I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2127 

To authorize funding for the creation and implementation of infant mortality 

pilot programs in standard metropolitan statistical areas with high rates 

of infant mortality, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 3, 2011 

Mr. COHEN (for himself, Mr. CONYERS, Ms. NORTON, Ms. MCCOLLUM, and 

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To authorize funding for the creation and implementation 

of infant mortality pilot programs in standard metropolitan statistical areas with high rates of infant mortality, 

and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Nationally Enhancing 

5 the Wellbeing of Babies through Outreach and Research 

6 Now Act’’ or the ‘‘NEWBORN Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INFANT MORTALITY PILOT PROGRAMS. 

2 Section 330H of the Public Health Service Act (42 

3 U.S.C. 254c–8) is amended— 

4 (1) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub5 section (f); 

6 (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(e) INFANT MORTALITY PILOT PROGRAMS.— 

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

10 through the Administrator, shall award grants to eli11 gible entities to create, implement, and oversee in12 fant mortality pilot programs. 

13 ‘‘(2) PERIOD OF A GRANT.—The period of a 

14 grant under this subsection shall be 5 consecutive 

15 fiscal years. 

16 ‘‘(3) PREFERENCE.—In awarding grants under 

17 this subsection, the Secretary shall give preference 

18 to eligible entities proposing to serve any of the 15 

19 counties or groups of counties with the highest rates 

20 of infant mortality in the United States in the past 

21 3 years. 

22 ‘‘(4) USE OF FUNDS.—Any infant mortality 

23 pilot program funded under this subsection may— 

24 ‘‘(A) include the development of a plan 

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1 munity to be served and strategies to address 

2 those needs; 

3 ‘‘(B) provide outreach to at-risk mothers 

4 through programs deemed appropriate by the 

5 Administrator; 

6 ‘‘(C) develop and implement standardized 

7 systems for improved access, utilization, and 

8 quality of social, educational, and clinical serv9 ices to promote healthy pregnancies, full-term 

10 births, and healthy infancies delivered to women 

11 and their infants, such as— 

12 ‘‘(i) counseling on infant care, feed13 ing, and parenting; 

14 ‘‘(ii) postpartum care; 

15 ‘‘(iii) prevention of premature deliv16 ery; and 

17 ‘‘(iv) additional counseling for at-risk 

18 mothers, including smoking cessation pro19 grams, drug treatment programs, alcohol 

20 treatment programs, nutrition and physical 

21 activity programs, postpartum depression 

22 and domestic violence programs, social and 

23 psychological services, dental care, and 

24 parenting programs; 


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1 ‘‘(D) establish a rural outreach program to 

2 provide care to at-risk mothers in rural areas; 

3 ‘‘(E) establish a regional public education 

4 campaign, including a campaign to— 

5 ‘‘(i) prevent preterm births; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) educate the public about infant 

7 mortality; 

8 ‘‘(F) provide for any other activities, pro9 grams, or strategies as identified by the com10 munity plan; and 

11 ‘‘(G) coordinate efforts between— 

12 ‘‘(i) the health department of each 

13 county or other eligible entity to be served 

14 through the infant mortality pilot program; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(ii) existing entities that work to re17 duce the rate of infant mortality within the 

18 area of any such county or other eligible 

19 entity. 

20 ‘‘(5) LIMITATION.—Of the funds received 

21 through a grant under this subsection for a fiscal 

22 year, an eligible entity shall not use more than 10 

23 percent for program evaluation. 

24 ‘‘(6) REPORTS ON PILOT PROGRAMS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

2 after receiving a grant, and annually thereafter 

3 for the duration of the grant period, each entity 

4 that receives a grant under paragraph (1) shall 

5 submit a report to the Secretary detailing its 

6 infant mortality pilot program. 

7 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The reports 

8 required under subparagraph (A) shall include 

9 information such as the methodology of, and 

10 outcomes and statistics from, the grantee’s in11 fant mortality pilot program. 

12 ‘‘(C) EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall 

13 use the reports required under subparagraph 

14 (A) to evaluate, and conduct statistical research 

15 on, infant mortality pilot programs funded 

16 through this subsection. 

17 ‘‘(7) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this 

18 subsection: 

19 ‘‘(A) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘Admin20 istrator’ means the Administrator of the Health 

21 Resources and Services Administration. 

22 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligi23 ble entity’ means a county, city, territorial, or 

24 tribal health department that has submitted a 

25 proposal to the Secretary that the Secretary 


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1 deems likely to reduce infant mortality rates 

2 within the standard metropolitan statistical 

3 area involved. 

4 ‘‘(C) TRIBAL.—The term ‘tribal’ refers to 

5 an Indian tribe, a Tribal organization, or an 

6 Urban Indian organization, as such terms are 

7 defined in section 4 of the Indian Health Care 

8 Improvement Act.’’; and 

9 (3) by amending subsection (f), as so redesig10 nated— 

11 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

12 (i) by amending the paragraph head13 ing to read: ‘‘HEALTHY START INITIA14 TIVE’’; and 

15 (ii) by inserting after ‘‘carrying out 

16 this section’’ the following: ‘‘(other than 

17 subsection (e))’’; 

18 (B) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 

19 paragraph (3); 

20 (C) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 

21 following: 

22 ‘‘(2) INFANT MORTALITY PILOT PROGRAMS.— 

23 There is authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 

24 for each of fiscal years 2012 through 2016 to carry 

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1 graph to be appropriated to carry out subsection (e) 

2 are in addition to amounts authorized by paragraph 

3 (1) to be appropriated to carry out the Healthy 

4 Start Initiative under subsection (a).’’; and 

5 (D) in paragraph (3)(A), as so redesig6 nated, by striking ‘‘the program under this sec7 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘the program under sub8 section (a)’’. 

Æ 


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