II

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1875

To initiate a coordinated national effort to prevent, detect, and educate

the public concerning Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Effect

and to identify effective interventions for children, adolescents, and adults

with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Effect, and for other

purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 27, 1998

Mr. DASCHLE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources

A BILL

To initiate a coordinated national effort to prevent, detect,

and educate the public concerning Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Effect and to identify effective

interventions for children, adolescents, and adults with

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Effect, 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 ‘‘Fetal Alcohol Syn5 drome and Fetal Alcohol Effect Prevention and Services

6 Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 Congress finds that—

3 (1) Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is the leading

4 known cause of mental retardation, and it is 100

5 percent preventable;

6 (2) each year, up to 12,000 infants are born in

7 the United States with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, suf8 fering irreversible physical and mental damage;

9 (3) thousands more infants are born each year

10 with Fetal Alcohol Effect, also known as Alcohol Re11 lated Neurobehavioral Disorder (ARND), a related

12 and equally tragic syndrome;

13 (4) children of women who use alcohol while

14 pregnant have a significantly higher infant mortality

15 rate (13.3 per 1000) than children of those women

16 who do not use alcohol (8.6 per 1000);

17 (5) Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol

18 Effect are national problems which can impact any

19 child, family, or community, but their threat to

20 American Indians and Alaska Natives is especially

21 alarming;

22 (6) in some American Indian communities,

23 where alcohol dependency rates reach 50 percent

24 and above, the chances of a newborn suffering Fetal

25 Alcohol Syndrome or Fetal Alcohol Effect are up to

26 30 times greater than national averages;
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1 (7) in addition to the immeasurable toll on chil2 dren and their families, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and

3 Fetal Alcohol Effect pose extraordinary financial

4 costs to the Nation, including the costs of health

5 care, education, foster care, job training, and gen6 eral support services for affected individuals;

7 (8) the total cost to the economy of Fetal Alco8 hol Syndrome was approximately $2,500,000,000 in

9 1995, and over a lifetime, health care costs for one

10 Fetal Alcohol Syndrome child are estimated to be at

11 least $1,400,000;

12 (9) researchers have determined that the possi13 bility of giving birth to a baby with Fetal Alcohol

14 Syndrome or Fetal Alcohol Effect increases in pro15 portion to the amount and frequency of alcohol con16 sumed by a pregnant woman, and that stopping al17 cohol consumption at any point in the pregnancy re18 duces the emotional, physical, and mental con19 sequences of alcohol exposure to the baby; and

20 (10) though approximately 1 out of every 5

21 pregnant women drink alcohol during their preg22 nancy, we know of no safe dose of alcohol during

23 pregnancy, or of any safe time to drink during preg24 nancy, thus, it is in the best interest of the Nation

25 for the Federal Government to take an active role in
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1 encouraging all women to abstain from alcohol con2 sumption during pregnancy.

3 SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

4 It is the purpose of this Act to establish, within the

5 Department of Health and Human Services, a comprehen6 sive program to help prevent Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and

7 Fetal Alcohol Effect nationwide and to provide effective

8 intervention programs and services for children, adoles9 cents and adults already affected by these conditions.

10 Such program shall—

11 (1) coordinate, support, and conduct national,

12 State, and community-based public awareness, pre13 vention, and education programs on Fetal Alcohol

14 Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Effect;

15 (2) coordinate, support, and conduct prevention

16 and intervention studies as well as epidemiologic re17 search concerning Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal

18 Alcohol Effect;

19 (3) coordinate, support and conduct research

20 and demonstration projects to develop effective de21 velopmental and behavioral interventions and pro22 grams that foster effective advocacy, educational and

23 vocational training, appropriate therapies, counsel24 ing, medical and mental health, and other supportive

25 services, as well as models that integrate or coordi-
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1 nate such services, aimed at the unique challenges

2 facing individuals with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome or

3 Fetal Alcohol Effect and their families; and

4 (4) foster coordination among all Federal, State

5 and local agencies, and promote partnerships be6 tween research institutions and communities that

7 conduct or support Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and

8 Fetal Alcohol Effect research, programs, surveil9 lance, prevention, and interventions and otherwise

10 meet the general needs of populations already af11 fected or at risk of being impacted by Fetal Alcohol

12 Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Effect.

13 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.

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

15 241 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the follow16 ing:

17 ‘‘PART O—FETAL ALCOHOL SYNDROME

18 PREVENTION AND SERVICES PROGRAM

19 ‘‘SEC. 399G. ESTABLISHMENT OF FETAL ALCOHOL SYN20 DROME PREVENTION AND SERVICES PRO21 GRAM.

22 ‘‘(a) FETAL ALCOHOL SYNDROME PREVENTION,

23 INTERVENTION AND SERVICES DELIVERY PROGRAM.—

24 The Secretary shall establish a comprehensive Fetal Alco-
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1 hol Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Effect prevention, inter2 vention and services delivery program that shall include—

3 ‘‘(1) an education and public awareness pro4 gram to support, conduct, and evaluate the effective5 ness of—

6 ‘‘(A) educational programs targeting medi7 cal schools, social and other supportive services,

8 educators and counselors and other service pro9 viders in all phases of childhood development,

10 and other relevant service providers, concerning

11 the prevention, identification, and provision of

12 services for children, adolescents and adults

13 with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol

14 Effect;

15 ‘‘(B) strategies to educate school-age chil16 dren, including pregnant and high risk youth,

17 concerning Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal

18 Alcohol Effect;

19 ‘‘(C) public and community awareness pro20 grams concerning Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and

21 Fetal Alcohol Effect; and

22 ‘‘(D) strategies to coordinate information

23 and services across affected community agen24 cies, including agencies providing social services

25 such as foster care, adoption, and social work,
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1 medical and mental health services, and agen2 cies involved in education, vocational training

3 and civil and criminal justice;

4 ‘‘(2) a prevention and diagnosis program to

5 support clinical studies, demonstrations and other

6 research as appropriate to—

7 ‘‘(A) develop appropriate medical diag8 nostic methods for identifying Fetal Alcohol

9 Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Effect; and

10 ‘‘(B) develop effective prevention services

11 and interventions for pregnant, alcohol-depend12 ent women; and

13 ‘‘(3) an applied research program concerning

14 intervention and prevention to support and conduct

15 service demonstration projects, clinical studies and

16 other research models providing advocacy, edu17 cational and vocational training, counseling, medical

18 and mental health, and other supportive services, as

19 well as models that integrate and coordinate such

20 services, that are aimed at the unique challenges fac21 ing individuals with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome or

22 Fetal Alcohol Effect and their families.

23 ‘‘(b) GRANTS AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The

24 Secretary may award grants, cooperative agreements and
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1 contracts and provide technical assistance to eligible enti2 ties described in section 399H to carry out subsection (a).

3 ‘‘(c) DISSEMINATION OF CRITERIA.—In carrying out

4 this section, the Secretary shall develop a procedure for

5 disseminating the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal Alco6 hol Effect diagnostic criteria developed pursuant to section

7 705 of the ADAMHA Reorganization Act (42 U.S.C. 485n

8 note) to health care providers, educators, social workers,

9 child welfare workers, and other individuals.

10 ‘‘(d) NATIONAL TASK FORCE.—

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab12 lish a task force to be known as the National task

13 force on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol

14 Effect (referred to in this subsection as the ‘task

15 force’) to foster coordination among all govern16 mental agencies, academic bodies and community

17 groups that conduct or support Fetal Alcohol Syn18 drome and Fetal Alcohol Effect research, programs,

19 and surveillance, and otherwise meet the general

20 needs of populations actually or potentially impacted

21 by Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Effect.

22 ‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP.—The Task Force estab23 lished pursuant to paragraph (1) shall—
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1 ‘‘(A) be chaired by an individual to be ap2 pointed by the Secretary and staffed by the Ad3 ministration; and

4 ‘‘(B) include the Chairperson of the Inter5 agency Coordinating Committee on Fetal Alco6 hol Syndrome of the Department of Health and

7 Human Services, and representatives from re8 search and advocacy organizations such as the

9 Research Society on Alcoholism, the FAS Fam10 ily Resource Institute and the National Organi11 zation of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, the academic

12 community, and Federal, State and local gov13 ernment agencies and offices.

14 ‘‘(3) FUNCTIONS.—The Task Force shall—

15 ‘‘(A) advise Federal, State and local pro16 grams and research concerning Fetal Alcohol

17 Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Effect, including

18 programs and research concerning education

19 and public awareness for relevant service pro20 viders, school-age children, women at-risk, and

21 the general public, medical diagnosis, interven22 tions for women at-risk of giving birth to chil23 dren with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal

24 Alcohol Effect, and beneficial services for indi-
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1 viduals with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal

2 Alcohol Effect and their families;

3 ‘‘(B) coordinate its efforts with the Inter4 agency Coordinating Committee on Fetal Alco5 hol Syndrome of the Department of Health and

6 Human Services; and

7 ‘‘(C) report on a biennial basis to the Sec8 retary and relevant committees of Congress on

9 the current and planned activities of the partici10 pating agencies.

11 ‘‘(4) TIME FOR APPOINTMENT.—The members

12 of the Task Force shall be appointed by the Sec13 retary not later than 6 months after the date of en14 actment of this part.

15 ‘‘SEC. 399H. ELIGIBILITY.

16 ‘‘To be eligible to receive a grant, or enter into a co17 operative agreement or contract under this part, an entity

18 shall—

19 ‘‘(1) be a State, Indian tribal government, local

20 government, scientific or academic institution, or

21 nonprofit organization; and

22 ‘‘(2) prepare and submit to the Secretary an

23 application at such time, in such manner, and con24 taining such information as the Secretary may pre25 scribe, including a description of the activities that
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1 the entity intends to carry out using amounts re2 ceived under this part.

3 ‘‘SEC. 399I. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be ap5 propriated to carry out this part, $27,000,000 for each

6 of the fiscal years 1999 through 2003.

7 ‘‘(b) TASK FORCE.—From amounts appropriate for

8 a fiscal year under subsection (a), the Secretary may use

9 not to exceed $2,000,000 of such amounts for the oper10 ations of the National Task Force under section 399G(d).

11 ‘‘SEC. 399J. SUNSET PROVISION.

12 ‘‘This part shall not apply on the date that is 7 years

13 after the date on which all members of the national task

14 force have been appointed under section 399G(d)(1).’’.

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