I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 820 
To aid and support pediatric involvement in reading and education. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 18, 2011 
Mr. PAYNE (for himself, Ms. BERKLEY, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. HOLT, 
Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. BARROW, Mr. GUTHRIE, Mr. ROTH-
MAN of New Jersey, Mr. POLIS, Mr. FILNER, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. NEAL, 
Mr. OLVER, Mr. RANGEL, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. FRANK of 
Massachusetts, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. KUCINICH, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. COHEN, 
Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. LATHAM, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. NADLER, and Mr. 
MCDERMOTT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To aid and support pediatric involvement in reading and 
education. 
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 ‘‘Prescribe A Book 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
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(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti-
ty’’ means a nonprofit organization that has, as de-
termined by the Secretary, demonstrated effective-
ness in the following areas: 
(A) Providing peer-to-peer training to 
healthcare providers in research-based methods 
of literacy promotion as part of routine pedi-
atric health supervision visits. 
(B) Delivering a training curriculum 
through a variety of medical education settings, 
including residency training, continuing medical 
education, and national pediatric conferences. 
(C) Providing technical assistance to local 
healthcare facilities to effectively implement a 
high-quality Pediatric Early Literacy Program. 
(D) 
Offering 
opportunities 
for 
local 
healthcare facilities to obtain books at signifi-
cant discounts, as described in section 7. 
(E) Integrating the latest developmental 
and educational research into the training cur-
riculum for healthcare providers described in 
subparagraph (B). 
(2) PEDIATRIC EARLY LITERACY PROGRAM.— 
The term ‘‘Pediatric Early Literacy Program’’ 
means a program that— 
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(A) creates and implements a 3-part model 
through which— 
(i) healthcare providers, doctors, and 
nurses, trained in research-based methods 
of early language and literacy promotion, 
encourage parents to read aloud to their 
young children, and offer developmentally 
appropriate recommendations and strate-
gies to parents for the purpose of reading 
aloud to their children; 
(ii) healthcare providers, at health su-
pervision visits, provide each child between 
the ages of 6 months and 5 years a new, 
developmentally 
appropriate 
children’s 
book to take home and keep; and 
(iii) volunteers in waiting areas of 
healthcare facilities read aloud to children, 
modeling for parents the techniques and 
pleasures of sharing books together; 
(B) demonstrates, through research pub-
lished in peer-reviewed journals, effectiveness in 
positively altering parent behavior regarding 
reading aloud to children, and improving ex-
pressive and receptive language in young chil-
dren; and 
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(C) receives the endorsement of nationally 
recognized medical associations and academies. 
(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Education. 
SEC. 3. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 
The Secretary is authorized to award grants to eligi-
ble entities to enable the eligible entities to implement Pe-
diatric Early Literacy Programs. 
SEC. 4. APPLICATIONS. 
An eligible entity that desires to receive a grant under 
section 3 shall submit an application to the Secretary at 
such time, in such manner, and including such informa-
tion as the Secretary may reasonably require. 
SEC. 5. MATCHING REQUIREMENT. 
An eligible entity receiving a grant under section 3 
shall provide, either directly or through private contribu-
tions, non-Federal matching funds equal to not less than 
50 percent of the grant received by the eligible entity 
under section 3. Such matching funds may be in cash or 
in-kind. 
SEC. 6. USE OF GRANT FUNDS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity receiving a 
grant under section 3 shall— 
(1) enter into contracts with private nonprofit 
organizations, or with public agencies, selected based 
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on the criteria described in subsection (b), under 
which each contractor will agree to establish and op-
erate a Pediatric Early Literacy Program; 
(2) provide such training and technical assist-
ance to each contractor of the eligible entity as may 
be necessary to carry out this Act; and 
(3) include such other terms and conditions in 
an agreement with a contractor as the Secretary de-
termines to be appropriate to ensure the effective-
ness of such programs. 
(b) CONTRACTOR CRITERIA.—Each contractor shall 
be selected under subsection (a)(1) on the basis of the ex-
tent to which the contractor gives priority to serving a 
substantial number or percentage of at-risk children, in-
cluding— 
(1) children from families with an income below 
200 percent of the poverty line (as defined by the 
Office of Management and Budget and revised an-
nually in accordance with section 673(2) of the 
Community Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 
9902(2)) applicable to a family of the size involved, 
particularly such children in high-poverty areas; 
(2) children without adequate medical insur-
ance; 
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