[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5810 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5810

   To amend title V of the Social Security Act to provide grants for 
 school-based mentoring programs for at risk teenage girls to prevent 
and reduce teen pregnancy, and to provide student loan forgiveness for 
                mentors participating in such programs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 15, 2008

Ms. Velazquez introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on 
Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title V of the Social Security Act to provide grants for 
 school-based mentoring programs for at risk teenage girls to prevent 
and reduce teen pregnancy, and to provide student loan forgiveness for 
                mentors participating in such programs.

    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 ``Mentor-Mentee Teen Pregnancy 
Reduction Act of 2008''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The U.S. has the highest teenage pregnancy rate of any 
        fully industrialized country.
            (2) One in three girls in the U.S. becomes pregnant at 
        least once by the age of 20.
            (3) Girls who become pregnant are more likely to drop out 
        of high school, less likely to complete college, more likely to 
        give birth to low-birth weight babies, and more likely to live 
        in poverty.
            (4) The children born to teenage mothers are more likely to 
        have learning disabilities, less likely to complete high 
        school, and more likely to live in poverty.
            (5) Girls born to teenage mothers are more likely to become 
        teenager mothers themselves; boys born to teenage mothers are 
        more likely to end up in prison.
            (6) Innovative initiatives, such as increasing parental 
        involvement and portraying the consequences of teenage 
        pregnancy through the media, exist that can reduce the rates of 
        teenage pregnancy and give every young person a better hope for 
        the future.
            (7) Research shows that a wide variety of programs have 
        been successful at delaying sexual activity and reducing 
        teenage pregnancy, including efforts that engage students in 
        community service, promote youth development, provide 
        preventive health services, offer sex and HIV/AIDS education, 
        and more.

SEC. 3. MENTOR-MENTEE TEEN PREGNANCY REDUCTION GRANT PROGRAM.

    Title V of the Social Security Act is amended--
            (1) in section 510(d) (42 U.S.C. 710(d)), by inserting 
        ``and grants under section 511'' after ``under subsection (a)'' 
        ; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new section:

         ``mentor-mentee teen pregnancy reduction grant program

    ``Sec. 511.  (a) From the amount appropriated in section 510(d) for 
a fiscal year (beginning with fiscal year 2009) which is not allotted 
to a State under section 510, the Secretary shall award competitive 
grants for the creation of school-based programs that provide mentoring 
to at-risk teenage girls to prevent and reduce teen pregnancy. In 
awarding such grants for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall give 
priority to programs in States that have elected not to receive an 
allotment under section 510 for the fiscal year.
    ``(b)(1) No grant may be awarded under this section except to an 
entity that is a local educational agency (as defined in section 9101 
of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965) or a community-
based organization.
    ``(2) Funds provided under such a grant may only be used in a 
school-based setting for the following purposes:
            ``(A) To recruit, train, and support mentors.
            ``(B) To hire mentoring coordinators and provide 
        professional development.
            ``(C) To pay for outreach materials.
            ``(D) To provide activities that will help in the 
        development of a mentee, such as--
                    ``(i) workshops, classes, and after-school 
                activities, which may include family life and sex 
                education and may provide--
                            ``(I) information that stresses the 
                        importance of abstinence and postponing sexual 
                        involvement;
                            ``(II) medically accurate information on 
                        the importance of contraception for those who 
                        are sexually active, on condom use, and on HIV 
                        and sexually transmitted diseases; and
                            ``(III) information that reflects mores and 
                        values of the community involved.
                    ``(ii) preparation for standardized examinations;
                    ``(iii) assistance with college entrance;
                    ``(iv) education in financial literacy;
                    ``(v) tutoring;
                    ``(vi) sports;
                    ``(vii) education in health and nutrition; and
                    ``(viii) education in the arts.
    ``(3) No grant may be awarded under this section unless the grantee 
agrees that, in carrying out the purposes described in paragraph (2), 
the grantee will, whenever possible, use strategies relating to family 
life and sex education that have been demonstrated to be effective, or 
that incorporate characteristics of effective programs.
    ``(4) No grant may be awarded under this section unless the grantee 
agrees that only qualified individuals will serve as mentors under this 
section. For the purposes of this paragraph, a `qualified individual' 
is an individual who--
            ``(A) is a woman who has received at least a baccalaureate 
        degree from an institution of higher education (as such term is 
        defined in section 102(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 
        (20 U.S.C. 1002(a)));
            ``(B) is mentoring no more than two mentees under this 
        section; and
            ``(C) has been trained and screened by a local educational 
        agency or community-based organization to do the following for 
        individual mentees:
                    ``(i) To encourage setting goals and planning for 
                the future.
                    ``(ii) To promote responsible behavior and help 
                delay sexual activity.
                    ``(iii) To provide general guidance.
                    ``(iv) To increase participation in school.
    ``(5) No grant shall be made under this section unless the grantee 
agrees to submit to the Secretary, in accordance with the criteria of 
the Secretary, a report that provides information on the program 
conducted under this section, including outcomes and increased 
education and awareness about the prevention of teen pregnancy under 
the grant. The Secretary shall make such reports available to the 
public.
    ``(6) Grantees under this section shall expend funds received under 
the grant not later than 18 months after the date such funds are 
provided under the grant.
    ``(c)(1) Paragraph (3) of section 502(a) shall apply to grants 
under this section in the same manner as it applies to funding made 
available under section 502(b).
    ``(2) Sections 507 and 508 shall apply to grants under this section 
to the same extent and in the same manner as such sections apply to 
allotments under section 502(c).
    ``(3) Section 506 shall apply to grants under this section to the 
extent determined by the Secretary to be appropriate.
    ``(d) The Secretary shall, directly or through contract, provide 
for evaluations of programs receiving funds under grants under this 
section. Such an evaluation shall cover at least 6 programs and 
programs representing at least 10 percent of the funding provided under 
this section. Each such evaluation for a program shall describe--
    ``(1) the activities carried out under the grant; and
    ``(2) the extent to which such activities were effective in 
changing attitudes and behavior to achieve the project strategies 
consistent with this section.''.

SEC. 4. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR MENTORS WHO PARTICIPATE IN TEEN PREGNANCY 
              REDUCTION PROGRAM.

    (a) Program Authorized.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services 
is authorized, from the funds appropriated under subsection (g), to 
carry out a program to assume the obligation to repay a qualified loan 
amount (as determined under subsection (b)) for a Federal student loan, 
in accordance with this section, for an individual who--
            (1) is a qualified individual to serve as a mentor under 
        subsection (b)(4) of section 511 of the Social Security Act;
            (2) has served as a mentor for the teen pregnancy reduction 
        grant program authorized under section 511 of the Social 
        Security Act for not less than 200 hours in an academic year or 
        its equivalent (as determined by the Secretary); and
            (3) is not in default on a loan for which the individual 
        seeks forgiveness.
    (b) Qualified Loan Amount.--The amount of loan forgiveness the 
Secretary provides under this section--
            (1) shall be equal to $2,000 for every 200 hours of service 
        an individual serves as a mentor under section 511 of the 
        Social Security Act in an academic year or its equivalent (as 
        determined by the Secretary), after the date of the enactment 
        of this section; and
            (2) may not exceed a total of $20,000 for an individual.
    (c) Priority.--In providing loan forgiveness under this section, 
the Secretary shall give priority to individuals who serve as mentors 
for programs under section 511 of the Social Security Act that are 
carried out by local educational agencies or community-based 
organizations that are located in areas with the highest rates of teen 
pregnancy, as determined by the Secretary.
    (d) Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be construed to 
authorize the refunding of any repayment of a loan.
    (e) Regulations.--The Secretary is authorized to issue such 
regulations as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this 
section.
    (f) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Federal student loan.--
                    (A) In general.--Except as provided in subparagraph 
                (B), the term ``Federal student loan'' means any loan 
                made, insured, or guaranteed under part B, D, or E of 
                title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965.
                    (B) Treatment of consolidation loans.--A loan 
                amount for a loan made under section 428C or section 
                455(g) shall be considered a Federal student loan under 
                this paragraph only to the extent that such loan amount 
                was used to repay a loan made under section 428 or 
                428H, a Federal Direct Stafford Loan, or a Federal 
                Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan for an individual who 
                meets the requirements of subsection (a), as determined 
                in accordance with regulations prescribed by the 
                Secretary.
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Health and Human Services.
    (g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section such sums as may be necessary 
for fiscal year 2009 and each of the 3 succeeding fiscal years.
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