[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6120 Introduced in House (IH)]
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115th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6120
To establish a competitive grant program for parent engagement that
would focus on the development, implementation, and evaluation of
programs designed to increase capacity of parents to demonstrate and
teach children social and emotional skills and of teachers to work with
parents to develop these skills.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 14, 2018
Mr. Ryan of Ohio introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on Education and the Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a competitive grant program for parent engagement that
would focus on the development, implementation, and evaluation of
programs designed to increase capacity of parents to demonstrate and
teach children social and emotional skills and of teachers to work with
parents to develop these skills.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Social and Emotional Learning for
Families Act'' or the ``SELF Act''.
SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--From amounts appropriated to carry out this Act,
the Secretary of Education shall award grants, on a competitive basis,
to eligible entities to develop, implement and evaluate formal and
informal parent education programs in partnership with the entities
described in subsection (c)(3). The programs should be designed with
objectives to--
(1) provide instruction to parents on social and emotional
skills;
(2) provide instruction to parents on effective strategies
for teaching and reinforcing these same skills to their
children; and
(3) provide training to teachers or school staff to support
parent efforts to teach and reinforce children's social and
emotional skills at home.
(b) Maximum Grant Amount.--The total amount of a grant awarded
under this Act may not exceed $1,200,000.
(c) Uses of Funds.--
(1) In general.--An eligible entity receiving a grant under
this subpart shall use such funds to carry out a program at
elementary schools and secondary schools served that--
(A) involves instruction of social and emotional
skills based on research-based and locally-relevant
instructional materials for teachers and parents;
(B) provides professional development for pre-
service and in-service teachers and other professional
educators to engage parents and teach them social and
emotional learning skills;
(C) provides direct instruction on social and
emotional learning to parents at hours when parents are
available and in places that are convenient and easily
accessible;
(D) incorporates evidence-based practices to
increase diversity of families participating in the
program;
(E) encourages participation of parents from the
school, partner agencies, or community organizations
working with families to mentor the parents
participating in the program; and
(F) is designed to result in improved measurable
child outcomes, including positive social behavior and
academic outcomes.
(2) State educational agencies.--In the case of an eligible
entity that is a State educational agency, such entity shall
award subgrants, on a competitive basis, to local educational
agencies to carry out the program described in paragraph (1).
(3) Public-private partnerships.--Each eligible entity
awarded a grant under this Act and each local educational
agency awarded a subgrant under this Act shall be encouraged to
carry out the program funded under the grant in partnership
with one or more of the following:
(A) Elementary schools or secondary schools.
(B) Institutions of higher education.
(C) Nonprofit organizations.
(D) Community-based organizations.
(E) Public or private entities with demonstrated
record of success in delivering educational support.
(d) Applications.--An application for a grant under this Act
submitted by an eligible entity shall demonstrate long-term commitment
for the proposed program through--
(1) providing laboratory and instructional space;
(2) commitment to scaling successful programs for parent
education and involvement in social and emotional learning in
elementary schools and secondary schools under the jurisdiction
of the eligible entity; and
(3) commitment to serving diverse groups such as
underrepresented or economically disadvantaged families.
(e) Annual Report to Congress.--Not later than 1 year after the
first grant is awarded under this Act, and annually thereafter, the
Secretary shall submit to Congress and make publicly available, a
report on activities and results under this Act. Such reports shall
describe--
(1) the total number of grant applications received for the
preceding each year;
(2) the number and geographic distribution of the grants
for such year and for all grants awarded under this Act;
(3) participation of minority-serving institutions of
higher education, such as historically Black colleges and
universities and Hispanic-serving institutions;
(4) participation of underrepresented and economically
disadvantaged families;
(5) plans for collaboration among eligible entities
receiving a grant under this Act;
(6) overall program outcomes and issues of concern; and
(7) recommendations for program revisions to achieve the
desired program outcome.
(f) Definitions.--
(1) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means--
(A) an institution of higher education;
(B) a State educational agency;
(C) a local educational agency, in the case in
which the local educational agency is not receiving a
subgrant under this Act for the fiscal year for which
the agency is applying for a grant under this Act; or
(D) a consortium of any of the entities described
in subparagraphs (A) through (C).
(2) ESEA terms.--The terms ``elementary school'',
``evidence-based'', ``local educational agency'', ``parent'',
``professional development'', ``secondary school'', and ``State
educational agency'' have the meanings given the terms in
section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
(3) Hispanic-serving institution.--The term Hispanic-
serving institution has the meaning given the term in section
502 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1101(a)).
(4) Historically black college or university.--The
``Historically Black college or university'' has the meaning
given the term ``part B institution'' in section 322 of the
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061).
(5) Institution of higher education.--The term
``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given the
term in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 1001(a)).
(6) Instruction.--The term ``instruction'' means activities
that--
(A) emphasize communication of knowledge
concerning--
(i) parenting fundamentals; and
(ii) social and emotional skills in adults
and children;
(B) provide opportunities to practice parenting
fundamentals and social and emotional skills through
interactive activities between parents and their
children; and
(C) are aligned with and integrated into parent
involvement and engagement standards that may exist in
the applicable State or that may be developed.
(7) Minority-serving institution.--The term ``minority-
serving institution'' means an institution of higher education
described in section 371(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965
(20 U.S.C. 1067q).
(8) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Education.
(9) Social and emotional skills.--The term ``social and
emotional skills'' includes--
(A) self-awareness, or having a realistic
perception of one's own values, interests, and
strengths, and being able to recognize one's own
emotions;
(B) self-management, or how well one manages
emotions, impulses, and stress, and is able to
establish and achieve goals and exercise self-
discipline;
(C) social awareness, or the ability to take the
perspective of and empathize with someone else and to
appreciate and respect diversity;
(D) relationship skills, or the ability to
participate in healthy, cooperative, and caring
relationships, and effectively resolve conflicts; and
(E) responsible decisionmaking, or the ability to
recognize and generate good choices, evaluate the
likely consequences of actions, and take responsibility
for one's decisions.
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