In this section, the term "incarcerated individual" means a male or female offender who is—
(1) 35 years of age or younger; and
(2) incarcerated in a State prison, including a prerelease facility.
The Secretary of Education (in this section referred to as the "Secretary")—
(1) shall establish a program in accordance with this section to provide grants to the State correctional education agencies in the States to assist and encourage incarcerated individuals who have obtained a secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent to acquire educational and job skills through—
(A) coursework to prepare such individuals to pursue a postsecondary education certificate, an associate's degree, or bachelor's degree while in prison;
(B) the pursuit of a postsecondary education certificate, an associate's degree, or bachelor's degree while in prison; and
(C) employment counseling and other related services, which start during incarceration and end not later than two years after release from incarceration; and
(2) may establish such performance objectives and reporting requirements for State correctional education agencies receiving grants under this section as the Secretary determines are necessary to assess the effectiveness of the program under this section.
To be eligible for a grant under this section, a State correctional education agency shall submit to the Secretary a proposal for an incarcerated individual program that—
(1) identifies the scope of the problem, including the number of incarcerated individuals in need of postsecondary education and career and technical training;
(2) lists the accredited public or private educational institution or institutions that will provide postsecondary educational services;
(3) lists the cooperating agencies, public and private, or businesses that will provide related services, such as counseling in the areas of career development, substance abuse, health, and parenting skills;
(4) describes specific performance objectives and evaluation methods (in addition to, and consistent with, any objectives established by the Secretary under subsection (b)(2)) that the State correctional education agency will use in carrying out its proposal, including—
(A) specific and quantified student outcome measures that are referenced to outcomes for non-program participants with similar demographic characteristics; and
(B) measures, consistent with the data elements and definitions described in subsection (d)(1)(A), of—
(i) program completion, including an explicit definition of what constitutes a program completion within the proposal;
(ii) knowledge and skill attainment, including specification of instruments that will measure knowledge and skill attainment;
(iii) attainment of employment both prior to and subsequent to release;
(iv) success in employment indicated by job retention and advancement; and
(v) recidivism, including such subindicators as time before subsequent offense and severity of offense;
(5) describes how the proposed program is to be integrated with existing State correctional education programs (such as adult education, graduate education degree programs, and career and technical training) and State industry programs;
(6) describes how the proposed program will—
(A) deliver services under this section; and
(B) utilize technology to deliver such services; and
(7) describes how incarcerated individuals will be selected so that only those eligible under subsection (e) will be enrolled in postsecondary programs.
Each State correctional education agency receiving a grant under this section shall—
(1) annually report to the Secretary regarding—
(A) the results of the evaluations conducted using data elements and definitions provided by the Secretary for the use of State correctional education programs;
(B) any objectives or requirements established by the Secretary pursuant to subsection (b)(2);
(C) the additional performance objectives and evaluation methods contained in the proposal described in subsection (c)(4) as necessary to document the attainment of project performance objectives;
(D) how the funds provided under this section are being allocated among postsecondary preparatory education, postsecondary academic programs, and career and technical education programs; and
(E) the service delivery methods being used for each course offering; and
(2) provide for each student eligible under subsection (e) not more than—
(A) $3,000 annually for tuition, books, and essential materials; and
(B) $300 annually for related services such as career development, substance abuse counseling, parenting skills training, and health education.
An incarcerated individual who has obtained a secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent shall be eligible for participation in a program receiving a grant under this section if such individual—
(1) is eligible to be released within seven years (including an incarcerated individual who is eligible for parole within such time);
(2) is 35 years of age or younger; and
(3) has not been convicted of—
(A) a "criminal offense against a victim who is a minor" or a "sexually violent offense", as such terms are defined in the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act (42 U.S.C. 14071 et seq.); 1 or
(B) murder, as described in section 1111 of title 18.
A State correctional education agency receiving a grant under this section shall provide educational and related services to each participating incarcerated individual for a period not to exceed seven years, not more than two years of which may be devoted to study in a graduate education degree program or to coursework to prepare such individuals to take college level courses. Educational and related services shall start during the period of incarceration in prison or prerelease, and the related services may continue for not more than two years after release from confinement.
State correctional education agencies and cooperating institutions shall, to the extent practicable, use high-tech applications in developing programs to meet the requirements and goals of this section.
From the funds appropriated pursuant to subsection (i) for fiscal year 2009, the Secretary shall allot to each State an amount that bears the same relationship to such funds as the total number of incarcerated individuals described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (e) in the State bears to the total number of such individuals in all States.
From the funds appropriated pursuant to subsection (i) for each fiscal year after fiscal year 2009, the Secretary shall allot to each State an amount that bears the same relationship to such funds as the total number of students eligible under subsection (e) in such State bears to the total number of such students in all States.
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 2009 through 2014.
(Pub. L. 105–244, title VIII, §821, Oct. 7, 1998, 112 Stat. 1813; Pub. L. 110–315, title IX, §932, Aug. 14, 2008, 122 Stat. 3456; Pub. L. 111–39, title VIII, §802(a)(1), July 1, 2009, 123 Stat. 1956.)
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Last modified: October 26, 2015