[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1736 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1736

To provide for a reduction in the rate of adolescent pregnancy through 
the evaluation of public and private prevention programs, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 22, 1997

Mrs. Lowey (for herself, Mr. Castle, Mrs. Clayton, and Mrs. Johnson of 
 Connecticut) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                         Committee on Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide for a reduction in the rate of adolescent pregnancy through 
the evaluation of public and private prevention programs, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Teenage Pregnancy Reduction Act of 
1997''.

SEC. 2. EVALUATION OF EFFECTIVE PROGRAMS FOR PREVENTION OF ADOLESCENT 
              PREGNANCY.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall 
(directly or through grants or contracts awarded to public or nonprofit 
private entities) arrange for the evaluation of a wide variety of 
existing programs designed in whole or part to prevent pregnancy in 
adolescents, including programs that do not receive grants from the 
Federal Government for the operation of the programs. The purpose of 
the evaluation shall be the determination of--
            (1) the effectiveness of such programs in reducing 
        adolescent pregnancy;
            (2) the factors contributing to the effectiveness of the 
        programs; and
            (3) the feasibility of replicating the programs in other 
        locations.
    (b) Participation of Federal Agencies and Private Organizations.--
In carrying out the evaluation under subsection (a), the Secretary 
shall as appropriate--
            (1) provide for the participation of the Director of the 
        Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Director of the 
        Office of Population Affairs, the Assistant Secretary for 
        Children and Families, and the Director of the National 
        Institute of Child Health and Human Development; and
            (2) provide for the participation of organizations with 
        demonstrated expertise in conducting evaluations of adolescent 
        pregnancy prevention programs, including the National Campaign 
        to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, a nonpartisan organization.
    (c) Design of Evaluation.--Subject to subsection (d), the Secretary 
shall select a design for the evaluation under subsection (a) from 
among proposals that--
            (1) provide for the evaluation of programs in various 
        geographic regions;
            (2) with respect to the populations served by the programs, 
        provide for determining factors that are specific to various 
        socioeconomic, racial, ethnic, and age groups, and factors that 
        are specific to gender; and
            (3) meet such other criteria as the Secretary may 
        establish.
    (d) Measures of Effectiveness.--The Secretary shall define the 
measures of effectiveness used in evaluating the programs designed to 
reduce the rate of adolescent pregnancy, and shall include a variety of 
measures of effectiveness in the definition.
    (e) Scientific Peer Review.--The Secretary may provide funds for an 
evaluation pursuant to subsection (a) only if the evaluation has been 
recommended for approval pursuant to a process of scientific peer 
review utilizing one or more panels of experts. Such panels shall 
include experts from public entities and from private entities.
    (f) Submission of Report to Congress and Secretary.--Not later than 
December 1, 2002, the evaluation under subsection (a) shall be 
completed and a report shall be submitted to the Congress that 
describes the findings made in the evaluation and provides 
recommendations for future programs designed to reduce the rate of 
adolescent pregnancy.
    (g) Dissemination of Information.--After the submission of the 
report under subsection (f), the Secretary shall disseminate the 
findings and recommendations presented in the report. The categories of 
individuals to whom the information is disseminated shall include 
administrators of prevention programs, public and private entities 
providing financial support to such programs, organizations working on 
such programs, professional medical associations, entities providing 
public health services, entities providing social work services, and 
school administrators.
    (h) Authorization of Appropriations.--For the purpose of carrying 
out this section, there are authorized to be appropriated $3,500,000 
for each of the fiscal years 1998 through 2000, and such sums as may be 
necessary for each of the fiscal years 2001 through 2003.

SEC. 3. ONE-TIME INCENTIVE GRANTS FOR EFFECTIVE PREVENTION PROGRAMS.

    (a) In General.--In the case of a prevention program that pursuant 
to the evaluation under section 2 has been found to be effective, the 
Secretary may under this section make not more than one grant to the 
entity that operates the program. The purpose of the grant shall be to 
assist the entity with the expenses of operating the program.
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--For carrying out subsection 
(a), there is authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000, in the 
aggregate, for the fiscal years 2002 through 2004. Such authorization 
is in addition to any other authorization of appropriations that is 
available for making grants for the operational expenses of prevention 
programs.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    (a) Prevention Programs.--
            (1) Rule of construction.--The provisions of this Act apply 
        with respect to a prevention program without regard to which of 
        the various programmatic approaches for the prevention of 
        pregnancy in adolescents (as defined in paragraph (2)) is the 
        focus of the program.
            (2) Programmatic approaches.--For purposes of this Act, the 
        term ``programmatic approaches'', with respect to prevention 
        programs, includes advocating abstinence from sexual activity; 
        providing family planning services (including contraception); 
        fostering academic achievement; mentoring by adults; providing 
        employment assistance or job training; providing professional 
        counseling or peer counseling; providing for recreational or 
        social events; and any combination thereof.
    (b) Other Definitions.--For purposes of this Act:
            (1) The term ``prevention program'' means a program for the 
        prevention of pregnancy in adolescents.
            (2) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Health 
        and Human Services.
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