§ 12639a. Civic Health Assessment and volunteering research and evaluation
(a)
Definition of partnership
In this section, the term “partnership” means the Corporation, acting in conjunction with (consistent with the terms of an agreement entered into between the Corporation and the National Conference) the National Conference on Citizenship referred to in section
150701 of title
36 to carry out this section.
(b)
In general
The partnership shall facilitate the establishment of a Civic Health Assessment by—
(1)
after identifying public and private sources of civic health data, selecting a set of civic health indicators, in accordance with subsection (c), that shall comprise the Civic Health Assessment;
(c)
Selection of indicators for Civic Health Assessment
(1)
Identifying sources
The partnership shall select a set of civic health indicators that shall comprise the Civic Health Assessment. In making such selection, the partnership—
(d)
Data on the indicators
(1)
Sponsored data collection
In identifying the civic health indicators for the Civic Health Assessment, and obtaining data for the Assessment, the partnership may sponsor the collection of data for the Assessment or for the various civic health indicators being considered for inclusion in the Assessment, including indicators related to—
(2)
Data from statistical agencies
The Director of the Bureau of the Census and the Commissioner of Labor Statistics shall collect annually, to the extent practicable, data to inform the Civic Health Assessment, and shall report data from such collection to the partnership. In determining the data to be collected, the Director and the Commissioner shall examine privacy issues, response rates, and other relevant issues.
(4)
Demographic characteristics
The partnership shall seek to obtain data for the Civic Health Assessment that will permit the partnership to analyze the data by age group, race and ethnicity, education level, and other demographic characteristics of the individuals involved.
(e)
Reporting of data
(1)
In general
The partnership shall, not less often than once each year, prepare a report containing—
(2)
Aggregation and presentation
The partnership shall, to the extent practicable, aggregate the data on the civic health indicators comprising the Civic Health Assessment by community, by State, and nationally. The report described in paragraph (1) shall present the aggregated data in a form that enables communities and States to assess their civic health, as measured on each of the indicators comprising the Civic Health Assessment, and compare those measures with comparable measures of other communities and States.
(g)
Volunteering research and evaluation
(1)
Research
The partnership shall provide for baseline research and tracking of domestic and international volunteering, and baseline research and tracking related to relevant data on the indicators described in subsection (d). In providing for the research and tracking under this subsection, the partnership shall consider data from the Supplements to the Current Populations Surveys conducted by the Bureau of the Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and data from other public and private sources, including other data collected by the Bureau of the Census and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
(h)
Database prohibition
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to authorize the development, implementation, or maintenance of a Federal database of personally identifiable information on individuals participating in data collection for sources of information under this section.