Allied Health Workforce Diversity Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1679 To amend title VII of the Public Health Service Act to authorize assistance for increasing workforce diversity in the professions of physical therapy, occupational therapy, respiratory therapy, audiology, and speech-language pathology, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 18, 2021 Mr. CASEY (for himself and Ms. MURKOWSKI) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Edu- cation, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend title VII of the Public Health Service Act to authorize assistance for increasing workforce diversity in the professions of physical therapy, occupational ther- apy, respiratory therapy, audiology, and speech-language pathology, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Allied Health Work- 4 force Diversity Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 09:06 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1679.IS S1679 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1679 IS SEC. 2. INCREASING WORKFORCE DIVERSITY IN THE PRO- 1 FESSIONS OF PHYSICAL THERAPY, OCCUPA- 2 TIONAL THERAPY, RESPIRATORY THERAPY, 3 AUDIOLOGY, AND SPEECH-LANGUAGE PA- 4 THOLOGY. 5 Title VII of the Public Health Service Act is amend- 6 ed— 7 (1) by redesignating part G (42 U.S.C. 295j et 8 seq.) as part H; and 9 (2) by inserting after part F (42 U.S.C. 294n 10 et seq.) the following new part: 11 ‘‘PART G—INCREASING WORKFORCE DIVERSITY 12 IN THE PROFESSIONS OF PHYSICAL THER- 13 APY, OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY, RES- 14 PIRATORY THERAPY, AUDIOLOGY, AND 15 SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGY 16 ‘‘SEC. 783. SCHOLARSHIPS AND STIPENDS. 17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may award grants 18 and contracts to eligible entities to increase educational 19 opportunities in the professions of physical therapy, occu- 20 pational therapy, respiratory therapy, audiology, and 21 speech-language pathology for eligible individuals by— 22 ‘‘(1) providing student scholarships or stipends, 23 including for— 24 ‘‘(A) completion of an accelerated degree 25 program; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 09:06 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1679.IS S1679 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1679 IS ‘‘(B) completion of an associate’s, bach- 1 elor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree program; 2 and 3 ‘‘(C) entry by a diploma or associate’s de- 4 gree practitioner into a bridge or degree com- 5 pletion program; 6 ‘‘(2) providing assistance for completion of pre- 7 requisite courses or other preparation necessary for 8 acceptance for enrollment in the eligible entity; and 9 ‘‘(3) carrying out activities to increase the re- 10 tention of students in one or more programs in the 11 professions of physical therapy, occupational ther- 12 apy, respiratory therapy, audiology, and speech-lan- 13 guage pathology. 14 ‘‘(b) CONSIDERATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS.—In 15 carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary shall take into 16 consideration the recommendations of national organiza- 17 tions representing the professions of physical therapy, oc- 18 cupational therapy, respiratory therapy, audiology, and 19 speech-language pathology, including the American Phys- 20 ical Therapy Association, the American Occupational 21 Therapy Association, the American Speech-Language- 22 Hearing Association, the American Association for Res- 23 piratory Care, the American Academy of Audiology, and 24 the Academy of Doctors of Audiology. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 09:06 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1679.IS S1679 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1679 IS ‘‘(c) REQUIRED INFORMATION AND CONDITIONS FOR 1 AWARD RECIPIENTS.— 2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may require 3 recipients of awards under this section to report to 4 the Secretary concerning the annual admission, re- 5 tention, and graduation rates for eligible individuals 6 in programs of the recipient leading to a degree in 7 any of the professions of physical therapy, occupa- 8 tional therapy, respiratory therapy, audiology, and 9 speech-language pathology. 10 ‘‘(2) FALLING RATES.—If any of the rates re- 11 ported by a recipient under paragraph (1) fall below 12 the average for such recipient over the 2 years pre- 13 ceding the year covered by the report, the recipient 14 shall provide the Secretary with plans for imme- 15 diately improving such rates. 16 ‘‘(3) INELIGIBILITY.—A recipient described in 17 paragraph (2) shall be ineligible for continued fund- 18 ing under this section if the plan of the recipient 19 fails to improve the rates within the 1-year period 20 beginning on the date such plan is implemented. 21 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 22 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The term ‘eligible 23 entity’ means an education program that— 24 ‘‘(A) is accredited by— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 09:06 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1679.IS S1679 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1679 IS ‘‘(i) the Council on Academic Accredi- 1 tation in Audiology and Speech-Language 2 Pathology or the Accreditation Commission 3 for Audiology Education; 4 ‘‘(ii) the Commission on Accreditation 5 in Physical Therapy Education; 6 ‘‘(iii) the Accreditation Council for 7 Occupational Therapy Education; or 8 ‘‘(iv) the Commission on Accreditation 9 for Respiratory Care; and 10 ‘‘(B) is carrying out a program for recruit- 11 ing and retaining students underrepresented in 12 the professions of physical therapy, occupa- 13 tional therapy, respiratory therapy, audiology, 14 and speech-language pathology (including racial 15 or ethnic minorities, or students from disadvan- 16 taged backgrounds). 17 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘eligible 18 individual’ means an individual who— 19 ‘‘(A) is a member of a class of persons who 20 are underrepresented in the professions of phys- 21 ical therapy, occupational therapy, respiratory 22 therapy, audiology, speech-language pathology 23 (including individuals who are racial or ethnic 24 minorities, or are from disadvantaged back- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 09:06 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1679.IS S1679 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1679 IS grounds or individuals with a disability (as de- 1 fined in section 3(1) of the Americans with Dis- 2 abilities Act of 1990, or who have an individual- 3 ized education program, as defined in section 4 602 of the Individuals with Disabilities Edu- 5 cation Act, are covered under section 504 of the 6 Rehabilitation Act of 1973, or have other docu- 7 mentation establishing the student’s disability 8 (as such term is defined in section 3 of the 9 Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990))); 10 ‘‘(B) has a financial need for a scholarship 11 or stipend; and 12 ‘‘(C) is enrolled (or accepted for enroll- 13 ment) at an audiology, speech-language pathol- 14 ogy, respiratory therapy, physical therapy, or 15 occupational therapy program as a full-time 16 student at an eligible entity. 17 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 18 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 19 $8,000,000 for the first fiscal year commencing after the 20 date of enactment of the Allied Health Workforce Diver- 21 sity Act of 2021 and each of the 4 succeeding fiscal 22 years.’’. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 09:06 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1679.IS S1679 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS