Title 42 › Chapter 7— SOCIAL SECURITY › Subchapter XX— BLOCK GRANTS AND PROGRAMS FOR SOCIAL SERVICES AND ELDER JUSTICE › § 1397f
States get extra federal money when they contain certain designated areas. Each qualified empowerment zone gets two grants for the State, and each qualified enterprise community gets one grant. For an empowerment zone the grant is $50,000,000 if it is in an urban area or $20,000,000 if it is in a rural area, multiplied by the share of the zone’s population that lives in the State. For an enterprise community the grant is (1/95) of $280,000,000 multiplied by the State’s share of the community’s population. The Secretary will use the most recent decennial census to figure population shares. For each empowerment zone one grant goes to the State on the designation date and the second on the first day of the first fiscal year after designation. For each enterprise community the grant is paid on the designation date. Up to $1,000,000,000 is available for these grants. States must spend the money only on the program’s listed goals, follow the area’s strategic plan, and benefit people who live in the area. States may use the funds for things like drug and alcohol prevention and treatment for pregnant women, mothers, and their children; job training and work programs in construction and community projects; short-term business and self-employment training; after-school and community programs for children and families; community and economic development services (skills training, job counseling, transport, housing and financial counseling, business help); emergency or transitional shelters; and programs to promote home ownership or education. If an area’s designation ends partway through a fiscal year, the State must return the part of the grant that covers the remaining part of that year. Any grant money not obligated within two years must be returned. Returned amounts are added back under section 1397b(c), and the amount for fiscal year 1998 is increased by funds made available for these grants but not paid to any State by the end of fiscal year 1997. Definitions: a qualified empowerment zone or enterprise community is an area formally designated under the Internal Revenue Code whose designation is in effect and whose strategic plan is approved; a strategic plan is the area’s designation application; a qualified plan is a strategic plan meeting specific content and cooperation requirements; “rural area” and “urban area” have the meanings given in Internal Revenue Code section 1393(a)(2) and (3).
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The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Legislative History
Reference
Citation
42 U.S.C. § 1397f
Title 42 — The Public Health and Welfare
Last Updated
Apr 5, 2026
Release point: 119-73not60