PLAYS in Youth Sports Act
Bill: H.R.8552 | Sponsor: Rep. Allred, Colin Z. (D-TX)
Policy area: Sports and Recreation

Summary:
Physical activity, Living healthy, Access, Youth development, and Safety in Youth Sports Act or the PLAYS in Youth Sports Act
This bill directs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to establish a program to award grants to eligible national nonprofit organizations to improve the health and positive youth development impacts of youth sports participation and to increase access to youth sports for all children and youth, especially underserved populations.
The activities supported include
The bill sets forth provisions regarding background checks of coaches, mentors, and other adults with access to youth sports participants.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) may establish a program to award grants to municipalities, counties, and states to fund efforts to establish and implement model standards, such as through surveys, studies, pilot programs, and guidelines, for out-of-school youth sports coaches.
The Government Accountability Office and HHS must report to Congress regarding youth sports.
The bill authorizes the CDC and the National Institutes of Health to undertake, support, enhance, and expand research and prevention efforts to advance youth sports safety.

To provide for the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish 
  grant programs to improve the health and positive youth development 
     impacts of youth sports participation, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Physical activity, Living healthy, 
Access, Youth development, and Safety in Youth Sports Act'' or the 
``PLAYS in Youth Sports Act''.

SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAMS.

    (a) Organization Grant Program.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of Health and Human 
        Services, acting through the Centers for Disease Control and 
        Prevention, shall establish a competitive grants program (in 
        this section referred to as the ``Organization Grants 
        Program'') to award grants, in accordance with paragraph (3), 
        to eligible national non-profit organizations to improve the 
        health and positive youth development impacts of youth sports 
        participation and to increase access to youth sports for all 
        children and youth, especially underserved populations as 
        defined by section 40002 of the Violence Against Women Act of 
        1994 (34 U.S.C. 12291), in accordance with paragraph (4).
            (2) Eligible national non-profit organization.--For 
        purposes of this subsection, a national non-profit organization 
        shall be eligible for a grant under this subsection if such 
        organization--
                    (A) has experience with working with regional and 
                local non-profit youth sports organizations in the 
                areas of improved health, positive youth development, 
                and safe playing environments consistent with the types 
                of activities described in paragraph (5);
                    (B) submits to the Secretary a plan for awarding 
                subgrants to regional and local non-profit youth sports 
                organizations to improve physical activity or sports 
                programs carried out in the areas served by such 
                organizations to improve the health of youth through, 
                and have positive impacts on, youth sports 
                participation;
                    (C) can demonstrate a track record and plan for 
                serving low-income and under-resourced communities, as 
                well as providers of adaptive sports programming; and
                    (D) can demonstrate policies and practices in place 
                for ensuring background checks for staff and volunteers 
                working with children and youth.
            (3) Administrative provisions.--
                    (A) Amount of grants.--Each grant awarded under 
                this subsection shall be no more than $2,500,000 for 
                national organizations and no more than $250,000 for 
                State and local organizations.
                    (B) Selection of grantees through grant selection 
                board.--
                            (i) In general.--Not later than one year 
                        after the date on which funds are first 
                        appropriated to carry out this section, the 
                        Secretary shall establish a grant selection 
                        board to select the eligible national non-
                        profit organizations to be awarded grants under 
                        this subsection.
                            (ii) Composition.--Such board shall consist 
                        of 10 members to be selected from the 
                        Department of Health and Human Services, 
                        including from the following:
                                    (I) The Administration for Children 
                                and Families (ACF), in particular the 
                                Family and Youth Services Bureau.
                                    (II) The Office of the Assistant 
                                Secretary for Health, in particular the 
                                Office of Adolescent Health and the 
                                President's Council on Fitness, Sports, 
                                and Nutrition.
                                    (III) The Centers for Disease 
                                Control and Prevention, in particular 
                                the Office of Noncommunicable Diseases, 
                                Injury and Environment Health, and the 
                                National Center for Injury Prevention 
                                and Control.
                                    (IV) The Center for Faith-Based and 
                                Neighborhood Partnerships.
                                    (V) The National Institutes of 
                                Health, in particular the National 
                                Institute of Child Health and Human 
                                Development and the National Institute 
                                of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and 
                                Skin Diseases.
                            (iii) Considerations.--In selecting 
                        grantees under this subsection, the board under 
                        this subparagraph shall, with respect to a plan 
                        described in paragraph (2)(B) submitted by a 
                        national non-profit organization, evaluate the 
                        plan based on the ability of the plan to ensure 
                        that the grant will help improve the physical 
                        activity or sports program involved in at least 
                        one of the following areas:
                                    (I) Effectiveness, through 
                                activities described in paragraph 
                                (5)(B).
                                    (II) Participation, through 
                                activities described in paragraph 
                                (5)(C).
                                    (III) Health and Safety, through 
                                activities described in paragraph 
                                (5)(D).
            (4) Uses of grants.--A grant awarded under this subsection 
        to an eligible non-profit organization may be used by such 
        organization only for awarding subgrants in accordance with 
        paragraph (5) and consistent with the plan submitted by the 
        organization under paragraph (2)(B).
            (5) Uses of subgrants.--
                    (A) In general.--
                            (i) Permissible activities.--A subgrant 
                        awarded to a regional and local non-profit 
                        youth sports organization pursuant to this 
                        subsection may be used by such organization for 
                        only the activities described in the subsequent 
                        subparagraphs of this paragraph in accordance 
                        with the provisions of the respective 
                        subparagraph.
                            (ii) Excluded activities.--A subgrant 
                        awarded to a regional and local non-profit 
                        youth sports organization pursuant to this 
                        subsection may not be used by such organization 
                        for any of the following:
                                    (I) Any activity the organization 
                                is in the process of conducting or 
                                planning to conduct as of the date of 
                                application for a subgrant under this 
                                subsection.
                                    (II) Any activity primarily 
                                designed to expand the organization 
                                among those portions of the community 
                                that would otherwise participate in 
                                youth sports, rather than those efforts 
                                aimed at a particularly underserved 
                                participating portion of the community.
                                    (III) Efforts that are not likely 
                                to be continued after funding from the 
                                subgrant has expired.
                            (iii) Amount of subgrants.--A subgrant 
                        under this subsection shall be not more than 
                        $10,000 and not less than $1,000.
                    (B) Activities to promote effectiveness of youth 
                sports.--
                            (i) Activities.--The activities described 
                        in this subparagraph are activities that 
                        promote effectiveness of physical activities or 
                        youth sports, including the following:
                                    (I) Training and certification 
                                programs for coaches, in accordance 
                                with clause (ii).
                                    (II) Developing and implementing 
                                coaching guidelines described in clause 
                                (iii).
                                    (III) Training for youth 
                                development and character development.
                                    (IV) Developing or implementing 
                                evaluation and results implementation 
                                process.
                                    (V) Instructing positive parental 
                                involvement.
                                    (VI) Developing and implementing an 
                                athlete code of conduct and 
                                instruction.
                                    (VII) Developing and implementing 
                                coach and volunteer retention efforts.
                                    (VIII) Fostering a positive sport 
                                experience for all involved that 
                                emphasizes athlete development over 
                                winning at all costs.
                                    (IX) Activities to enhance effects 
                                beyond the playing field, such as with 
                                respect to nutrition practices, 
                                academic performance, encouragement of 
                                life-long practices, and promotion of 
                                positive self-image.
                            (ii) Training and certification program 
                        characteristics.--For purposes of clause 
                        (i)(I), a training or certification program for 
                        coaches described in such clause--
                                    (I) shall be based on consensus 
                                within the youth sports non-profit 
                                community;
                                    (II) should be interactive;
                                    (III) should aspire to coaching 
                                education at the youth sport level that 
                                provides coaches with baseline 
                                knowledge in the areas of coaching 
                                philosophy and style, communication, 
                                team management, practice and game-day 
                                planning, first aid, and rules as well 
                                as sport-specific content on teaching 
                                the techniques and tactics of the 
                                respective sport;
                                    (IV) should include content that is 
                                complete, comprehensive, affordable, 
                                and user-friendly; a convenient online 
                                24/7 delivery system; supplemental 
                                resources and support materials, such 
                                as coaching youth sports books, study 
                                guides, forms, checklists, and plans; 
                                and a web-based tracking and reporting 
                                interface that documents a national 
                                coaches registry;
                                    (V) should emphasize whole child 
                                development over winning at all costs; 
                                and
                                    (VI) should emphasize the stages of 
                                youth development and the importance of 
                                providing children with a level of 
                                challenge commensurate with their 
                                physical, mental and emotional maturity 
                                and their emerging athletic ability; 
                                and should emphasize the importance of 
                                treating children with dignity and 
                                respect and giving all children the 
                                opportunity to have fun and grow as 
                                people and athletes.
                            (iii) Coaching requirements.--For purposes 
                        of clause (i)(II), the coaching guidelines 
                        described in this clause, with respect to 
                        planning and practice of youth sports, are 
                        guidelines to achieve the following:
                                    (I) Developing and refining the 
                                philosophy and style of such coaching.
                                    (II) Developing the character of 
                                the youth athletes through role-
                                modeling, teaching, and exhibiting 
                                appropriate citizenship behaviors.
                                    (III) Communicating effectively by 
                                role-modeling, teaching, and expecting 
                                honest and effective communication.
                                    (IV) Guiding athletes to develop 
                                self-confidence by modeling and 
                                teaching self-confident attributes and 
                                behaviors and creating situations in 
                                which athletes experience success.
                                    (V) Teaching the sport involved 
                                effectively by teaching the rules, 
                                systems, and defined plays of the sport 
                                involved.
                                    (VI) Teaching technical and 
                                tactical skills effectively by 
                                instructing athletes in the use of 
                                correct and safe techniques and 
                                teaching how to process game situations 
                                to gain a competitive advantage.
                                    (VII) Teaching sport decisionmaking 
                                skills effectively by modeling and 
                                teaching perception, attention, and 
                                concentration skills.
                                    (VIII) Challenging athletes in 
                                practice and competition by developing 
                                season and practice plans to create 
                                optimally challenging, safe, and 
                                effective practices and competitions.
                                    (IX) Physically preparing athletes 
                                by modeling, teaching, and expecting 
                                appropriate physical training, 
                                nutrition, and drug-free habits.
                                    (X) Taking all measures feasible to 
                                ensure the safety of athletes by 
                                checking facilities and equipment (and 
                                how such equipment fits), monitoring 
                                athletes' activities closely, and 
                                correcting unsafe behavior immediately.
                                    (XI) Managing relationships 
                                effectively by modeling, teaching, and 
                                expecting positive interactions between 
                                coaches, athletes, parents, 
                                administrators, medical personnel, 
                                officials, and media.
                                    (XII) Supporting scholastic 
                                achievement by expecting commitment to 
                                academics and teaching the value of 
                                education.
                    (C) Activities relating to participation.--The 
                activities described in this subparagraph are 
                activities to lead to sustained increases in 
                participation in youth sports, including the following:
                            (i) Activities to lower barriers to 
                        participation, such as by making it easier for 
                        youth with disabilities to participate, 
                        acquiring or modifying space, raising money for 
                        an endowment to keep participation fees low or 
                        free, including through scholarships.
                            (ii) Activities to target populations 
                        under-represented in youth sports or 
                        particularly at-risk communities, such as girls 
                        and other under-represented minorities, 
                        populations in geographical areas with 
                        particular low participation rates, populations 
                        with high obesity risk, populations in high 
                        crime and violence areas, homeless youth, youth 
                        with behavioral issues, youth with physical or 
                        mental disabilities.
                            (iii) Activities for capacity building.
                            (iv) Activities to engage parents and other 
                        family members to encourage life-long physical 
                        activity.
                    (D) Activities to promote safety and health.--
                            (i) Activities.--The activities described 
                        in this subparagraph are activities to promote 
                        safety and health, including the following:
                                    (I) Background checks described in 
                                clause (ii)(I) and the establishment of 
                                procedures for such background checks 
                                in accordance with clause (ii)(II).
                                    (II) Abuse prevention and response 
                                activities described in clause (iii).
                                    (III) Measures to implement program 
                                improvements as broadly as possible 
                                within the organization receiving the 
                                subgrant by providing resources for 
                                activities, such as administrative 
                                guidelines and materials, training 
                                opportunities, and codes of conduct.
                                    (IV) Training programs to address 
                                the matters described in clause (iv).
                                    (V) Prevention efforts to prevent 
                                and reduce the occurrence of 
                                concussions (through baseline 
                                screening, clear return to play and 
                                other post-concussion protocols, 
                                prevention efforts, parent and 
                                participant education) and of overuse 
                                and overload and injury risk.
                                    (VI) Practices to encourage water 
                                drinking, increased physical movement, 
                                nutritious snacks, and national healthy 
                                eating practices.
                                    (VII) Targeted programs for 
                                particular at-risk behavior or at-risk 
                                populations, such as with respect to 
                                lateral injuries in girls and for 
                                participants with physical and mental 
                                disabilities, such as Type 1 diabetes, 
                                eating disorders, and sickle cell 
                                trait.
                                    (VIII) Parent education.
                                    (IX) Parent code of conduct and 
                                instruction.
                                    (X) Athlete code of conduct and 
                                instruction.
                                    (XI) Bullying prevention.
                                    (XII) Safety procedures for 
                                engagement of youth sports 
                                photographers.
                                    (XIII) Venue and event safety.
                                    (XIV) Participant comprehensive 
                                health history and pre-screening 
                                recording, evaluation, and privacy 
                                securing, including in a standardized 
                                form or way that make it easy for 
                                participants to share their information 
                                with other organizations.
                                    (XV) Encouraging and facilitating 
                                participation in the Presidential 
                                Active Lifestyle Award (PALA) of 
                                participants.
                            (ii) Background checks.--
                                    (I) In general.--For purposes of 
                                clause (i)(I), background checks 
                                described in this clause--
                                            (aa) check for known 
                                        offenses and pending actions of 
                                        abuse, harm, or violent 
                                        behavior and molestation of 
                                        youth by coaches, mentors, or 
                                        other adults with access to 
                                        youth sports participants;
                                            (bb) screen employees, 
                                        contractors, and volunteer 
                                        forces who have regular contact 
                                        with youth participants, 
                                        authority or supervision roles 
                                        with respect to such youth, 
                                        opportunity to establish a 
                                        position of trust with respect 
                                        to such youth, or opportunity 
                                        for one-on-one contact with 
                                        such youth;
                                            (cc) should utilize 
                                        advancements in technology that 
                                        make criminal history 
                                        information available to these 
                                        organizations;
                                            (dd) must provide for 
                                        reliable, rapid, comprehensive, 
                                        up-to-date checks at a very 
                                        reasonable cost so that the 
                                        organizations can make informed 
                                        screening decisions;
                                            (ee) provide access to 
                                        criminal background information 
                                        that has been recently updated, 
                                        and is dependable, complete, 
                                        and accessed from national 
                                        databases, county courts 
                                        (county of residence) and all 
                                        available State sex offender 
                                        registries; and
                                            (ff) provide screenings 
                                        that generally cover identity 
                                        verification, using social 
                                        security number validation and 
                                        address trace report; National 
                                        Criminal database search, 
                                        updated regularly with more 
                                        than 300 million criminal 
                                        records; the Office of Foreign 
                                        Assets Control terrorist 
                                        database search; Sex Offender 
                                        Registry search of all 
                                        available States with at least 
                                        one county search that 
                                        generally covers longest and 
                                        most recent residency in the 
                                        past five years.
                                    (II) Procedures.--For purposes of 
                                clause (i)(I), the establishment of 
                                procedures for conducting and reviewing 
                                background checks described in 
                                subclause (I) shall identify who is 
                                responsible for conducting the checks, 
                                reviewing the criminal history records, 
                                determining fitness, notifying the 
                                volunteer or staff of the decision, 
                                managing legally compliant notices, and 
                                the dissemination, control, storage, 
                                and destruction of information gained 
                                in the background check.
                            (iii) Abuse prevention and response 
                        activities.--For purposes of clause (i)(II), 
                        abuse prevention and response activities 
                        described in this clause are the following:
                                    (I) The development and 
                                reinforcement of appropriate 
                                communication, training, and response 
                                protocols for abuse and other 
                                inappropriate behavior.
                                    (II) Awareness, prevention, and 
                                response guidelines, including a 
                                protocol to immediately report 
                                potential criminal behavior on the part 
                                of any coach or official to the 
                                appropriate law enforcement agency.
                                    (III) Reference checking of 
                                volunteers, including previous clubs, 
                                teams, or athletes with whom the 
                                individual has worked.
                                    (IV) Questioning about the 
                                individual's behaviors and if anyone 
                                has reported any inappropriate behavior 
                                that might be of concern.
                                    (V) Work with insurance providers 
                                or other risk management experts to 
                                help maintain a safe environment.
                            (iv) Training programs.--For purposes of 
                        clause (i)(IV), the matters described in this 
                        clause are the following:
                                    (I) First aid, CPR, and 
                                defibrillator.
                                    (II) Mild traumatic brain injury or 
                                concussion.
                                    (III) Heat acclimatization and heat 
                                illness prevention.
                                    (IV) Human kinetics coaching 
                                education.
                                    (V) Risk management.
                                    (VI) Legal issues.
                                    (VII) Pre-participation Physical 
                                Evaluation (PPE).
                                    (VIII) Emergency planning.
                                    (IX) Training practices.
                                    (X) Strength and conditioning.
                                    (XI) Nutrition.
                                    (XII) Recognizing sports-related 
                                illnesses and injuries.
                                    (XIII) Prevention and care of 
                                concussions.
                                    (XIV) Equipment fitting.
                                    (XV) Safe playing conditions.
            (6) Funding.--There is authorized to be appropriated to 
        carry out this subsection $75,000,000; $15,000,000 for national 
        organizations, $50,000,000 for States, $5,000,000 for 
        prevention and research, including no less than $5,000,000 for 
        CDC to carry out the grant program to national organizations 
        and states and to manage an interagency committee.
    (b) State and Local Grant Program.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services 
        may establish a grant program under which the Secretary shall 
        award one-time competitive grants to municipalities, counties, 
        and States to fund efforts of such municipalities, counties, 
        and States to establish and implement model standards, such as 
        through surveys, studies, pilot programs, and guidelines, for 
        out-of-school youth sports coaches.
            (2) Requirements.--A grantee under this subsection must 
        agree to enact or improve implementation of standards that--
                    (A) do not conflict or otherwise negatively 
                interfere with standards that apply within the 
                jurisdiction of such grantee; and
                    (B) are aimed at improving effectiveness, 
                participation, and health and safety of youth sports.
            (3) Permitted activities.--A grant under this subsection 
        may be used for activities including the following:
                    (A) Surveys.
                    (B) Studies.
                    (C) Pilot programs.
                    (D) Development of guidelines and standards.
                    (E) Education and outreach.
                    (F) Implementation efforts.
            (4) Selection criteria.--Grants under this subsection shall 
        be awarded, with respect to model standards described in 
        paragraph (1), based on the following criteria:
                    (A) Number of coaches affected by such standards.
                    (B) Degree with which activities and standards, as 
                applicable, are easy and affordable to the organization 
                or coach involved.
                    (C) Comprehensiveness of such standards and the 
                number of subjects covered effectively by such 
                standards.
            (5) Reports.--
                    (A) By grantees.--As a condition of receipt of a 
                grant under this subsection, a grantee shall submit to 
                the Secretary of Health and Human Services such 
                information as specified by the Secretary, by such time 
                as specified by the Secretary, to complete the report 
                described in subparagraph (B).
                    (B) By secretary.--Not later than five years after 
                the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
                Health and Human Services shall publish a national 
                report on lessons learned from the model standards 
                implemented pursuant to grants awarded under this 
                subsection. The report shall--
                            (i) measure the effectiveness of such 
                        standards in improving health, safety, 
                        participation rate, and inclusion; and
                            (ii) describe the areas in which funding 
                        under such grants was spent, including by 
                        purposes and outcomes.
            (6) Funding.--There is authorized to be appropriated to 
        carry out this section such sums as are necessary.

SEC. 3. YOUTH SPORTS RESEARCH.

    (a) GAO Study.--Not later than two years after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 
shall submit to Congress a report on--
            (1) a history of the prior 50 years of Federal Government 
        programs used to help promote the effectiveness, participation, 
        health, and safety of non-school based organized youth sports; 
        and
            (2) evidence available on the effectiveness and outcomes of 
        such programs.
    (b) HHS Study.--Not later than two years after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall 
submit to Congress a report on--
            (1) youth sports risk prevention efforts conducted or 
        supported by the Department of Health and Human Services and 
        other Federal agencies;
            (2) beneficial practices in place relating to such efforts 
        and the effectiveness of such practices; and
            (3) assessing further steps and resources needed to reduce 
        risks and increase the benefits of sports.

SEC. 4. SAFETY PROMOTION.

    The Secretary of Health and Human Services is authorized, through 
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National 
Institutes of Health, to undertake, support, enhance, and expand 
research and prevention efforts to advance youth sports safety.
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