HOUSE BILL No. 4671 May 13, 1999, Introduced by Reps. LaForge, Jacobs, Brater, Bogardus, Kelly, Bovin and Brewer and referred to the Committee on Family and Civil Law. A bill to create community conservation corps in certain communities; to provide for the approval of certain entities for participation in the community conservation corps; to identify funding sources; to provide for standards of operation; to pro- vide certain remedies and sanctions under certain circumstances; and to provide for oversight by certain state departments and agencies. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT: 1 Sec. 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the 2 "community conservation corps act". 3 Sec. 3. As used in this act: 4 (a) "Community service advisory committee" means the commit- 5 tee formed under this act that makes recommendations for a 6 demonstration project and consists of a member of the department 7 of career development and family independence agency as ex 00641'99 LTB 2 1 officio members, a member of the house of representatives, a 2 member of the senate, and 3 at-large members chosen by the gover- 3 nor, the house of representatives, and the senate. The house of 4 representatives member and at-large member chosen by the house of 5 representatives shall be chosen by the speaker of the house and 6 the senate member and at-large member chosen by the senate shall 7 be chosen by the majority leader of the senate. 8 (b) "Demonstration project" means an operational plan 9 designed to provide assistance to low-income neighborhoods and to 10 fulfill a recipient's employment obligation pursuant to a social 11 contract that is submitted by a community action agency, consor- 12 tium, or other approved entity through employment by a nonprofit 13 corporation in each of the following geographical areas: 14 (i) A county with more than 500,000 population. 15 (ii) A county with at least 100,000 but not more than 16 500,000 population. 17 (iii) A county with less than 100,000 population. 18 (c) "Neighborhood assistance activities" means activities 19 designed to assist low-income neighborhoods in ways not currently 20 available or affordable including, but not limited to, the 21 following: 22 (i) Neighborhood watch assistance. 23 (ii) Lawn and garden care for certain senior citizens. 24 (iii) Transportation and grocery shopping for certain senior 25 citizens. 26 (iv) Snow removal. 00641'99 3 1 (v) Certain home improvement projects. 2 (vi) Supervision of certain after-school activities for 3 adolescents. 4 (d) "Recipient" means that term as defined in section 57 of 5 the social welfare act, 1939 PA 280, MCL 400.57. 6 (e) "Social contract" means that term as defined in section 7 57 of the social welfare act, 1939 PA 280, MCL 400.57. 8 Sec. 5. (1) The community conservation corps is a program- 9 matic network of demonstration projects established under this 10 act whose operational plans are selected by the department of 11 career development to provide neighborhood assistance activities 12 and employment to recipients in fulfillment of their social 13 contract. 14 (2) The purpose of the community conservation corps is to 15 establish and coordinate neighborhood assistance activities 16 offered by approved entities through employment of qualified 17 individuals by a nonprofit corporation described in an oper- 18 ational plan approved as a demonstration project. 19 Sec. 7. A community action agency or local consortium with 20 a community action agency as its member shall be designated as an 21 approved entity under this act for participation in the community 22 conservation corps. If a community action agency does not oper- 23 ate in a particular area, a local consortium with a county board 24 of commissioners as its member is designated as an approved 25 entity for the purposes described in this act for participation 26 in the community conservation corps. 00641'99 4 1 Sec. 9. (1) Upon the filing of a completed application for 2 designation as a demonstration project by a community action 3 agency or consortium, the department of career development shall 4 submit the application to the community service advisory commit- 5 tee for review. Upon receiving recommendations for designation 6 of demonstration projects from the community service advisory 7 committee, the department of career development shall determine 8 which applications shall be approved as demonstration projects. 9 (2) An application submitted by an approved entity shall 10 provide information regarding the following: 11 (a) The geographical area within which the community action 12 agency operates. 13 (b) The specific needs to be addressed within the community 14 action agency's geographical area as supported by statistical or 15 other information acceptable to the department of career 16 development. 17 (c) A detailed operational plan that describes the specific 18 activities available through the community action agency that 19 meet specific community or neighborhood needs and identifies the 20 long-term benefits to the community or neighborhood that will 21 result from those activities. 22 (d) A detailed record-keeping system, acceptable to the 23 department of career development, designed to monitor recipient 24 compliance with required neighborhood assistance activities. 25 (e) Written evidence of 1 or more acceptable funding sources 26 for operation of the demonstration project. The receipt of a 27 grant or appropriation in a fiscal year establishes a presumption 00641'99 5 1 that the demonstration project will continue to be granted 2 funding from the same or a successor source. 3 (3) A community action agency or consortium seeking approval 4 of its application shall describe the proposed funding source. 5 An acceptable funding source includes, but is not limited to, 6 money obtained from local, state, or federal sources through 7 grants or appropriations. 8 (4) A community action agency or consortium submitting an 9 application shall describe specific activities to be offered to 10 neighborhoods and shall describe how those specific activities 11 address community needs. 12 (5) Services provided to neighborhoods shall not replace 13 services that are currently available and affordable. 14 Sec. 11. After appropriate notice and opportunity for a 15 hearing, the department of career development may rescind the 16 approval of a demonstration project for failure to comply with 17 this act, failure to substantially comply with an operational 18 plan, or failure to substantially comply with monitoring, report- 19 ing, or other requirements imposed by state and federal law. 20 Sec. 13. This act does not take effect unless Senate Bill 21 No. _____ or House Bill No. _____ (request no. 02017'99) of the 22 90th Legislature is enacted into law. 00641'99 Final page. LTB