II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 393 

To aid and support pediatric involvement in reading and education. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 17, 2011 

Mr. REED (for himself, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. BEGICH, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. 

COLLINS, Mr. KERRY, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. STABENOW, 

and Mr. WHITEHOUSE) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 

Pensions 

A BILL 

To aid and support pediatric involvement in reading and 

education. 

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 ‘‘Prescribe A Book 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti9 ty’’ means a nonprofit organization that has, as deVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:27 Feb 18, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S393.IS S393

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1 termined by the Secretary, demonstrated effective2 ness in the following areas: 

3 (A) Providing peer-to-peer training to 

4 healthcare providers in research-based methods 

5 of literacy promotion as part of routine pedi6 atric health supervision visits. 

7 (B) Delivering a training curriculum 

8 through a variety of medical education settings, 

9 including residency training, continuing medical 

10 education, and national pediatric conferences. 

11 (C) Providing technical assistance to local 

12 healthcare facilities to effectively implement a 

13 high-quality Pediatric Early Literacy Program. 

14 (D) Offering opportunities for local 

15 healthcare facilities to obtain books at signifi16 cant discounts, as described in section 7. 

17 (E) Integrating the latest developmental 

18 and educational research into the training cur19 riculum for healthcare providers described in 

20 subparagraph (B). 

21 (2) PEDIATRIC EARLY LITERACY PROGRAM.— 

22 The term ‘‘Pediatric Early Literacy Program’’ 

23 means a program that— 

24 (A) creates and implements a 3-part model 

25 through which— 


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1 (i) healthcare providers, doctors, and 

2 nurses, trained in research-based methods 

3 of early language and literacy promotion, 

4 encourage parents to read aloud to their 

5 young children, and offer developmentally 

6 appropriate recommendations and strate7 gies to parents for the purpose of reading 

8 aloud to their children; 

9 (ii) healthcare providers, at health su10 pervision visits, provide each child between 

11 the ages of 6 months and 5 years a new, 

12 developmentally appropriate children’s 

13 book to take home and keep; and 

14 (iii) volunteers in waiting areas of 

15 healthcare facilities read aloud to children, 

16 modeling for parents the techniques and 

17 pleasures of sharing books together; 

18 (B) demonstrates, through research pub19 lished in peer-reviewed journals, effectiveness in 

20 positively altering parent behavior regarding 

21 reading aloud to children, and improving ex22 pressive and receptive language in young chil23 dren; and 

24 (C) receives the endorsement of nationally 

25 recognized medical associations and academies. 


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1 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of Education. 

3 SEC. 3. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 

4 The Secretary is authorized to award grants to eligi5 ble entities to enable the eligible entities to implement Pe6 diatric Early Literacy Programs. 

7 SEC. 4. APPLICATIONS. 

8 An eligible entity that desires to receive a grant under 

9 section 3 shall submit an application to the Secretary at 

10 such time, in such manner, and including such informa11 tion as the Secretary may reasonably require. 

12 SEC. 5. MATCHING REQUIREMENT. 

13 An eligible entity receiving a grant under section 3 

14 shall provide, either directly or through private contribu15 tions, non-Federal matching funds equal to not less than 

16 50 percent of the grant received by the eligible entity 

17 under section 3. Such matching funds may be in cash or 

18 in-kind. 

19 SEC. 6. USE OF GRANT FUNDS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity receiving a 

21 grant under section 3 shall— 

22 (1) enter into contracts with private nonprofit 

23 organizations, or with public agencies, selected based 

24 on the criteria described in subsection (b), under 


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1 which each contractor will agree to establish and op2 erate a Pediatric Early Literacy Program; 

3 (2) provide such training and technical assist4 ance to each contractor of the eligible entity as may 

5 be necessary to carry out this Act; and 

6 (3) include such other terms and conditions in 

7 an agreement with a contractor as the Secretary de8 termines to be appropriate to ensure the effective9 ness of such programs. 

10 (b) CONTRACTOR CRITERIA.—Each contractor shall 

11 be selected under subsection (a)(1) on the basis of the ex12 tent to which the contractor gives priority to serving a 

13 substantial number or percentage of at-risk children, in14 cluding— 

15 (1) children from families with an income below 

16 200 percent of the poverty line (as defined by the 

17 Office of Management and Budget and revised an18 nually in accordance with section 673(2) of the 

19 Community Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 

20 9902(2)) applicable to a family of the size involved, 

21 particularly such children in high-poverty areas; 

22 (2) children without adequate medical insur23 ance; 

24 (3) children enrolled in a State Medicaid pro25 gram, established under title XIX of the Social SeVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:27 Feb 18, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S393.IS S393

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1 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) or in the State 

2 Children’s Health Insurance Program established 

3 under title XXI of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1397aa et 

4 seq.); 

5 (4) children living in rural areas; 

6 (5) migrant children; and 

7 (6) children with limited access to libraries. 

8 SEC. 7. RESTRICTION ON PAYMENTS. 

9 The Secretary shall make no payment to an eligible 

10 entity under this Act unless the Secretary determines that 

11 the eligible entity or a contractor of the eligible entity, as 

12 the case may be, has made arrangements with book pub13 lishers or distributors to obtain books at discounts that 

14 are at least as favorable as discounts that are customarily 

15 given by such publisher or distributor for book purchases 

16 made under similar circumstances in the absence of Fed17 eral assistance. 

18 SEC. 8. REPORTING REQUIREMENT. 

19 An eligible entity receiving a grant under section 3 

20 shall report annually to the Secretary on the effectiveness 

21 of the program implemented by the eligible entity and the 

22 programs instituted by each contractor of the eligible enti23 ty, and shall include in the report a description of each 

24 program. 


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1 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

3 this Act $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2012 and such sums 

4 as may be necessary for each of the succeeding 4 fiscal 

5 years. 

Æ 


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