SB2267 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB094 16260 LJB 51506 b

94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2005 and 2006
SB2267

Introduced 1/12/2006, by Sen. Carol Ronen

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

New Act

Creates the Age-appropriate Sex Education Grant Program Act. Subject to appropriation, requires the Department of Human Services to develop and administer a program of grants for programs of age-appropriate sex education. Provides that eligible grant applicants include (i) public school districts, (ii) State-certified local health departments, (iii) community based organizations, (iv) religious entities, and (v) consortiums or partnerships of school districts and community based organizations. Sets forth requirements for age-appropriate sex education programs and for applications to receive grants. Requires eligible applicants that have received grants under the Act to file an annual report with the Department and requires the Department to submit an annual report to the Governor and the General Assembly. Permits grants for curriculum development and innovative programming. Requires the Department to notify potential applicants at least 90 days prior to the application deadline. Requires the Department to promulgate rules reasonably necessary to implement and administer the Act. Effective immediately.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning health.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Age-appropriate Sex Education Grant Program Act.

Section 5. Legislative intent. The General Assembly finds and declares that Illinois' teen birth rate, numbering over 18,000 per year, ranks among the highest in the nation. Further, the United States has the highest teen pregnancy rate of all developed countries. Current research documents the fact that those individuals who receive early, comprehensive, age-appropriate, and scientifically accurate education in the health and other benefits derived from sexual abstinence, family planning, and birth control are more likely to delay sexual activity and engage in such activity later and with a higher degree of responsibility and safety. Comprehensive sex education programs, which complement parental involvement and respect the diversity and values of our State, provide our at-risk youth with the foundation to make responsibly informed choices. The earlier these programs are commenced on an age-appropriate basis, the more responsibly our youth will make decisions about sexual activity.

The General Assembly further finds and declares that current statistics demonstrate that occurrences of sexually transmitted diseases among adolescents have shown an increase over the past several years. Concurrently, adolescents are the fastest growing population of new HIV/AIDS cases. These increases place greater demand on the State's health care delivery system and require that we take immediate action and embark on a dedicated mission to provide targeted at-risk adolescents with a more concentrated sex education program with a significant parental component, designed to inform and instruct them on abstinence, protection, and pregnancy prevention. Nearly half of all new sexually transmitted disease cases occurred among Americans aged 15 to 24. In Illinois, one-third of all Chlamydia cases and over one-quarter of all Gonorrhea cases occur in teens ages 15 to 19. By age 24, at least one in 3 sexually active persons are estimated to have had a sexually transmitted disease.

It is the intent of the legislature that the age-appropriate sex education grant program established in this Act provide adolescents with the information, assistance, skills, and support to enable them to make responsible decisions, including abstaining from sexual intercourse, and, for those who do become sexually active, the effective use of contraceptives and barrier methods.

Section 10. Definitions. For the purposes of this Act, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

"Age-appropriate sex education grant program" means a comprehensive age-appropriate sex education program conducted by an eligible applicant under Section 15 of this Act.

"Department" means the Illinois Department of Human Services.

"Eligible applicant" means any of the following:

(1) A public school district.

(2) A State-certified local health department.

(3) A community based organization that may be a for-profit corporation or entity or not-for-profit corporation or organization.

(4) A religious corporation, church, or other religious entity, provided that, either directly or indirectly, the promotion or teaching of religious tenets is not a component of a sex education program.

(5) A consortium or partnership formed by a public school district and one or more community based organizations that qualify for the award of an age-appropriate sex education grant by the Department under this Act.

"Grant program plan" means the plan submitted to the Department by an eligible applicant under Section 15 of this Act.

"Medically accurate" means verified or supported by research conducted in compliance with scientific methods, published in peer-reviewed journals, when appropriate, and recognized as accurate and objective by professional organizations and agencies with expertise in the relevant field, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"State income standard" means the most recent federal income official poverty line as defined annually and revised by the federal Office of Management and Budget adjusted for family size.

Section 15. Establishment of age-appropriate sex education grant program; components of instruction; general standards.

(a) There is established within the Illinois Department of Human Services an age-appropriate sex education grant program subject to appropriation. The purpose of the program shall be to provide grants to eligible applicants to support age-appropriate sex education programs for young people that provide them with components of instruction set forth in subsection (b) of this Section.

(b) The age-appropriate sex education programs approved under this grant program shall include the following components of instruction:

(1) Teaches that abstinence is the only sure way to avoid pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases.

(2) Teaches skills to make responsible decisions about sexuality, including how to avoid unwanted verbal, physical, and sexual advances, and how not to make unwanted verbal, physical, and sexual advances.

(3) Teaches how alcohol and drug use can affect responsible decision making.

(4) Helps young people to gain knowledge about the physical, biological, and hormonal changes of adolescence and subsequent stages of human maturation.

(5) Provides information about the health benefits, side effects, and proper use of all contraceptives and barrier methods, including accurate information about effectiveness, as a means to prevent pregnancy and as a means to reduce the risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDS, and other diseases.

(6) Assists young people in gaining knowledge about the specific involvement and responsibility of both males and females in sexual decision making.

(7) Encourages young people to practice healthy life skills, including goal setting, decision making, negotiation, communication, and stress management.

(8) Promotes self-esteem and positive interpersonal skills focusing on relationship skills, including platonic, romantic, intimate, and family relationships and interaction.

The Department may determine certain components of instruction to be optional in grades kindergarten through 5 for age-appropriate or other practical reasons as specified in the application instructions made available by the Department for the purposes of implementing this Act.

(c) Any eligible applicant may apply for and, upon approval of the application by the Department, shall be awarded an annual age-appropriate sex education grant if it demonstrates in the grant program plan submitted to the Department that:

(1) The components of instruction shall adhere to the following standards:

(A) Is age-appropriate.

(B) Is medically accurate.

(C) Does not teach or promote religion, provided that this item shall not preclude discussion of moral, ethical, or religious views related to sex or sexual relationships.

(D) Stresses the value of abstinence while not ignoring those adolescents who have had or who are having sexual intercourse.

(E) Encourages family communication about sexuality among parents, other adult household members, and children.

(F) Develops the knowledge and skills necessary to ensure and protect young people with respect to their sexual and reproductive health.

(G) Develops healthy attitudes and values concerning growth and development, body image, gender roles, sexual orientation, and other subjects.

(2) The applicant is capable of providing young persons with an effective sex education program that shall be meaningful, shall substantially involve parents and other adults as feasible and appropriate, and shall be conducted in accordance with this Act and any rule under this Act.

(3) If the applicant is an organization outside of a school-setting that provides sex education, including, but not limited to, a community organization, religious corporation, church, or other religious entity, it has a demonstrated record of conducting comprehensive sex education that conforms to the standards set forth in paragraph (1) of this subsection, it will use instructional strategies that are high quality and based on medically accurate research, it is capable of providing an age-appropriate sex education program to a broad based segment of the youth population in the organization's service area, and it will provide instruction consistent with applicable federal, State, and local health, safety, and civil rights laws. The Department may seek and shall receive any pertinent information or may request and receive recommendations as to interactions or prior dealings the community based organization, religious corporation, church, or other religious entity has had with any other State or local governmental entity, including, but not limited to, any public school district, in making the determination required by this paragraph.

Section 20. Application for grants; age-appropriate sex education grant program plan.

(a) The Department shall establish an application procedure by which eligible applicants may apply for a grant pursuant to this Act. The Department shall establish the manner and method, including specified objective criteria consistent with this Act, by which the Department shall determine the eligibility of an applicant. Once an application is approved, the Department shall not suspend a grant unless for good cause shown. If an application is rejected by the Department, an eligible applicant is not prohibited from resubmitting a new or supplemental application with the Department for consideration in future years.

(b) The eligible applicant shall submit with its age-appropriate sex education grant application its grant program plan to the Department, which shall include, but not be limited to:

(1) The manner in which parents and other adults will be included in the program.

(2) An outline for the curriculum to be covered in the eligible applicant's program, including the instructional materials, books, videos, or other instructional tools to be used and the training that will be provided to teachers, personnel, and volunteers who will conduct the program. The curriculum shall include, but need not be limited to, a comprehensive block of instruction that stresses the components of instruction of an age-appropriate sex education grant program as established in Section 15 of this Act.

(3) Any special, unusual, or innovative services, programs, or education methods to be used.

(4) The number and types of teachers or personnel to be employed, or volunteers to be used, together with their professional or academic credentials.

(5) The geographic area in which the proposed program will be offered and a description of the categories and age groupings of at-risk adolescents included in the program, along with an estimate of the number of adolescents the applicant estimates will participate in the program.

(6) A demonstration that the proposed program is adequate in terms of course length and in terms of both short-term and long-range goals.

(7) The program is appropriate within the overall goals of school health.

(8) The need for the program in the proposed area to be served. In determining the need the Department shall specifically consider the following factors and give special attention to programs servicing areas that have a higher than average incidence in one or more of the following life experiences:

(A) The number of reported adolescent pregnancies by persons residing in the area over the previous 10 years and the number of adolescent parents, including when feasible the number of single parents, who currently reside in the area.

(B) The number of reported occurrences of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS among residents of the area to be served, with particular emphasis on HIV/AIDS.

(C) The number of persons residing in the area to be served whose annual personal income is less than 150% of the established State income standard and any other generally available statistical data that indicate that the area to be served is economically or otherwise disadvantaged.

(D) The high school drop out rate in the area.

(E) Any other generally available statistical data that indicate that the area to be served is in need of an age-appropriate sex education program.

(F) The success realized by an eligible applicant in reducing unintended pregnancies and cases of sexually transmitted diseases, as well as reducing risky behavior, in programs previously or currently conducted.

(G) Any other information as the Department may request.

(c) In considering applications submitted by eligible applicants, the Department shall give special attention and priority to applications submitted by an eligible applicant that is a public school district working in consortium or partnership with one or more community based organizations, especially when the community based organization or organizations have a demonstrated record of success in the conduct of sex education programs of a similar nature to the sex education program provided for in this Act.

Section 25. Annual reports by grant recipients.

(a) Every eligible applicant that has been awarded a grant under this Act shall file an annual report with the Department, in a form and with the data as the Department prescribes, detailing the expenditure of grant funds, together with an analysis of the age-appropriate sex education grant program it conducted, and a summary of its success or failures in altering attitudes and the acquisition of knowledge regarding the merits of sexual abstinence and methods of preventing unintended pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, and HIV/AIDS.

(b) The Department shall, on or before February 1 of each year, submit a report on the program to the Governor and the General Assembly containing its findings and recommendations.

Section 30. Grants for curriculum development and innovative programming. The Department may award grants to eligible applicants for the development of age-appropriate, comprehensive sex education curriculum and innovative programming. The curriculum and programming developed under these grants must include the components outlined in Section 15 of this Act.

Section 35. Notification to potential applicants. The Department shall at least 90 days prior to the application deadline send to every public school district and to every requesting community based organization a copy of this Act and general information relating to the age-appropriate sex education grant program and the grant application process.

Section 40. Rules. The Department shall promulgate rules reasonably necessary to implement and administer the provisions of this Act.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.