II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1862 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to improve the health of children 

and reduce the occurrence of sudden unexpected infant death and to 

enhance public health activities related to stillbirth. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 15, 2011 

Mr. LAUTENBERG (for himself, Ms. SNOWE, Mr. KERRY, Mr. JOHNSON of 

South Dakota, Mrs. HAGAN, and Mr. MENENDEZ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to improve the 

health of children and reduce the occurrence of sudden 

unexpected infant death and to enhance public health 

activities related to stillbirth. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stillbirth and SUID 

5 Prevention, Education, and Awareness Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) Every year, there are more than 25,000 

2 stillbirths in the United States. 

3 (2) Causes for stillbirth include genetic abnor4 malities, umbilical cord accidents, infections, and 

5 placental problems. 

6 (3) A number of risk factors for stillbirth have 

7 been described in pregnant women such as young or 

8 advanced maternal age, obesity, smoking, diabetes, 

9 and hypertension. 

10 (4) Because of advances in medical care over 

11 the last 30 years, much more is known about the 

12 causes of stillbirth. But for as many as 50 percent 

13 of stillbirths, the cause is never identified. 

14 (5) Sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) is 

15 the sudden death of an infant under 1 year of age 

16 that when first discovered did not have an obvious 

17 cause. These include those deaths that are later de18 termined to be from explained as well as unexplained 

19 causes. 

20 (6) In 2004, approximately 4,600 infants died 

21 suddenly and unexpectedly of no immediate obvious 

22 cause. 

23 (7) Each year approximately 200 deaths of chil24 dren between the ages of 1 and 4 remain unexVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:25 Nov 17, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1862.IS S1862

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1 plained after a thorough case investigation is con2 ducted. 

3 (8) The Sudden Unexpected Infant Death 

4 (SUID) rate has been declining significantly since 

5 the early 1990s. However, research has found that 

6 some of the decline in SUID since 1999 can be ex7 plained by diagnostic shifts and increasing diagnosis 

8 specificity. 

9 (9) Many sudden unexpected infant deaths are 

10 not investigated and, even when they are, cause-of11 death data are not collected and reported consist12 ently. 

13 (10) Inaccurate or inconsistent classification of 

14 cause and manner of death due to inconsistent data 

15 collection impedes prevention efforts and complicates 

16 the ability to understand risk factors related to these 

17 deaths. 

18 (11) The National Child Death Review Case 

19 Reporting System collects comprehensive informa20 tion on the risk factors associated with SUID 

21 deaths. As of March 2011, 37 of the 49 States con22 ducting child death reviews are voluntarily submit23 ting data to this reporting system. 


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1 SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE 

2 ACT. 

3 Title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

4 241 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘PART W—SUDDEN UNEXPECTED INFANT DEATH 

7 AND SUDDEN UNEXPLAINED DEATH IN 

8 CHILDHOOD 

9 ‘‘SEC. 399OO. DEFINITIONS. 

10 ‘‘In this part: 

11 ‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘Adminis12 trator’ means the Administrator of the Health Re13 sources and Services Administration. 

14 ‘‘(2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Director’ means 

15 the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 

16 Prevention. 

17 ‘‘(3) STATE.—The term ‘State’ has the mean18 ing given to such term in section 2, except that such 

19 term includes tribes and tribal organizations (as 

20 such terms are defined in section 4 of the Indian 

21 Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act). 

22 ‘‘(4) SUDDEN UNEXPECTED INFANT DEATH; 

23 SUID.—The terms ‘sudden unexpected infant death’ 

24 and ‘SUID’ mean the sudden death of an infant 

25 under 1 year of age that when first discovered did 

26 not have an obvious cause. Such terms include those 


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1 deaths that are later determined to be from ex2 plained as well as unexplained causes. 

3 ‘‘(5) SUDDEN UNEXPLAINED DEATH IN CHILD4 HOOD; SUDC.—The terms ‘sudden unexplained death 

5 in childhood’ and ‘SUDC’ mean the sudden death of 

6 a child older than 1 year of age which remains unex7 plained after a thorough case investigation that in8 cludes a review of the clinical history and cir9 cumstances of death and performance of a complete 

10 autopsy with appropriate ancillary testing. 

11 ‘‘SEC. 399OO–1. DEATH SCENE INVESTIGATION AND AU12 TOPSY. 

13 ‘‘(a) INVESTIGATIONS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) GRANTS.—The Secretary, acting through 

15 the Director, shall award grants to States to enable 

16 such States to improve the completion of comprehen17 sive death scene investigations for sudden unex18 pected infant death and sudden unexplained death in 

19 childhood. 

20 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a 

21 grant under paragraph (1), a State shall submit to 

22 the Secretary an application at such time, in such 

23 manner, and containing such information as the Sec24 retary may require. 

25 ‘‘(3) USE OF FUNDS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A State shall use 

2 amounts received under a grant under para3 graph (1) to improve the completion of com4 prehensive death scene investigations for sud5 den unexpected infant death and sudden unex6 plained death in childhood, including through 

7 the awarding of subgrants to local jurisdictions 

8 to be used to implement standard death scene 

9 investigation protocols for sudden unexpected 

10 infant death and sudden unexplained death in 

11 childhood and conduct comprehensive, stand12 ardized autopsies. 

13 ‘‘(B) PROTOCOLS.—A standard death 

14 scene protocol implemented under subparagraph 

15 (A) shall include the obtaining of information 

16 on current and past medical history of the in17 fant/child, the circumstances surrounding the 

18 death including any suspicious circumstances, 

19 the sleep position and sleep environment of the 

20 infant/child, and whether there were any acci21 dental or environmental factors associated with 

22 the death. The Director in consultation with 

23 medical examiners, coroners, death scene inves24 tigators, law enforcement, emergency medical 

25 technicians and paramedics, public health agenVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:25 Nov 17, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1862.IS S1862

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1 cies, and other individuals or groups determined 

2 necessary by the Director shall develop a stand3 ard death scene protocol for children from 1 to 

4 4 years of age, using existing protocols devel5 oped for SUID. 

6 ‘‘(b) AUTOPSIES.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 

8 through the Director, shall award grants to States 

9 to enable such States to increase the rate at which 

10 comprehensive, standardized autopsies are per11 formed for sudden unexpected infant death and sud12 den unexplained death in childhood. 

13 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a 

14 grant under paragraph (1), a State shall submit to 

15 the Secretary an application at such time, in such 

16 manner, and containing such information as the Sec17 retary may require. 

18 ‘‘(3) COMPREHENSIVE AUTOPSY.—For purposes 

19 of this subsection, a comprehensive autopsy shall in20 clude a full external and internal examination, in21 cluding microscopic examination, of all major organs 

22 and tissues including the brain, complete 

23 radiographs, vitreous fluid analysis, photo docu24 mentation, selected microbiology when indicated, 


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1 metabolic testing, and toxicology screening of the in2 fant or child involved. 

3 ‘‘(4) GUIDELINES.—The Director, in consulta4 tion with board certified forensic pathologists, med5 ical examiners, coroners, pediatric pathologists, pedi6 atric cardiologists, pediatric neuropathologists and 

7 geneticists, and other individuals and groups deter8 mined necessary by the Director shall develop na9 tional guidelines for a standard autopsy protocol for 

10 sudden unexpected infant death and sudden unex11 plained death in childhood. The Director shall en12 sure that the majority of such consultation is with 

13 board certified forensic pathologists, medical exam14 iners, and coroners. The Director is encouraged to 

15 seek additional input from child abuse experts, be16 reavement specialists, parents, and public health 

17 agencies on nonmedical aspects of the autopsy guide18 lines. In developing such protocol, the Director shall 

19 consider autopsy protocols used by State and local 

20 jurisdictions. 

21 ‘‘(c) STUDY ON GENETIC TESTING.—The Director, 

22 in consultation with medical examiners, coroners, forensic 

23 pathologists, geneticists, researchers, public health offi24 cials, and other individuals and groups determined nec25 essary by the Director, shall commission a study to deterVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:25 Nov 17, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1862.IS S1862

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1 mine the benefits and appropriateness of genetic testing 

2 for infant and early childhood deaths that remain unex3 plained after a complete death scene investigation and 

4 comprehensive, standardized autopsy. Such study shall in5 clude recommendations on developing a standard protocol 

6 for use in determining when to utilize genetic testing and 

7 standard protocols for the collection and storage of speci8 mens suitable for genetic testing. 

9 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

10 is authorized to be appropriated $8,000,000 for each of 

11 fiscal years 2012 through 2016 to carry out this section. 

12 ‘‘SEC. 399OO–2. TRAINING. 

13 ‘‘(a) GRANTS.—The Secretary, acting through the 

14 Director, shall award grants to eligible entities for the pro15 vision of training on death scene investigation specific for 

16 SUID and SUDC. 

17 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—To be eligible to receive 

18 a grant under subsection (a), an entity shall— 

19 ‘‘(1) be— 

20 ‘‘(A) a State or local government entity; or 

21 ‘‘(B) a nonprofit private entity; and 

22 ‘‘(2) submit to the Secretary an application at 

23 such time, in such manner, and containing such in24 formation as the Secretary may require. 


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1 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity shall use 

2 amounts received under a grant under this section to— 

3 ‘‘(1) provide training to medical examiners, 

4 coroners, death scene investigators, law enforcement 

5 personnel, and emergency medical technicians or 

6 paramedics concerning death scene investigations for 

7 SUID and SUDC, including the use of standard 

8 death scene investigation protocols that include in9 formation on the current and past medical history of 

10 the infant/child, the circumstances surrounding the 

11 death including any suspicious circumstances, the 

12 sleep position and sleep environment of the infant/ 

13 child, and whether there were any accidental or envi14 ronmental factors associated with the death; 

15 ‘‘(2) provide training directly to individuals who 

16 are responsible for conducting and reviewing death 

17 scene investigations for sudden unexpected infant 

18 death and sudden unexplained death in childhood; 

19 ‘‘(3) provide training to multidisciplinary teams, 

20 including teams that have a medical examiner or 

21 coroner, death scene investigator, law enforcement 

22 representative, and an emergency medical technician 

23 or paramedic; 

24 ‘‘(4) in the case of national and State-based 

25 grantees that are comprised of medical examiners, 


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1 coroners, death scene investigators, law enforcement 

2 personnel, or emergency medical technicians and 

3 paramedics, integrate training under the grant on 

4 death scene investigation of SUID and SUDC into 

5 professional accreditation and training programs; 

6 ‘‘(5) in the case of State and local government 

7 entity grantees, obtain equipment, including com8 puter equipment, to aid in the completion of stand9 ard death scene investigation; or 

10 ‘‘(6) conduct training activities for medical ex11 aminers, coroners, and forensic pathologists con12 cerning standard autopsy protocols for sudden unex13 pected infant death and sudden unexplained death in 

14 childhood and integrate the training under the grant 

15 on standard autopsy protocols in SUID and SUDC 

16 into professional accreditation and training pro17 grams. 

18 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

19 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

20 $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2012 through 2016. 

21 ‘‘SEC. 399OO–3. CHILD DEATH REVIEW. 

22 ‘‘(a) PREVENTION.— 

23 ‘‘(1) CORE CAPACITY GRANTS.—The Secretary, 

24 acting through the Administrator, shall award 

25 grants to States to build and strengthen State caVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:25 Nov 17, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1862.IS S1862

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1 pacity and implement State and local child death re2 view programs and prevention strategies. 

3 ‘‘(2) PLANNING GRANTS.—The Secretary, act4 ing through the Administrator, shall award planning 

5 grants to States that have no existing child death re6 view program or States in which the only child death 

7 review programs are State-based, for the develop8 ment of local child death review programs and pre9 vention strategies. 

10 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a 

11 grant under paragraph (1) or (2), a State shall sub12 mit to the Secretary an application at such time, in 

13 such manner, and containing such information as 

14 the Secretary may require. 

15 ‘‘(4) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary, 

16 acting through the Administrator, shall provide tech17 nical assistance to assist States— 

18 ‘‘(A) in developing the capacity for com19 prehensive child death review programs, includ20 ing the development of best practices for the 

21 implementation of such programs; and 

22 ‘‘(B) in maintaining the national child 

23 death case reporting system. 

24 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

25 is authorized to be appropriated $7,000,000 for each of 


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1 fiscal years 2012 through 2016 to carry out subsection 

2 (a). 

3 ‘‘SEC. 399OO–4. NATIONAL REGISTRY FOR SUDDEN UNEX4 PECTED INFANT DEATHS AND SUDDEN UNEX5 PLAINED DEATH IN CHILDHOOD. 

6 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, acting 

7 through the Director and in consultation with the national 

8 child death case reporting system, national health organi9 zations, and professional societies with experience and ex10 pertise relating to reducing SUID and SUDC, shall estab11 lish a population-based SUID and SUDC case registry 

12 that can facilitate the understanding of the root causes, 

13 rates, and trends of SUID and SUDC. 

14 ‘‘(b) NATIONAL REGISTRY.—The national registry 

15 established under subsection (a) shall facilitate the collec16 tion, analysis, and dissemination of data by— 

17 ‘‘(1) implementing a surveillance and moni18 toring system based on thorough and complete death 

19 scene investigation data, clinical history, and au20 topsy findings; 

21 ‘‘(2) collecting standardized information about 

22 the environmental, medical, genetic, and social cir23 cumstances of death (including sleep environment 

24 and quality of the death scene investigation) if de25 termined that such may correlate with infant and 


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1 early childhood deaths, as well as information from 

2 other law enforcement, medical examiner, coroner, 

3 emergency medical services (EMS), medical records, 

4 and vital records (if possible); 

5 ‘‘(3) supporting multidisciplinary infant and 

6 early childhood death reviews such as those per7 formed by child death review committees to collect 

8 and review the standardized information and accu9 rately and consistently classify and characterize 

10 SUID and SUDC; 

11 ‘‘(4) facilitating the sharing of information to 

12 improve the public reporting of surveillance and vital 

13 statistics describing the epidemiology of SUID and 

14 SUDC; and 

15 ‘‘(5) utilizing current infrastructure of existing 

16 surveillance systems. 

17 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

18 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

19 $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2012 through 2016. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 399OO–5. PUBLIC AWARENESS AND EDUCATION CAM21 PAIGN. 

22 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, acting 

23 through the Administrator and in consultation with the 

24 Director and the Director of the National Institutes of 

25 Health, shall establish and implement a culturally comVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:25 Nov 17, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1862.IS S1862

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1 petent research-based public health awareness and edu2 cation campaign to provide information that is focused on 

3 decreasing the risk factors that contribute to sudden unex4 pected infant death and sudden unexplained death in 

5 childhood, including educating individuals and organiza6 tions about safe sleep environments, sleep positions, and 

7 reducing exposure to smoking during pregnancy and after 

8 birth. 

9 ‘‘(b) TARGETED POPULATIONS.—The campaign 

10 under subsection (a) shall be designed to reduce health 

11 disparities through the targeting of populations with high 

12 rates of sudden unexpected infant death and sudden unex13 plained death in childhood. 

14 ‘‘(c) CONSULTATION.—In establishing and imple15 menting the campaign under subsection (a), the Secretary 

16 shall consult with national organizations representing 

17 health care providers, including nurses and physicians, 

18 parents, child care providers, children’s advocacy and safe19 ty organizations, maternal and child health programs and 

20 women’s, infants’, and children’s nutrition professionals, 

21 and other individuals and groups determined necessary by 

22 the Secretary for such establishment and implementation. 

23 ‘‘(d) GRANTS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the cam25 paign under subsection (a), the Secretary shall 


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1 award grants to national organizations, State and 

2 local health departments, and community-based or3 ganizations for the conduct of education and out4 reach programs for health care providers, parents, 

5 child care providers, public health agencies, and 

6 community organizations. 

7 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a 

8 grant under paragraph (1), an entity shall submit to 

9 the Secretary an application at such time, in such 

10 manner, and containing such information as the Sec11 retary may require. 

12 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

13 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

14 $7,000,000 for fiscal year 2012 and $5,000,000 for each 

15 of fiscal years 2013 through 2016. 

16 ‘‘SEC. 399OO–6. GRANTS FOR SUPPORT SERVICES. 

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 

18 the Administrator, shall award grants to national organi19 zations, State and local health departments, and commu20 nity-based organizations, for the provisions of support 

21 services to families who have had a child die of sudden 

22 unexpected infant death and sudden unexplained death in 

23 childhood. 

24 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

25 under subsection (a), an entity shall submit to the SecVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:25 Nov 17, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1862.IS S1862

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1 retary an application at such time, in such manner, and 

2 containing such information as the Secretary may require. 

3 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts received under a 

4 grant awarded under subsection (a) may be used to pro5 vide grief counseling, education, home visits, 24-hour hot6 lines, and support groups for families who have lost a child 

7 to sudden unexpected infant death or sudden unexplained 

8 death in childhood. 

9 ‘‘(d) PREFERENCE.—In awarding grants under sub10 section (a), the Secretary shall give preference to commu11 nity-based applicants that have a proven history of effec12 tive direct support services and interventions for sudden 

13 unexpected infant death and sudden unexplained death in 

14 childhood and can demonstrate experience through col15 laborations and partnerships for delivering services 

16 throughout a State or region. 

17 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

18 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

19 $500,000 for each of fiscal years 2012 through 2016. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 399OO–7. EVALUATION OF STATE AND REGIONAL 

21 NEEDS. 

22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 

23 the Director and in consultation with the Administrator, 

24 shall conduct a needs assessment on a State and regional 

25 basis of the availability of personnel, training, technical 


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1 assistance, and resources for investigating and deter2 mining sudden unexpected infant death and sudden unex3 plained death in childhood and make recommendations to 

4 increase collaboration on a State and regional level for in5 vestigation and determination. 

6 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

7 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 

8 $250,000 for each of fiscal years 2012 through 2016.’’. 

9 SEC. 4. ENHANCING PUBLIC HEALTH ACTIVITIES RELATED 

10 TO STILLBIRTH. 

11 Part P of title III of the Public Health Service Act 

12 (42 U.S.C. 280g et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

13 the following: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 399V–5. ENHANCING PUBLIC HEALTH ACTIVITIES RE15 LATED TO STILLBIRTH. 

16 ‘‘(a) GRANTS.—The Secretary, acting through the 

17 Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Preven18 tion, shall award grants to eligible States and metropolitan 

19 areas to enhance and expand surveillance efforts to collect 

20 thorough and complete epidemiologic information on still21 births, including through the utilization of the infrastruc22 ture of existing surveillance systems (including vital statis23 tics systems). 

24 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

25 under subsection (a), an entity shall— 


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1 ‘‘(1) be a State or a major metropolitan area 

2 (as defined by the Secretary); and 

3 ‘‘(2) submit to the Secretary an application at 

4 such time, in such manner, and containing such in5 formation as the Secretary may require, including— 

6 ‘‘(A) an assurance that the applicant will 

7 implement the standardized surveillance pro8 tocol developed under subsection (c); and 

9 ‘‘(B) a description of the infrastructure of 

10 existing surveillance systems in the State or 

11 major metropolitan area, as applicable. 

12 ‘‘(c) SURVEILLANCE PROTOCOL.—The Secretary, 

13 acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease 

14 Control and Prevention, shall— 

15 ‘‘(1) provide for the continued development and 

16 dissemination of a standard protocol for stillbirth 

17 data collection and surveillance, in consultation with 

18 representatives of health and advocacy organizations, 

19 State and local governments, and other interested 

20 entities determined appropriate by the Secretary; 

21 ‘‘(2) monitor trends and identify potential risk 

22 factors for further study using existing sources of 

23 surveillance data and expanded sources of data from 

24 targeted surveillance efforts, and methods for the 

25 evaluation of stillbirth prevention efforts; and 


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1 ‘‘(3) develop and evaluate methods to link exist2 ing data to provide more complete information for 

3 research into the causes and conditions associated 

4 with stillbirth. 

5 ‘‘(d) POSTMORTEM EVALUATION AND DATA COLLEC6 TION.—The Secretary, acting through the Director of the 

7 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and in con8 sultation with physicians, nurses, pathologists, geneticists, 

9 parents, and other groups determined necessary by the Di10 rector, shall develop guidelines for increasing the perform11 ance and data collection of postmortem stillbirth evalua12 tion, including conducting and reimbursing autopsies, pla13 cental histopathology, and cytogenetic testing. The guide14 lines should take into account cultural competency issues 

15 related to postmortem stillbirth evaluation. 

16 ‘‘(e) PUBLIC HEALTH PROGRAMMATIC ACTIVITIES

17 RELATED TO STILLBIRTH.—The Secretary, acting 

18 through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control 

19 and Prevention, shall— 

20 ‘‘(1) develop behavioral surveys for women ex21 periencing stillbirth, using existing State-based in22 frastructure for pregnancy-related information gath23 ering; and 

24 ‘‘(2) increase the technical assistance provided 

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1 munities to enhance capacity for improved investiga2 tion of medical and social factors surrounding still3 birth events. 

4 ‘‘(f) PUBLIC EDUCATION AND PREVENTION PRO5 GRAMS.—The Secretary, acting through the Director of 

6 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and in 

7 consultation with health care providers, public health or8 ganizations, maternal and child health programs, parents, 

9 and other groups deemed necessary by the Director, shall 

10 directly or through grants, cooperative agreements, or con11 tracts to eligible entities, develop and conduct evidence12 based public education and prevention programs aimed at 

13 reducing the occurrence of stillbirth overall and addressing 

14 the racial and ethnic disparities in its occurrence, includ15 ing— 

16 ‘‘(1) public education programs, services, and 

17 demonstrations which are designed to increase gen18 eral awareness of stillbirths; and 

19 ‘‘(2) the development of tools for the education 

20 of health professionals and women concerning the 

21 known risk factors for stillbirth, promotion of fetal 

22 movement awareness, and the importance of early 

23 and regular prenatal care to monitor the health and 

24 development of the fetus up to and during delivery. 


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1 ‘‘(g) TASK FORCE.—The Secretary, in consultation 

2 with the Director of the National Institutes of Health, the 

3 Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Preven4 tion, and health care providers, researchers, parents, and 

5 other groups deemed necessary by the Directors, shall es6 tablish a task force to develop a national research plan 

7 to determine the causes of, and how to prevent, stillbirth. 

8 ‘‘(h) GRANTS FOR SUPPORT SERVICES.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 

10 through the Administrator of the Health Resources 

11 and Services Administration, shall award grants to 

12 national organizations, State and local health de13 partments, and community-based organizations, for 

14 the provisions of support services to families who 

15 have experienced stillbirth. 

16 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a 

17 grant under subsection (a), an entity shall submit to 

18 the Secretary an application at such time, in such 

19 manner, and containing such information as the Sec20 retary may require. 

21 ‘‘(3) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts received under 

22 a grant awarded under subsection (a) may be used 

23 to provide grief counseling, education, home visits, 

24 24-hour hotlines, and support groups for families 

25 who have experienced stillbirth. 


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1 ‘‘(4) PREFERENCE.—In awarding grants under 

2 subsection (a), the Secretary shall give preference to 

3 applicants that are community-based organizations 

4 that have a proven history of providing effective di5 rect support services and interventions related to 

6 stillbirths and can demonstrate experience through 

7 collaborations and partnerships for delivering serv8 ices throughout a State or region. 

9 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 ‘‘(1) The term ‘State’ has the meaning given to 

11 such term in section 2, except that such term in12 cludes tribes and tribal organizations (as such terms 

13 are defined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Deter14 mination and Education Assistance Act). 

15 ‘‘(2) The term ‘stillbirth’ means a spontaneous, 

16 not induced, pregnancy loss 20 weeks or later after 

17 gestation, or if the age of the fetus is not known, 

18 then a fetus weighing 350 grams or more. 

19 ‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

20 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 

21 $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2012 through 2016.’’. 

22 SEC. 5. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

23 Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 

24 of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 

25 acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease 


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1 Control and Prevention and in consultation with the Di2 rector of the National Institutes of Health and the Admin3 istrator of the Health Resources and Services Administra4 tion, shall submit to Congress a report describing the 

5 progress made in implementing this Act (and the amend6 ments made by this Act). 

Æ 


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