SB3026eng 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY



 


 
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1     AN ACT concerning a youth service scholarship program.
 
2     Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
 
4     Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Youth
5 Service Scholarship Act.
 
6     Section 5. Intent. It is the intent of the General
7 Assembly to establish the Youth Service Scholarship Program to
8 accomplish all of the following goals:
9     (1) Provide this State's youth with opportunities to do all
10 of the following:
11         (A) Give back to their communities through service.
12         (B) Enhance their access to a college education.
13         (C) Develop, in "real life" situations, the skills and
14 understanding critical to their development as students,
15 workers, and community members.
16         (D) Develop a lifelong ethic of service and a richer
17 understanding of citizenship in a democratic society.
18     (2) Deter juvenile delinquency by providing this State's
19 youth with after school and intersession alternatives that
20 promote public service.
21     (3) Form a partnership between schools and community
22 organizations dedicated to building responsibility and
23 broadening higher education opportunities for this State's
24 youth.
25     (4) Mobilize youth, an often neglected resource, in service
26 that meets the critical needs of their communities by, for
27 example, tutoring preschool children in reading, assisting
28 licensed providers' care for infants and toddlers, helping with
29 after school recreational programs and nutritional programs
30 for elementary school pupils, helping the frail and elderly to
31 live independently, contributing to neighborhood cleanup and
32 housing rehabilitation projects, and assisting their peers to

 

 

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1 become involved in community service.
 
2     Section 10. Definitions. In this Act:
3     "Commission" means the Illinois Commission on Volunteerism
4 and Community Service.
5     "Program" means the Youth Service Scholarship Program.
 
6     Section 15. Establishment of Program; availability to
7 consortia.
8     (a) There is hereby established the Youth Service
9 Scholarship Program, a pilot program, to be administered by the
10 Commission. The Program shall be in effect for fiscal years
11 2005 through 2009, and the Program shall be made available to
12 consortia that are comprised of one or more school districts
13 that operate schools with grades 9 through 12 and at least 3
14 community-based organizations. The consortia shall be selected
15 for participation in the program on a competitive basis by the
16 Commission.
17     (b) A pupil may be selected by a consortium to earn a
18 scholarship while the pupil is enrolled in any of grades 9
19 through 12 in a public school located in this State that is
20 involved in the consortium. The pupil may redeem the
21 scholarship if the pupil enrolls in a private or public
22 postsecondary or vocational institution located in this State
23 by December 1 of the year the pupil graduates from high school
24 or receives a high school equivalency certificate. A student
25 may defer redeeming the scholarship for 2 years. A pupil
26 wishing to defer his or her scholarship shall notify the
27 Commission, in writing, by December 1 of the year the pupil
28 graduates from high school or receives a high school
29 equivalency certificate. A pupil may also defer redeeming the
30 scholarship for longer than 2 years if the pupil enters service
31 in AmeriCorps, another national service program, or a branch of
32 the United States Armed Services, in which case the scholarship
33 shall be redeemed upon completion of the service. The
34 Commission may grant a request to delay redemption of a

 

 

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1 scholarship beyond 2 years for other reasons on a case by case
2 basis.
3     (c) In the event that the Commission ceases to exist, the
4 Program shall be administered by the Illinois Student
5 Assistance Commission.
 
6     Section 20. Award of scholarships. Upon completion of 100
7 hours of volunteer community service, as defined by the
8 Commission pursuant to Section 35 of this Act, performed
9 between September 1 of one year and August 31 of the next year,
10 a pupil shall earn a scholarship in the amount of $500. The
11 maximum amount of a scholarship is $2,000, provided a pupil
12 performs the required amount of community service during each
13 of grades 9 through 12. A scholarship shall only be used for
14 tuition, fees, books, supplies, and living expenses. If
15 possible, an equal number of scholarships shall be awarded to
16 pupils enrolled in each of grades 9 through 12.
 
17     Section 25. Service sites.
18     (a) The community service described in Section 20 of this
19 Act shall only be performed at service sites that are approved
20 by the consortium, based on guidelines developed by the
21 Commission, pursuant to Sections 30 and 35 of this Act.
22     (b) A service site may not provide any salary or stipend to
23 the pupils performing community service in conjunction with the
24 Program.
25     (c) Any public or private not-for-profit-organization,
26 including a school, located in this State is eligible to
27 participate as a service site if the service to be provided by
28 pupils seeking to earn scholarships meets the definition of
29 community service developed by the Commission pursuant to
30 Section 35 of this Act.
31     (d) The consortia shall give priority to service sites that
32 meet the needs of low-income youth or focus on reducing
33 juvenile delinquency, or both.
34     (e) The Commission shall ensure that consortia and

 

 

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1 participating service sites comply with all applicable State
2 and federal child welfare laws.
 
3     Section 30. Selection of pupils and consortia;
4 application.
5     (a) The Commission shall develop guidelines to be used by
6 the consortia to select pupils to participate in the Program.
7 These guidelines shall give selection priority to pupils who
8 will participate in academically meaningful community service.
9     (b) The Commission shall develop guidelines for selecting
10 consortia for participation in the Program. The Commission
11 shall give priority to consortia with a participating school
12 district that serves a high percentage of students qualifying
13 for a free lunch under the federal Child Nutrition Act of 1966.
14     (c) The Commission shall attempt to include an equal
15 distribution of consortia serving urban, rural, and suburban
16 communities.
17     (d) The Commission shall develop an application form and
18 instructions for completion of the form to be used by consortia
19 when applying for participation in the program. The Commission
20 shall notify all eligible school districts about the Program
21 and shall include a copy of the application form and
22 instructions with the notice.
 
23     Section 35. Community service defined. The Commission, in
24 consultation with the State Board of Education, shall define
25 eligible community service based on the definitions of
26 community service used in the federal work-study program and
27 the National and Community Service Act of 1990, as amended by
28 the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993.
 
29     Section 40. Administrative costs. Administrative costs
30 under this Act shall not exceed actual costs up to a maximum of
31 10% in fiscal year 2005 and 6% thereafter. The Commission shall
32 reimburse a participating school district within a consortium
33 for administrative costs incurred in administering the

 

 

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1 Program, in an amount that does not exceed 5% of the amount of
2 each scholarship administered by that school district.
 
3     Section 45. Study. By July 1, 2008 the Commission shall
4 submit to the General Assembly a study of the efficacy of the
5 Program. The study shall include, but is not limited to, all of
6 the following:
7         (1) The demand for scholarships by grade level.
8         (2) The demand for pupil participants by service sites.
9         (3) General background data on participating pupils
10 and consortia.
11         (4) Types of service performed by participating
12 pupils.
13         (5) An itemization of costs for administering the
14 Program.
 
15     Section 50. Appropriation of funds. This Act shall be
16 implemented only to the extent that funds for that purpose are
17 appropriated.
 
18     Section 990. Repealer. This Act is repealed on January 1,
19 2010.
 
20     Section 999. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
21 becoming law.