Joint task force to end school pushout of girls of color

(a) Establishment The Secretary and the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall establish and operate a joint task force to end school pushout (in this section referred to as the Joint Task Force). (b) Composition (1) Chairs The Secretary and the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall chair the Joint Task Force. (2) Members (A) In general The Joint Task Force shall include 21 total members and be composed of— (i) 6 students, including 2 Black, Brown, and Indigenous girls; (ii) 2 educators; (iii) 3 parents, including foster parents, legal guardians, and caregivers with children enrolled in public school; (iv) 3 public school officials; (v) 3 representatives from the civil rights community, including civil rights and disability organizations; (vi) 2 psychologists, social workers, trauma-informed personnel, and other mental health professionals with expertise in child and adolescent development; and (vii) 2 researchers with experience in behavioral intervention with children and youth. (B) Law enforcement officers The Joint Task Force shall not include law enforcement officers. (3) Advisory members In addition to the members under paragraph (2), the Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice and the Director of the Bureau of Indian Education shall be advisory members of the Joint Task Force. (4) Member appointment Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary and the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall appoint the members of the Joint Task Force— (A) in accordance with paragraph (2); (B) using a competitive application process; and (C) with consideration to the racial, ethnic, gender, disability, and geographic diversity of the Joint Task Force. (c) Study and recommendations The Joint Task Force shall— (1) conduct a study to— (A) identify causes for disparities in school discipline administration that push girls of color out of schools; (B) identify best practices for reducing the overuse and discriminatory use of exclusionary discipline practices; (C) identify interventions and accountability for local and State educational agencies when disparities in school discipline are found; and (D) determine to what extent exclusionary discipline practices contribute to the criminalization of— (i) girls of color; (ii) English learners; (iii) Indigenous girls; (iv) LGBTQI+ students; (v) students experiencing homelessness; (vi) students involved in the foster care system; and (vii) students with disabilities; and (2) develop recommendations based on the study conducted under paragraph (1). (d) Report Not later than 360 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and biannually thereafter, the Secretary and the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall submit to Congress a report on the recommendations under subsection (c)(2). The report shall be— (1) available to the public through the public website of the Department of Health and Human Services and by request; (2) accessible in accordance with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.); and (3) available in multiple languages.