article: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Student Medical Access Raising Test Scores Health Act'', or the ``SMARTS Health Act''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. The Congress finds as follows: (1) The Journal of the American Medical Association reports that protecting children's health requires two key elements, which are (A) that a caring adult is engaged in the life of the child, and (B) that there is a connection between the child and his or her school. (2) Schools offer the most natural community setting in which individuals live, work, and play. Schools are a respected element of community infrastructure and are recognized as the most valuable element in creating connection and support for children, families, and communities. (3) Primary care and behavioral health services are among the most important elements of a comprehensive approach to promoting health and education and preventing illness in children and youth. (4) School safety and violence prevention are critical to the well-being of each student, and early intervention and mental health care significantly reduce school discipline problems. (5) Good health is a prerequisite for optimal learning, and schools can help students achieve academic success by participating in efforts that promote good health, including access to regular medical and mental health care. (6) Children are experiencing increasing rates of behavioral and physical illness, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and asthma and diabetes, and are experiencing increasing rates of obesity that portend increasing rates of diabetes, heart disease, and cancer later in life. (7) In order to be effective, new strategies for prevention must be built on community-based, community-designed, and community-implemented strategies. (8) Effective behavioral and physical health services can be provided in a school-based setting in such a way as to prevent later disease. (9) Schools are ideal settings in which to provide care for children, especially those who would otherwise have inadequate access to health services. Limited access contributes directly to the growing rates of disease among children. Prevention strategies should be joined with treatment to develop an understanding of what types of prevention can reduce rates of illness, and therefore the need for treatment. Higher rates of disease, even with adequate access to health services, portend loss of vitality and higher complications from disease. (10) School-based health programs should focus on improving behavioral and physical health, including with respect to obesity. (11) By reducing the incidence of disease, effective community-based prevention programs (whether through school- based approaches or otherwise) result in significant savings to the Federal Government and to the States by reducing expenditures in Federal and State health services programs. Such savings should be dedicated to further prevention efforts, which in turn will result in further savings. Savings that result from prevention programs should not be redirected to unrelated purposes, and prevention programs that achieve savings should not be penalized by having their funding levels reduced. SEC. 3. DEMONSTRATION GRANTS FOR EXPANSION OF SCHOOL-BASED HEALTH PROGRAMS. (a) In General.-- (1) Program of grants.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services may make demonstration grants to eligible entities for the purpose of expanding school-based health programs that are operated by such entities. (2) Consultation.--The Secretary shall coordinate the program under this section with the program under title XIX of the Social Security Act (relating to Medicaid); the program under title XXI of such Act (relating to the State children's health insurance program); programs of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; programs of the Health Resources and Services Administration; programs of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; programs of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; programs of the National Institutes of Health; and the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities. (b) Eligible Entities.--An entity is an eligible entity for purposes of this Act if-- (1) the entity is a public or nonprofit private institution of higher education or a local educational agency; (2) the entity operates a school-based health program; (3) the health services provided by such program include preventive health services and behavioral health services, including with respect to nutrition, physical activity, and otherwise preventing or treating obesity; and (4) such program is carried out in coordination with public and nonprofit private entities in the community involved that provide health, education, or social services to children. (c) Certain Programs.--Grants under subsection (a) shall be made only to the following entities (subject to the submission of an application in accordance with subsection (d) demonstrating status as an eligible entity), and for the following purposes: (1) To the University of Maryland for expanding the school- based health program operated by such University in the vicinity of Baltimore, in the State of Maryland. (2) To the local educational agency that operates a school- based health program in an independent school district in the vicinity of Dallas, in the State of Texas, for expanding such program. (3) To the University of New Mexico for expanding the school-based health program operated by such University in the State of New Mexico. (4) To the University of California, Los Angeles, for expanding the school-based health program operated by such University in the vicinity of Los Angeles, in the State of California. (5) To the Child Study Center Outpatient Clinic, Yale University, for expanding the school-based health program operated by such Center in the vicinity of New Haven, in the State of Connecticut. (6) To the University of Illinois at Chicago, for expanding the school-based health program operated by such University in the vicinity of Chicago, in the State of Illinois. (d) Application for Grant.--A grant may be made under subsection (a) only if an application for the grant is submitted to the Secretary and the application is in such form, is made in such manner, and contains such agreements, assurances, and information as the secretary determines to be necessary to carry out this section. (e) Outcome Goals.--In making a grant under subsection (a) for a school-based health program, the Secretary shall establish goals for the program in terms of health outcomes for the children served by the program. Such goals shall be based on the objectives established by the Secretary as part of the initiative known as Healthy People 2010, or on other measures determined by the Secretary to be appropriate. (f) Evaluations; Report.-- (1) Evaluations.--The Secretary, directly or through grants or contracts, shall provide for evaluations of the school-based programs for which grants under subsection (a) are made. Such evaluations shall determine whether the programs have met the applicable goals under subsection (e), and shall determine the extent to which the programs have increased the access of the children involved to health services, have enhanced the overall health status of the children, and have reduced disease rates. (2) Report.--Not later than December 31, 2004, the Secretary shall submit to the Congress a report that describes the findings made through evaluations under paragraph (1) and that provides the recommendations of the Secretary for a comprehensive national program to provide grants for the establishment and operation of school-based health programs, including a recommendation on the amount of funds that should be made available for the comprehensive national program, taking into account the savings that can be achieved in Federal and State health services programs by reducing the incidence of disease in the populations served by the program. (g) Definitions.-- (1) The term ``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given such term in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965. (2) The term ``local educational agency'' has the meaning given such term in section 9101(26) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. (3) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of Health and Human Services. (h) Authorization of Appropriations.--For the purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 2003 through 2008.
summary: Student Medical Access Raising Test Scores Health Act - SMARTS Health Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make demonstration grants to expand school-based health programs.Directs the Secretary to coordinate such grants program with other specified health programs.Limits the making of such grants to the following eligible entities, for expansion of the following school-based health programs: (1) the University of Maryland, for its program in the Baltimore, Maryland, vicinity; (2) the local educational agency for its program in an independent school district in the Dallas, Texas, vicinity; (3) the University of New Mexico for its program in New Mexico; (4) the University of California, Los Angeles, for its program in the Los Angeles, California, vicinity; (5) the Child Study Center Outpatient Clinic, Yale University, for its program in the New Haven, Connecticut, vicinity; and (6) the University of Illinois at Chicago, for its program in the Chicago, Illinois, vicinity.Directs the Secretary, in making such a grant, to establish goals for the program in terms of health outcomes for the children served.