Suicide Prevention Lifeline Improvement Act of 2020

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 4564 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 22, 2020 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions AN ACT To amend the Public Health Service Act to ensure the provi- sion of high-quality service through the Suicide Preven- tion Lifeline, 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 03:54 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4564.RFS H4564 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 HR 4564 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Suicide Prevention 2 Lifeline Improvement Act of 2020’’. 3 SEC. 2. SUICIDE PREVENTION LIFELINE. 4 (a) PLAN.—Section 520E–3 of the Public Health 5 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb–36c) is amended— 6 (1) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub- 7 section (e); and 8 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol- 9 lowing: 10 ‘‘(c) PLAN.— 11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of maintain- 12 ing the suicide prevention hotline under subsection 13 (b)(2), the Secretary shall develop and implement a 14 plan to ensure the provision of high-quality service. 15 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The plan required by para- 16 graph (1) shall include the following: 17 ‘‘(A) Quality assurance provisions, includ- 18 ing— 19 ‘‘(i) clearly defined and measurable 20 performance indicators and objectives to 21 improve the responsiveness and perform- 22 ance of the hotline, including at backup 23 call centers; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4564.RFS H4564 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 HR 4564 RFS ‘‘(ii) quantifiable timeframes to track 1 the progress of the hotline in meeting such 2 performance indicators and objectives. 3 ‘‘(B) Standards that crisis centers and 4 backup centers must meet— 5 ‘‘(i) to participate in the network 6 under subsection (b)(1); and 7 ‘‘(ii) to ensure that each telephone 8 call, online chat message, and other com- 9 munication received by the hotline, includ- 10 ing at backup call centers, is answered in 11 a timely manner by a person, consistent 12 with the guidance established by the Amer- 13 ican Association of Suicidology or other 14 guidance determined by the Secretary to be 15 appropriate. 16 ‘‘(C) Guidelines for crisis centers and 17 backup centers to implement evidence-based 18 practices including with respect to followup and 19 referral to other health and social services re- 20 sources. 21 ‘‘(D) Guidelines to ensure that resources 22 are available and distributed to individuals 23 using the hotline who are not personally in a 24 time of crisis but know of someone who is. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4564.RFS H4564 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 HR 4564 RFS ‘‘(E) Guidelines to carry out periodic test- 1 ing of the hotline, including at crisis centers 2 and backup centers, during each fiscal year to 3 identify and correct any problems in a timely 4 manner. 5 ‘‘(F) Guidelines to operate in consultation 6 with the State department of health, local gov- 7 ernments, Indian tribes, and tribal organiza- 8 tions. 9 ‘‘(3) INITIAL PLAN; UPDATES.—The Secretary 10 shall— 11 ‘‘(A) not later than 6 months after the 12 date of enactment of the Suicide Prevention 13 Lifeline Improvement Act of 2020, complete de- 14 velopment of the initial version of the plan re- 15 quired by paragraph (1), begin implementation 16 of such plan, and make such plan publicly avail- 17 able; and 18 ‘‘(B) periodically thereafter, update such 19 plan and make the updated plan publicly avail- 20 able.’’. 21 (b) TRANSMISSION OF DATA TO CDC.—Section 22 520E–3 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 23 290bb–36c) is amended by inserting after subsection (c) 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4564.RFS H4564 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 HR 4564 RFS of such section, as added by subsection (a) of this section, 1 the following: 2 ‘‘(d) TRANSMISSION OF DATA TO CDC.—The Sec- 3 retary shall formalize and strengthen agreements between 4 the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline program and the 5 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to transmit 6 any necessary epidemiological data from the program to 7 the Centers, including local call center data, to assist the 8 Centers in suicide prevention efforts.’’. 9 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Sub- 10 section (e) of section 520E–3 of the Public Health Service 11 Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb–36c) is amended to read as follows: 12 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To carry out this section, 14 there are authorized to be appropriated $50,000,000 15 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2023. 16 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION.—Of the amount authorized 17 to be appropriated by paragraph (1) for each of fis- 18 cal years 2021 through 2023, at least 80 percent 19 shall be made available to crisis centers.’’. 20 SEC. 3. PILOT PROGRAM ON INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES. 21 (a) PILOT PROGRAM.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 23 Human Services, acting through the Assistant Sec- 24 retary for Mental Health and Substance Use, shall 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4564.RFS H4564 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 HR 4564 RFS carry out a pilot program to research, analyze, and 1 employ various technologies and platforms of com- 2 munication (including social media platforms, 3 texting platforms, and email platforms) for suicide 4 prevention in addition to the telephone and online 5 chat service provided by the Suicide Prevention Life- 6 line. 7 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 8 carry out paragraph (1), there is authorized to be 9 appropriated $5,000,000 for the period of fiscal 10 years 2021 and 2022. 11 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 24 months after the 12 date on which the pilot program under subsection (a) com- 13 mences, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, act- 14 ing through the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health 15 and Substance Use, shall submit to the Congress a report 16 on the pilot program. With respect to each platform of 17 communication employed pursuant to the pilot program, 18 the report shall include— 19 (1) a full description of the program; 20 (2) the number of individuals served by the pro- 21 gram; 22 (3) the average wait time for each individual to 23 receive a response; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4564.RFS H4564 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 HR 4564 RFS (4) the cost of the program, including the cost 1 per individual served; and 2 (5) any other information the Secretary deter- 3 mines appropriate. 4 SEC. 4. HHS STUDY AND REPORT. 5 Not later than 24 months after the Secretary of 6 Health and Human Services begins implementation of the 7 plan required by section 520E–3(c) of the Public Health 8 Service Act, as added by section 2(a)(2) of this Act, the 9 Secretary shall— 10 (1) complete a study on— 11 (A) the implementation of such plan, in- 12 cluding the progress towards meeting the objec- 13 tives identified pursuant to paragraph (2)(A)(i) 14 of such section 520E–3(c) by the timeframes 15 identified pursuant to paragraph (2)(A)(ii) of 16 such section 520E–3(c); and 17 (B) in consultation with the Director of 18 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 19 options to expand data gathering from calls to 20 the Suicide Prevention Lifeline in order to bet- 21 ter track aspects of usage such as repeat calls, 22 consistent with applicable Federal and State 23 privacy laws; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4564.RFS H4564 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 HR 4564 RFS (2) submit a report to the Congress on the re- 1 sults of such study, including recommendations on 2 whether additional legislation or appropriations are 3 needed. 4 SEC. 5. GAO STUDY AND REPORT. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 24 months after 6 the Secretary of Health and Human Services begins imple- 7 mentation of the plan required by section 520E–3(c) of 8 the Public Health Service Act, as added by section 2(a)(2) 9 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 10 shall— 11 (1) complete a study on the Suicide Prevention 12 Lifeline; and 13 (2) submit a report to the Congress on the re- 14 sults of such study. 15 (b) ISSUES TO BE STUDIED.—The study required by 16 subsection (a) shall address— 17 (1) the feasibility of geolocating callers to direct 18 calls to the nearest crisis center; 19 (2) operation shortcomings of the Suicide Pre- 20 vention Lifeline; 21 (3) geographic coverage of each crisis call cen- 22 ter; 23 (4) the call answer rate of each crisis call cen- 24 ter; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4564.RFS H4564 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 HR 4564 RFS (5) the call wait time of each crisis call center; 1 (6) the hours of operation of each crisis call 2 center; 3 (7) funding avenues of each crisis call center; 4 (8) the implementation of the plan under sec- 5 tion 520E–3(c) of the Public Health Service Act, as 6 added by section 2(a) of this Act, including the 7 progress towards meeting the objectives identified 8 pursuant to paragraph (2)(A)(i) of such section 9 520E–3(c) by the timeframes identified pursuant to 10 paragraph (2)(A)(ii) of such section 520E–3(c); and 11 (9) service to individuals requesting a foreign 12 language speaker, including— 13 (A) the number of calls or chats the Life- 14 line receives from individuals speaking a foreign 15 language; 16 (B) the capacity of the Lifeline to handle 17 these calls or chats; and 18 (C) the number of crisis centers with the 19 capacity to serve foreign language speakers, in 20 house. 21 (c) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The report required by 22 subsection (a) shall include recommendations for improv- 23 ing the Suicide Prevention Lifeline, including rec- 24 ommendations for legislative and administrative actions. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4564.RFS H4564 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 HR 4564 RFS SEC. 6. DEFINITION. 1 In this Act, the term ‘‘Suicide Prevention Lifeline’’ 2 means the suicide prevention hotline maintained pursuant 3 to section 520E–3 of the Public Health Service Act (42 4 U.S.C. 290bb–36c). 5 Passed the House of Representatives September 21, 2020. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4564.RFS H4564 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS