Baby Box and Maternal Assistance Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4201 To amend title V of the Social Security Act to allow the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to States under the Maternal and Child Health Care Program for purposes of establishing Baby Box Programs. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUGUST 20, 2019 Mr. VEASEY (for himself and Mr. ALLRED) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend title V of the Social Security Act to allow the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to States under the Maternal and Child Health Care Program for purposes of establishing Baby Box Pro- grams. 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 ‘‘Baby Box and Mater- 4 nal Assistance Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:32 Aug 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4201.IH H4201 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4201 IH SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF BABY BOX PROGRAMS. 1 Section 501 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 2 701) is amended— 3 (1) in subsection (a)(2), insert ‘‘and including 4 by providing such grants to States for the establish- 5 ment of Baby Box Programs described in subsection 6 (d)’’ after ‘‘services development’’; and 7 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub- 8 section: 9 ‘‘(d)(1) For purposes of subsection (a)(2), a Baby 10 Box Program described in this subsection is a program 11 under which a State— 12 ‘‘(A) provides to eligible individuals and to a 13 partner chosen by such an individual, at no cost to 14 such individuals and such partners— 15 ‘‘(i) training with respect to prenatal, new- 16 born, and postpartum care (as defined by the 17 State), including evidence-based training with 18 respect to safe sleeping practices for newborns 19 and smoking cessation practices for parents; 20 ‘‘(ii) baby boxes to such individuals who 21 have completed an amount of such training de- 22 termined appropriate by the State; and 23 ‘‘(iii) doula services or midwife services, 24 furnished by doulas or midwives who meet such 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:32 Aug 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4201.IH H4201 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4201 IH standards as specified by the State, for such in- 1 dividuals who have so completed such training; 2 ‘‘(B) makes available, using funds other than 3 funds made available through grants awarded under 4 subsection (a)(2), training and boxes described in 5 clauses (i) and (ii), respectively, of subparagraph (A) 6 to all individuals residing in such State at an afford- 7 able cost determined appropriate by such State; and 8 ‘‘(C) provides funding for the recruitment and 9 training of doulas or midwives from diverse back- 10 grounds. 11 ‘‘(2) For purposes of this subsection: 12 ‘‘(A) The term ‘baby box’ means a package that 13 contains such items with respect to newborn and 14 postpartum care as the State determines appro- 15 priate. 16 ‘‘(B) The term ‘eligible individual’ means— 17 ‘‘(i) a low-income (as defined in subsection 18 (b)(2)) woman; or 19 ‘‘(ii) a woman eligible to enroll under the 20 State plan (or waiver of such plan) under title 21 XIX of the State in which such woman resides. 22 ‘‘(C) The term— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:32 Aug 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4201.IH H4201 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4201 IH ‘‘(i) ‘doula’ means an individual trained to 1 provide pre and postpartum care with respect to 2 pregnant women; and 3 ‘‘(ii) ‘doula services’ means such care fur- 4 nished by such an individual.’’. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:32 Aug 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4201.IH H4201 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS