Healthy Relationships Act of 2017

Summary: Healthy Relationships Act of 2017 This bill authorizes the Administration for Children &amp; Families of the Department of Health and Human Services to award grants to public and private entities for the exclusive purpose of providing qualified sexual risk avoidance education to youth and their parents.  Such education must address specified topics, including:  benefits associated with personal responsibility and healthy decisionmaking; the advantage of reserving sexual activity for marriage; the skills needed to resist the harms associated with pornography and pervasive, sex-saturated culture;  the foundational components of healthy relationships; and how to resist and avoid sexual coercion and dating violence.  Priority in awarding grants must be given to applicants who propose sexual risk avoidance education programs that will regularly reinforce the sexual risk avoidance message in both the middle and high school grades and will promote parent-child communication on the benefits of avoiding all sexual risk.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Healthy Relationships Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. SEXUAL RISK AVOIDANCE EDUCATION.

    (a) Grants.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting 
through the Administration for Children & Families (in this section 
referred to as the ``Secretary''), may award grants on a competitive 
basis to public and private entities for the exclusive purpose of 
providing qualified sexual risk avoidance (in this section referred to 
as ``SRA'') education to youth and their parents.
    (b) Qualified SRA Education.--To receive funding for SRA education 
under this section, an entity shall demonstrate to the Secretary each 
of the following:
            (1) The education--
                    (A) will be evidenced-based, meaning it will have a 
                clear theoretical framework integrating research 
                findings with practical implementation relevant to the 
                SRA field that matches the needs and desired outcomes 
                for the intended audience; and
                    (B) if effectively implemented, will give youth 
                improved life and health outcomes.
            (2) The unambiguous and primary emphasis and context for 
        each topic covered by the education will be the message to 
        middle and high school students that avoiding nonmarital sexual 
        activity offers the best opportunity for optimal sexual health.
            (3) The education will be medically accurate, meaning that 
        information will be referenced to peer reviewed publications by 
        educational, scientific, governmental, or health organizations.
            (4) The education will be age-appropriate, meaning it will 
        be appropriate for the general developmental and social 
        maturity of the targeted age group (as opposed to the cognitive 
        ability to understand a topic, or the atypical maturation, of a 
        small segment of the targeted population).
            (5) The education will thoroughly address each of the 
        following:
                    (A) The holistic individual and societal benefits 
                associated with personal responsibility, self-
                regulation, goal setting, healthy decisionmaking, and a 
                focus on the future.
                    (B) The research-supported advantage of reserving 
                sexual activity for marriage, in order to improve the 
                future prospects and physical and emotional health of 
                youth, and helping sexually active students return to a 
                risk-free status. In this subparagraph, the terms 
                ``sexual activity'' and ``sexually active'' refer to 
                any type of genital contact or sexual stimulation for 
                the purpose of arousal, including sexual intercourse.
                    (C) The increased likelihood of avoiding poverty 
                when youth implement the ``success sequence'' by 
                achieving three norms in sequence: complete school, 
                secure a full time job, and wait until at least 21 
                years of age to marry and have children.
                    (D) The skills needed to resist the harms 
                associated with pornography and the pervasive, sex-
                saturated culture that portrays teenage sexual activity 
                as an expected norm, with few risks or negative 
                consequences.
                    (E) The foundational components of healthy 
                relationships and their impact on the formation of 
                healthy marriages and safe and stable families.
                    (F) How to resist and avoid sexual coercion and 
                dating violence, recognizing that even with consent, 
                teen sex remains a youth risk behavior.
                    (G) How other youth risk behaviors, such as drug 
                and alcohol usage, increase the risk for teen sex.
            (6) The education will ensure that any information provided 
        on contraception--
                    (A) is medically accurate and ensures that students 
                understand that contraception offers only physical risk 
                reduction and not risk elimination; and
                    (B) does not include demonstration, simulation, or 
                distribution of contraceptive devices.
    (c) Priority.--In awarding grants under subsection (a), the 
Secretary shall give priority to applicants proposing programs to 
provide qualified SRA education that will--
            (1) regularly reinforce the SRA message in both the middle 
        and high school grades; and
            (2) promote parent-child communication regarding the 
        benefits of avoiding all sexual risk.
    (d) Application.--To seek an application under this section, an 
entity shall submit an application at such time, in such manner, and 
containing such assurances as the Secretary may require. At a minimum, 
the application shall include--
            (1) assurances satisfactory to the Secretary that each of 
        the conditions listed in subsection (c) will be satisfied;
            (2) an individualized plan to evaluate the SRA education to 
        be funded through the grant for behavioral impact, or to inform 
        best practices in the provision of such SRA education that are 
        based on research that--
                    (A) is conducted by independent researchers who 
                have experience in conducting and publishing research 
                in peer-reviewed outlets; and
                    (B) is not part of a national evaluation that is 
                mandated by, contracted for, or conducted by the 
                Department of Health and Human Services; and
            (3) an agreement to expend not more than 20 percent of 
        their overall grant award for such evaluation.
    (e) Training and Technical Assistance.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary may provide training and 
        technical assistance to grantees under this section.
            (2) Requirements.--Any such training and technical 
        assistance shall--
                    (A) emphasize the practical implementation of SRA 
                in all educational messaging to teens;
                    (B) be provided directly to grantees by SRA-
                credentialed experts;
                    (C) cover methodologies and best practices in SRA 
                for teens; and
                    (D) consistently teach in the context of a public 
                health model that stresses risk avoidance or a return 
                to a risk avoidance status.
            (3) Settings.--Any such training and technical assistance 
        shall be provided during national and regional conferences, 
        webinars, and one-on-one conversations about funded projects.
            (4) Qualified organizations.--In addition to training and 
        technical assistance provided by staff of the Department of 
        Health and Human Services, such training and technical 
        assistance shall be provided by qualified organizations that 
        have--
                    (A) sole focus on the development and advancement 
                of SRA education;
                    (B) expertise in theory-based SRA program 
                development and implementation;
                    (C) direct experience in developing SRA evaluation 
                instruments; and
                    (D) the ability to offer technical assistance and 
                training on topics relevant to the SRA field.
    (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--
            (1) In general.--To carry out this section, there is 
        authorized to be appropriated $100,000,000 for each of fiscal 
        years 2018 through 2022. Amounts authorized to be appropriated 
        by the preceding sentence shall be derived exclusively from 
        amounts made available for the Teen Pregnancy Prevention 
        program of the Department of Health and Human Services.
            (2) Federal administrative costs.--Of the amount authorized 
        to be appropriated by paragraph (1) for a fiscal year--
                    (A) up to $1,000,000 are authorized to be used for 
                the creation of a national media campaign to increase 
                understanding and appreciation for SRA education;
                    (B) not more than $1,000,000 are authorized to be 
                used for Federal administrative costs; and
                    (C) of the amount used by the Secretary for 
                administrative costs, no more than 25 percent shall be 
                used for training and technical assistance.