I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1636

To provide for a reduction in the rate of adolescent pregnancy through

the evaluation of public and private prevention programs, and for other

purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 29, 1999

Mrs. LOWEY (for herself, Mr. CASTLE, Mrs. CLAYTON, Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. KOLBE, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. SHAYS,

Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mrs. MORELLA, Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin,

Ms. PRYCE of Ohio, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. PORTER, Mrs. THURMAN, Mrs.

ROUKEMA, and Mr. MORAN of Virginia) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on Commerce

A BILL

To provide for a reduction in the rate of adolescent pregnancy through the evaluation of public and private prevention programs, 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 ‘‘Teenage Pregnancy

5 Reduction Act of 1999’’.
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1 SEC. 2. EVALUATION OF EFFECTIVE PROGRAMS FOR PRE2 VENTION OF ADOLESCENT PREGNANCY.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and

4 Human Services shall (directly or through grants or con5 tracts awarded to public or nonprofit private entities) ar6 range for the evaluation of a wide variety of existing pro7 grams designed in whole or part to prevent pregnancy in

8 adolescents, including programs that do not receive grants

9 from the Federal Government for the operation of the pro10 grams. The purpose of the evaluation shall be the deter11 mination of—

12 (1) the effectiveness of such programs in reduc13 ing adolescent pregnancy;

14 (2) the factors contributing to the effectiveness

15 of the programs; and

16 (3) the feasibility of replicating the programs in

17 other locations.

18 (b) PARTICIPATION OF FEDERAL AGENCIES AND

19 PRIVATE ORGANIZATIONS.—In carrying out the evalua20 tion under subsection (a), the Secretary shall as

21 appropriate—

22 (1) provide for the participation of the Director

23 of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

24 the Director of the Office of Population Affairs, the

25 Assistant Secretary for Children and Families, and
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1 the Director of the National Institute of Child

2 Health and Human Development; and

3 (2) provide for the participation of organiza4 tions with demonstrated expertise in conducting

5 evaluations of adolescent pregnancy prevention pro6 grams, including the National Campaign to Prevent

7 Teen Pregnancy, a nonpartisan organization.

8 (c) DESIGN OF EVALUATION.—Subject to subsection

9 (d), the Secretary shall select a design for the evaluation

10 under subsection (a) from among proposals that—

11 (1) provide for the evaluation of programs in

12 various geographic regions;

13 (2) with respect to the populations served by

14 the programs, provide for determining factors that

15 are specific to various socioeconomic, racial, ethnic,

16 and age groups, and factors that are specific to gen17 der; and

18 (3) meet such other criteria as the Secretary

19 may establish.

20 (d) MEASURES OF EFFECTIVENESS.—The Secretary

21 shall define the measures of effectiveness used in evalu22 ating the programs designed to reduce the rate of adoles23 cent pregnancy, and shall include a variety of measures

24 of effectiveness in the definition.
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1 (e) SCIENTIFIC PEER REVIEW.—The Secretary may

2 provide funds for an evaluation pursuant to subsection (a)

3 only if the evaluation has been recommended for approval

4 pursuant to a process of scientific peer review utilizing one

5 or more panels of experts. Such panels shall include ex6 perts from public entities and from private entities.

7 (f) SUBMISSION OF REPORT TO CONGRESS AND SEC8 RETARY.—Not later than December 1, 2004, the evalua9 tion under subsection (a) shall be completed and a report

10 shall be submitted to the Congress that describes the find11 ings made in the evaluation and provides recommenda12 tions for future programs designed to reduce the rate of

13 adolescent pregnancy.

14 (g) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.—After the

15 submission of the report under subsection (f), the Sec16 retary shall disseminate the findings and recommenda17 tions presented in the report. The categories of individuals

18 to whom the information is disseminated shall include ad19 ministrators of prevention programs, public and private

20 entities providing financial support to such programs, or21 ganizations working on such programs, professional med22 ical associations, entities providing public health services,

23 entities providing social work services, and school adminis24 trators.
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1 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the

2 purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized

3 to be appropriated $3,500,000 for each of the fiscal years

4 2000 through 2002, and such sums as may be necessary

5 for each of the fiscal years 2003 through 2005.

6 SEC. 3. ONE-TIME INCENTIVE GRANTS FOR EFFECTIVE

7 PREVENTION PROGRAMS.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a prevention pro9 gram that pursuant to the evaluation under section 2 has

10 been found to be effective, the Secretary may under this

11 section make not more than one grant to the entity that

12 operates the program. The purpose of the grant shall be

13 to assist the entity with the expenses of operating the pro14 gram.

15 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For car16 rying out subsection (a), there is authorized to be appro17 priated $10,000,000, in the aggregate, for the fiscal years

18 2004 through 2006. Such authorization is in addition to

19 any other authorization of appropriations that is available

20 for making grants for the operational expenses of preven21 tion programs.

22 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

23 (a) PREVENTION PROGRAMS.—

24 (1) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The provisions

25 of this Act apply with respect to a prevention pro-
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1 gram without regard to which of the various pro2 grammatic approaches for the prevention of preg3 nancy in adolescents (as defined in paragraph (2))

4 is the focus of the program.

5 (2) PROGRAMMATIC APPROACHES.—For pur6 poses of this Act, the term ‘‘programmatic ap7 proaches’’, with respect to prevention programs, in8 cludes advocating abstinence from sexual activity;

9 providing family planning services (including contra10 ception); fostering academic achievement; mentoring

11 by adults; providing employment assistance or job

12 training; providing professional counseling or peer

13 counseling; providing for recreational or social

14 events; and any combination thereof.

15 (b) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this Act:

16 (1) The term ‘‘prevention program’’ means a

17 program for the prevention of pregnancy in adoles18 cents.

19 (2) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

20 of Health and Human Services.

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