1.This Act may be cited as the
Teen Pregnancy Prevention,
Responsibility, and Opportunity Act of 2006
.
2.Congress finds as follows:
(1)The United States has the highest
teen-pregnancy rate and teen birth rate in the western industrialized world,
costing the United States not less than $7,000,000,000 annually.
(2)About 1 out of 3 of all young women in the
United States becomes pregnant before she reaches the age of 20.
(3)Teen pregnancy has serious consequences for
young women, their children, and communities as a whole. Too-early childbearing
increases the likelihood that a young woman will drop out of high school and
that she and her child will live in poverty.
(4)Statistically, the sons of teen mothers are
more likely to end up in prison. The daughters of teen mothers are more likely
to end up teen mothers too.
(5)Teens that grow up in disadvantaged
economical, social, and familial circumstances are more likely to engage in
risky behavior and have a child during adolescence.
(6)Teens with strong emotional attachments to
their parents are more likely to become sexually active at a later age. 7 out
of 10 teens say that they are prepared to listen to things parents thought they
were not ready to hear.
(7)78 percent of white and 70 percent of
African American teenagers report that lack of communication between a teenage
girl and her parents is frequently a reason a teenage girl has a baby.
(8)One study found that the likelihood of
teens having sex for the first time increased with the number of unsupervised
hours teens have during a week.
(9)After-school programs reduce teen risky
behavior by involving teens in activities that provide alternatives to sex.
Teenage girls who play sports, for instance, are more likely to delay sex and
have fewer partners and less likely to become pregnant.
(10)After-school programs help prevent teen
pregnancy by advancing good decision-making skills and providing teens health
education and positive role models in a supervised setting.
(11)8 in 10 girls and 6 in 10 boys report that
they wish they had waited until they were older to have sex.
3.Education program for
preventing teen pregnancies
(a)The Secretary of
Health and Human Services (referred to in this Act as the
Secretary
) may make grants to local educational agencies, State
and local public health agencies, and nonprofit private entities for the
purpose of carrying out projects to provide education on preventing teen
pregnancies.
(b)Preference in
making grantsIn making
grants under subsection (a), the Secretary shall give preference to applicants
that will carry out the projects under such subsection in communities for which
the rate of teen pregnancy is significantly above the average rate
in the United States? of such
pregnancies.
(c)A grant may be
made under subsection (a) only if the applicant for the grant meets the
following conditions with respect to the project involved:
(1)The applicant agrees that information
provided by the project on pregnancy prevention will be age-appropriate,
factually and medically accurate and complete, and scientifically-based.
(2)The applicant agrees that the project will
give priority to preventing teen pregnancies by—
(A)encouraging teens to delay sexual
activity;
(B)providing educational services and
interventions for sexually active teens or teens at risk of becoming sexually
active;
(C)educating both young men and women about
the responsibilities and pressures that come along with parenting;
(D)helping parents communicate with teens
about sexuality; or
(E)teaching young people responsible
decision-making.
(d)
(1)With respect to the
costs of the project to be carried out under subsection (a) by an applicant, a
grant may be made under such subsection only if the applicant agrees to make
available (directly or through donations from public or private entities)
non-Federal contributions toward such costs in an amount that is not less than
25 percent of such costs ($1 for each $3 of Federal funds provided in the
grant).
(2)Determination of
amount contributedNon-Federal contributions required in
paragraph (1) may be in cash or in kind, fairly evaluated, including plant,
equipment, or services. Amounts provided by the Federal Government, or services
assisted or subsidized to any significant extent by the Federal Government, may
not be included in determining the amount of such non-Federal
contributions.
(e)With respect to the
activities for which a grant under subsection (a) is authorized to be expended,
such a grant may be made for a fiscal year only if the applicant involved
agrees to maintain expenditures of non-Federal amounts for such activities at a
level that is not less than the level of such expenditures maintained by the
applicant for the fiscal year preceding the first fiscal year for which the
applicant receives such a grant.
(f)The Secretary shall
establish criteria for the evaluation of projects under subsection (a). A grant
may be made under such subsection only if the applicant involved—
(1)agrees to conduct evaluations of the
project in accordance with such criteria;
(2)agrees to submit to the Secretary such
reports describing the results of the evaluations as the Secretary determines
to be appropriate; and
(3)submits to the Secretary, in the
application under subsection (g), a plan for conducting the evaluations.
(g)A grant may be made
under subsection (a) only if an application for the grant is submitted to the
Secretary and the application is in such form, is made in such manner, and
contains such agreements, assurances, and information, including the agreements
under subsections (c) through (f) and the plan under subsection (f)(3), as the
Secretary determines to be necessary to carry out this section.
(h)Not later than
October 1, 2011, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report describing the
extent to which projects under subsection (a) have been successful in reducing
the rate of teen pregnancies in the communities in which the projects have been
carried out.
(i)In this section:
(1)The term age-appropriate
,
with respect to information on pregnancy prevention, means topics, messages,
and teaching methods suitable to particular ages or age groups of children and
adolescents, based on developing cognitive, emotional, and behavioral capacity
typical for the age or age group.
(2)Factually and
medically accurate and completeThe term factually and medically
accurate and complete
means verified or supported by the weight of
research conducted in compliance with accepted scientific methods and—
(A)published in peer-reviewed journals, where
applicable; or
(B)comprising information that leading
professional organizations and agencies with relevant expertise in the field
recognize as accurate, objective, and complete.
(3)The term
local educational agency
has the meaning given such term in
section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
7801).
(j)Authorization of
appropriationsFor the
purpose of carrying out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated
$20,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2007
through 2011.
4.Reauthorization of
certain after-school programs
(a)21st century
community learning centersSection 4206 of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7176) is amended—
(1)in paragraph (5), by striking
$2,250,000,000
and inserting $2,500,000,000
;
and
(2)in paragraph (6), by striking
$2,500,000,000
and inserting
$2,750,000,000
.
(b)Carol M. White
Physical Education ProgramSection 5401 of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7241) is amended—
(1)by striking There are
and
inserting (a) In
General.—There are
; and
(2)by adding at the end the following:
(b)In addition to the
amounts authorized to be appropriated by subsection (a), there are authorized
to be appropriated $73,000,000 for each of fiscal years
2007 and 2008 to carry out
subpart
10.
.
(c)Section 402A(f) of
the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a–11(f)) is amended by striking
$700,000,000 for fiscal year 1999, and such sums as may be necessary for
each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years
and inserting $883,000,000
for fiscal year 2007 and such
sums as may be necessary for each of the 5 succeeding fiscal
years
.
(d)Section 404H of the Higher Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a–28) is amended by striking $200,000,000 for fiscal
year 1999 and such sums as may be necessary for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal
years
and inserting $325,000,000 for fiscal year
2007 and such sums as may be
necessary for each of the 5 succeeding fiscal years
.
5.Demonstration grants
to encourage creative approaches to teen pregnancy prevention and after-school
programs
(a)The Secretary may
make grants to public or nonprofit private entities for the purpose of
assisting the entities in demonstrating innovative approaches to prevent teen
pregnancies.
(b)Approaches under
subsection (a) may include the following:
(1)Encouraging teen-driven approaches to
pregnancy prevention.
(2)Exposing teens to realistic simulations of
the physical, emotional, and financial toll of pregnancy and parenting.
(3)Facilitating communication between parents
and children, especially programs that have been evaluated and proven
effective.
(c)
(1)With respect to the
costs of the project to be carried out under subsection (a) by an applicant, a
grant may be made under such subsection only if the applicant agrees to make
available (directly or through donations from public or private entities)
non-Federal contributions toward such costs in an amount that is not less than
25 percent of such costs ($1 for each $3 of Federal funds provided in the
grant).
(2)Determination of
amount contributedNon-Federal contributions required in
paragraph (1) may be in cash or in kind, fairly evaluated, including plant,
equipment, or services. Amounts provided by the Federal Government, or services
assisted or subsidized to any significant extent by the Federal Government, may
not be included in determining the amount of such non-Federal
contributions.
(d)The Secretary shall
establish criteria for the evaluation of projects under subsection (a). A grant
may be made under such subsection only if the applicant involved—
(1)agrees to conduct evaluations of the
project in accordance with such criteria;
(2)agrees to submit to the Secretary such
reports describing the results of the evaluations as the Secretary determines
to be appropriate; and
(3)submits to the Secretary, in the
application under subsection (e), a plan for conducting the evaluations.
(e)A grant may be made
under subsection (a) only if an application for the grant is submitted to the
Secretary and the application is in such form, is made in such manner, and
contains such agreements, assurances, and information, including the agreements
under subsections (c) and (d) and the plan under subsection (d)(3), as the
Secretary determines to be necessary to carry out this section.
(f)Not later than
October 1, 2011, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report describing the
extent to which projects under subsection (a) have been successful in reducing
the rate of teen pregnancies in the communities in which the projects have been
carried out. Such reports shall describe the various approaches used under
subsection (a) and the effectiveness of each of the approaches.
(g)Authorization of
appropriationsFor the
purpose of carrying out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated
$5,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2007
through 2011.