PARTNERS Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8016 To establish a centralized network of peer support warmlines, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUGUST 11, 2020 Ms. MUCARSEL-POWELL (for herself, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Ms. PORTER, Mr. TRONE, Ms. SHERRILL, and Mr. LOWENTHAL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To establish a centralized network of peer support warmlines, 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 ‘‘Peer Assisted Relief 4 Through Networks of Empathetic Resources and Supports 5 Act of 2020’’ or the ‘‘PARTNERS Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:52 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8016.IH H8016 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8016 IH SEC. 2. NATIONAL PEER SUPPORT WARMLINE PROGRAM. 1 Subpart 3 of part B of title V of the Public Health 2 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb–31 et seq.) is amended by 3 adding at the end the following: 4 ‘‘SEC. 520N. NATIONAL PEER SUPPORT WARMLINE PRO- 5 GRAM. 6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary shall es- 7 tablish and maintain a centralized network of peer support 8 warmlines to— 9 ‘‘(1) provide accessible resources to individuals 10 seeking mental health support by— 11 ‘‘(A) establishing and maintaining a single, 12 toll-free telephone number through which indi- 13 viduals throughout the United States may ac- 14 cess such peer support warmlines; and 15 ‘‘(B) coordinating the operation of the tele- 16 phone number established under subparagraph 17 (A) with the National Suicide Prevention Life- 18 line; and 19 ‘‘(2) establish best practices for the operation of 20 peer support warmlines. 21 ‘‘(b) CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE.— 22 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—In carrying out the 23 program under this section, not later than 6 months 24 after the date of enactment of this section, the As- 25 sistant Secretary shall award a grant to, or enter 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:52 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8016.IH H8016 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8016 IH into a cooperative agreement with, not less than 4 1 and not more than 5 entities. 2 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE USES.—An entity receiving a 3 grant or entering into a cooperative agreement 4 under this section shall— 5 ‘‘(A) for any such entity not operating a 6 peer support warmline as of the date on which 7 such entity receives a grant or enters into a co- 8 operative agreement, establish and operate a 9 new center of excellence to operate such peer 10 support warmline; or 11 ‘‘(B) for any such entity operating a peer 12 support warmline that meets the criteria speci- 13 fied in paragraph (3) as of the date on which 14 such entity receives a grant or enters into a co- 15 operative agreement, establish a center of excel- 16 lence to support and operate such warmline 17 under the program established under subsection 18 (a). 19 ‘‘(3) CONDITIONS.—As a condition on the re- 20 ceipt of a grant under this section, the grant recipi- 21 ent— 22 ‘‘(A) may not use grant funds to remu- 23 nerate an individual who operates a peer sup- 24 port warmline for the grant recipient unless 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:52 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8016.IH H8016 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8016 IH such individual is an employee of such grant re- 1 cipient; 2 ‘‘(B) shall ensure that employees operating 3 the peer support warmline are qualified peer 4 support specialists and experts in peer support 5 services, including the provision of such services 6 using telehealth; 7 ‘‘(C) shall consider hiring employees who 8 speak a language other than English, including 9 a language relevant to the region in which such 10 grant recipient is located, to operate the peer 11 support warmline; 12 ‘‘(D) shall require that employees oper- 13 ating the peer support warmline complete— 14 ‘‘(i) 2 training courses, consisting of 15 at least a 10-hour introductory training 16 course and, within 2 years of employment, 17 a 40-hour advanced training course, that 18 cover topics including— 19 ‘‘(I) peer support values and 20 practices; 21 ‘‘(II) active listening skills; 22 ‘‘(III) structured sharing of per- 23 sonal or shared experiences; and 24 ‘‘(IV) how to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:52 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8016.IH H8016 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8016 IH ‘‘(aa) connect with an indi- 1 vidual using a peer support 2 warmline with compassion; 3 ‘‘(bb) avoid giving advice or 4 providing psychotherapy-like 5 services to an individual using a 6 peer support warmline; 7 ‘‘(cc) identify when an indi- 8 vidual using a peer support 9 warmline is experiencing an event 10 constituting a suicide emergency 11 and refer such individual to the 12 National Suicide Prevention Life- 13 line; 14 ‘‘(dd) collaborate with other 15 qualified peer support specialists 16 when an individual using a peer 17 support warmline experiences a 18 mental health or suicide crisis; 19 ‘‘(ee) refer an individual 20 using a peer support warmline to 21 a community-based peer support 22 organization, other mental health 23 crisis organization, or licensed 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:52 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8016.IH H8016 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8016 IH mental health professional, as ap- 1 propriate; and 2 ‘‘(ff) assist an individual 3 who is seeking other peer support 4 services or a referral to mental 5 health services, but refrain from 6 providing any healthcare rec- 7 ommendations; and 8 ‘‘(V) any other training course 9 that the Assistant Secretary deter- 10 mines is appropriate; and 11 ‘‘(E) shall implement the best practices for 12 operating peer support warmlines, as identified 13 by the study required under subsection (d). 14 ‘‘(4) SELECTION.—In awarding grants under 15 this section, the Assistant Secretary shall— 16 ‘‘(A) select grant recipients that are lo- 17 cated in different geographic regions of the 18 United States which, collectively, represent the 19 entire United States; and 20 ‘‘(B) ensure that each grant recipient is re- 21 sponsible for maintaining a peer support 22 warmline that serves the geographic region in 23 which it is located. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:52 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8016.IH H8016 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8016 IH ‘‘(5) TIMELINE FOR NEW CENTERS OF EXCEL- 1 LENCE.—Any entity described in paragraph (2)(A) 2 shall establish a center of excellence under the pro- 3 gram not later than 6 months after the date on 4 which the entity receives a grant under subsection 5 (b). 6 ‘‘(c) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE CENTER.—Not later 7 than 30 days after the date of enactment of this section, 8 the Assistant Secretary shall establish a technical assist- 9 ance center to— 10 ‘‘(1) serve as the coordinating body between the 11 centers of excellence; 12 ‘‘(2) provide technical support to such centers; 13 ‘‘(3) disseminate to such centers the best prac- 14 tices for operating peer support warmlines, as identi- 15 fied by the study required under subsection (d); and 16 ‘‘(4) enforce the implementation of such best 17 practices in each center of excellence. 18 ‘‘(d) STUDY AND REPORT.— 19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Concurrent with the estab- 20 lishment of the centers of excellence created under 21 subsection (b), the Assistant Secretary shall enter 22 into appropriate arrangements with the National 23 Academies under which the National Academies 24 agree to conduct a study over a 1-year period to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:52 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8016.IH H8016 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8016 IH identify the best practices for operating a peer sup- 1 port warmline. 2 ‘‘(2) ELEMENTS.—The study required under 3 paragraph (1) shall include an assessment of— 4 ‘‘(A) any peer support warmline program 5 that existed before the date of enactment of this 6 section, as determined appropriate to include in 7 the study by the National Academies; and 8 ‘‘(B) each of the centers of excellence es- 9 tablished pursuant to subsection (b). 10 ‘‘(3) REPORT.—The agreement entered into 11 under paragraph (1) shall include a requirement 12 that the National Academies submit to Congress and 13 to the technical assistance center established under 14 subsection (c) a report identifying the best practices 15 for operating a peer support warmline. 16 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 17 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 18 $55,000,000 for fiscal year 2021 and $50,000,000 for 19 each of fiscal years 2022 through 2024. Of the funds 20 made available under the preceding sentence, the Assist- 21 ant Secretary shall reserve not less than $1,000,000 for 22 each fiscal year to carry out subsection (c) and not less 23 than $1,500,000 to carry out subsection (d). 24 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:52 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8016.IH H8016 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 8016 IH ‘‘(1) COMMUNITY-BASED PEER SUPPORT ORGA- 1 NIZATION.—The term ‘community-based peer sup- 2 port organization’ means an organization, private 3 enterprise, or nonprofit organization, that— 4 ‘‘(A) provides professional mental health 5 peer support services to a community; 6 ‘‘(B) has been operational for not less than 7 2 years; and 8 ‘‘(C) has a staff composed of individuals 9 with lived experiences of mental health chal- 10 lenges and recovery, including qualified peer 11 support specialists. 12 ‘‘(2) PEER SUPPORT WARMLINE.—The term 13 ‘peer support warmline’ means a telephone and chat 14 support service that is provided by a peer to an indi- 15 vidual who is seeking non-emergent mental health 16 support, but that is not a mental health service or 17 a substitution for mental health services provided 18 through a health care professional or in a health 19 care setting. 20 ‘‘(3) QUALIFIED PEER SUPPORT SPECIALIST.— 21 The term ‘qualified peer support specialist’ means 22 an individual who— 23 ‘‘(A) is recovering or has recovered from a 24 mental health or substance use condition; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:52 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8016.IH H8016 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 8016 IH ‘‘(B) is certified to provide peer support 1 services by a certification process that— 2 ‘‘(i) is consistent with the National 3 Practice Guidelines for Peer Supporters 4 published by the National Association of 5 Peer Supporters and the Core Com- 6 petencies for Peer Workers in Behavioral 7 Health Settings published by the Adminis- 8 tration on December 7, 2015; and 9 ‘‘(ii) is a process that— 10 ‘‘(I) is a national process that 11 the Assistant Secretary determines is 12 appropriate; or 13 ‘‘(II) is established by a State in 14 which such individual provides peer 15 support services.’’. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:52 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8016.IH H8016 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS