Youth Access to Sexual Health Services Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1530 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 16, 2019 Ms. HIRONO (for herself, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. BROWN, Ms. WARREN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, and Mr. MURPHY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 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 19:42 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1530.IS S1530 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1530 IS 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 age, developmentally, and culturally appropriate sex- 11 ual health information to marginalized youth, includ- 12 ing information on how to access sexual health serv- 13 ices; 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 19:42 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1530.IS S1530 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1530 IS (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 other programs in existence on the 14 day before the date of enactment of this Act, for 15 adolescents regarding HIV, other sexually trans- 16 mitted infections, or pregnancy prevention. 17 (e) REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary may not award 18 a grant under subsection (a) to an eligible entity unless— 19 (1) such eligible entity has formed a partner- 20 ship with a community organization; and 21 (2) such eligible entity agrees— 22 (A) to employ a scientifically effective 23 strategy; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:42 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1530.IS S1530 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1530 IS (B) that all information provided to 1 marginalized youth will be— 2 (i) age and developmentally appro- 3 priate; 4 (ii) medically accurate and complete; 5 (iii) scientifically based; and 6 (iv) provided in the language and cul- 7 tural context that is most appropriate for 8 the individuals served by the eligible entity; 9 and 10 (C) that for each year the eligible entity 11 receives grant funds under subsection (a), the 12 eligible entity will submit to the Secretary an 13 annual report that includes— 14 (i) the use of grant funds by the eligi- 15 ble entity; 16 (ii) how the use of grant funds has in- 17 creased the access of marginalized youth to 18 sexual health services; and 19 (iii) such other information as the 20 Secretary may require. 21 (f) PUBLICATION AND EVALUATIONS.— 22 (1) EVALUATIONS.—Not less than once every 2 23 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:42 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1530.IS S1530 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1530 IS Secretary shall evaluate the effectiveness of which- 1 ever of the following is greater: 2 (A) Eight grants awarded under subsection 3 (a). 4 (B) Ten percent of the grants awarded 5 under subsection (a). 6 (2) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall make 7 available to the public— 8 (A) the evaluations required under para- 9 graph (1); and 10 (B) the reports required under subsection 11 (e)(2)(C). 12 (g) LIMITATIONS.—No funds made available to an el- 13 igible entity under this section may be used by such entity 14 to provide access to sexual health services that— 15 (1) withhold sexual health-promoting or life-sav- 16 ing information; 17 (2) are medically inaccurate or have been sci- 18 entifically shown to be ineffective; 19 (3) promote gender stereotypes; 20 (4) are insensitive or unresponsive to the needs 21 of young people, including— 22 (A) youth with varying gender identities, 23 gender expressions, and sexual orientations; 24 (B) sexually active youth; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:42 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1530.IS S1530 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1530 IS (C) pregnant or parenting youth; 1 (D) survivors of sexual abuse or assault; 2 and 3 (E) youth of all physical, developmental, 4 and mental abilities; or 5 (5) are inconsistent with the ethical imperatives 6 of medicine and public health. 7 (h) TRANSFER OF FUNDS.—Any unobligated balance 8 of funds made available under section 510(d) of the Social 9 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 710(d)) (as in effect on the day 10 before the date of the enactment of this Act) are hereby 11 transferred and made available to the Secretary to carry 12 out this Act. The amounts transferred and made available 13 to carry out this Act shall remain available until expended. 14 (i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 15 (1) COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION.—The term 16 ‘‘community organization’’ includes a State or local 17 health or education agency, public school, youth-fo- 18 cused organization that is faith-based and commu- 19 nity-based, juvenile justice entity, or other organiza- 20 tion that provides confidential and appropriate sexu- 21 ality education or sexual health services to 22 marginalized youth. 23 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 24 ty’’ includes a State or local health or education 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:42 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1530.IS S1530 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1530 IS agency, public school, nonprofit organization, hos- 1 pital, or an Indian tribe or tribal organization (as 2 such terms are defined in section 4 of the Indian 3 Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act 4 (25 U.S.C. 5304)). 5 (3) MARGINALIZED YOUTH.—The term 6 ‘‘marginalized youth’’ means a person under the age 7 of 26 that is disadvantaged by underlying structural 8 barriers and social inequity. 9 (4) MEDICALLY ACCURATE AND COMPLETE.— 10 The term ‘‘medically accurate and complete’’, when 11 used with respect to information, means information 12 that— 13 (A) is supported by research and recog- 14 nized as accurate, objective, and complete by 15 leading medical, psychological, psychiatric, or 16 public health organizations and agencies; and 17 (B) does not withhold any information re- 18 lating to the effectiveness and benefits of cor- 19 rect and consistent use of condoms or other 20 contraceptives and pregnancy prevention meth- 21 ods. 22 (5) SCIENTIFICALLY EFFECTIVE STRATEGY.— 23 The term ‘‘scientifically effective strategy’’ means a 24 strategy that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:42 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1530.IS S1530 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1530 IS (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 19:42 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1530.IS S1530 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1530 IS (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 services. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:42 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1530.IS S1530 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS