42 USC 2809 Page 40 title, the Director shall reserve and make available not less than $25,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1968, and not less than $50,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1969, for the purpose of carrying out this paragraph. (7) A "Family Planning" program to provide assistance and services to low-income persons in the field of voluntary family planning, including the provision of information, medical assistance, and supplies. The Director and the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare shall coordinate, and assure a full exchange of information concerning, family planning projects within their respectiye jurisdictions in order to assure the maximum availability of services and in order best to meet the varying needs of different communities. The Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare shall make the services of Public Health Service officers available to the Director in carrying out this program. (8) A program to be known as "Senior Opportunities and Services" designed to identify and meet the needs of older, poor persons above the age of 60 in one or more of the following areas: development and provision of new employment and volunteer services; effective referral to existing health, welfare, employment, housing, legal, consumer, transportation, education, and recreational and other services; stimulation and creation of additional services and programs to remedy gaps and deficiencies in presently existing services and programs; modification of existing procedures, eligibility requirements and program structures to facilitate the greater use of, and participation in, public services by the older poor; development of all-season recreation and service centers controlled by older persons themselves, and such other activities and services as the Director may determine are necessary or specially appropriate to meet the needs of the older poor and to assure them greater selfsufficiency. In administering this program the Director shall utilize to the maximum extent feasible the services of the Administration of Aging in accordance with agreements with the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. (b) Consistent with, and subject to, the provisions of sections 230 and 232 (a), (b), and (c), programs under this section may include related training, research, and technical assistance, and funds allocated for this purpose may be allotted and used in the manner otherwise provided under this title with respect to training, research, and technical assistance activities. RESIDENT EMPLOYMENT SEC. 223. In the conduct of all component programs under this part, residents of the area and members of the groups served 42 USC shall be provided maximum employment opportunity, including opportunity for further occupational training and career advancement. The Director shall encourage the employment of persons 2810 Page 41 fifty-five years and older as regular, part-time and short-term staff in component programs. NEIGHBORHOOD CENTERS 2811 SEC. 224. The Director shall encourage the development of neighborhood centers, designed to promote the effectiveness of needed services in such fields as health, education, manpower, consumer protection, child and economic development, housing, 42 USC legal, recreation, and social services, and so organized (through a corporate or other appropriate framework) as to promote maximum participation of neighborhood residents in center planning, policymaking, administration, and operation. In addition to providing such services as may not otherwise be conveniently or readily available, such centers shall be responsive to such neighborhood needs, such as counseling, referral, follow-through, and community development activities, as may be necessary or appropriate to best assure a system under which existing programs are extended to the most disadvantaged, are linked to one another, are responsive and relevant to the range of community, family, and individual problems and are fully adapted to neighborhood needs and conditions. ALLOTMENT OF FUNDS; LIMITATIONS ON ASSISTANCE 2812 SEC. 225. (a) Of the sums which are appropriated or allocated for assistance in the development and implementation of community action programs pursuant to section 221, and for special program projects referred to in section 222(a), and which are not subject to any other provision governing allotment or distribution, the Director shall allot not more than 2 per centum among Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Trust Territory 42 USC of the Pacific Islands, and the Virgin Islands, according to their respective needs. He shall also reserve not more than 20 per centum of those sums for allotment in accordance with such criteria and procedures as he may prescribe. The remainder shall be allotted among the States, in accordance with the latest available data, so that equal proportions are distributed on the basis of (1) the relative number of public assistance recipients in each State as compared to all States, (2) the average number of unemployed persons in each State as compared to all States, and (3) the relative number of related children living with families with income of less than $1,000 in each State as compared to all States. That part of any State's allotment which the Director determines will not be needed may be reallotted, at such dates during the fiscal year as the Director may fix, in proportion to the original allotments, but with appropriate adjustments to assure that any amount so made available to any State in excess of its needs is similarly reallotted among the other States. (b) The Director may provide for the separate allotment of funds for any special program referred to in section 222(a). This allotment may be made in accordance with the criteria prescribed in subsection (a), or it may be made in accordance with 291-704 O-68-6 Page 42 other criteria which he determines will assure an equitable distribution of funds reflecting the relative incidence in each State of the needs or problems at which the program is directed, except that in no event may more than 1212 per centum of the funds for any one program be used in any one State. (c) Unless otherwise provided in this part, financial assistance extended to a community action agency or other agency pursuant to sections 221 and 222(a), for the period ending June 30, 1967, shall not exceed 90 per centum of the approved cost of the assisted programs or activities, and thereafter shall not exceed 80 per centum of such costs. The Director may, however, approve assistance in excess of such percentages if he determines, in accordance with regulations establishing objective criteria, that 42 USC such action is required in furtherance of the purposes of this 2812 title, Non-Federal contributions may be in cash or in kind, fairly evaluated, including but not limited to plant, equipment, or services. If in any fiscal year, a community provides non-Federal contributions under this title exceeding its requirements under this section, such excess may be used to meet its requirements for such contributions under section 131. (d) No program shall be approved for assistance under sections 221 and 222 (a) unless the Director satisfies himself (1) that the services to be provided under such program will be in addition to, and not in substitution for, services previously provided without Federal assistance, and (2) that funds or other resources devoted to programs designed to meet the needs of the poor within the community will not be diminished in order to provide any contributions required under subsection (c). The requirement imposed by the preceding sentence shall be subject to such regulations as the Director may adopt and promulgate establishing objective criteria for determinations covering situations where a strict application of that requirement would result in unnecessary hardship or otherwise be inconsistent with the purposes sought to be achieved. PART C SUPPLEMENTAL PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING SEC. 230. The Director may provide, directly or through grants or other arrangements, (1) technical assistance to communities in developing, conducting, and administering programs under this title, and (2) training for specialized or other personnel which is needed in connection with those programs or which 42 USC otherwise pertains to the purposes of this title. Upon request of an agency receiving financial assistance under this title, the Director may make special assignments of personnel to the agency to assist and advise it in the performance of functions related to the assisted activity; but no such special assignment shall be for a period of more than two years in the case of any 2823 agency. STATE AGENCY ASSISTANCE Page 43 SEC. 231. (a) The Director may provide financial assistance to State agencies designated in accordance with State law, to enable those agencies— (1) to provide technical assistance to communities and local agencies in developing and carrying out programs under this title; (2) to assist in coordinating State activities related to this title; (3) to advise and assist the Director in developing procedures and programs to promote the participation of States and State agencies in programs under this title; and (4) to advise and assist the Director, the Economic Opportunity Council established by section 631 of the Act, and the heads of other Federal agencies, in identifying problems posed by Federal statutory or administrative requirements that operate to impede State level coordination of programs related to this title, and in developing methods or recommendations for overcoming those problems. (b) In any grants or contracts with State agencies, the Director shall give preference to programs or activities which are administered or coordinated by the agencies designated pursuant to subsection (a), or which have been developed and will be carried on with the assistance of those agencies. (c) In order to promote coordination in the use of funds under this Act and funds provided or granted by State agencies, the Director may enter into agreements with States or State agencies pursuant to which they will act as agents of the United States for purposes of providing financial assistance to community action agencies or other local agencies in connection with specific projects or programs involving the common or joint use of State funds and funds under this title. RESEARCH AND PILOT PROGRAMS 42 USC 2824 2825 SEC. 232. (a) The Director may contract or provide financial assistance for pilot or demonstration projects conducted by public or private agencies which are designed to test or assist in the 42 USC development of new approaches or methods that will aid in overcoming special problems or otherwise in furthering the purposes of this title. He may also contract or provide financial assistance for research pertaining to the purposes of this title. (b) The Director shall establish an overall plan to govern the approval of pilot or demonstration projects and the use of all research authority under this title. The plan shall set forth specific objectives to be achieved and priorities among such objectives. In formulating the plan, the Director shall consult with other Federal agencies for the purpose of minimizing duplication among similar activities or projects and determining whether the findings resulting from any research or pilot projects may be incorporated into one or more programs for which those 2825 Page 44 agencies are responsible. As part of the annual report required by section 608, or in a separate annual report, the Director shall submit a description for each fiscal year of the current plan required by this section, of activities subject to the plan, and of the findings derived from those activities, together with a statement indicating the time and, to the extent feasible, the manner in which the benefits of those activities and findings are expected to be realized. (c) Not more than 15 per centum of the sums appropriated or allocated in any fiscal year for this title shall be used for the purposes of this section. One-third of the sums so appropriated 1 or allocated shall be available only for projects authorized under subsection (f) of this section. (d) No pilot or demonstration project under this section shall be commenced in any city, county, or other major political subdivision, unless a plan setting forth such proposed pilot or demonstration project has been submitted to the appropriate community 42 USC action agency, or, if there is no such agency, to the local governing officials of the political subdivision, and such plan has not been disapproved by the community action agency or governing body, as the case may be, within thirty days of such submission, or, if so disapproved, has been reconsidered by the Director and found by him to be fully consistent with the provisions and in furtherance of the purposes of this title. 2826 (e) The Director shall develop and carry out pilot projects which (1) aid elderly persons to achieve greater self-sufficiency, (2) focus upon the problems of rural poverty, (3) are designed to develop new techniques and community-based efforts to prevent narcotics addiction or to rehabilitate narcotic addicts, or (4) are designed to encourage the participation of private organizations, other than nonprofit organizations, in programs under this title. (f) The Director shall conduct, either directly or through grants or other arrangements, research and pilot projects designed to assure a more effective use of human and natural resources of rural America and to slow the migration from rural areas due to lack of economic opportunity, thereby reducing population pressures in urban centers. Such projects may be operated jointly or in cooperation with other federally assisted programs, particularly programs authorized under the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965, in the area to be served by the project. EVALUATION SEC. 233. (a) The Director shall provide for the continuing 42 USC evaluation of programs under this title, including their effectiveness in achieving stated goals, their impact on related programs, and their structure and mechanisms for the delivery of services and including, where appropriate, comparisons with proper con 1 The mandatory funding level provided for in this sentence was made inoperative during the fiscal year 1968 by the Supplemental Appropriation Act, 1968, Public Law 90-239, January 2, 1968, 81 Stat. 774. |