I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2810 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish various programs for 

the recruitment and retention of public health workers and to eliminate 

critical public health workforce shortages in Federal, State, local, and 

tribal public health agencies and health centers. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 10, 2009 

Ms. MATSUI introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish various 

programs for the recruitment and retention of public 

health workers and to eliminate critical public health 

workforce shortages in Federal, State, local, and tribal 

public health agencies and health centers. 

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 ‘‘Public Health Work5 force Investment Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

2 The purpose of this Act is to address the impending 

3 shortage of public health workers across the United States 

4 by providing financial incentives for public health grad5 uates to work in public health departments and commu6 nity health centers. 

7 SEC. 3. PUBLIC HEALTH WORKFORCE RECRUITMENT AND 

8 RETENTION PROGRAMS. 

9 Part E of title VII of the Public Health Service Act 

10 (42 U.S.C. 294n et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

11 the following: 

12 ‘‘Subpart 3—Public Health Workforce Recruitment 

13 and Retention Programs 

14 ‘‘SEC. 780. PUBLIC HEALTH WORKFORCE SCHOLARSHIP 

15 PROGRAM. 

16 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab17 lish the Public Health Workforce Scholarship Program 

18 (referred to in this section as the ‘Program’) to assure 

19 an adequate supply of public health professionals to elimi20 nate critical public health workforce shortages in Federal, 

21 State, local, and tribal public health agencies and health 

22 centers. 

23 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to participate in 

24 the Program, an individual shall— 

25 ‘‘(1) be accepted for enrollment, or be enrolled, 

26 as a full-time or part-time student— 


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1 ‘‘(A) in an educational institution in a 

2 State or territory that is accredited by the 

3 Council on Education for Public Health; and 

4 ‘‘(B) in a course of study or program that 

5 is accredited by the Council on Education for 

6 Public Health, offered by such institution and 

7 approved by the Secretary, leading to a health 

8 professions degree (graduate, undergraduate, or 

9 associate) or certificate, which may include pub10 lic health, laboratory sciences, epidemiology, en11 vironmental health, health communications, 

12 health education and behavioral sciences, health 

13 policy and management, information sciences, 

14 or public administration; 

15 ‘‘(2) be a United States citizen; 

16 ‘‘(3) submit an application to the Secretary to 

17 participate in the Program; and 

18 ‘‘(4) sign and submit to the Secretary, at the 

19 time of the submission of such application, a written 

20 contract (described in subsection (d)) to serve, upon 

21 the completion of the course of study or program in22 volved, for the applicable period of obligated service 

23 in the full-time employment of a Federal, State, 

24 local, or tribal public health agency or a health cen25 ter. 


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1 ‘‘(c) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.— 

2 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION AND CONTRACT FORMS.— 

3 The Secretary shall disseminate application forms 

4 and contract forms to individuals desiring to partici5 pate in the Program. The Secretary shall include 

6 with such forms— 

7 ‘‘(A) a fair summary of the rights and li8 abilities of an individual whose application is 

9 approved (and whose contract is accepted) by 

10 the Secretary, including in the summary a clear 

11 explanation of the damages to which the United 

12 States is entitled in the case of the individual’s 

13 breach of the contract; and 

14 ‘‘(B) information relating to the service ob15 ligation and such other information as may be 

16 necessary for the individual to understand the 

17 individual’s prospective participation in the Pro18 gram. 

19 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION FOR SCHOOLS.—The Sec20 retary shall distribute to health professions schools 

21 and other appropriate accredited academic institu22 tions and relevant Federal, State, local, and tribal 

23 public health agencies and health centers, materials 

24 providing information on the Program and shall en25 courage such schools, institutions, and agencies to 


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1 disseminate such materials to potentially eligible stu2 dents. 

3 ‘‘(3) UNDERSTANDABILITY AND TIMING.—The 

4 application form, contract form, and all other infor5 mation furnished by the Secretary under this section 

6 shall— 

7 ‘‘(A) be written in a manner calculated to 

8 be understood by the average individual apply9 ing to participate in the Program; and 

10 ‘‘(B) be made available by the Secretary on 

11 a date sufficiently early to ensure that such in12 dividuals have adequate time to carefully review 

13 and evaluate such forms and information. 

14 ‘‘(d) CONTRACT.—The written contract between the 

15 Secretary and an individual shall contain— 

16 ‘‘(1) an agreement on the part of the Secretary 

17 that the Secretary will provide the individual with a 

18 scholarship for a period of years (not to exceed 4 

19 academic years) during which the individual shall 

20 pursue an approved course of study or program to 

21 prepare the individual to serve in the public health 

22 workforce; 

23 ‘‘(2) an agreement on the part of the individual 

24 that the individual will— 


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1 ‘‘(A) maintain full-time or part-time enroll2 ment in the approved course of study or pro3 gram described in subsection (b)(1) until the in4 dividual completes that course of study or pro5 gram; 

6 ‘‘(B) while enrolled in the course of study 

7 or program, maintain an acceptable level of aca8 demic standing (as determined under regula9 tions of the Secretary by the educational insti10 tution offering such course of study or pro11 gram); and 

12 ‘‘(C) immediately upon graduation, serve 

13 in the full-time employment of a Federal, State, 

14 local, or tribal public health agency or a health 

15 center in a position related to the course of 

16 study or program for which the contract was 

17 awarded for a period of time (referred to in this 

18 section as the ‘period of obligated service’) 

19 equal to the greater of— 

20 ‘‘(i) 1 year for each academic year for 

21 which the individual was provided a schol22 arship under the Program; or 

23 ‘‘(ii) 2 years; 


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1 ‘‘(3) an agreement by both parties as to the na2 ture and extent of the scholarship assistance, which 

3 may include— 

4 ‘‘(A) payment of the tuition or fee ex5 penses of the individual; 

6 ‘‘(B) payment of all other reasonable edu7 cational expenses of the individual including 

8 fees, books, equipment, and laboratory ex9 penses; and 

10 ‘‘(C) payment of a stipend of not more 

11 than $1,200 per month for each month of the 

12 academic year involved (indexed to account for 

13 increases in the Consumer Price Index); 

14 ‘‘(4) a provision that any financial obligation of 

15 the United States arising out of a contract entered 

16 into under this subsection and any obligation of the 

17 individual which is conditioned thereon, is contingent 

18 upon funds being appropriated for scholarships 

19 under this section; 

20 ‘‘(5) a statement of the damages to which the 

21 United States is entitled for the individual’s breach 

22 of the contract; and 

23 ‘‘(6) such other statements of the rights and li24 abilities of the Secretary and of the individual, not 

25 inconsistent with the provisions of this section. 


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1 ‘‘(e) POSTPONING OBLIGATED SERVICE.—With re2 spect to an individual receiving a degree or certificate from 

3 a school of medicine, public health, nursing, osteopathic 

4 medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, optometry, po5 diatry, pharmacy, psychology, or social work under a 

6 scholarship under the Program, the date of the initiation 

7 of the period of obligated service may be postponed, upon 

8 the submission by the individual of a petition for such 

9 postponement and approval by the Secretary, to the date 

10 on which the individual completes an approved internship, 

11 residency, or other relevant public health advanced train12 ing program. 

13 ‘‘(f) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) CONTRACTS WITH INSTITUTIONS.—The 

15 Secretary may contract with an educational institu16 tion in which a participant in the Program is en17 rolled, for the payment to the educational institution 

18 of the amounts of tuition or fees and other reason19 able educational expenses described in subsection 

20 (d)(3). 

21 ‘‘(2) EMPLOYMENT CEILINGS.—Notwith22 standing any other provision of law, individuals who 

23 have entered into written contracts with the Sec24 retary under this section, while undergoing academic 

25 training, shall not be counted against any employVerDate Nov 24 2008 04:29 Jun 11, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2810.IH H2810

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1 ment ceiling affecting the Department or any other 

2 Federal agency. 

3 ‘‘(g) BREACH OF CONTRACT.—An individual who 

4 fails to comply with the contract entered into under sub5 section (d) shall be subject to the same financial penalties 

6 as provided for under section 338E for breaches of schol7 arship contracts under sections 338A. 

8 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

9 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

10 $35,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2010 through 

11 2015. 

12 ‘‘(i) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this subpart, the 

13 term ‘health center’ means a Federally-qualified health 

14 center (as defined in section 1905(l)(2)(B) of the Social 

15 Security Act). 

16 ‘‘SEC. 781. PUBLIC HEALTH WORKFORCE LOAN REPAYMENT 

17 PROGRAM. 

18 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab19 lish the Public Health Workforce Loan Repayment Pro20 gram (referred to in this section as the ‘Program’) to as21 sure an adequate supply of public health professionals to 

22 eliminate critical public health workforce shortages in 

23 Federal, State, local, and tribal public health agencies and 

24 in health centers. 


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1 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to participate in 

2 the Program, an individual shall— 

3 ‘‘(1)(A) be accepted for enrollment, or be en4 rolled, as a full-time or part-time student in an aca5 demic educational institution accredited by the 

6 Council on Education for Public Health in a State 

7 or territory in the final year of a course of study or 

8 program offered by that institution leading to a 

9 health professions degree or certificate, which may 

10 include a degree (graduate, undergraduate, or asso11 ciate) or certificate relating to public health, labora12 tory sciences, epidemiology, environmental health, 

13 health communications, health policy and manage14 ment, health education and behavioral sciences, in15 formation sciences, or public administration; or 

16 ‘‘(B) have graduated, within 10 years, from an 

17 educational institution accredited by the Council on 

18 Education for Public Health in a State or territory 

19 and received a health professions degree (graduate, 

20 undergraduate, or associate) or certificate, which 

21 may include a degree (graduate, undergraduate, or 

22 associate) or certificate relating to public health, lab23 oratory sciences, epidemiology, environmental health, 

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1 ioral sciences, health policy and management, infor2 mation sciences, or public administration; 

3 ‘‘(2)(A) in the case of an individual described in 

4 paragraph (1)(A), have accepted employment with a 

5 Federal, State, local, or tribal public health agency 

6 or a health center, as recognized by the Secretary, 

7 to commence upon graduation; or 

8 ‘‘(B) in the case of an individual described in 

9 paragraph (1)(B), be employed by, or have accepted 

10 employment with, a Federal, State, local, or tribal 

11 public health agency or a health center, as recog12 nized by the Secretary; 

13 ‘‘(3) be a United States citizen; 

14 ‘‘(4) submit an application to the Secretary to 

15 participate in the Program; and 

16 ‘‘(5) sign and submit to the Secretary, at the 

17 time of the submission of such application, a written 

18 contract (described in subsection (d)) to serve for 

19 the applicable period of obligated service in the full20 time employment of a Federal, State, local, or tribal 

21 public health agency or a health center. 

22 ‘‘(c) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.— 

23 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION AND CONTRACT FORMS.— 

24 The Secretary shall disseminate application forms 

25 and contract forms to individuals desiring to particiVerDate Nov 24 2008 04:29 Jun 11, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2810.IH H2810

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1 pate in the Program. The Secretary shall include 

2 with such forms— 

3 ‘‘(A) a fair summary of the rights and li4 abilities of an individual whose application is 

5 approved (and whose contract is accepted) by 

6 the Secretary, including in the summary a clear 

7 explanation of the damages to which the United 

8 States is entitled to recover in the case of the 

9 individual’s breach of the contract; and 

10 ‘‘(B) information relating to the service ob11 ligation and such other information as may be 

12 necessary for the individual to understand the 

13 individual’s prospective participation in the Pro14 gram. 

15 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION FOR SCHOOLS.—The Sec16 retary shall distribute to health professions schools 

17 and programs and other appropriate accredited aca18 demic institutions and relevant Federal, State, local, 

19 and tribal public health agencies and health centers, 

20 materials providing information on the Program and 

21 shall encourage such schools, institutions, programs, 

22 and agencies to disseminate such materials to poten23 tially eligible students. 

24 ‘‘(3) UNDERSTANDABILITY AND TIMING.—The 

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1 mation furnished by the Secretary under this section 

2 shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) be written in a manner calculated to 

4 be understood by the average individual apply5 ing to participate in the Program; and 

6 ‘‘(B) be made available by the Secretary on 

7 a date sufficiently early to ensure that such in8 dividuals have adequate time to carefully review 

9 and evaluate such forms and information. 

10 ‘‘(d) CONTRACT.—The written contract (referred to 

11 in this section) between the Secretary and an individual 

12 shall contain— 

13 ‘‘(1) an agreement on the part of the Secretary 

14 that the Secretary will repay on behalf of the indi15 vidual loans incurred by the individual in the pursuit 

16 of the relevant public health workforce educational 

17 degree or certificate in accordance with the terms of 

18 the contract; 

19 ‘‘(2) an agreement on the part of the individual 

20 that the individual will serve, immediately upon 

21 graduation in the case of an individual described in 

22 subsection (b)(1)(A) service, or in the case of an in23 dividual described in subsection (b)(1)(B) continue 

24 to serve, in the full-time employment of a Federal, 

25 State, local, or tribal public health agency or health 


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1 center in a position related to the course of study or 

2 program for which the contract was awarded for a 

3 period of time (referred to in this section as the ‘pe4 riod of obligated service’) equal to the greater of— 

5 ‘‘(A) 3 years; or 

6 ‘‘(B) such longer period of time as deter7 mined appropriate by the Secretary and the in8 dividual; 

9 ‘‘(3) an agreement, as appropriate, on the part 

10 of the individual to relocate for the entire period of 

11 obligated service to a political jurisdiction designated 

12 by the Secretary to be a priority service area in ex13 change for an additional loan repayment incentive 

14 amount that does not exceed 20 percent of the indi15 vidual’s eligible loan repayment award per academic 

16 year such that the total of the loan repayment and 

the incentive amount shall not exceed 1 17 ⁄3 of the eligi18 ble loan balance per year; 

19 ‘‘(4) in the case of an individual described in 

20 subsection (b)(1)(A) who is in the final year of study 

21 and who has accepted employment with a Federal, 

22 State, local, or tribal public health agency or a 

23 health center upon graduation, an agreement on the 

24 part of the individual to complete the education or 

25 training, maintain an acceptable level of academic 


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1 standing (as determined by the education institution 

2 offering the course of study or training), and agree 

3 to the period of obligated service; 

4 ‘‘(5) a provision that any financial obligation of 

5 the United States arising out of a contract entered 

6 into under this section and any obligation of the in7 dividual that is conditioned thereon, is contingent on 

8 funds being appropriated for loan repayments under 

9 this section; 

10 ‘‘(6) a statement of the damages to which the 

11 United States is entitled, under this section for the 

12 individual’s breach of the contract; and 

13 ‘‘(7) such other statements of the rights and li14 abilities of the Secretary and of the individual, not 

15 inconsistent with this section. 

16 ‘‘(e) PAYMENTS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A loan repayment provided 

18 for an individual under a written contract under the 

19 Program shall consist of payment, in accordance 

20 with paragraph (2), on behalf of the individual of 

21 the principal, interest, and related expenses on gov22 ernment and commercial loans received by the indi23 vidual regarding the undergraduate or graduate edu24 cation of the individual (or both), which loans were 

25 made for— 


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1 ‘‘(A) tuition or fee expenses; or 

2 ‘‘(B) all other reasonable educational ex3 penses, including fees, books, and laboratory ex4 penses, incurred by the individual. 

5 ‘‘(2) PAYMENTS FOR YEARS SERVED.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For each year of obli7 gated service that an individual contracts to 

8 serve under subsection (d) the Secretary may 

9 pay up to $35,000 on behalf of the individual 

10 for loans described in paragraph (1). With re11 spect to participants under the Program whose 

12 total eligible loans are less than $105,000, the 

13 Secretary shall pay an amount that does not exceed 1 14 ⁄3 of the eligible loan balance for each 

15 year of obligated service of the individual. 

16 ‘‘(B) REPAYMENT SCHEDULE.—Any ar17 rangement made by the Secretary for the mak18 ing of loan repayments in accordance with this 

19 subsection shall provide that any repayments 

20 for a year of obligated service shall be made no 

21 later than the end of the fiscal year in which 

22 the individual completes such year of service. 

23 ‘‘(3) TAX LIABILITY.—For the purpose of pro24 viding reimbursements for tax liability resulting 


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1 from payments under paragraph (2) on behalf of an 

2 individual— 

3 ‘‘(A) the Secretary shall, in addition to 

4 such payments, make payments to the indi5 vidual in an amount not to exceed 39 percent 

6 of the total amount of loan repayments made 

7 for the taxable year involved; and 

8 ‘‘(B) may make such additional payments 

9 as the Secretary determines to be appropriate 

10 with respect to such purpose. 

11 ‘‘(4) PAYMENT SCHEDULE.—The Secretary 

12 may enter into an agreement with the holder of any 

13 loan for which payments are made under the Pro14 gram to establish a schedule for the making of such 

15 payments. 

16 ‘‘(f) POSTPONING OBLIGATED SERVICE.—With re17 spect to an individual receiving a degree or certificate from 

18 a school of medicine, public health, nursing, osteopathic 

19 medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, optometry, po20 diatry, pharmacy, psychology, or social work, the date of 

21 the initiation of the period of obligated service may be 

22 postponed, upon the submission by the individual of a peti23 tion for such postponement and approval by the Secretary, 

24 to the date on which the individual completes an approved 


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1 internship, residency, or other relevant public health ad2 vanced training program. 

3 ‘‘(g) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) HIRING PRIORITY.—Notwithstanding any 

5 other provision of law, Federal, State, local, and 

6 tribal public health agencies and health centers may 

7 give hiring priority to any individual who has quali8 fied for and is willing to execute a contract to par9 ticipate in the Program. 

10 ‘‘(2) EMPLOYMENT CEILINGS.—Notwith11 standing any other provision of law, individuals who 

12 have entered into written contracts with the Sec13 retary under this section, who are serving as full14 time employees of a State, local, or tribal public 

15 health agency or a health center, or who are in the 

16 last year of public health workforce academic prepa17 ration, shall not be counted against any employment 

18 ceiling affecting the Department or any other Fed19 eral agency. 

20 ‘‘(h) BREACH OF CONTRACT.—An individual who 

21 fails to comply with the contract entered into under sub22 section (d) shall be subject to the same financial penalties 

23 as provided for under section 338E for breaches of loan 

24 repayment contracts under section 338B. 


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1 ‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

3 $195,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2010 through 

4 2015. 

5 ‘‘SEC. 782. GRANTS FOR STATE AND LOCAL PROGRAMS. 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose of operating 

7 State, local, tribal, and health center public health work8 force loan repayment programs under this subpart, the 

9 Secretary shall award a grant to any public health agency 

10 that receives public health cooperative agreements, or 

11 other successor cooperative agreements, from the Depart12 ment of Health and Human Services. 

13 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.—A State or local loan repay14 ment program operated with a grant under subsection (a) 

15 shall incorporate all provisions of the Public Health Work16 force Loan Repayment Program under section 781, in17 cluding the ability to designate priority service areas with18 in the relevant political jurisdiction. 

19 ‘‘(c) ADMINISTRATION.—The head of the State or 

20 local office that receives a grant under subsection (a) shall 

21 be responsible for contracting and operating the loan re22 payment program under the grant. 

23 ‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec24 tion shall be construed to obligate or limit any State, local, 

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1 pendent or supplemental public health workforce develop2 ment programs within their borders. 

3 ‘‘SEC. 783. TRAINING FOR MID-CAREER PUBLIC HEALTH 

4 PROFESSIONALS. 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may make grants 

6 to, or enter into contracts with, any eligible entity to 

7 award scholarships to eligible individuals to enroll in de8 gree or professional training programs for the purpose of 

9 enabling mid-career professionals in the public health 

10 workforce to receive additional training in the field of pub11 lic health. 

12 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.— 

13 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en14 tity’ indicates an educational institution accredited 

15 by the Council on Education for Public Health that 

16 offers a course of study, certificate program, or pro17 fessional training program in infectious disease 

18 science, medicine, public health, veterinary medicine, 

19 or other discipline impacting or influenced by bioter20 rorism or emerging infectious diseases. 

21 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS.—The term ‘eligi22 ble individuals’ includes those individuals employed 

23 in public health positions at the Federal, State, trib24 al, or local level or a health center who are inter25 ested in retaining or upgrading their education. 


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1 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 

3 $30,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2010 through 

4 2015. 

5 ‘‘SEC. 784. CATALOGUE OF FEDERAL PUBLIC HEALTH 

6 WORKFORCE EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES. 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of 

8 Personnel Management, in cooperation with the Secretary, 

9 shall ensure that, included in the Internet website of the 

10 Office of Personnel Management, there is an online cata11 logue, or link to an online catalogue, of public health work12 force employment opportunities in the Federal Govern13 ment. 

14 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.—To the extent practicable, the 

15 catalogue described in subsection (a) shall include— 

16 ‘‘(1) existing and projected job openings in the 

17 Federal public health workforce; and 

18 ‘‘(2) a general discussion of the occupations 

19 that comprise the Federal public health workforce. 

20 ‘‘(c) INFORMATION.—The Secretary shall include a 

21 copy of the catalogue described in subsection (a), or a 

22 prominent reference to the catalogue, in— 

23 ‘‘(1) the application forms provided under sec24 tion 780(c)(1); and 


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1 ‘‘(2) the information for schools provided under 

2 section 780(c)(2). 

3 ‘‘SEC. 785. ACADEMIC HEALTH DEPARTMENTS GRANT PRO4 GRAM. 

5 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In order to improve the 

7 training of public health students, the Secretary, 

8 acting through the Director of the Centers for Dis9 ease Control and Prevention and in consultation 

10 with the Association of Schools of Public Health, 

11 shall carry out the Academic Health Departments 

12 grant program (referred to in this section as the 

13 ‘Program’) under which the Secretary shall award 

14 competitive grants, of not more than $250,000 each, 

15 to eligible partnerships to establish or maintain Aca16 demic Health Departments. 

17 ‘‘(2) ACADEMIC HEALTH DEPARTMENT DE18 FINED.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘Aca19 demic Health Department’ means a program admin20 istered by an eligible partnership that provides for 

21 collaboration between the academic and practice as22 pects of public health. The purpose of such a depart23 ment is to increase the number of graduates in pub24 lic health who work in State and local health depart25 ments, increase the relevance of the curriculum in 


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1 schools and programs of public health to health de2 partment practice, and to increase the use of aca3 demic theories, knowledge, and methodologies in the 

4 work of health departments. 

5 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—For purposes of this section, an 

6 eligible partnership is a partnership, with respect to estab7 lishing an Academic Health Department, consisting of— 

8 ‘‘(1) a State or local public health department; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(2) a school of public health or a public health 

11 degree program that is accredited by the Council on 

12 Education for Public Health. 

13 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible partnership (as de14 scribed in subsection (b)) may use funds provided under 

15 a grant made under subsection (a) for the following pur16 poses, with respect to an Academic Health Department: 

17 ‘‘(1) To provide for curriculum development. 

18 ‘‘(2) To provide for training and academic in19 struction. 

20 ‘‘(3) To conduct leadership seminars. 

21 ‘‘(4) To conduct training needs assessment sur22 veys. 

23 ‘‘(5) To facilitate appropriate staff of the State 

24 or local health department participating in the eligi25 ble partnership to teach with the school of public 


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1 health or public health degree program participating 

2 in such partnership. 

3 ‘‘(6) To facilitate faculty and students of the 

4 school of public health or public health degree pro5 gram participating in the eligible partnership to 

6 work in the health department participating in such 

7 partnership. 

8 ‘‘(7) To provide for a project coordinator. 

9 ‘‘(8) To provide for subgrants to organizations 

10 to conduct activities consistent with the goals of the 

11 Program. 

12 ‘‘(9) Other appropriate activities specified by 

13 the Secretary to recruit public health students to 

14 full-time employment in a health department after 

15 graduation. 

16 ‘‘(d) REPORTS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) GRANT RECIPIENT REPORTS TO THE SEC18 RETARY.—Each recipient of a grant awarded under 

19 subsection (a) shall submit to the Secretary a report 

20 for each year for which the recipient received such 

21 a grant on the results and outcomes of the activities 

22 funded by such grant during such year. 

23 ‘‘(2) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—For the 3-year 

24 period beginning on the date of the establishment of 

25 the Program, and for each subsequent 3-year period 


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1 in which the Program is in existence, the Secretary 

2 shall submit to Congress a report, on the results and 

3 outcomes of the Program during such 3-year period, 

4 including the number of Academic Health Depart5 ments funded by grants under the Program, the 

6 number of students trained through grants under 

7 the Program, and the number of trainees partici8 pating in such Academic Health Departments who 

9 remain in public health professions. 

10 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

11 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 

12 $4,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2010 through 

13 2015.’’. 

14 SEC. 4. LICENSURE OR CERTIFICATION EXAM FOR SOCIAL 

15 WORKERS PARTICIPATING IN NATIONAL 

16 HEALTH SERVICE CORPS LOAN REPAYMENT 

17 PROGRAM. 

18 (a) AMENDMENT.—Section 338B of the Public 

19 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254l–1) is amended by add20 ing at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(i) LICENSURE OR CERTIFICATION EXAM FOR SO22 CIAL WORKERS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary chooses to 

24 require a social worker to pass a licensure or certifi25 cation exam to be eligible to participate in the Loan 


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26 

•HR 2810 IH

1 Repayment Program, the Secretary shall treat pas2 sage of a State’s licensure or certification exam for 

3 social workers as satisfying such requirement if— 

4 ‘‘(A) the State submits a request to the 

5 Secretary for such treatment; and 

6 ‘‘(B) the Secretary approves the request. 

7 ‘‘(2) REVIEW OF STATE REQUESTS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) STANDARD.—The Secretary shall ap9 prove a request submitted by a State under 

10 paragraph (1)(A) if the State demonstrates 

11 that its licensure or certification exam for social 

12 workers is sufficiently stringent to assure that 

13 any deviation from the exam otherwise required 

14 under this section poses no threat to patient 

15 safety or public health. 

16 ‘‘(B) TIMING.—The Secretary shall ap17 prove or disapprove each request submitted by 

18 a State under paragraph (1)(A) not later than 

19 180 days after the Secretary’s receipt of such 

20 request.’’. 

21 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 338B(i) of the Pub22 lic Health Service Act, as added by subsection (a), takes 

23 effect on the date that is 3 months after the date of enact24 ment of this Act. 

Æ 


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