IIB 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1475 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 13, 2021 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions AN ACT To address mental health issues for youth, particularly youth of color, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1475.RFS H1475 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 HR 1475 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pursuing Equity in 2 Mental Health Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 4 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 5 Sec. 1. Short title. Sec. 2. Table of contents. TITLE I—HEALTH EQUITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY Sec. 101. Integrated Health Care Demonstration Program. Sec. 102. Addressing racial and ethnic minority mental health disparities re- search gaps. Sec. 103. Health professions competencies to address racial and ethnic minority mental health disparities. Sec. 104. Racial and ethnic minority behavioral and mental health outreach and education strategy. Sec. 105. Additional funds for National Institutes of Health. Sec. 106. Additional funds for National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. TITLE II—OTHER PROVISIONS Sec. 201. Reauthorization of Minority Fellowship Program. Sec. 202. Study on the Effects of Smartphone and Social Media Use on Adoles- cents. Sec. 203. Technical correction. TITLE I—HEALTH EQUITY AND 6 ACCOUNTABILITY 7 SEC. 101. INTEGRATED HEALTH CARE DEMONSTRATION 8 PROGRAM. 9 Part D of title V of the Public Health Service Act 10 (42 U.S.C. 290dd et seq.) is amended by inserting after 11 section 553 of such Act (as redesignated and moved by 12 section 203 of this Act) the following: 13 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1475.RFS H1475 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 HR 1475 RFS ‘‘SEC. 554. INTERPROFESSIONAL HEALTH CARE TEAMS FOR 1 PROVISION OF BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CARE 2 IN PRIMARY CARE SETTINGS. 3 ‘‘(a) GRANTS.—The Secretary shall award grants to 4 eligible entities for the purpose of establishing interprofes- 5 sional health care teams that provide behavioral health 6 care. 7 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—To be eligible to receive 8 a grant under this section, an entity shall be a Federally 9 qualified health center (as defined in section 1861(aa) of 10 the Social Security Act), rural health clinic, or behavioral 11 health program, serving a high proportion of individuals 12 from racial and ethnic minority groups (as defined in sec- 13 tion 1707(g)). 14 ‘‘(c) SCIENTIFICALLY BASED.—Integrated health 15 care funded through this section shall be scientifically 16 based, taking into consideration the results of the most 17 recent peer-reviewed research available. 18 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 19 carry out this section, there is authorized to be appro- 20 priated $20,000,000 for each of the first 5 fiscal years 21 following the date of enactment of the Pursuing Equity 22 in Mental Health Act.’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1475.RFS H1475 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 HR 1475 RFS SEC. 102. ADDRESSING RACIAL AND ETHNIC MINORITY 1 MENTAL HEALTH DISPARITIES RESEARCH 2 GAPS. 3 Not later than 6 months after the date of the enact- 4 ment of this Act, the Director of the National Institutes 5 of Health shall enter into an arrangement with the Na- 6 tional Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 7 (or, if the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, 8 and Medicine decline to enter into such an arrangement, 9 the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, the 10 Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, or another 11 appropriate entity)— 12 (1) to conduct a study with respect to mental 13 health disparities in racial and ethnic minority 14 groups (as defined in section 1707(g) of the Public 15 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300u–6(g))); and 16 (2) to submit to the Congress a report on the 17 results of such study, including— 18 (A) a compilation of information on the dy- 19 namics of mental disorders in such racial and 20 ethnic minority groups; and 21 (B) a compilation of information on the 22 impact of exposure to community violence, ad- 23 verse childhood experiences, structural racism, 24 and other psychological traumas on mental dis- 25 orders in such racial and minority groups. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1475.RFS H1475 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 HR 1475 RFS SEC. 103. HEALTH PROFESSIONS COMPETENCIES TO AD- 1 DRESS RACIAL AND ETHNIC MINORITY MEN- 2 TAL HEALTH DISPARITIES. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 4 Human Services may award grants to qualified national 5 organizations for the purposes of— 6 (1) developing, and disseminating to health pro- 7 fessional educational programs best practices or core 8 competencies addressing mental health disparities 9 among racial and ethnic minority groups for use in 10 the training of students in the professions of social 11 work, psychology, psychiatry, marriage and family 12 therapy, mental health counseling, and substance 13 misuse counseling; and 14 (2) certifying community health workers and 15 peer wellness specialists with respect to such best 16 practices and core competencies and integrating and 17 expanding the use of such workers and specialists 18 into health care to address mental health disparities 19 among racial and ethnic minority groups. 20 (b) BEST PRACTICES; CORE COMPETENCIES.—Orga- 21 nizations receiving funds under subsection (a) may use the 22 funds to engage in the following activities related to the 23 development and dissemination of best practices or core 24 competencies described in subsection (a)(1): 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1475.RFS H1475 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 HR 1475 RFS (1) Formation of committees or working groups 1 comprised of experts from accredited health profes- 2 sions schools to identify best practices and core com- 3 petencies relating to mental health disparities among 4 racial and ethnic minority groups. 5 (2) Planning of workshops in national fora to 6 allow for public input into the educational needs as- 7 sociated with mental health disparities among racial 8 and ethnic minority groups. 9 (3) Dissemination and promotion of the use of 10 best practices or core competencies in undergraduate 11 and graduate health professions training programs 12 nationwide. 13 (4) Establishing external stakeholder advisory 14 boards to provide meaningful input into policy and 15 program development and best practices to reduce 16 mental health disparities among racial and ethnic 17 minority groups. 18 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 19 (1) QUALIFIED NATIONAL ORGANIZATION.—The 20 term ‘‘qualified national organization’’ means a na- 21 tional organization that focuses on the education of 22 students in one or more of the professions of social 23 work, psychology, psychiatry, marriage and family 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1475.RFS H1475 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 HR 1475 RFS therapy, mental health counseling, and substance 1 misuse counseling. 2 (2) RACIAL AND ETHNIC MINORITY GROUP.— 3 The term ‘‘racial and ethnic minority group’’ has the 4 meaning given to such term in section 1707(g) of 5 the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300u– 6 6(g)). 7 SEC. 104. RACIAL AND ETHNIC MINORITY BEHAVIORAL 8 AND MENTAL HEALTH OUTREACH AND EDU- 9 CATION STRATEGY. 10 Part D of title V of the Public Health Service Act 11 (42 U.S.C. 290dd et seq.) is amended by inserting after 12 section 554 of such Act, as added by section 101 of this 13 Act, the following: 14 ‘‘SEC. 555. BEHAVIORAL AND MENTAL HEALTH OUTREACH 15 AND EDUCATION STRATEGY. 16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, in consulta- 17 tion with advocacy and behavioral and mental health orga- 18 nizations serving racial and ethnic minority groups, de- 19 velop and implement an outreach and education strategy 20 to promote behavioral and mental health and reduce stig- 21 ma associated with mental health conditions and sub- 22 stance abuse among racial and ethnic minority groups. 23 Such strategy shall— 24 ‘‘(1) be designed to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1475.RFS H1475 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 HR 1475 RFS ‘‘(A) meet the diverse cultural and lan- 1 guage needs of the various racial and ethnic mi- 2 nority groups; and 3 ‘‘(B) be developmentally and age-appro- 4 priate; 5 ‘‘(2) increase awareness of symptoms of mental 6 illnesses common among such groups, taking into 7 account differences within at-risk subgroups; 8 ‘‘(3) provide information on evidence-based, cul- 9 turally and linguistically appropriate and adapted 10 interventions and treatments; 11 ‘‘(4) ensure full participation of, and engage, 12 both consumers and community members in the de- 13 velopment and implementation of materials; and 14 ‘‘(5) seek to broaden the perspective among 15 both individuals in these groups and stakeholders 16 serving these groups to use a comprehensive public 17 health approach to promoting behavioral health that 18 addresses a holistic view of health by focusing on the 19 intersection between behavioral and physical health. 20 ‘‘(b) REPORTS.—Beginning not later than 1 year 21 after the date of the enactment of this section and annu- 22 ally thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to Congress, 23 and make publicly available, a report on the extent to 24 which the strategy developed and implemented under sub- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1475.RFS H1475 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 HR 1475 RFS section (a) increased behavioral and mental health out- 1 comes associated with mental health conditions and sub- 2 stance abuse among racial and ethnic minority groups. 3 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘racial 4 and ethnic minority group’ has the meaning given to that 5 term in section 1707(g). 6 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 7 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 8 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026.’’. 9 SEC. 105. ADDITIONAL FUNDS FOR NATIONAL INSTITUTES 10 OF HEALTH. 11 (a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to amounts otherwise 12 authorized to be appropriated to the National Institutes 13 of Health, there is authorized to be appropriated to such 14 Institutes $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 15 through 2026 to build relations with communities and con- 16 duct or support clinical research, including clinical re- 17 search on racial or ethnic disparities in physical and men- 18 tal health. 19 (b) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘clinical 20 research’’ has the meaning given to such term in section 21 409 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 284d). 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1475.RFS H1475 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 HR 1475 RFS SEC. 106. ADDITIONAL FUNDS FOR NATIONAL INSTITUTE 1 ON MINORITY HEALTH AND HEALTH DISPARI- 2 TIES. 3 In addition to amounts otherwise authorized to be ap- 4 propriated to the National Institute on Minority Health 5 and Health Disparities, there is authorized to be appro- 6 priated to such Institute $650,000,000 for each of fiscal 7 years 2022 through 2026. 8 TITLE II—OTHER PROVISIONS 9 SEC. 201. REAUTHORIZATION OF MINORITY FELLOWSHIP 10 PROGRAM. 11 Section 597(c) of the Public Health Service Act (42 12 U.S.C. 297ll(c)) is amended by striking ‘‘$12,669,000 for 13 each of fiscal years 2018 through 2022’’ and inserting 14 ‘‘$25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 15 2026’’. 16 SEC. 202. STUDY ON THE EFFECTS OF SMARTPHONE AND 17 SOCIAL MEDIA USE ON ADOLESCENTS. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 19 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and 20 Human Services shall conduct or support research on— 21 (1) smartphone and social media use by adoles- 22 cents; and 23 (2) the effects of such use on— 24 (A) emotional, behavioral, and physical 25 health and development; and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1475.RFS H1475 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 HR 1475 RFS (B) disparities in minority and under- 1 served populations. 2 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 5 years after the date 3 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 4 to the Congress, and make publicly available, a report on 5 the findings of research described in this section. 6 SEC. 203. TECHNICAL CORRECTION. 7 Title V of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 8 290aa et seq.) is amended— 9 (1) by redesignating the second section 550 (42 10 U.S.C. 290ee–10) (relating to Sobriety Treatment 11 And Recovery Teams) as section 553; and 12 (2) by moving such section, as so redesignated, 13 so as to appear after section 552 (42 U.S.C. 290ee– 14 7). 15 Passed the House of Representatives May 12, 2021. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 May 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1475.RFS H1475 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS