Mental Health Care for Children Inhumanely Separated from Parents by the Federal Government Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1336 To require the Federal Government to provide mental health services to each child who has been separated from one or more parent as a result of implementation of the Trump Administration’s zero tolerance policy at the United States border, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 25, 2019 Ms. BARRAGA´N introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris- diction of the committee concerned A BILL To require the Federal Government to provide mental health services to each child who has been separated from one or more parent as a result of implementation of the Trump Administration’s zero tolerance policy at the United States border, 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 Care 4 for Children Inhumanely Separated from Parents by the 5 Federal Government Act of 2019’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Mar 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1336.IH H1336 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 1336 IH SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 1 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 2 (1) On April 6, 2018, Attorney General Jeff 3 Sessions announced that the Trump Administration 4 would begin implementing a new zero tolerance pol- 5 icy for immigrants crossing the border into the 6 United States illegally. 7 (2) Between April 19 and May 31, 2018, 1,995 8 children were separated by the Department of 9 Homeland Security from their migrant parents at 10 the border. 11 (3) On May 8, 2018, the president of the Amer- 12 ican Academy of Pediatrics issued a statement op- 13 posing separation of children and parents at the bor- 14 der, explaining that ‘‘highly stressful experiences, 15 like family separation, can cause irreparable harm, 16 disrupting a child’s brain architecture and affecting 17 his or her short- and long-term health. This type of 18 prolonged exposure to serious stress—known as 19 toxic stress—can carry lifelong consequences for 20 children.’’. 21 (4) On May 29, 2018, the president of the 22 American Psychological Association issued a state- 23 ment regarding the ‘‘traumatic effects of separating 24 immigrant families’’, explaining that ‘‘[t]he longer 25 that children and parents are separated, the greater 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Mar 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1336.IH H1336 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 1336 IH the reported symptoms of anxiety and depression for 1 the children. Negative outcomes for children include 2 psychological distress, academic difficulties and dis- 3 ruptions in their development.’’. 4 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 5 gress that the separation of children from migrating par- 6 ents, as is resulting from the Trump Administration’s im- 7 plementation of the zero tolerance immigration policy, is 8 cruel, inhumane, and harmful to the mental health of sep- 9 arated children. 10 SEC. 3. MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES FOR CHILDREN SEPA- 11 RATED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 12 SECURITY AT THE BORDER. 13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Government shall, 14 including through contracts with qualified mental health 15 professionals, ensure that— 16 (1) beginning not later than 24 hours after a 17 child is separated from one or more parent by the 18 Department of Homeland Security at the United 19 States border, such child receives a mental health 20 assessment by such a professional who is not em- 21 ployed by the Federal Government; 22 (2) not later than 24 hours after the date of the 23 enactment of this Act, any child who was separated 24 from one or more parent at the United States border 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Mar 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1336.IH H1336 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 1336 IH at any time on or after April 6, 2018, shall receive 1 a mental health assessment from such a professional 2 who is not employed by the Federal Government; 3 (3) on an ongoing basis and as described in 4 subsection (c), a child described in paragraph (1) or 5 (2) is, subject to subsection (b), provided with men- 6 tal health services by such a professional regardless 7 of whether such child remains in a detention center 8 or is released to a family member or guardian (pro- 9 vided such child remains in the United States) and 10 an adequate network of such professionals is avail- 11 able nationwide to enable access to such services; 12 and 13 (4) 100 percent of the costs of such assessment 14 and services provided to a child pursuant to this 15 subsection are covered by the Federal Government, 16 without any cost-sharing or other related obligation 17 with respect to such assessment or services provided 18 to such child. 19 (b) OPT-OUT.—After release from a detention center, 20 the parent or legal guardian of a child described in sub- 21 section (a) may choose for such child to not receive serv- 22 ices otherwise made available pursuant to paragraph (3) 23 of such subsection and to not be provided an independent 24 assessment described in subsection (c). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Mar 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1336.IH H1336 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 1336 IH (c) TERMINATION.—On an annual basis, a child re- 1 ceiving mental health services provided pursuant to sub- 2 section (a)(3) shall be subject to an independent assess- 3 ment by a qualified mental health professional who is not 4 directly involved in the provision of mental health services 5 to such child and who is not employed by the Federal Gov- 6 ernment to determine whether such child continues to 7 need such services or if such services should be termi- 8 nated. In the case a determination is made pursuant to 9 the previous sentence that such services should be termi- 10 nated, the requirements under subsection (a) with respect 11 to such child shall terminate. Prior to the termination of 12 services, the qualified mental health professional involved 13 in the provision of mental health services to such child 14 shall consult the parent or guardian of such child in plan- 15 ning for reducing and then terminating such services. 16 (d) QUALIFIED MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONAL 17 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘qualified mental 18 health professional’’ means a provider of mental health 19 services who is eligible to participate as such a provider 20 under a State plan under the Medicaid program under 21 title XIX of the Social Security Act or under a State child 22 health plan under the Children’s Health Insurance Pro- 23 gram under title XXI of such Act and who— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Mar 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1336.IH H1336 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 1336 IH (1) has training in the treatment of mental ill- 1 ness in children and adolescents; and 2 (2) agrees to maintain patient records for chil- 3 dren and adolescents receiving mental health serv- 4 ices under this Act in accordance with State and 5 Federal health information privacy and security laws 6 in the same manner and to the same extent as such 7 provider would be required under such laws to main- 8 tain such records for such children and adolescents 9 if such children and adolescents were nationals of 10 the United States (as such term is defined in para- 11 graph (22) of section 101 of the Immigration and 12 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101)). 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:26 Mar 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1336.IH H1336 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS