Behavioral Intervention Guidelines Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1383 To amend the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop best practices for the establishment and use of behavioral intervention teams at schools, and for other pur- poses. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 27, 2021 Mr. CORNYN (for himself and Mr. KING) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend the Public Health Service Act to direct the Sec- retary of Health and Human Services to develop best practices for the establishment and use of behavioral intervention teams at schools, 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 ‘‘Behavioral Interven- 4 tion Guidelines Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:59 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1383.IS S1383 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1383 IS SEC. 2. BEST PRACTICES FOR BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION 1 TEAMS. 2 The Public Health Service Act is amended by insert- 3 ing after section 520G of such Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb–38) 4 the following new section: 5 ‘‘SEC. 520H. BEST PRACTICES FOR BEHAVIORAL INTERVEN- 6 TION TEAMS. 7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall identify and 8 facilitate the development of best practices to assist ele- 9 mentary schools, secondary schools, and institutions of 10 higher education in establishing and using behavioral 11 intervention teams. 12 ‘‘(b) ELEMENTS.—The best practices under sub- 13 section (a)(1) shall include guidance on the following: 14 ‘‘(1) How behavioral intervention teams can op- 15 erate effectively from an evidence-based, objective 16 perspective while protecting the constitutional and 17 civil rights of individuals. 18 ‘‘(2) The use of behavioral intervention teams 19 to identify concerning behaviors, implement interven- 20 tions, and manage risk through the framework of 21 the school’s or institution’s rules or code of conduct, 22 as applicable. 23 ‘‘(3) How behavioral intervention teams can, 24 when assessing an individual— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:59 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1383.IS S1383 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1383 IS ‘‘(A) access training on evidence-based, 1 threat-assessment rubrics; 2 ‘‘(B) ensure that such teams— 3 ‘‘(i) have trained, diverse stakeholders 4 with varied expertise; and 5 ‘‘(ii) use cross validation by a wide- 6 range of individual perspectives on the 7 team; and 8 ‘‘(C) use violence risk assessment. 9 ‘‘(4) How behavioral intervention teams can 10 help mitigate— 11 ‘‘(A) inappropriate use of a mental health 12 assessment; 13 ‘‘(B) inappropriate limitations or restric- 14 tions on law enforcement’s jurisdiction over 15 criminal matters; 16 ‘‘(C) attempts to substitute the behavioral 17 intervention process in place of a criminal proc- 18 ess, or impede a criminal process, when an indi- 19 vidual’s behavior has potential criminal implica- 20 tions; 21 ‘‘(D) endangerment of an individual’s pri- 22 vacy by failing to ensure that all applicable 23 Federal and State privacy laws are fully com- 24 plied with; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:59 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1383.IS S1383 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1383 IS ‘‘(E) inappropriate referrals to, or involve- 1 ment of, law enforcement when an individual’s 2 behavior does not warrant a criminal response. 3 ‘‘(c) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out subsection 4 (a)(1), the Secretary shall consult with— 5 ‘‘(1) the Secretary of Education; 6 ‘‘(2) the Director of the National Threat As- 7 sessment Center of the United States Secretary 8 Service; 9 ‘‘(3) the Attorney General and the Director of 10 the Bureau of Justice Assistance; 11 ‘‘(4) teachers and other educators, principals, 12 school administrators, school board members, school 13 psychologists, mental health professionals, and par- 14 ents of students; 15 ‘‘(5) local law enforcement agencies and campus 16 law enforcement administrators; 17 ‘‘(6) privacy experts; and 18 ‘‘(7) other education and mental health profes- 19 sionals as the Secretary deems appropriate. 20 ‘‘(d) PUBLICATION.—Not later than 2 years after the 21 date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall pub- 22 lish the best practices under subsection (a)(1) on the inter- 23 net website of the Department of Health and Human 24 Services. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:59 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1383.IS S1383 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1383 IS ‘‘(e) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall 1 provide technical assistance to institutions of higher edu- 2 cation, elementary schools, and secondary schools to assist 3 such institutions and schools in implementing the best 4 practices under subsection (a). 5 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 6 ‘‘(1) The term ‘behavioral intervention team’ 7 means a team of qualified individuals who— 8 ‘‘(A) are responsible for identifying and as- 9 sessing individuals exhibiting concerning behav- 10 iors, experiencing distress, or who are at risk of 11 harm to self or others; 12 ‘‘(B) develop and facilitate implementation 13 of evidence-based interventions to mitigate the 14 threat of harm to self or others posed by an in- 15 dividual and address the mental and behavioral 16 health needs of individuals to reduce risk; and 17 ‘‘(C) provide information to students, par- 18 ents, and school employees on recognizing be- 19 havior described in this subsection. 20 ‘‘(2) The terms ‘elementary school’, ‘parent’, 21 and ‘secondary school’ have the meanings given to 22 such terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and 23 Secondary Education Act of 1965. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:59 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1383.IS S1383 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1383 IS ‘‘(3) The term ‘institution of higher education’ 1 has the meaning given to such term in section 102 2 of the Higher Education Act of 1965. 3 ‘‘(4) The term ‘mental health assessment’ 4 means an evaluation, primarily focused on diagnosis, 5 determining the need for involuntary commitment, 6 medication management, and on-going treatment 7 recommendations. 8 ‘‘(5) The term ‘violence risk assessment’ means 9 a broad determination of the potential risk of vio- 10 lence based on evidence-based literature.’’. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:59 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1383.IS S1383 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS