Strengthening Behavioral Health Supports for Schools Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7859 To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration a Center for School Behav- ioral Health Technical Assistance, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 30, 2020 Mr. CA´RDENAS (for himself, Mr. CARTER of Georgia, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. TRONE, and Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Admin- istration a Center for School Behavioral Health Tech- nical Assistance, 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 ‘‘Strengthening Behav- 4 ioral Health Supports for Schools Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 Aug 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7859.IH H7859 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7859 IH SEC. 2. CENTER FOR SCHOOL BEHAVIORAL HEALTH TECH- 1 NICAL ASSISTANCE. 2 The Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 201 et 3 seq.) is amended by inserting after section 520A of such 4 Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb–32) the following: 5 ‘‘SEC. 520B. CENTER FOR SCHOOL BEHAVIORAL HEALTH 6 TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. 7 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 8 Administration a Center for School Behavioral Health 9 Technical Assistance (in this section referred to as the 10 ‘Center’). 11 ‘‘(b) SCHOOL BEHAVIORAL HEALTH PROGRAM.— 12 The Center shall carry out a program, to be known as 13 the School Behavioral Health Program, to provide tech- 14 nical assistance and support to schools and school systems 15 with respect to mental health and substance use disorders, 16 including by— 17 ‘‘(1) providing direct technical assistance and 18 training on— 19 ‘‘(A) the implementation of evidence-based, 20 culturally competent, and trauma-informed 21 mental health and substance use disorder serv- 22 ices in schools and school systems, including 23 processes for suicide prevention and trauma-in- 24 formed care; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 Aug 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7859.IH H7859 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7859 IH ‘‘(B) the importance of evidence-based 1 mental health and substance use disorder serv- 2 ices in schools and linkages and referral to such 3 services where direct care is not possible; and 4 ‘‘(C) translation services, interpretation, or 5 other such services for individuals in schools 6 and school systems with limited English speak- 7 ing proficiency; and 8 ‘‘(2) disseminating information related to evi- 9 dence-based models of school-based mental health 10 and substance use disorder services, including ways 11 in which these models can be implemented and in- 12 corporating student literacy on mental and behav- 13 ioral health. 14 ‘‘(c) DATA COLLECTION.—The Center shall collect 15 data to support research with respect to prevention and 16 treatment for mental health and substance use disorders 17 in schools and school systems. 18 ‘‘(d) BEST PRACTICES.—The Center shall annually 19 issue evidence-based best practices with respect to mental 20 health and substance use disorders for use by schools and 21 school systems. 22 ‘‘(e) COORDINATION.—In carrying out this section, 23 the Center shall coordinate with— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 Aug 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7859.IH H7859 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7859 IH ‘‘(1) the Department of Education, the Depart- 1 ment of Justice, and other agencies within the De- 2 partment of Health and Human Services, as appro- 3 priate; 4 ‘‘(2) the National Child Traumatic Stress Ini- 5 tiative under section 582; and 6 ‘‘(3) other programs of the Administration that 7 disseminate and implement evidence-based practices 8 for the continuum of prevention and treatment for 9 mental health and substance use disorders. 10 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 11 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 12 $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025.’’. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 Aug 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7859.IH H7859 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS