FLUENT Act

(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.

(b) Grant term. Each grant under this Act shall be for a period of 1 year and may be renewed for a period of not more than 4 additional years.

(c) Application. Each family literacy provider that desires 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, which shall include the following:

(1) An assurance that services provided with funds under this Act shall be prioritized for English language learners with the greatest economic, educational, and social need, as identified pursuant to paragraph (4).

(2) A description of the family literacy services that will be provided with funds under this Act for children who are English language learners and caregivers who are English language learners, which shall include how literacy instruction will be research-based and grounded in the science of reading.

(3) A description of the outcome measures, consistent with section 6, that are research-based and will be employed by the family literacy provider to measure the effectiveness of family literacy services provided with funds under this Act.

(4) An assurance that the family literacy provider will collaborate with, for the purposes of identifying English language learners described in paragraph (1) and developing family literacy services, 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 education provider).

(5) A requirement that any program staff who facilitate family literacy services be trained by and under the direct supervision of a highly qualified family literacy provider trained in research-based methods of early language and literacy promotion.

(d) 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.

(e) Use of funds. A family literacy provider receiving a grant under this section shall use such grant to provide family literacy services to families described in subsection (f).

(f) Families served. 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 by the first day of the school year that begins on or after the date services are first provided to such family with grant funds awarded under this Act.