I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2701 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 14, 2019 

Ms. ADAMS (for herself, Ms. NORTON, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. NADLER, Ms. 

ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. LEE of California, 

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Miss RICE of New York, Ms. SPEIER, Ms. KELLY of 

Illinois, Mr. AGUILAR, Mr. RYAN, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. 

POCAN, and Mr. BLUMENAUER) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

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 2019’’. 


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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 and age-, developmentally, and culturally appro12 priate sexual health information to marginalized 

13 youth, including information on how to access sexual 

14 health 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); 


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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 Federal adolescent programs for 

15 the prevention of pregnancy, HIV, and other sexu16 ally transmitted infections. 

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

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

19 (1) such eligible entity has formed a partner20 ship with a community organization; and 

21 (2) such eligible entity agrees— 

22 (A) to employ a scientifically effective 

23 strategy; 

24 (B) that all information provided to 

25 marginalized youth will be— 


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1 (i) age- and developmentally appro2 priate; 

3 (ii) medically accurate and complete; 

4 (iii) scientifically based; and 

5 (iv) provided in the language and cul6 tural context that is most appropriate for 

7 the individuals served by the eligible entity; 

8 and 

9 (C) that for each year the eligible entity 

10 receives grant funds under subsection (a), the 

11 eligible entity will submit to the Secretary an 

12 annual report that includes— 

13 (i) the use of grant funds by the eligi14 ble entity; 

15 (ii) how the use of grant funds has in16 creased the access of marginalized youth to 

17 sexual health services; and 

18 (iii) such other information as the 

19 Secretary may require. 

20 (f) PUBLICATION AND EVALUATIONS.— 

21 (1) EVALUATIONS.—Not less than once every 

22 two years after the date of the enactment of this 

23 Act, the Secretary shall evaluate the effectiveness of 

24 whichever of the following is greater: 


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1 (A) Eight grants awarded under subsection 

2 (a). 

3 (B) Ten percent of the grants awarded 

4 under subsection (a). 

5 (2) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall make 

6 available to the public— 

7 (A) the evaluations required under para8 graph (1); and 

9 (B) the reports required under subsection 

10 (e)(2)(C). 

11 (g) LIMITATIONS.—No funds made available to an el12 igible entity under this section may be used by such entity 

13 to provide access to sexual health services that— 

14 (1) withhold sexual health-promoting or life-sav15 ing information; 

16 (2) are medically inaccurate or have been sci17 entifically shown to be ineffective; 

18 (3) promote gender stereotypes; 

19 (4) are insensitive or unresponsive to the needs 

20 of young people, including— 

21 (A) youth with varying gender identities, 

22 gender expressions, and sexual orientations; 

23 (B) sexually active youth; 

24 (C) pregnant or parenting youth; 


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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(f) of the Social 

9 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 710(f)) (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, hosVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:40 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2701.IH H2701

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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— 


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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; 


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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. 

Æ 


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