Families Learning and Understanding English Together Act of 2023 or the FLUENT Act
This bill authorizes the Department of Education (ED) to establish a grant program to improve the literacy and English skills of English language learners.
Specifically, ED may award grants to providers of family literacy services to provide these services to families with English language learners. These services may only be provided to a family in which each caregiver is 16 years of age or older and at least one child is under the age of 8.
Further, ED must make grants to or enter into contracts with at least two national organizations with expertise in providing family literacy services to English language learners. These national organizations must provide grantees with technical assistance and training.
[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3606 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3606
To improve the English language and literacy skills of English language
learners and their families, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 23, 2023
Mr. Grijalva (for himself, Mr. Espaillat, Ms. Crockett, and Mr. Bowman)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Education and the Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To improve the English language and literacy skills of English language
learners and their families, and for other purposes.
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 ``Families Learning and Understanding
English Together Act of 2023'' or the ``FLUENT Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The Census Bureau's American Community Survey of 2021
estimated 21.6 percent of United States households speak a
language other than English at home.
(2) In many recently immigrated families, caregivers speak
little to no English, can possess low literacy skills in their
primary language due to limited or interrupted education, and
frequently struggle to assist their children's English and
primary language and literacy development.
(3) The United States is a Nation of immigrants, and even
today, according to the Census Bureau's American Community
Survey of 2021, more than 45,270,103 individuals who live in
the United States were born outside the country.
SEC. 3. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to improve the educational, social, and
economic advancement of families with English language learners who
have unmet literacy needs by expanding and enhancing family literacy
activities and services for such families.
SEC. 4. COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAM.
(a) Program Authorized.--From funds made available pursuant to
section 9, and after reserving funds under section 9(b), the Secretary
may award grants to family literacy providers to provide, directly or
through a contract with another provider, family literacy services
designed for English language learners and their families. Each grant
under this Act shall be for a period of 1 year and may be renewed for a
total of 5 additional years.
(b) Application.--Family literacy providers who desire to receive a
grant under this Act shall submit an application at such time,
containing such information, and in such manner as the Secretary may
require. Such application shall include the following:
(1) An assurance that services provided with funds under
this Act shall be provided to the hardest-to-reach populations,
prioritizing English language learner populations with the
greatest economic, educational, and social need.
(2) A description of the services that will be provided
with funds under this Act, including the manner in which the
services will be research-based literacy instruction for
children who are English learners and caregivers who are
English language learners.
(3) A description of the outcome measures, consistent with
section 6, that are based on research and will be employed by
the family literacy provider to measure the effectiveness of
services provided with funds under this Act.
(4) An assurance that, in providing family literacy
services through the grant, the family literacy provider will
collaborate with one or more of the following:
(A) A State or Tribal local educational agency.
(B) A public elementary school.
(C) A public secondary school.
(D) A nonprofit entity (such as a community-based
organization, library, community college, or early
childhood provider).
(5) A requirement that any preservice educators or
paraprofessionals who facilitate family or adult literacy
activities be trained and under the direct supervision of a
highly qualified family literacy provider trained in research-
based methods of early language and literacy promotion.
(c) Grant Amount.--The amount of a grant under this Act for a
fiscal year shall not be less than $150,000 or more than $1,000,000.
(d) Services Requirements.--Family literacy services under this Act
shall be provided in sufficient intensity in terms of hours, and shall
be of sufficient duration, to make sustainable changes in a family and
shall integrate all of the following activities:
(1) Interactive literacy activities between caregivers and
their children that includes online and digital learning
resources.
(2) Education that helps caregivers learn how to advocate
for their children and support their children's primary and
English language and literacy development and educational
success.
(3) Adult literacy education which includes digital and
systems literacy that improves conceptual knowledge and
reasoning skills.
(4) An age-appropriate education plan, developed in
partnership with caregivers, to prepare children for success in
school, career, and civic life.
(e) Special Rule.--Family literacy services under this Act may be
provided to a family only if--
(1) each caregiver in the family has attained 16 years of
age; and
(2) the family has at least one child who has not yet
attained 8 years of age.
SEC. 5. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND TRAINING.
(a) Activities by Secretary.--The Secretary, acting through the
Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education, shall,
through grants or contracts as described in subsection (b), provide
technical assistance and training to family literacy providers
receiving a grant under section 4 for the purposes described in
subsection (c).
(b) Activities by National Organizations.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary shall make grants to, or
enter into contracts with, at least 2 eligible national
organizations to provide technical assistance and training to
family literacy providers receiving a grant under section 4 for
the purposes described in subsection (c).
(2) Definition.--In this section, the term ``eligible
national organization'' means a national organization with
expertise in providing family literacy services to English
language learner populations.
(c) Purposes.--The purposes of technical assistance and training
provided under this section are the following:
(1) Assisting family literacy providers receiving a grant
under section 4 to improve the quality of their family literacy
services.
(2) Enabling such family literacy providers that
demonstrate the effective provision of family literacy
services, based on improved outcomes for children and their
caregivers, to provide technical assistance and training to
government agencies and to family literacy providers that work
in collaboration with such agencies to improve the quality of
their family literacy services.
(3) Assisting such providers in the implementation of
literacy curriculum and training activities, including
curriculum and training activities that support building on a
child's primary language.
(d) Reports to Congress.--Not later than 90 days after the end of
each fiscal year, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on
Education and the Workforce of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate a
report on the technical assistance and training provided pursuant to
subsections (a) and (b). Each such report shall describe the actions
taken by the Secretary to ensure that such technical assistance and
training is of high quality and is responsive to the needs of grantees
under this Act.
SEC. 6. OUTCOME MEASURES.
The Secretary shall require each family literacy provider receiving
a grant under this Act to meet culturally appropriate and competent
outcome measures described in the provider's application under section
4, including outcome measures with respect to--
(1) acquisition of the English language, including
improvement in academic achievement and academic language
fluency and comprehension;
(2) literacy skills and building of the primary language;
(3) improved caregiving and life skills, such as
communication and problem-solving skills;
(4) the improved ability of caregivers who are English
language learners to effectively communicate and partner with
school personnel at the preschool, elementary, or secondary
school their children attend;
(5) improvement in the developmental skills and ability of
the children to direct, regulate, and assess their own
learning;
(6) increased caregiver participation in their children's
education, interactive literacy activities, and home
environments to support children's learning and growth; and
(7) improved general, cross-cutting abilities such as
applied academic skills, critical thinking skills,
interpersonal skills, communication skills, personal qualities,
and skills in resource management, information use, systems
thinking, and technology use.
SEC. 7. EVALUATION.
The Secretary shall conduct an annual evaluation of the grant
program under this Act. Such evaluation shall be used by the
Secretary--
(1) for program improvement;
(2) to further define the program's goals and objectives;
and
(3) to determine program effectiveness.
SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act:
(1) Adult education provider.--The term ``adult education
provider'' has the meaning given the term ``eligible provider''
in section 203 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act
(29 U.S.C. 3272).
(2) Application of esea terms.--The terms ``elementary
school'', ``English learner'', ``local educational agency'',
and ``secondary school'' have the meanings given such terms in
section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
(3) English language learner; family literacy activities.--
The terms ``English language learner'' and ``family literacy
activities'' have the meanings given the terms in section 203
of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C.
3272).
(4) Family literacy provider.--The term ``family literacy
provider'' means an entity that--
(A) except in a case in which the Secretary waives
the requirement of this subparagraph with respect to an
entity, is located in a geographic area containing at
least one public elementary school or secondary school
with either a majority enrollment or recent increase in
enrollment of children who have been identified as
English learners; and
(B) is one of the following:
(i) A grantee under the Head Start Act (42
U.S.C. 9831 et seq.), or any other Federal or
State early childhood program.
(ii) An adult education provider.
(iii) A local educational agency.
(iv) A public or private nonprofit agency.
(v) Another entity that has the
demonstrated ability to provide family literacy
services to English language learning adults
and families.
(5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Education.
SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
(a) In General.--There is authorized to be appropriated to carry
out this Act $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028.
(b) Reservations.--From funds made available pursuant to subsection
(a) for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall reserve--
(1) not more than 2 percent of such funds for conducting
the annual evaluation required by section 7; and
(2) $5,000,000 for technical assistance and training under
section 5.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line