96 STAT. 1372 Rural areas, selection. 29 USC 1695. 29 USC 1696. Waiver. 29 USC 1697. 20 USC 2304. PUBLIC LAW 97-300-OCT. 13, 1982 (c) The Secretary shall assure that Job Corps enrollees include an appropriate number of candidates selected from rural areas, taking into account the proportions of eligible youth who reside in rural areas and the need to provide residential facilities for such youth. SCREENING AND SELECTION: SPECIAL LIMITATIONS SEC. 425. (a) No individual shall be selected as an enrollee unless there is reasonable expectation that the individual can participate successfully in group situations and activities, is not likely to engage in behavior that would prevent other enrollees from receiving the benefit of the program or be incompatible with the maintenance of sound discipline and satisfactory relationships between the center to which the individual might be assigned and surrounding communities, and unless the individual manifests a basic understanding of both the rules to which the individual will be subject and of the consequences of failure to observe those rules. (b) An individual on probation or parole may be selected only if release from the supervision of the probation or parole officials is satisfactory to those officials and the Secretary and does not violate applicable laws or regulations. No individual shall be denied a position in the Job Corps solely on the basis of that individual's contact with the criminal justice system. ENROLLMENT AND ASSIGNMENT SEC. 426. (a) No individual may be enrolled in the Job Corps for more than two years, except in any case in which completion of an advanced career program under section 428 would require an individual to participate in excess of two years, or except as the Secretary may authorize in special cases. (b) Enrollment in the Job Corps shall not relieve any individual of obligations under the Military Selective Service Act (50 U.S.C. App. 451 et seq.). (c) After the Secretary has determined that an enrollee is to be assigned to a Job Corps center, the enrollee shall be assigned to the center which is closest to the enrollee's home, except that the Secretary may waive this requirement for good cause, including to ensure an equitable opportunity for youth from various sections of the Nation to participate in the program, to prevent undue delays in assignment, to adequately meet the educational or other needs of an enrollee, and for efficiency and economy in the operation of the program. JOB CORPS CENTERS SEC. 427. (a)(1) The Secretary may make agreements with Federal, State, or local agencies, including a State board or agency designated pursuant to section 104(a)(1) of the Vocational Education Act of 1963 which operates or wishes to develop area vocational education school facilities or residential vocational schools (or both) as authorized by such Act, or private organizations for the establishment and operation of Job Corps centers. Job Corps centers may, subject to paragraph (2), be residential or nonresidential in character, or both, and shall be designed and operated so as to provide enrollees, in a well-supervised setting, with education, vocational training, work experience (either in direct program activities or through arrange PUBLIC LAW 97-300-OCT. 13, 1982 ments with employers), counseling, and other services appropriate to their needs. The centers shall include Civilian Conservation Centers, located primarily in rural areas, which shall provide, in addition to other training and assistance, programs of work experience to conserve, develop, or manage public natural resources or public recreational areas or to develop community projects in the public interest. The centers shall also include training centers located in either urban or rural areas which shall provide activities including training and other services for specific types of skilled or semiskilled employment. (2) In any year, not more than 10 percent of the individuals enrolled in the Job Corps may be nonresidential participants. (b) To the extent feasible, Job Corps centers shall offer education and vocational training opportunities, together with supportive services, on a nonresidential basis to participants in other programs under this Act. Such opportunities may be offered on a reimbursable basis or through such other arrangements as the Secretary may specify. PROGRAM ACTIVITIES 96 STAT. 1373 SEC. 428. (a) Each Job Corps center shall provide enrollees with an 29 USC 1698. intensive, well-organized, and fully supervised program of education, vocational training, work experience, planned vocational and recreational activities, physical rehabilitation and development, and counseling. To the fullest extent feasible, the required program shall include activities to assist enrollees in choosing realistic career goals, coping with problems they may encounter in home communities, or in adjusting to new communities, and planning and managing their daily affairs in a manner that will best contribute to long-term upward mobility. Center programs shall include required participation in center maintenance work to assist enrollees in increasing their sense of contribution, responsibility, and discipline. (b) The Secretary may arrange for enrollee education and vocational training through local public or private educational agencies, vocational educational institutions, or technical institutes, whenever such institutions provide training substantially equivalent in cost and quality to that which the Secretary could provide through other means. attainment. (c) To the extent feasible, arrangements for education, both at the center and at other locations, shall provide opportunities for qualified enrollees to obtain the equivalent of a certificate of graduation from high school. The Secretary, with the concurrence of the Secre- Certificates of tary of Education, shall develop certificates to be issued to each educational enrollee who satisfactorily completes service in the Job Corps and which will reflect the enrollee's level of educational attainment. (d)(1) The Secretary may arrange for programs of advanced career training for selected Corps enrollees in which they may continue to training. participate for a period not to exceed one year in addition to the period of participation to which Corps enrollees would otherwise be limited. (2) Advanced career training may be provided for in postsecondary institutions for Corps enrollees who have attained a high school diploma or its equivalent, have demonstrated commitment and capacity in their previous Job Corps participation, and have an identified occupational goal. Advanced career 96 STAT. 1374 29 USC 1699. Enrollment, termination. Readjustment allowance. PUBLIC LAW 97-300-OCT. 13, 1982 (3) The Secretary may contract with private for-profit businesses and labor unions to provide intensive training in company-sponsored training programs, combined with internships in work settings. (4) During the period of participation in advanced career training programs, Corps enrollees shall be eligible for full Job Corps benefits or a monthly stipend equal to the average value of residential support, food, allowances, and other benefits in residential Job Corps centers, except that the total amount for which an enrollee shall be eligible shall be reduced by the amount of any scholarship or other educational grant assistance received by such enrollee. (5) After an initial period of time, determined to be reasonable by the Secretary, any Job Corps center seeking to enroll new Corps enrollees in any advanced career training program shall demonstrate that such program has achieved a reasonable rate of completion and placement in training-related jobs before such new enrollments may occur. ALLOWANCES AND SUPPORT SEC. 429. (a) The Secretary shall provide enrollees with such personal, travel, and leave allowances, and such quarters, subsistence, transportation, equipment, clothing, recreational services, and other expenses as he may deem necessary or appropriate to their needs. For the fiscal year ending September 30, 1983, personal allowances shall be established at a rate not to exceed $65 per month during the first six months of an enrollee's participation in the program and not to exceed $110 per month thereafter, except that allowances in excess of $65 per month, but not exceeding $110 per month, may be provided from the beginning of an enrollee's participation if it is expected to be of less than six months' duration and the Secretary is authorized to pay personal allowances in excess of the rates specified in this subsection in unusual circumstances as determined by him. Such allowances shall be graduated up to the maximum so as to encourage continued participation in the program, achievement and the best use by the enrollee of the funds so provided and shall be subject to reduction in appropriate cases as a disciplinary measure. To the degree reasonable, enrollees shall be required to meet or contribute to costs associated with their individual comfort and enjoyment from their personal allowances. (b) The Secretary_shall prescribe rules governing the accrual of leave by enrollees. Except in the case of emergency, he shall in no event assume transportation costs connected with leave of any enrollee who has not completed at least six months' service in the Job Corps. (c) The Secretary may provide each former enrollee upon termination, a readjustment allowance at a rate not to exceed, for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1983, $110 for each month of satisfactory participation in the Job Corps. No enrollee shall be entitled to a readjustment allowance unless he has remained in the program at least 90 days, except in unusual circumstances as determined by the Secretary. The Secretary may, from time to time, advance to or on behalf of an enrollee such portions of his readjustment allowances as the Secretary deems necessary to meet extraordinary financial obligations incurred by that enrollee. The Secretary is authorized, pursuant to rules or regulations, to reduce the amount of an enroll. ee's readjustment allowance as a penalty for misconduct during PUBLIC LAW 97-300-OCT. 13, 1982 participation in the Job Corps. In the event of an enrollee's death during his period of service, the amount of any unpaid readjustment allowance shall be paid in accordance with the provisions of section 5582 of title 5, United States Code. (d) Such portion of the readjustment allowance as prescribed by the Secretary may be paid monthly during the period of service of the enrollee directly to a spouse or child of an enrollee, or to any other relative who draws substantial support from the enrollee, and any amount so paid shall be supplemented by the payment of an equal amount by the Secretary. STANDARDS OF CONDUCT SEC. 430. (a) Within Job Corps centers standards of conduct shall be provided and stringently enforced. If violations are committed by enrollees, dismissal from the Corps or transfers to other locations shall be made if it is determined that their retention in the Corps, or in the particular center, will jeopardize the enforcement of such standards or diminish the opportunities of other enrollees. (b) To promote the proper moral and disciplinary conditions in the Job Corps, the directors of Job Corps centers shall take appropriate disciplinary measures against enrollees, including dismissal from the Job Corps, subject to expeditious appeal to the Secretary. COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION 96 STAT. 1375 29 USC 1700. SEC. 431. The Secretary shall encourage and cooperate in activi- 29 USC 1701. ties to establish a mutually beneficial relationship between Job Corps centers and nearby communities. These activities shall include the establishment of community advisory councils to provide a mechanism for joint discussion of common problems and for planning programs of mutual interest. Youth shall be represented on the advisory council and separate youth councils may be established composed of enrollees and young people from the communities. The Secretary shall assure that each center is operated with a view to achieving, so far as possible, objectives which shall include (1) giving community officials appropriate advance notice of changes in center rules, procedures, or activities that may affect or be of interest to the community; (2) affording the community a meaningful voice in center affairs of direct concern to it, including policies governing the issuance and terms of passes to enrollees; (3) providing center officials with full and rapid access to relevant community groups and agencies, including law enforcement agencies and agencies which work with young people in the community; (4) encouraging the fullest practicable participation of enrollees in programs for community improvement or betterment, with appropriate advance consultation with business, labor, professional, and other interested community groups; (5) arranging recreational, athletic, or similar events in which enrollees and local residents may participate together; (6) providing community residents with opportunities to work with enrollees directly as part-time instructors, tutors, or advisers, either in the center or in the community; (7) developing, where feasible, job or career opportunities for enrollees in the community; and 96 STAT. 1376 29 USC 1702. 29 USC 1703. PUBLIC LAW 97–300—OCT. 13, 1982 (8) promoting interchanges of information and techniques among, and cooperative projects involving, the center and community schools and libraries, educational institutions, agencies serving young people and recipients of funds under this Act. COUNSELING AND JOB PLACEMENT SEC. 432. (a) The Secretary shall counsel and test each enrollee at regular intervals to measure progress in educational and vocational programs. (b) The Secretary shall counsel and test enrollees prior to their scheduled terminations to determine their capabilities and shall make every effort to place them in jobs in the vocation for which they are trained or to assist them in attaining further training or education. In placing enrollees in jobs, the Secretary shall utilize the public_employment service system to the fullest extent possible. (c) The Secretary shall determine the status and progress of enrollees scheduled for termination and make every effort to assure that their needs for further education, training, and counseling are met. (d) The Secretary shall arrange for the readjustment allowance to be paid to former enrollees (who have not already found employment) at the State employment service office nearest the home of any such former enrollee who is returning home, or at the nearest such office where the former enrollee has indicated an intent to reside. If the Secretary uses any other public agency or private organization in lieu of the public employment service system, the Secretary shall arrange for that organization or agency to pay the readjustment allowance. EXPERIMENTAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL PROJECTS AND COORDINATION SEC. 433. (a)(1) The Secretary is authorized to undertake experimental, research, or demonstration projects to develop or test ways of better using facilities, encouraging a more rapid adjustment of enrollees to community life that will permit a reduction in their period of enrollment, reducing transportation and support costs, or otherwise_promoting greater efficiency and effectiveness in the program. These projects shall include one or more projects providing youth with education, training, and other supportive services on a combined residential and nonresidential basis. (2) The Secretary is authorized to undertake one or more pilot projects designed to determine the value of Job Corps participation for young adults aged 22 to 24, inclusive. (3) The Secretary is authorized to undertake one or more pilot projects designed to involve youth who have a history of serious and violent behavior against persons or property, repetitive delinquent acts, narcotics addiction, or other behavioral aberrations. (4) Projects under this subsection shall be developed after appropriate consultation with other Federal or State agencies conducting similar or related programs or projects and with the administrative entity in the communities where the projects will be carried out. They may be undertaken jointly with other Federal or federally assisted programs, and funds otherwise available for activities under those programs shall, with the consent of the head of any agency. concerned, be available for projects under this section to the extent |