# Service Starts At Home Act: Plain Language Summary

This bill creates two new federal programs designed to get high school and college students more involved in their communities through paid internships and volunteer work. The federal government would provide money to states to run these programs, with the goal of encouraging young people to develop a stronger connection to civic life and public service.

The first program funds paid internships for high school students working in local government offices. States would receive federal money based on how many students they have, then use those funds to work with local governments to create paid internship positions. A high school student could work for their city council, county office, or other local government agency and actually get paid for their time. The state would handle finding these opportunities, selecting which students get the internships, and deciding how much they should be paid. This gives teenagers real work experience while learning how government actually operates.

The second program offers scholarships to students who volunteer. High school seniors who complete at least 100 hours of volunteer work in a year can apply for scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $3,000, depending on how many hours they volunteered. College students who previously received these scholarships can renew them if they continue volunteering at least 100 hours per year and maintain good grades. The scholarships can only be used to pay for college costs like tuition and room and board. The bill prioritizes giving money to college students renewing their scholarships before awarding new ones to high school seniors.

To make this happen, the bill would spend $50 million annually on the internship program and $100 million annually on the scholarship program, starting in 2022. States would need to apply to participate, and the money would be divided among states based on their student population.

Service Starts At Home Act

Kim, Andy

Service Starts At Home Act This bill requires the Department of Education (ED) to carry out two programs to support student participation in local government and volunteer service. Specifically, ED must make allocations for states to (1) support paid internships within local government agencies for secondary school students, and (2) award competitive scholarships to eligible students who demonstrate a commitment to volunteer service work conducted for or on behalf of a government or nonprofit organization.