
33 percent, and (ii) the allotment percentage for the District
of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin
Islands, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
Islands, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands shall be
75 percent;
(B) the number of persons aged fifty-five or over in any
State and in all States, and the per capita income in any State
and in all States, shall be determined by the Secretary on the
basis of the most satisfactory data available to the Secretary;
and
(C) for the purpose of determining the allotment
percentage, the term "United States" means the fifty States and
the District of Columbia.
(b) The amount allotted for projects within any State under
subsection (a) of this section for any fiscal year which the
Secretary determines will not be required for such year shall be
reallotted, from time to time and on such dates during such year
as the Secretary may fix, to projects within other States in
proportion to the original allotments to projects within such
States under subsection (a) of this section for such year, but
with such proportionate amount for any of such other States being
reduced to the extent it exceeds the sum the Secretary estimates
that projects within such State need and will be able to use for
such year; and the total of such reductions shall be similarly
reallotted among the States whose proportionate amounts were not
so reduced. Any amount reallotted to a State under this subsection during a year shall be deemed part of its allotment under
subsection (a) of this section for such year.
(c) The amount apportioned for projects within each State
under subsection (a) of this section shall be apportioned among
areas within each such State in an equitable manner, taking into
consideration (1) the proportion which eligible individuals in
each such area bears to the total number of such individuals,
respectively, in that State, (2) the relative distribution of
such individuals residing in rural and urban areas within the
State, and (3) the relative distribution of (A) such individuals
who are individuals with the greatest economic need, (B) such
individuals who are minority individuals, and (C) such
individuals who are individuals with greatest social need.
(d) The Secretary shall require the State agency for each
State receiving funds under this title to report at the beginning
of each fiscal year on such State's compliance with section (c)
of this section. Such report shall include the names and
geographic location of all projects assisted under this title and
carried out in the State and the amount allotted to each such
project.
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definitions
Sec. 507. As used in this title--
(1) the term "eligible individuals" means an individual who
is fifty-five years old or older, who has a low income (including
any such individual whose income is not more than 125 percent of
the poverty guidelines established by the Office of Management
and Budget), except that, pursuant to regulations prescribed by
the Secretary, any such individual who is sixty years old or
older shall have priority for the work opportunities provided for
under this title;
(2) the term "community service" means social, health, welfare, and educational services (including literacy tutoring),
legal and other counseling services and assistance, including tax
counseling and assistance and financial counseling, and library,
recreational, and other similar services; conservation,
maintenance, or restoration of natural resources; community
betterment or beautification; antipollution and environmental
quality efforts; weatherization activities; economic development;
and such other services essential and necessary to the community
as the Secretary, by regulation, may prescribe;
(3) the term "program" means the older American community
service employment program established under this title; and
(4) the term "Pacific Island and Asian Americans" means
Americans having origins in any of the original peoples of the
Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian Subcontinent, or the Pacific
Islands.
authorization of appropriations
Sec. 508.(a) There is authorized to be appropriated to
carry out this title--
(1) $470,671,000 for fiscal year 1992, and such sums as may
be necessary for fiscal years 1993, 1994, and 1995; and
(2) such additional sums as may be necessary for each such
fiscal year to enable the Secretary, through programs under this
title, to provide for at least 70,000 part-time employment
positions for eligible individuals.
For purposes of paragraph (2), "part-time employment position"
means an employment position within a workweek of at least 20
hours.
(b) Amounts appropriated under this section for any fiscal
year shall be used during the annual period which begins on July
1 of the calendar year immediately following the beginning of
such fiscal year and which ends on June 30 of the following
calendar year. The Secretary may extend the period during which
such amounts may be obligated or expended in the case of a
particular organization or agency receiving funds under this
title if the Secretary determines that such extension is
necessary to ensure the effective use of such funds by such
organization or agency. Any such extension shall be for a period
of not more than 60 days after the end of such annual period.
Sec. 509. Funds received by eligible individuals from
projects carried out under the program established in this title
shall not be considered to be income of such individuals for
purposes of determining the eligibility of such individuals, or
of any other persons, to participate in any housing program for
which Federal funds may be available or for any income
determination under the Food Stamp Act of 1977.
dual eligibility
Sec. 510. In the case of projects under this title carried
out jointly with programs carried out under the Job Training
Partnership Act, eligible individuals shall be deemed to satisfy
the requirements of section 203 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 1603) that
are applicable to adults.
treatment of assistance
Sec. 511. Assistance furnished under this title shall not
be construed to be financial assistance described in section
245A(h)(1)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1255a(h)(1)(A)).
*As amended by the Older Americans Act technical amendments of 1994