1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to education; amending eligibility 
  1.3             requirements for individuals participating in youth 
  1.4             community service; appropriating money; amending 
  1.5             Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 121.707, subdivisions 
  1.6             1, 3, and 5. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 121.707, 
  1.9   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.10     Subdivision 1.  [PARTICIPANT ELIGIBILITY.] (a) An 
  1.11  individual is eligible to participate in full-time youth 
  1.12  community service if the individual: 
  1.13     (1) is at least 17 years old; 
  1.14     (2) is a citizen of the United States or lawfully admitted 
  1.15  for permanent residency; 
  1.16     (3) is applying for service and has received a high school 
  1.17  diploma or its equivalent, or agrees to attain a high school 
  1.18  diploma or its equivalent while participating in the program; 
  1.19  and 
  1.20     (4) agrees to act as an alumni volunteer or an alumni 
  1.21  mentor upon successfully completing the program and postprogram 
  1.22  education. 
  1.23     (b) An individual is eligible to participate in part-time 
  1.24  youth community service if the individual is at least 15 years 
  1.25  old and meets the requirements under paragraph (a), clauses (2) 
  1.26  to (4). 
  2.1      (c) An individual is eligible to participate in full-time 
  2.2   or part-time youth community service known as "corps to career" 
  2.3   if the individual: 
  2.4      (1) is an unemployed high school dropout and is a parent of 
  2.5   a minor member of an assistance unit under the assistance to 
  2.6   families grants program under chapter 256J, or is a person who 
  2.7   is a member of an assistance unit under chapter 256J; 
  2.8      (2) agrees to only use the individual's postservice benefit 
  2.9   to complete a customized job training program consistent with 
  2.10  the work requirements of the assistance to families grants 
  2.11  program under chapter 256J or, if a customized job training 
  2.12  program is unavailable, agrees to use the postservice benefit 
  2.13  consistent with the requirements in subdivision 4 and the work 
  2.14  requirements of the assistance to families grants program under 
  2.15  chapter 256J; and 
  2.16     (3) during the entire time the individual completes the 
  2.17  individual's job training program, resides within an enterprise 
  2.18  zone as defined in section 469.166, a county that has had a net 
  2.19  out-migration in population from 1980 to 1990 according to the 
  2.20  1990 federal decennial census or a city of the second class that 
  2.21  the United States Department of Commerce designates as an 
  2.22  economically depressed area. 
  2.23     To be eligible under this paragraph, any individual who 
  2.24  receives assistance under clause (1) and meets the requirements 
  2.25  in clauses (2) and (3) also must meet the work requirements of 
  2.26  the assistance to families grants program under chapter 256J.  
  2.27     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 121.707, 
  2.28  subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  2.29     Subd. 3.  [POSTSERVICE BENEFIT.] (a) Each eligible 
  2.30  organization shall agree to provide to every participant who 
  2.31  fulfills the terms of a contract under section 121.707, 
  2.32  subdivision 2, a nontransferable postservice benefit.  The 
  2.33  benefit must be not less than $4,725 per year of full-time 
  2.34  service or prorated for part-time service or for partial service 
  2.35  of at least 900 hours.  For eligible individuals under section 
  2.36  121.707, subdivision 1, paragraph (c), part-time or partial 
  3.1   service of at least 900 hours shall consist of the number of 
  3.2   hours of community service the participant performs and the 
  3.3   number of hours during which the participant participates in the 
  3.4   participant's customized job training program.  Upon signing a 
  3.5   contract under section 121.707, subdivision 2, each eligible 
  3.6   organization shall deposit funds to cover the full amount of 
  3.7   postservice benefits obligated, except for national education 
  3.8   awards that are deposited in the national service trust fund.  
  3.9   Funds encumbered in fiscal years 1994 and 1995 for postservice 
  3.10  benefits shall be available until the participants for whom the 
  3.11  funds were encumbered are no longer eligible to draw benefits.  
  3.12     (b) Nothing in this subdivision prevents a grantee 
  3.13  organization from using funds from nonfederal or nonstate 
  3.14  sources to increase the value of postservice benefits above the 
  3.15  value described in paragraph (a). 
  3.16     (c) The higher education services office shall establish an 
  3.17  account for depositing funds for postservice benefits received 
  3.18  from eligible organizations.  If a participant does not complete 
  3.19  the term of service or, upon successful completion of the 
  3.20  program, does not use a postservice benefit according to 
  3.21  subdivision 4 within seven years, the amount of the postservice 
  3.22  benefit shall be refunded to the eligible organization or, at 
  3.23  the organization's discretion, dedicated to another eligible 
  3.24  participant.  Interest earned on funds deposited in the 
  3.25  postservice benefit account is appropriated to the higher 
  3.26  education services office for the costs of administering the 
  3.27  postservice benefits accounts.  
  3.28     (d) The state shall provide an additional postservice 
  3.29  benefit to any participant who successfully completes the 
  3.30  program.  The benefit must be a credit of five points to be 
  3.31  added to the competitive open rating of a participant who 
  3.32  obtains a passing grade on a civil service examination under 
  3.33  chapter 43A.  The benefit is available for five years after 
  3.34  completing the community service. 
  3.35     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 121.707, 
  3.36  subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
  4.1      Subd. 5.  [LIVING ALLOWANCE.] (a) A participant in a 
  4.2   full-time community service program shall receive a monthly 
  4.3   stipend of not less than $500.  An eligible organization may 
  4.4   provide participants with additional amounts from nonstate 
  4.5   sources.  The amount of the living allowance may be prorated for 
  4.6   part-time participants. 
  4.7      (b) Nothing in this subdivision requires an existing 
  4.8   program to decrease any stipend, salary, or living allowance 
  4.9   provided to a participant under the program. 
  4.10     (c) In addition to the living allowance provided under 
  4.11  paragraph (a), a grantee organization shall provide health and 
  4.12  child care coverage to each participant in a full-time youth 
  4.13  works program who does not otherwise have access to health or 
  4.14  child care coverage, and, for eligible individuals under section 
  4.15  121.707, subdivision 1, paragraph (c), provide health and child 
  4.16  care coverage to the dependents of each participant to the 
  4.17  extent such coverage is not otherwise available.  The state 
  4.18  shall include the cost of group health and child care coverage 
  4.19  in the grant to the eligible organization. 
  4.20     Sec. 4.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  4.21     $1,000,000 in fiscal year 1998 is appropriated from the 
  4.22  general fund to the commissioner of children, families, and 
  4.23  learning for the purpose of providing eligible individuals with 
  4.24  community service opportunities and postservice benefits under 
  4.25  Minnesota Statutes, section 121.707, subdivision 1, paragraph 
  4.26  (c).  The commissioner may allocate up to five percent of the 
  4.27  appropriation for the cost of administering the program which 
  4.28  includes providing health and child care coverage to eligible 
  4.29  individuals and their dependents under Minnesota Statutes, 
  4.30  section 121.707, subdivision 1, paragraph (c), to the extent 
  4.31  such coverage is not otherwise available.  This appropriation is 
  4.32  available until June 30, 1999.