[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2555 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2555
To amend the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to establish a grant program
to provide grants to local agencies and clinics to improve the health
of mothers and infants, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 15, 2021
Ms. Adams (for herself and Mr. Scott of Virginia) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and
Labor
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to establish a grant program
to provide grants to local agencies and clinics to improve the health
of mothers and infants, 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 ``Community Access, Resources, and
Education for Families Act'' or the ``CARE for Families Act''.
SEC. 2. FUNDS FOR COMMUNITY HEALTH PARTNERSHIP OUTREACH.
Section 17(h) of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C.
1786(h)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(15) Community health partnerships grants.--
``(A) Program established.--Not later than 1 year
after the date of the enactment of this paragraph, the
Secretary shall carry out a grant program to make
grants to local agencies and clinics to carry out the
activities described in subparagraph (B).
``(B) Grant program activities.--A local agency or
clinic that receives a grant under this paragraph shall
use the grant funds to carry out activities to enhance
collaboration between--
``(i) local agencies, clinics, and
community health partners, including other
health care providers, social services
programs, and early childhood learning and care
providers, for the purposes of--
``(I) establishing linkages between
such entities, such as through
participation in community coalitions;
``(II) facilitating referrals
between such entities;
``(III) implementing evidence-based
strategies to--
``(aa) improve the health
of communities;
``(bb) conduct outreach to
potential program participants;
and
``(cc) promote
breastfeeding and access to
healthy foods; and
``(IV) increasing awareness among
such entities and program participants
(including potential program
participants) of the eligibility
requirements for, and health benefits
of, the program; and
``(ii) local agencies, clinics, and health
care entities for the purposes of--
``(I) facilitating and improving
access to comprehensive prenatal,
postnatal, and postpartum care for
program participants;
``(II) facilitating certification
of eligibility of persons for
participation in the program and
provision of program benefits at the
hospital bedside for eligible
postpartum women and infants;
``(III) improving the coordination,
quality, and cost effectiveness of
health care services; and
``(IV) ensuring consistent
nutrition education and breastfeeding
messages are provided to program
participants.
``(C) Application.--To be eligible to receive a
grant under this paragraph, a local agency or clinic
shall submit an application to the Secretary at such
time, in such manner, and containing such information
as the Secretary may require.
``(D) Authorization of appropriations.--
``(i) In general.--From amounts
appropriated under subsection (g), $15,000,000
may be made available to carry out this
paragraph for each of fiscal years 2020 through
2025.
``(ii) Adjustment.--The amount specified in
clause (i) shall be adjusted annually for
inflation by the same factor used to determine
the national average per participant grant for
nutrition services and administration for the
fiscal year under paragraph (1)(B).
``(E) Definitions.--In this paragraph:
``(i) Program.--The term `program' means
the special supplemental nutrition program
under this section.
``(ii) Program participant.--The term
`program participant' means a participant in
the program.
``(iii) Health care entities.--The term
`health care entities' includes pediatricians,
obstetricians-gynecologists, family physicians,
advance practice nurses, nurse midwives,
community health centers, health departments,
hospitals, facilities funded by the Indian
Health Service and rural health clinics.
``(16) Initiative for coordinating health information
exchange.--
``(A) In general.--Not later than 120 days after
the date of the enactment of this paragraph, the
Secretary shall establish an initiative to improve
communication between State agencies and local agencies
and medical providers with respect to program
participant health information related to services
provided under the program.
``(B) Requirements.--In carrying out the initiative
established under subparagraph (A), the Secretary--
``(i) may only disclose program participant
health information if the disclosure of such
information is permitted under the Federal
regulations (concerning the privacy of
individually identifiable health information)
promulgated under section 26(c) of the Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of
1996; and
``(ii) shall--
``(I) consult with the Director of
the Office for Civil Rights of the
Health and Human Services Department,
the National Coordinator for Health
Information Technology, the
Administrator for the Health Resources
and Services Administration, the
Administrator of the Centers for
Medicare & Medicaid Services, and the
Director of the Indian Health Service;
``(II) promote bidirectional
interoperability between management
information systems and electronic
health record systems of health care
providers; and
``(III) support development of
model software or systems that could be
utilized by multiple State agencies for
the communication described in
subparagraph (A).
``(C) Authorization of appropriations.--From
amounts appropriated under subsection (g), $50,000,000
may be made available to carry out this paragraph for
fiscal year 2022, to be available until expended.
``(D) Definitions.--In this paragraph:
``(i) Program.--The term `program' means
the special supplemental nutrition program
under this section.
``(ii) Program participant.--The term
`program participant' means a participant in
the program.''.
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