Youth Access to Sexual Health Services Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2701 To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to support the access of marginalized youth to sexual health services, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 14, 2019 Ms. ADAMS (for herself, Ms. NORTON, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. NADLER, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Miss RICE of New York, Ms. SPEIER, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. AGUILAR, Mr. RYAN, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. POCAN, and Mr. BLUMENAUER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to support the access of marginalized youth to sexual health services, 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 ‘‘Youth Access to Sexual 4 Health Services Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:40 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2701.IH H2701 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2701 IH SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF GRANTS TO SUPPORT THE AC- 1 CESS OF MARGINALIZED YOUTH TO SEXUAL 2 HEALTH SERVICES. 3 (a) GRANTS.—The Secretary of Health and Human 4 Services may award grants on a competitive basis to eligi- 5 ble entities to support the access of marginalized youth 6 to sexual health services. 7 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity that is award- 8 ed a grant under subsection (a) may use the funds to— 9 (1) provide medically accurate and complete 10 and age-, developmentally, and culturally appro- 11 priate sexual health information to marginalized 12 youth, including information on how to access sexual 13 health services; 14 (2) promote effective communication regarding 15 sexual health among marginalized youth; 16 (3) promote and support better health, edu- 17 cation, and economic opportunities for school-age 18 parents; and 19 (4) train individuals who work with 20 marginalized youth to promote— 21 (A) the prevention of unintended preg- 22 nancy; 23 (B) the prevention of sexually transmitted 24 infections, including the human immuno- 25 deficiency virus (HIV); 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:40 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2701.IH H2701 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2701 IH (C) healthy relationships; and 1 (D) the development of safe and supportive 2 environments. 3 (c) APPLICATION.—To be awarded a grant under 4 subsection (a), an eligible entity shall submit an applica- 5 tion to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 6 containing such information as the Secretary may require. 7 (d) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under subsection 8 (a), the Secretary shall give priority to eligible entities— 9 (1) with a history of supporting the access of 10 marginalized youth to sexuality education or sexual 11 health services; and 12 (2) that plan to serve marginalized youth that 13 are not served by Federal adolescent programs for 14 the prevention of pregnancy, HIV, and other sexu- 15 ally transmitted infections. 16 (e) REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary may not award 17 a grant under subsection (a) to an eligible entity unless— 18 (1) such eligible entity has formed a partner- 19 ship with a community organization; and 20 (2) such eligible entity agrees— 21 (A) to employ a scientifically effective 22 strategy; 23 (B) that all information provided to 24 marginalized youth will be— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:40 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2701.IH H2701 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2701 IH (i) age- and developmentally appro- 1 priate; 2 (ii) medically accurate and complete; 3 (iii) scientifically based; and 4 (iv) provided in the language and cul- 5 tural context that is most appropriate for 6 the individuals served by the eligible entity; 7 and 8 (C) that for each year the eligible entity 9 receives grant funds under subsection (a), the 10 eligible entity will submit to the Secretary an 11 annual report that includes— 12 (i) the use of grant funds by the eligi- 13 ble entity; 14 (ii) how the use of grant funds has in- 15 creased the access of marginalized youth to 16 sexual health services; and 17 (iii) such other information as the 18 Secretary may require. 19 (f) PUBLICATION AND EVALUATIONS.— 20 (1) EVALUATIONS.—Not less than once every 21 two years after the date of the enactment of this 22 Act, the Secretary shall evaluate the effectiveness of 23 whichever of the following is greater: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:40 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2701.IH H2701 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2701 IH (A) Eight grants awarded under subsection 1 (a). 2 (B) Ten percent of the grants awarded 3 under subsection (a). 4 (2) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall make 5 available to the public— 6 (A) the evaluations required under para- 7 graph (1); and 8 (B) the reports required under subsection 9 (e)(2)(C). 10 (g) LIMITATIONS.—No funds made available to an el- 11 igible entity under this section may be used by such entity 12 to provide access to sexual health services that— 13 (1) withhold sexual health-promoting or life-sav- 14 ing information; 15 (2) are medically inaccurate or have been sci- 16 entifically shown to be ineffective; 17 (3) promote gender stereotypes; 18 (4) are insensitive or unresponsive to the needs 19 of young people, including— 20 (A) youth with varying gender identities, 21 gender expressions, and sexual orientations; 22 (B) sexually active youth; 23 (C) pregnant or parenting youth; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:40 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2701.IH H2701 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2701 IH (D) survivors of sexual abuse or assault; 1 and 2 (E) youth of all physical, developmental, 3 and mental abilities; or 4 (5) are inconsistent with the ethical imperatives 5 of medicine and public health. 6 (h) TRANSFER OF FUNDS.—Any unobligated balance 7 of funds made available under section 510(f) of the Social 8 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 710(f)) (as in effect on the day 9 before the date of the enactment of this Act) are hereby 10 transferred and made available to the Secretary to carry 11 out this Act. The amounts transferred and made available 12 to carry out this Act shall remain available until expended. 13 (i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 14 (1) COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION.—The term 15 ‘‘community organization’’ includes a State or local 16 health or education agency, public school, youth-fo- 17 cused organization that is faith-based and commu- 18 nity-based, juvenile justice entity, or other organiza- 19 tion that provides confidential and appropriate sexu- 20 ality education or sexual health services to 21 marginalized youth. 22 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 23 ty’’ includes a State or local health or education 24 agency, public school, nonprofit organization, hos- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:40 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2701.IH H2701 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2701 IH pital, or an Indian Tribe or Tribal organization (as 1 such terms are defined in section 4 of the Indian 2 Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act 3 (25 U.S.C. 5304)). 4 (3) MARGINALIZED YOUTH.—The term 5 ‘‘marginalized youth’’ means a person under the age 6 of 26 that is disadvantaged by underlying structural 7 barriers and social inequity. 8 (4) MEDICALLY ACCURATE AND COMPLETE.— 9 The term ‘‘medically accurate and complete’’, when 10 used with respect to information, means information 11 that— 12 (A) is supported by research and recog- 13 nized as accurate, objective, and complete by 14 leading medical, psychological, psychiatric, or 15 public health organizations and agencies; and 16 (B) does not withhold any information re- 17 lating to the effectiveness and benefits of cor- 18 rect and consistent use of condoms or other 19 contraceptives and pregnancy prevention meth- 20 ods. 21 (5) SCIENTIFICALLY EFFECTIVE STRATEGY.— 22 The term ‘‘scientifically effective strategy’’ means a 23 strategy that— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:40 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2701.IH H2701 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2701 IH (A) is widely recognized by leading medical 1 and public health agencies as effective in pro- 2 moting sexual health awareness and healthy be- 3 havior; and 4 (B) either— 5 (i) has been demonstrated to be effec- 6 tive on the basis of rigorous scientific re- 7 search; or 8 (ii) incorporates characteristics of ef- 9 fective programs. 10 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 11 the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 12 (7) SEXUAL HEALTH SERVICES.—The term 13 ‘‘sexual health services’’ includes— 14 (A) sexual health information, education, 15 and counseling; 16 (B) contraception; 17 (C) emergency contraception; 18 (D) condoms and other barrier methods to 19 prevent pregnancy or sexually transmitted in- 20 fections; 21 (E) routine gynecological care, including 22 human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines and can- 23 cer screenings; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:40 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2701.IH H2701 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2701 IH (F) pre-exposure prophylaxis or post-expo- 1 sure prophylaxis; 2 (G) mental health services; 3 (H) sexual assault survivor services; and 4 (I) other prevention, care, or treatment. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:40 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2701.IH H2701 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS