II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1650 

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants 

to support the access of marginalized youth to sexual health services, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 27, 2017 

Ms. HIRONO (for herself, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BROWN, 

Ms. WARREN, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. FRANKEN, and Mr. BOOKER) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

to award grants to support the access of marginalized 

youth to sexual health services, 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 ‘‘Youth Access to Sexual 

5 Health Services Act of 2017’’. 

mstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS

2 

•S 1650 IS

1 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF GRANTS TO SUPPORT THE AC2 CESS OF MARGINALIZED YOUTH TO SEXUAL 

3 HEALTH SERVICES. 

4 (a) GRANTS.—The Secretary of Health and Human 

5 Services may award grants on a competitive basis to eligi6 ble entities to support the access of marginalized youth 

7 to sexual health services. 

8 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity that is award9 ed a grant under subsection (a) may use the funds to— 

10 (1) provide medically accurate and complete 

11 age-, developmentally, and culturally appropriate 

12 sexual health information to marginalized youth, in13 cluding information on how to access sexual health 

14 services; 

15 (2) promote effective communication regarding 

16 sexual health among marginalized youth; 

17 (3) promote and support better health, edu18 cation, and economic opportunities for school-age 

19 parents; and 

20 (4) train individuals who work with 

21 marginalized youth to promote— 

22 (A) the prevention of unintended preg23 nancy; 

24 (B) the prevention of sexually transmitted 

25 infections, including the human immuno26 deficiency virus (HIV); 

mstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS

3 

•S 1650 IS

1 (C) healthy relationships; and 

2 (D) the development of safe and supportive 

3 environments. 

4 (c) APPLICATION.—To be awarded a grant under 

5 subsection (a), an eligible entity shall submit an applica6 tion to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 

7 containing such information as the Secretary may require. 

8 (d) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under subsection 

9 (a), the Secretary shall give priority to eligible entities— 

10 (1) with a history of supporting the access of 

11 marginalized youth to sexuality education or sexual 

12 health services; and 

13 (2) that plan to serve marginalized youth that 

14 are not served by other programs in existence on the 

15 day before the date of enactment of this Act, for 

16 adolescents regarding HIV, other sexually trans17 mitted infections, or pregnancy prevention. 

18 (e) REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary may not award 

19 a grant under subsection (a) to an eligible entity unless— 

20 (1) such eligible entity has formed a partner21 ship with a community organization; and 

22 (2) such eligible entity agrees— 

23 (A) to employ a scientifically effective 

24 strategy; 

mstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS

4 

•S 1650 IS

1 (B) that all information provided to 

2 marginalized youth will be— 

3 (i) age- and developmentally appro4 priate; 

5 (ii) medically accurate and complete; 

6 (iii) scientifically based; and 

7 (iv) provided in the language and cul8 tural context that is most appropriate for 

9 the individuals served by the eligible entity; 

10 and 

11 (C) that for each year the eligible entity 

12 receives grant funds under subsection (a), the 

13 eligible entity will submit to the Secretary an 

14 annual report that includes— 

15 (i) the use of grant funds by the eligi16 ble entity; 

17 (ii) how the use of grant funds has in18 creased the access of marginalized youth to 

19 sexual health services; and 

20 (iii) such other information as the 

21 Secretary may require. 

22 (f) PUBLICATION AND EVALUATIONS.— 

23 (1) EVALUATIONS.—Not less than once every 2 

24 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

mstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS

5 

•S 1650 IS

1 Secretary shall evaluate the effectiveness of which2 ever of the following is greater: 

3 (A) 8 grants awarded under subsection (a). 

4 (B) 10 percent of the grants awarded 

5 under subsection (a). 

6 (2) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall make 

7 available to the public— 

8 (A) the evaluations required under para9 graph (1); and 

10 (B) the reports required under subsection 

11 (e)(2)(C). 

12 (g) LIMITATIONS.—No funds made available to an el13 igible entity under this section may be used by such entity 

14 to provide access to sexual health services that— 

15 (1) withhold sexual health-promoting or life-sav16 ing information; 

17 (2) are medically inaccurate or have been sci18 entifically shown to be ineffective; 

19 (3) promote gender stereotypes; 

20 (4) are insensitive or unresponsive to the needs 

21 of young people, including— 

22 (A) youth with varying gender identities, 

23 gender expressions, and sexual orientations; 

24 (B) sexually active youth; 

25 (C) pregnant or parenting youth; 

mstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS

6 

•S 1650 IS

1 (D) survivors of sexual abuse or assault; 

2 and 

3 (E) youth of all physical, developmental, 

4 and mental abilities; or 

5 (5) are inconsistent with the ethical imperatives 

6 of medicine and public health. 

7 (h) TRANSFER OF FUNDS.—Any unobligated balance 

8 of funds made available under section 510(d) of the Social 

9 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 710(d)) (as in effect on the day 

10 before the date of the enactment of this Act) are hereby 

11 transferred and made available to the Secretary to carry 

12 out this Act. The amounts transferred and made available 

13 to carry out this Act shall remain available until expended. 

14 (i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

15 (1) COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION.—The term 

16 ‘‘community organization’’ includes a State or local 

17 health or education agency, public school, youth-fo18 cused organization that is faith-based and commu19 nity-based, juvenile justice entity, or other organiza20 tion that provides confidential and appropriate sexu21 ality education or sexual health services to 

22 marginalized youth. 

23 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti24 ty’’ includes a State or local health or education 

25 agency, public school, nonprofit organization, hosmstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS

7 

•S 1650 IS

1 pital, or an Indian tribe or tribal organization (as 

2 such terms are defined in section 4 of the Indian 

3 Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act 

4 (25 U.S.C. 5304)). 

5 (3) MARGINALIZED YOUTH.—The term 

6 ‘‘marginalized youth’’ means a person under the age 

7 of 26 that is disadvantaged by underlying structural 

8 barriers and social inequity. 

9 (4) MEDICALLY ACCURATE AND COMPLETE.— 

10 The term ‘‘medically accurate and complete’’, when 

11 used with respect to information, means information 

12 that— 

13 (A) is supported by research and recog14 nized as accurate, objective, and complete by 

15 leading medical, psychological, psychiatric, or 

16 public health organizations and agencies; and 

17 (B) does not withhold any information re18 lating to the effectiveness and benefits of cor19 rect and consistent use of condoms or other 

20 contraceptives and pregnancy prevention meth21 ods. 

22 (5) SCIENTIFICALLY EFFECTIVE STRATEGY.— 

23 The term ‘‘scientifically effective strategy’’ means a 

24 strategy that— 

mstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS

8 

•S 1650 IS

1 (A) is widely recognized by leading medical 

2 and public health agencies as effective in pro3 moting sexual health awareness and healthy be4 havior; and 

5 (B) either— 

6 (i) has been demonstrated to be effec7 tive on the basis of rigorous scientific re8 search; or 

9 (ii) incorporates characteristics of ef10 fective programs. 

11 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

12 the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 

13 (7) SEXUAL HEALTH SERVICES.—The term 

14 ‘‘sexual health services’’ includes— 

15 (A) sexual health information, education, 

16 and counseling; 

17 (B) contraception; 

18 (C) emergency contraception; 

19 (D) condoms and other barrier methods to 

20 prevent pregnancy or sexually transmitted in21 fections; 

22 (E) routine gynecological care, including 

23 human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines and can24 cer screenings; 

mstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS

9 

•S 1650 IS

1 (F) pre-exposure prophylaxis or post-expo2 sure prophylaxis; 

3 (G) mental health services; 

4 (H) sexual assault survivor services; and 

5 (I) other prevention, care, or treatment 

6 services. 

Æ 

mstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS