Early Childhood Mental Health Support Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5569 To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to identify, review, and implement effective interventions in Head Start programs, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 9, 2020 Mr. DESAULNIER (for himself, Mr. KENNEDY, and Ms. MATSUI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to identify, review, and implement effective interventions in Head Start programs, 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 ‘‘Early Childhood Men- 4 tal Health Support Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. IDENTIFICATION OF EFFECTIVE INTERVENTIONS IN 6 HEAD START PROGRAMS. 7 (a) INTERVENTIONS THAT IMPROVE SOCIAL-EMO- 8 TIONAL AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH OF CHILDREN.— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Jan 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5569.IH H5569 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5569 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 1 Human Services acting through the Director for the 2 Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (in this 3 section referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall identify 4 and review interventions, best practices, curricula, 5 and staff trainings— 6 (A) that improve the behavioral health of 7 children; and 8 (B) that are evidence-based. 9 (2) FOCUS.—In carrying out paragraph (1), the 10 Secretary shall focus on interventions, best practices, 11 curricula, and staff trainings that— 12 (A) can be delivered by a provider or other 13 staff member in or associated with a Head 14 Start program or Early Head Start center; 15 (B) are demonstrated to improve or sup- 16 port healthy social, emotional, or cognitive de- 17 velopment for children in Head Start or Early 18 Head Start programs, with an empirical or the- 19 oretical relationship to later mental health or 20 substance abuse outcomes; 21 (C) involve changes to center-wide policies 22 or practices, or other services and supports of- 23 fered in conjunction with Head Start programs 24 or Early Head Start centers, including services 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Jan 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5569.IH H5569 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5569 IH provided to adults or families (with or without 1 a child present) for the benefit of the children; 2 (D) demonstrate effectiveness across ra- 3 cial, ethnic, and geographic populations or dem- 4 onstrate the capacity to be adapted to be effec- 5 tive across populations; 6 (E) offer a tiered approach to addressing 7 need, including— 8 (i) universal interventions for all chil- 9 dren; 10 (ii) selected prevention for children 11 demonstrating increased need; and 12 (iii) indicated prevention for children 13 demonstrating substantial need; 14 (F) incorporate trauma-informed care ap- 15 proaches; or 16 (G) have a proven record of improving 17 early childhood and social emotional develop- 18 ment. 19 (b) INTERVENTIONS THAT SUPPORT STAFF 20 WELLNESS.—In carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary 21 shall identify and review interventions, best practices, cur- 22 ricula, and staff trainings that support staff wellness and 23 self-care. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Jan 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5569.IH H5569 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5569 IH (c) CREDENTIALS.—In carrying out subsections (a) 1 and (b), the Secretary, in consultation with relevant ex- 2 perts, shall determine the appropriate credentials for indi- 3 viduals who deliver the interventions, best practices, cur- 4 ricula, and staff trainings identified by the Secretary. 5 (d) CONSULTATION; PUBLIC INPUT.—In carrying out 6 this section, the Secretary shall— 7 (1) consult with relevant agencies, experts, aca- 8 demics, think tanks, and nonprofit organizations 9 with expertise in early childhood, mental health, and 10 trauma-informed care, including the National Insti- 11 tute of Mental Health, the Administration for Chil- 12 dren and Families, the Substance Abuse and Mental 13 Health Services Administration, the Institute of 14 Education Sciences, and the Centers for Disease 15 Control and Prevention; and 16 (2) solicit public input on— 17 (A) the design of the reviews under sub- 18 sections (a) and (b); and 19 (B) the findings and conclusions resulting 20 from such reviews. 21 (e) TIMING.—The Secretary shall— 22 (1) complete the initial reviews required by sub- 23 sections (a) and (b) not later than 1 year after the 24 date of enactment of this Act; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Jan 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5569.IH H5569 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5569 IH (2) update such reviews and the findings and 1 conclusions therefrom at least every 5 years. 2 (f) REPORTING.—Not later than 1 year after the date 3 of enactment of this Act, and every 5 years thereafter, 4 the Secretary shall submit a report to the Congress on 5 the results of implementing this section. 6 SEC. 3. IMPLEMENTING THE INTERVENTIONS IN HEAD 7 START PROGRAMS. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary for the 9 Administration for Children and Families shall award 10 grants to participating Head Start agencies to implement 11 the interventions, best practices, curricula, and staff 12 trainings that are identified pursuant to section 2. 13 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The Assistant Secretary shall 14 ensure that grants awarded under this section are award- 15 ed to grantees representing a diversity of geographic areas 16 across the United States, including urban, suburban, and 17 rural areas. 18 SEC. 4. EVALUATING IMPLEMENTATION OF INTERVEN- 19 TIONS IN HEAD START PROGRAMS. 20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 21 Human Services, acting through the Assistant Secretary 22 for Planning and Evaluation and in coordination with the 23 Assistant Secretary for the Administration for Children 24 and Families, shall— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Jan 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5569.IH H5569 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5569 IH (1) determine whether the interventions, best 1 practices, curricula, and staff trainings implemented 2 pursuant to section 3— 3 (A) are effectively implemented pursuant 4 to section 3 and other relevant provisions of law 5 such that the anticipated effect sizes of the 6 interventions, best practices, curricula, and 7 staff trainings are achieved; and 8 (B) yield long-term savings; 9 (2) develop a method for making the determina- 10 tion required by paragraph (1); 11 (3) ensure that such method includes com- 12 petency and testing approaches, performance or out- 13 come measures, or any other methods deemed appro- 14 priate by the Assistant Secretary, taking into consid- 15 eration existing monitoring components of the Head 16 Start and Early Head Start programs; and 17 (4) the Assistant Secretaries shall solicit public 18 input on the design, findings, and conclusions of this 19 process and shall consider whether updates are nec- 20 essary at least every 5 years. 21 (b) PROCESS.—In carrying out subsection (a), the 22 Secretary of Health and Human Services shall— 23 (1) conduct any research and evaluation studies 24 needed; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Jan 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5569.IH H5569 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 5569 IH (2) solicit public input on— 1 (A) the design of the method developed 2 pursuant to subsection (a)(2); and 3 (B) the resulting findings and conclusions. 4 (c) TIMING.—The Secretary of Health and Human 5 Services shall— 6 (1) develop the method required by subsection 7 (a)(2) and make the initial determination required 8 by subsection (a)(1) not later than 2 years after the 9 date of enactment of this Act; and 10 (2) update such method and determination at 11 least every 5 years. 12 SEC. 5. IMPLEMENTING THE EVALUATION FRAMEWORK 13 FOR HEAD START PROGRAMS. 14 (a) EVALUATION METHOD.—The Assistant Secretary 15 for the Administration for Children and Families shall im- 16 plement the evaluation method developed pursuant to sec- 17 tion 4(a) in the Head Start program as a voluntary mech- 18 anism for interested Head Start programs or Early Head 19 Start centers to evaluate the extent to which such pro- 20 grams or centers have effectively implemented the inter- 21 ventions, best practices, curricula, and staff trainings 22 identified pursuant to section 2, with minimal burden or 23 disruption to programs and centers interested in partici- 24 pating. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Jan 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5569.IH H5569 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 5569 IH (b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Assistant Sec- 1 retary for the Administration for Children and Families 2 shall provide guidance, tools, resources, and technical as- 3 sistance to grantees for implementing and evaluating 4 interventions, best practices, curricula, and staff trainings 5 identified pursuant to section 2 and optimizing the per- 6 formance of such grantees on the annual evaluations. 7 SEC. 6. BEST PRACTICE CENTERS. 8 The Assistant Secretary for the Administration for 9 Children and Families may fund up to 5 Best Practice 10 Centers in Early Childhood Training in universities and 11 colleges to prepare future Head Start agencies and staff 12 able to deliver the interventions, best practices, curricula, 13 and staff trainings identified pursuant to section 2. 14 SEC. 7. FUNDING. 15 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 16 authorized to be appropriated $100,000,000 for the period 17 of fiscal years 2021 through 2030 for carrying out sec- 18 tions 3(b), 4, 6, and 7. 19 (b) AVAILABILITY OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Amounts 20 authorized to be appropriated by subsection (a) are au- 21 thorized to remain available until expended. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Jan 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5569.IH H5569 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS