I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2678 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary of Health 
and Human Services to carry out programs to provide youth in racial 
or ethnic minority or immigrant communities the information and skills 
needed to reduce teenage pregnancies. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 28, 2011 
Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD (for herself, Ms. NORTON, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. LEE of 
California, Mr. COHEN, Mrs. MALONEY, and Ms. BASS of California) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on En-
ergy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services to carry out 
programs to provide youth in racial or ethnic minority 
or immigrant communities the information and skills 
needed to reduce teenage pregnancies. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Communities of Color 
Teenage Pregnancy Prevention Act of 2011’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) Teenage pregnancy is one of the most crit-
ical issues facing the Nation today. The United 
States has the highest teenage pregnancy rate of 
any developed nation, with nearly 750,000 teenage 
girls (who are 15 to 19 years of age) becoming preg-
nant each year, and 82 percent of those pregnancies 
unplanned. 
(2) For the first time in more than a decade, 
between 2005 and 2006, the teenage pregnancy rate 
in the United States rose 3 percent. The decrease in 
teenage pregnancy rates in the 1990s was over-
whelmingly the result of more and better use of con-
traceptives. 
(3) Nationally, teenage pregnancy has signifi-
cant fiscal implications, costing taxpayers at least 
$10,900,000,000 annually. 
(4) Communities of color are disproportionately 
affected by teenage pregnancy. Fifty-two percent of 
Latinas and 50 percent of African-American girls 
will become pregnant at least once before they turn 
20. In comparison, only 19 percent of non-Hispanic 
White teenage girls under the age of 20 become 
pregnant. 
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(5) Between 2007 and 2009, the teenage birth 
rate decreased for most communities of color, how-
ever the birth rates for Hispanic, African-American, 
and Native American teenagers continue to be much 
higher than other racial and ethnic groups. 
(6) Research shows that starting a family too 
soon may have significant social, educational, and fi-
nancial impacts on the lives of young people. Less 
than half of teenage mothers finish high school and 
less than 2 percent go on to finish college, making 
it difficult to find and maintain a job. 
(7) Research also shows that teenage dating vi-
olence and abuse are serious public health problems 
and are associated with higher levels of teenage 
pregnancy and unplanned pregnancy. Adolescent 
girls in physically abusive relationships are three 
times more likely to become pregnant than non- 
abused girls. 
(8) Promoting and building healthy relation-
ships are fundamental to preventing teenage preg-
nancies and unplanned pregnancies. 
SEC. 3. YOUTH PREGNANCY PREVENTION. 
Title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
241 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following 
new part: 
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‘‘PART W—YOUTH PREGNANCY PREVENTION 
PROGRAMS 
‘‘SEC. 399OO. PURPOSE. 
‘‘It is the purpose of this part to develop and carry 
out research and demonstration projects on new and exist-
ing program interventions to provide youth in racial or 
ethnic minority or immigrant communities the information 
and skills needed to reduce teenage pregnancies, build 
healthy relationships, and improve overall health and well- 
being. 
‘‘SEC. 399OO–1. DEMONSTRATION GRANTS TO REDUCE 
TEENAGE PREGNANCIES. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award com-
petitive grants to eligible entities for establishing or ex-
panding programs to provide youth in racial or ethnic mi-
nority or immigrant communities the information and 
skills needed to avoid teenage pregnancy and develop 
healthy relationships. 
‘‘(b) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec-
tion, the Secretary shall give priority to applicants— 
‘‘(1) proposing to carry out projects in racial or 
ethnic minority or immigrant communities; 
‘‘(2) that have a demonstrated history of effec-
tively working with such targeted communities; or 
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‘‘(3) that have a demonstrated history of engag-
ing in a meaningful and significant partnership with 
such targeted communities. 
‘‘(c) 
PROGRAM
SETTINGS.—Programs 
funded 
through a grant under subsection (a) shall be provided— 
‘‘(1) through classroom-based settings, such as 
school health education, humanities, language arts, 
or family and consumer science education; after- 
school programs; community-based programs; work-
force development programs; and health care set-
tings; or 
‘‘(2) in collaboration with systems that serve 
large numbers of at-risk youth such as juvenile jus-
tice or foster care systems. 
‘‘(d) PROJECT REQUIREMENTS.—As a condition of 
receipt of a grant under this section, an entity shall agree 
that, with respect to information and skills provided 
through the grant— 
‘‘(1) such information and skills will be— 
‘‘(A) age-appropriate; 
‘‘(B) evidence-based or evidence-informed; 
‘‘(C) provided in accordance with section 
399OO–5(b); and 
‘‘(D) culturally sensitive and relevant to 
the target populations; and 
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‘‘(2) any information provided about contracep-
tives shall include the health benefits and side ef-
fects of all contraceptives and barrier methods. 
‘‘(e) EVALUATION.—Of the total amount made avail-
able to carry out this section for a fiscal year, the Sec-
retary, acting through the Director of the Centers for Dis-
ease Control and Prevention and other agencies as appro-
priate, shall allot up to 10 percent of such amount to carry 
out a rigorous, independent evaluation to determine the 
extent and the effectiveness of activities funded through 
this section during such fiscal year in changing attitudes 
and behavior of teenagers with respect to healthy relation-
ships and childbearing. 
‘‘(f) GRANTS FOR INDIAN TRIBES OR TRIBAL ORGA-
NIZATIONS.—Of the total amount made available to carry 
out this section for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall re-
serve 5 percent of such amount to award grants under 
this section to Indian tribes and tribal organizations in 
such manner, and subject to such requirements, as the 
Secretary, in consultation with Indian tribes and tribal or-
ganizations, determines appropriate. 
‘‘(g) ELIGIBLE ENTITY DEFINED.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In this section, the term 
‘eligible entity’ means a State, local, or tribal agen-
cy; a school or postsecondary institution; an after- 
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school program; a nonprofit organization; or a com-
munity or faith-based organization. 
‘‘(2) PREVENTING
EXCLUSION
OF
SMALLER 
COMMUNITY-BASED
ORGANIZATIONS.—In carrying 
out this section, the Secretary shall ensure that the 
amounts and requirements of grants provided under 
this section do not preclude receipt of such grants 
by community-based organizations with a dem-
onstrated history of effectively working with adoles-
cents in racial or ethnic minority or immigrant com-
munities or engaged in meaningful and significant 
partnership with such communities. 
‘‘SEC. 399OO–2. MULTIMEDIA CAMPAIGNS TO REDUCE 
TEENAGE PREGNANCIES. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award com-
petitive grants to public and private entities to carry out 
multimedia campaigns to provide public education and in-
crease public awareness regarding teenage pregnancy and 
related social and emotional issues, such as violence pre-
vention. 
‘‘(b) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec-
tion, the Secretary shall give priority to applicants pro-
posing to carry out campaigns developed for racial or eth-
nic minority or immigrant communities. 
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‘‘(c) INFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED.—As a condi-
tion of receipt of a grant under this section, an entity shall 
agree to use the grant to carry out multimedia campaigns 
described in subsection (a) that— 
‘‘(1) at a minimum, shall provide information 
on— 
‘‘(A) the prevention of teenage pregnancy; 
and 
‘‘(B) healthy relationship development; and 
‘‘(2) may provide information on the prevention 
of dating violence. 
‘‘SEC. 399OO–3. RESEARCH ON REDUCING TEENAGE PREG-
NANCIES AND TEENAGE DATING VIOLENCE 
AND IMPROVING HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 
the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre-
vention, shall make grants to public and private entities 
to conduct, support, or coordinate research on teenage 
pregnancy, dating violence, and healthy relationships 
among racial or ethnic minority or immigrant communities 
that— 
‘‘(1) improves data collection on— 
‘‘(A) sexual and reproductive health, in-
cluding teenage pregnancies and births, among 
all minority communities and subpopulations in 
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which such data are not collected, including 
American Indian and Alaska Native youth; 
‘‘(B) sexual behavior, sexual or reproduc-
tive coercion, and teenage contraceptive use 
patterns at the State level, as appropriate; and 
‘‘(C) teenage pregnancies among youth in 
and aging out of foster care or juvenile justice 
systems and the underlying factors that lead to 
teenage pregnancy among youth in foster care 
or juvenile justice systems; 
‘‘(2) investigates— 
‘‘(A) the variance in the rates of teenage 
pregnancy by— 
‘‘(i) racial and ethnic group (such as 
Hispanic, Asian, African-American, Pacific 
Islander, American Indian, and Alaskan 
Native); and 
‘‘(ii) socioeconomic status, including 
as based on the income of the family and 
education attainment; 
‘‘(B) factors affecting the risk for youth of 
teenage pregnancy or dating abuse, including 
the physical and social environment, level of ac-
culturation, access to health care, aspirations 
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for the future, and history of physical or sexual 
violence or abuse; 
‘‘(C) the role that violence and abuse play 
in teenage sex, pregnancy, and childbearing; 
‘‘(D) strategies to address the dispropor-
tionate rates of teenage pregnancies and dating 
violence in racial or ethnic minority or immi-
grant communities; 
‘‘(E) how effective interventions can be 
replicated or adapted in other settings to serve 
racial or ethnic minority or immigrant commu-
nities; and 
‘‘(F) the effectiveness of media campaigns 
in addressing healthy relationship development, 
dating violence prevention, and teenage preg-
nancy; and 
‘‘(3) tests research-based strategies for address-
ing high rates of unintended teenage pregnancy 
through programs that emphasize healthy relation-
ships and violence prevention. 
‘‘(b) PRIORITY.—In carrying out this section, the 
Secretary shall give priority to research that incor-
porates— 
‘‘(1) interdisciplinary approaches; 
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‘‘(2) a strong emphasis on community-based 
participatory research; or 
‘‘(3) translational research. 
‘‘SEC. 399OO–4. HHS ADOLESCENT HEALTH WORK GROUP. 
‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—Not later than 30 days after the 
date of the enactment of this part, the Secretary shall di-
rect the interagency adolescent health workgroup within 
the Office of Adolescent Health of the Department of 
Health and Human Services to— 
‘‘(1) include in the work of the group strategies 
for teenage dating violence prevention and healthy 
teenage relationships with a particular focus among 
racial or ethnic minority or immigrant communities; 
and 
‘‘(2) with respect to including such strategies, 
consult, to the greatest extent possible, with the 
Federal Interagency Workgroup on Teen Dating Vi-
olence formed under the leadership of the National 
Institute of Justice of the Department of Justice. 
‘‘(b) 
REPORT
REQUIREMENT.—The 
Secretary, 
through the Office of Adolescent Health, shall periodically 
submit to Congress a report that— 
‘‘(1) includes a review of the evidence-based 
programs on preventing teenage pregnancy, which 
are carried out and identified by the Office; and 
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