Opportunities to Support Mothers and Deliver Children Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2701 To provide grants for the conduct of demonstration projects designed to provide education and training for eligible individuals to enter and follow a career pathway in the field of pregnancy or childbirth, under the health profession opportunity grant program under section 2008 of the Social Security Act. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 20, 2021 Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To provide grants for the conduct of demonstration projects designed to provide education and training for eligible individuals to enter and follow a career pathway in the field of pregnancy or childbirth, under the health profes- sion opportunity grant program under section 2008 of the Social Security Act. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Opportunities to Sup- 4 port Mothers and Deliver Children Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:42 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2701.IH H2701 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2701 IH SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS TO PRO- 1 VIDE CAREER PATHWAYS IN THE FIELD OF 2 PREGNANCY OR CHILDBIRTH. 3 Section 2008 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 4 1397g) is amended by redesignating subsection (d) as sub- 5 section (e) and inserting after subsection (c) the following: 6 ‘‘(d) DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS TO PROVIDE CA- 7 REER PATHWAYS IN THE FIELD OF PREGNANCY OR 8 CHILDBIRTH.— 9 ‘‘(1) GRANT AUTHORITY.—The Secretary, in 10 consultation with the Secretary of Labor and the 11 Secretary of Education, shall award grants in ac- 12 cordance with this subsection to eligible entities to 13 conduct demonstration projects for the purpose of 14 providing education and training for eligible individ- 15 uals to enter and follow a career pathway in the field 16 of pregnancy or childbirth, in a State that recognizes 17 doulas or midwives as health care providers and that 18 provides payment for services provided by doulas or 19 midwives, as the case may be, under the State plan 20 approved under title XIX. 21 ‘‘(2) DURATION.—A demonstration project shall 22 be conducted under this subsection for not less than 23 3 years. 24 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—An appli- 25 cant seeking a grant under this subsection for a 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:42 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2701.IH H2701 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2701 IH demonstration project shall submit to the Secretary 1 an application for the grant, that includes the fol- 2 lowing: 3 ‘‘(A) A description of the partnerships, 4 strategic staff hiring decisions, tailored program 5 activities, or other programmatic elements of 6 the project that are designed to support a 7 strong career pathway in pregnancy, birth, or 8 post-partum services. 9 ‘‘(B) A demonstration that the State in 10 which the project is to be conducted recognizes 11 and permits doulas and midwives to practice in 12 the State. 13 ‘‘(C) A demonstration that the applicant 14 has experience working with low-income popu- 15 lations, or a description of the plan of the appli- 16 cant to work with a partner that has the experi- 17 ence. 18 ‘‘(4) EVALUATIONS.—The Secretary shall, by 19 grant, contract, or interagency agreement, conduct 20 rigorous and well-designed evaluations of the dem- 21 onstration projects for which a grant is made under 22 this section, which shall include identification of suc- 23 cessful activities for creating opportunities for devel- 24 oping and sustaining, particularly with respect to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:42 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2701.IH H2701 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2701 IH low-income individuals and other entry-level workers, 1 a doula-to-midwife workforce career pathway that 2 has accessible entry points, that meets high stand- 3 ards for education, training, certification, and pro- 4 fessional development, and that provides increased 5 wages and affordable benefits, including health care 6 coverage, that are responsive to the needs of the 7 workforce. 8 ‘‘(5) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 9 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligi- 10 ble entity’ means any of the following entities 11 that demonstrates in an application submitted 12 under this subsection that the entity has the ca- 13 pacity to fully develop and administer the dem- 14 onstration project described in the application: 15 ‘‘(i) A local workforce development 16 board established under section 107 of the 17 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity 18 Act. 19 ‘‘(ii) A State or territory, a political 20 subdivision of a State or territory, or an 21 agency of a State, territory, or such a po- 22 litical subdivision. 23 ‘‘(iii) An Indian tribe, a tribal organi- 24 zation, or a tribal college or university. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:42 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2701.IH H2701 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2701 IH ‘‘(iv) An institution of higher edu- 1 cation (as defined in the Higher Education 2 Act of 1965). 3 ‘‘(v) A hospital (as defined in section 4 1861(e)). 5 ‘‘(vi) A skilled nursing facility (as de- 6 fined in section 1819(h)(1)(A)). 7 ‘‘(vii) A Federally qualified health 8 center (as defined in section 1861(aa)(4)). 9 ‘‘(viii) A nonprofit organization de- 10 scribed in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal 11 Revenue Code of 1986, a labor organiza- 12 tion, or an entity with shared labor-man- 13 agement oversight, that has a dem- 14 onstrated history of providing health pro- 15 fession training to eligible individuals. 16 ‘‘(ix) An entity recognized by a State, 17 Indian tribe, or tribal organization as 18 qualified to train doulas or midwives, if 19 midwives or doulas, as the case may be, 20 are permitted to practice medicine in the 21 State involved. 22 ‘‘(x) An opioid treatment program (as 23 defined in section 1861(iii)(2)). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:42 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2701.IH H2701 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2701 IH ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—The term 1 ‘eligible individual’ means an individual whose 2 income does not exceed 138 percent of the Fed- 3 eral poverty level. 4 ‘‘(C) MIDWIFE.—The term ‘midwife’ 5 means a certified midwife, certified professional 6 midwife, licensed midwife, and tribally-recog- 7 nized midwife. 8 ‘‘(D) CERTIFIED MIDWIFE.—The term 9 ‘certified midwife’ means an individual who is 10 certified by the American Midwifery Certifi- 11 cation Board to practice midwifery. 12 ‘‘(E) CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL MID- 13 WIFE.—The term ‘certified professional mid- 14 wife’ means an individual who— 15 ‘‘(i) is certified by the North Amer- 16 ican Registry of Midwives to practice mid- 17 wifery for normal, low-risk pregnancies and 18 childbirths; and 19 ‘‘(ii) has completed— 20 ‘‘(I) a midwifery education pro- 21 gram accredited by the Midwifery 22 Education and Accreditation Council 23 or any other entity recognized by the 24 Department of Education; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:42 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2701.IH H2701 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2701 IH ‘‘(II) the requirements to obtain 1 a Midwifery Bridge Certificate from 2 the North American Registry of Mid- 3 wives, and maintains the certification 4 by completing any required continuing 5 education for the certification. 6 ‘‘(F) LICENSED MIDWIFE.—The term ‘li- 7 censed midwife’ means, with respect to a State, 8 an individual who is licensed under State law to 9 practice midwifery. 10 ‘‘(G) TRIBALLY-RECOGNIZED MIDWIFE.— 11 The term ‘tribally-recognized midwife’ means 12 an individual who is recognized by an Indian 13 tribe (as defined in section 4 of the Indian 14 Health Care Improvement Act) to practice mid- 15 wifery for the tribe. 16 ‘‘(6) APPROPRIATION.—Out of any funds in the 17 Treasury of the United States not otherwise appro- 18 priated, there are appropriated to the Secretary to 19 carry out this subsection $10,000,000 for fiscal year 20 2022.’’. 21 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 22 The amendment made by this Act shall take effect 23 on October 1, 2021. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:42 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2701.IH H2701 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS