HOUSE BILL No. 4981 June 26, 1997, Introduced by Reps. LaForge, Scott, Baird, Martinez, Wallace, Thomas, Schauer, Bogardus, Harder, Hale, Price, Hanley, Kilpatrick, Voorhees, DeHart, Jaye, Birkholz, Varga, Brater, Wetters, Godchaux, Stallworth, Richner and Schroer and referred to the Committee on Human Services and Children. 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) "Family independence agency" means the family indepen- 5 dence agency established pursuant to the social welfare act, 1939 6 PA 280, MCL 400.1 to 400.119b. 03130'97 LBO 2 1 (b) "Community service activities" means those activities 2 that may be required of a recipient pursuant to a social 3 contract. 4 (c) "Recipient" means that term as defined in section 57 of 5 the social welfare act, 1939 PA 280, MCL 400.57. 6 (d) "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 community action agencies established under this 10 act whose operational plans are approved by the family indepen- 11 dence agency to provide community service activities to recip- 12 ients in fulfillment of their social contract. 13 (2) The purpose of the community conservation corps is to 14 establish and coordinate community service activities offered by 15 approved entities designed to comply with the standards promul- 16 gated or adopted by the family independence agency relative to 17 community service activities required of a recipient in fulfill- 18 ing his or her social contract. 19 Sec. 7. A community action agency or legal entity if a com- 20 munity action agency does not operate in a particular area is 21 designated as an approved entity for the purposes described in 22 this act for participation in the community conservation corps. 23 Sec. 9. (1) Upon the filing of a completed application by a 24 community action agency, the family independence agency shall 25 approve an operational plan that complies with this act. 03130'97 3 1 (2) An operational plan submitted by a community action 2 agency for approval shall provide information regarding the 3 following: 4 (a) The geographical area within which the community action 5 agency operates. 6 (b) The specific needs to be addressed within the community 7 action agency's geographical area as supported by statistical or 8 other information acceptable to the family independence agency. 9 (c) A detailed operational plan that describes the specific 10 activities available through the community action agency that 11 meet specific community or neighborhood needs and identifies the 12 long-term benefits to the community or neighborhood that will 13 result from those activities. 14 (d) A detailed record-keeping system, acceptable to the 15 family independence agency, designed to monitor recipient compli- 16 ance with required community service activities. 17 (e) Written evidence of 1 or more acceptable funding sources 18 for operation of the community action agency. The receipt of a 19 grant or appropriation in a fiscal year establishes a presumption 20 that the community action agency will continue to be granted 21 funding from the same or a successor source. 22 (3) A community action agency seeking approval of its oper- 23 ational plan shall describe the proposed funding source. An 24 acceptable funding source includes, but is not limited to, money 25 obtained from any local, state, or federal sources through grants 26 or appropriations. 03130'97 4 1 (4) A community action agency submitting an operational plan 2 shall describe specific activities to be offered to recipients 3 and shall describe how those specific activities address specific 4 community needs. The specific activities may include, but are 5 not limited to, the following: 6 (a) Neighborhood watch assistance. 7 (b) Lawn and garden care for certain senior citizens. 8 (c) Transportation and grocery shopping for certain senior 9 citizens. 10 (d) Snow removal. 11 (e) Certain home improvement projects. 12 (f) Supervision of certain after-school activities for 13 adolescents. 14 Sec. 11. After appropriate notice and opportunity for a 15 hearing, the family independence agency may rescind the approval 16 of a community action agency for failure to comply with this act, 17 failure to substantially comply with an operational plan, or 18 failure to substantially comply with monitoring, reporting, or 19 other requirements imposed by the family independence agency as a 20 condition to approval. 21 Sec. 13. This act does not take effect unless Senate Bill 22 No. _____ or House Bill No. _____ (request no. 03131'97) of the 23 89th Legislature is enacted into law. 03130'97 Final page. LBO