PEER Mental Health Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2642 To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, to award grants for peer mental health first aid, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 17, 2023 Ms. BALINT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, to award grants for peer mental health first aid, 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 Education and 4 Emergency Response for Mental Health Act of 2023’’ or 5 the ‘‘PEER Mental Health Act of 2023’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:18 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2642.IH H2642 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 2642 IH SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR PEER MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID. 1 Title V of the Public Health Service Act is amended 2 by inserting after section 520J of such Act (42 U.S.C. 3 290bb–41) the following: 4 ‘‘SEC. 520J–1. GRANTS FOR PEER MENTAL HEALTH FIRST 5 AID. 6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 7 grants to eligible entities— 8 ‘‘(1) to train teachers, other relevant school 9 personnel (including education support profes- 10 sionals), students, and parents and caregivers of stu- 11 dents— 12 ‘‘(A) to recognize symptoms of childhood 13 and adolescent mental health conditions; 14 ‘‘(B) to refer teachers, school personnel, 15 students, and their family members to appro- 16 priate mental health services if necessary; and 17 ‘‘(C) to recognize signs of immediate men- 18 tal distress and, upon recognizing such signs 19 apply mental health first aid tactics; and 20 ‘‘(2) to provide education to such teachers, per- 21 sonnel, students, parents, and caregivers regarding 22 resources that are available in the community for in- 23 dividuals with a mental illness. 24 ‘‘(b) RELATION TO OTHER MENTAL HEALTH 25 AWARENESS TRAINING GRANTS.—An eligible entity may 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:18 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2642.IH H2642 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 2642 IH receive grant funds under this section in addition to re- 1 ceiving amounts made available to such eligible entity pur- 2 suant to section 520J. 3 ‘‘(c) ALLOCATION FOR SCHOOLS IN RURAL AREAS.— 4 In awarding grants under this section, the Secretary shall 5 award not less than 25 percent of the grants to eligible 6 entities that are elementary schools and secondary schools 7 in rural areas. 8 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION.— 9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To seek a grant under this 10 section, an eligible entity shall submit an application 11 to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 12 containing such information as the Secretary may 13 require, including a plan for the rigorous evaluation 14 of activities that are carried out with funds received 15 through the grant. 16 ‘‘(2) STREAMLINED PROCESS.—The Secretary 17 shall streamline the process for applying for a grant 18 under this section so as to keep such process from 19 imposing an unreasonable barrier, especially for eli- 20 gible entities with limited personnel available to pre- 21 pare a grant application. 22 ‘‘(e) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall 23 provide technical assistance to eligible entities applying for 24 or receiving grants under this section. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:18 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2642.IH H2642 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 2642 IH ‘‘(f) DEFINITION.—In this section: 1 ‘‘(1) The terms ‘elementary school’, ‘local edu- 2 cational agency’, ‘secondary school’, and ‘State edu- 3 cational agency’ have the meanings given to those 4 terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec- 5 ondary Education Act of 1965. 6 ‘‘(2) The term ‘eligible entity’ means an ele- 7 mentary school, a local educational agency, a sec- 8 ondary school, or a State educational agency. 9 ‘‘(3) The term ‘rural area’ refers to a rural 10 area as defined by the Health Resources and Serv- 11 ices Administration for purposes of awarding rural 12 health grants. 13 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 14 carry out this section, there is authorized to be appro- 15 priated $24,963,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 16 2028’’. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:18 May 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2642.IH H2642 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB