Mental Health for Latinos Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2529 To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a behavioral and mental health outreach and education strategy to reduce stigma associ- ated with mental health among the Hispanic and Latino population, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 14, 2021 Mrs. NAPOLITANO (for herself, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. SOTO, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. VELA, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. CORREA, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. CHU, Mr. RUIZ, Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ, Mr. AGUILAR, Mr. SIRES, and Ms. ESCOBAR) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a behavioral and mental health outreach and education strategy to reduce stigma associated with mental health among the Hispanic and Latino population, 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Mental Health for 4 Latinos Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 08:55 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2529.IH H2529 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2529 IH SEC. 2. HISPANIC AND LATINO BEHAVIORAL AND MENTAL 1 HEALTH OUTREACH AND EDUCATION STRAT- 2 EGY. 3 Part D of title V of the Public Health Service Act 4 (42 U.S.C. 290dd et seq.) is amended by adding at the 5 end the following new section: 6 ‘‘SEC. 553. BEHAVIORAL AND MENTAL HEALTH OUTREACH 7 AND EDUCATION STRATEGY. 8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 9 the Assistant Secretary, shall, in coordination with advo- 10 cacy and behavioral and mental health organizations serv- 11 ing populations of Hispanic and Latino individuals or 12 communities, develop and implement an outreach and edu- 13 cation strategy to promote behavioral and mental health 14 and reduce stigma associated with mental health condi- 15 tions and substance abuse among the Hispanic and Latino 16 populations. Such strategy shall— 17 ‘‘(1) be designed to— 18 ‘‘(A) meet the diverse cultural and lan- 19 guage needs of the various Hispanic and Latino 20 populations; and 21 ‘‘(B) be developmentally and age-appro- 22 priate; 23 ‘‘(2) increase awareness of symptoms of mental 24 illnesses common among such populations, taking 25 into account differences within subgroups, such as 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 08:55 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2529.IH H2529 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2529 IH gender, gender identity, age, sexual orientation, or 1 ethnicity, of such populations; 2 ‘‘(3) provide information on evidence-based, cul- 3 turally and linguistically appropriate and adapted 4 interventions and treatments; 5 ‘‘(4) ensure full participation of, and engage, 6 both consumers and community members in the de- 7 velopment and implementation of materials; 8 ‘‘(5) seek to broaden the perspective among 9 both individuals in these communities and stake- 10 holders serving these communities to use a com- 11 prehensive public health approach to promoting be- 12 havioral health that addresses a holistic view of 13 health by focusing on the intersection between be- 14 havioral and physical health; and 15 ‘‘(6) address the impact of the SARS–CoV–2 16 pandemic on the mental and behavioral health of the 17 Hispanic and Latino populations. 18 ‘‘(b) REPORTS.—Beginning not later than 1 year 19 after the date of the enactment of this section and annu- 20 ally thereafter, the Secretary, acting through the Assistant 21 Secretary, shall submit to Congress, and make publicly 22 available, a report on the extent to which the strategy de- 23 veloped and implemented under subsection (a) improved 24 behavioral and mental health outcomes associated with 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 08:55 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2529.IH H2529 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2529 IH mental health conditions and substance abuse among His- 1 panic and Latino populations. 2 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 3 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 4 $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2022.’’. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 08:55 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2529.IH H2529 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS