[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 486 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 486

 To amend the Head Start Act to ensure that all children in Head Start 
and Early Head Start programs are vaccinated, and allow exemptions only 
for children with underlying medical conditions, for whom vaccines are 
                  therefore medically contraindicated.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 12, 2015

 Mrs. Boxer (for herself and Mrs. Feinstein) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Head Start Act to ensure that all children in Head Start 
and Early Head Start programs are vaccinated, and allow exemptions only 
for children with underlying medical conditions, for whom vaccines are 
                  therefore medically contraindicated.

    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 ``Head Start on Vaccinations Act''.

SEC. 2. VACCINATION REQUIREMENT.

    (a) Head Start Programs.--The first subsection of section 645 of 
the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9840) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
    ``(6)(A) In this paragraph:
            ``(i) The term `complete vaccination information' means 
        such information as the Secretary may require under 
        subparagraph (G), establishing that a child is vaccinated in 
        accordance with the pediatric vaccine list.
            ``(ii) The term `Federally qualified health center' has the 
        meaning given the term in section 1861(aa)(4) of the Social 
        Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(aa)(4)).
            ``(iii) The term `pediatric vaccine list' means the list, 
        including the schedule, established (and periodically reviewed 
        and as appropriate revised) by the Advisory Committee on 
        Immunization Practices (an advisory committee established by 
        the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for 
        Disease Control and Prevention).
            ``(iv) The term `program-registered provider' has the 
        meaning given the term in section 1928(c) of the Social 
        Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396s(c)).
    ``(B) In order for a child who is enrolled in a Head Start program 
(other than an Early Head Start program) assisted under this subchapter 
on the effective date of the Head Start on Vaccinations Act to remain 
eligible for participation in the program, a parent or guardian of the 
child shall submit complete vaccination information to the program, 
within 3 months after the effective date of the Head Start on 
Vaccinations Act.
    ``(C)(i) In order for a child to be enrolled in a program covered 
by subparagraph (B), a parent or guardian of the child--
            ``(I) shall submit complete vaccination information to the 
        program, in a timely manner, as required under regulations 
        issued under subparagraph (G); or
            ``(II) shall submit a signed agreement that the parent or 
        guardian will provide that information as described in 
        subclause (I), and consents to the administration described in 
        subparagraph (D)(i) or the referral described in subparagraph 
        (D)(ii).
    ``(ii) Except for the initial submission of information for a child 
described in subparagraph (B), in order for a child who is enrolled in 
a program covered by subparagraph (B) to remain eligible for 
participation in the program, a parent or guardian of the child shall 
submit complete vaccination information to the program, in a timely 
manner, as required under such regulations. The director of the Head 
Start agency involved shall annually require the parents or guardians 
of the children in the program to make such a submission to maintain 
that enrollment.
    ``(D) To assist a parent or guardian in complying with subparagraph 
(B) or (C), the director of a Head Start agency may use funds made 
available under this subchapter to--
            ``(i) at the request of the parent or guardian, have an 
        employee of the agency, who is eligible to administer vaccines 
        in the State in which the agency is located, administer any 
        missing vaccines on the pediatric vaccine list to the child; or
            ``(ii) assist the parent or guardian in gaining access to 
        the vaccines, such as by referring the parent or guardian to a 
        Federally qualified health center, a State or county public 
        health clinic, a program-registered provider, or a provider or 
        contractor under title V of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
        701 et seq.), that has a health care provider who is eligible 
        to administer vaccines as described in clause (i).
    ``(E)(i) Subject to clause (ii), the director of a Head Start 
agency shall, in a timely manner, remove from the corresponding Head 
Start program any child who is not in compliance with subparagraph (B) 
or (C).
    ``(ii) The director may exempt a child from subparagraph (B) or (C) 
only if a parent or guardian of the child submits information from a 
health care provider, who (under the State's law concerning 
vaccinations) is qualified to determine whether the child has an 
underlying medical condition, that the child has an underlying medical 
condition and that administration of vaccines is, therefore, medically 
contraindicated for the child.
    ``(F)(i) Except as provided in clause (ii), in the case of a child 
in a Head Start program, this paragraph shall apply notwithstanding any 
portion of a State law requiring vaccines that is inconsistent with the 
pediatric vaccine list.
    ``(ii) Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to prevent a 
State from requiring vaccines in addition to the vaccines on the 
pediatric vaccine list.
    ``(G)(i) Not later than the effective date of the Head Start on 
Vaccinations Act, the Secretary shall issue regulations concerning 
implementation of this paragraph. The regulations shall include 
provisions specifying timeliness for submission of information under 
subparagraph (C), the information required to be submitted as complete 
vaccination information, and timeliness for removal of a child from a 
Head Start program under subparagraph (E).
    ``(ii) Before issuing the regulations, the Secretary shall--
            ``(I) consult with Indian tribes about the application of 
        this paragraph to children from Indian tribes;
            ``(II) consult with the national migrant and seasonal Head 
        Start collaboration director about the application of this 
        paragraph to children from migrant and seasonal farmworker 
        families; and
            ``(III) consider the application of this paragraph to 
        homeless children and foster children.
    ``(iii) This paragraph takes effect on the date of enactment of the 
Head Start on Vaccinations Act.''.
    (b) Early Head Start Programs.--Section 645A of the Head Start Act 
(42 U.S.C. 9840a) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (c), by striking ``Persons'' and 
        inserting ``Except as provided in subsection (j), persons''; 
        and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(j) Vaccinations.--The provisions of section 645(a)(6) shall 
apply to Early Head Start agencies, Early Head Start programs, and 
children under age 3, in the same manner and the same extent as those 
provisions apply to Head Start agencies, Head Start programs, and 
children.''.

SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    Except as otherwise provided in the Head Start Act, this Act, 
including the amendments made by this Act, takes effect 3 months after 
the date of enactment of this Act.
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