Cady Housh and Gemesha Thomas Student Suicide Prevention Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3682 To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize certain grants (for youth suicide early intervention and prevention strategies) to be used for school personnel in elementary and secondary schools and students in secondary schools to receive student suicide awareness and prevention training, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 25, 2023 Mr. CLEAVER (for himself, Mrs. MCBATH, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. MOULTON, Ms. CHU, Ms. ROSS, Mr. DESAULNIER, Ms. TITUS, Mr. DAVIS of North Carolina, Mr. CASTEN, Ms. SEWELL, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. KHANNA, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. KILMER, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. NADLER, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. NORTON, Mr. BOWMAN, Ms. WILD, Ms. DAVIDS of Kansas, Mr. CARTER of Louisiana, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. BROWN, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. MCGOVERN, and Mr. CA´RDENAS) in- troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on En- ergy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speak- er, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the ju- risdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize certain grants (for youth suicide early intervention and preven- tion strategies) to be used for school personnel in elemen- tary and secondary schools and students in secondary schools to receive student suicide awareness and preven- tion training, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H3682.IH H3682 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3682 IH Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cady Housh and 4 Gemesha Thomas Student Suicide Prevention Act of 5 2023’’. 6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 7 Congress finds the following: 8 (1) According to the National Institutes of 9 Health, suicide is the second leading cause of death 10 for young people between the ages of 10 and 34. Be- 11 tween 2007 and 2018, the national suicide rate 12 among persons ages 1 to 24 increased 57.4 percent. 13 From 2018 to 2021, the national suicide rate among 14 persons ages 10 to 24 increased by 2.8 percent. 15 (2) According to the 2021 Youth Risk Behav- 16 iors Survey of the Centers for Disease Control and 17 Prevention, 22.2 percent of high school students re- 18 ported seriously considering suicide during the pre- 19 vious 12 months, and 10.2 percent reported actually 20 attempting to take their lives during that period. 21 (3) Eighty percent of students show warning 22 signs before attempting suicide. 23 (4) Prevention and awareness training will 24 equip individuals to become aware of the warning 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3682.IH H3682 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3682 IH signs of suicide, identify students in crisis, and pro- 1 vide resources for help. 2 (5) Research shows that inquiring about suicide 3 ideation, or discussing suicide in terms of recog- 4 nizing risk factors and prevention methods— 5 (A) does not increase the chance of suicide; 6 and 7 (B) in fact, can lower the risk of suicide. 8 (6) Sexual minority youth (LGBT+) are almost 9 five times more likely to have attempted suicide com- 10 pared to their heterosexual peers. According to the 11 Trevor Project’s 2022 National Survey on LGBTQ 12 Youth Mental Health, 45 percent of LGBT+ youth 13 seriously considered suicide in the past year includ- 14 ing more than half of transgender and nonbinary 15 youth and 1 in 3 cisgender youth. Additionally, 14 16 percent of LGBT+ youth attempted suicide in that 17 same period, including nearly 1 in 5 transgender 18 and nonbinary youth and 1 in 10 cisgender youth. 19 (7) According to the Centers for Disease Con- 20 trol and Prevention, emergency department visits 21 among adolescents increased during the pandemic. 22 During the period of February 21 to March 20 in 23 2021, suspected suicide attempt emergency depart- 24 ment visits were 50.6 percent higher among girls 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3682.IH H3682 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3682 IH aged 12 to 17 years than during the same period in 1 2019. 2 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 3 It is the sense of the Congress that— 4 (1) student suicide awareness, prevention train- 5 ing, and response materials should be available to all 6 school personnel, including administrative personnel, 7 teachers, counselors, and other school leaders; 8 (2) States should give autonomy to each local 9 educational agency to— 10 (A) adopt a policy with respect to student 11 suicide awareness and prevention; and 12 (B) work collaboratively with local organi- 13 zations, youth mental health experts, health 14 care providers, and the Secretary of Health and 15 Human Services to implement training for 16 school personnel and students, including by 17 sharing and disseminating— 18 (i) training materials and resources; 19 and 20 (ii) information that is evidence-in- 21 formed or promising on student suicide 22 prevention; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3682.IH H3682 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 3682 IH (3) the Secretary of Health and Human Serv- 1 ices should identify the highest unmet needs, specifi- 2 cally with at-risk student populations, such as— 3 (A) minority students; 4 (B) LGBT+ identifying students; 5 (C) students living with mental health con- 6 ditions; 7 (D) students living with substance use dis- 8 orders; 9 (E) students who have engaged in self- 10 harm or have attempted suicide; and 11 (F) students experiencing homelessness or 12 out-of-home settings; 13 (4) schools should offer these services to stu- 14 dents in grades 9 through 12, with the support of 15 organizations with demonstrated expertise in cul- 16 tural competency, suicide awareness, response, and 17 prevention training; 18 (5) students who receive such training should 19 not be taught to be counselors, but rather should be 20 educated on how to— 21 (A) recognize signs of suicide and depres- 22 sion; 23 (B) report these signs to appropriate staff; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3682.IH H3682 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 3682 IH (C) identify sources of care and support; 1 and 2 (6) schools should utilize school-based mental 3 health professionals and other community partner- 4 ships. 5 SEC. 4. STUDENT SUICIDE AWARENESS AND PREVENTION 6 TRAINING. 7 (a) ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZED USE OF GRANT 8 FUNDS.—Section 520E(a) of the Public Health Service 9 Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb–36(a)) is amended— 10 (1) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 11 end; 12 (2) in paragraph (5), by striking the period at 13 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 14 (3) by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(6) establish and implement a statewide policy 16 requiring school personnel in elementary and sec- 17 ondary schools and students in secondary schools to 18 complete student emotional well-being, mental 19 health, and suicide awareness and prevention train- 20 ing in accordance with subsection (d).’’. 21 (b) TRAINING REQUIREMENTS.—Section 520E of the 22 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb–36(a)), as 23 amended by subsection (a), is further amended— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3682.IH H3682 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 3682 IH (1) by redesignating subsections (d) through 1 (m) as subsections (e) through (n), respectively; and 2 (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol- 3 lowing: 4 ‘‘(d) REQUIREMENTS FOR STUDENT SUICIDE 5 AWARENESS AND TRAINING PROGRAMS.— 6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—As a condition on receipt of 7 funds under subsection (a)(6), an applicant shall 8 agree to use the funds to establish or implement a 9 statewide policy— 10 ‘‘(A) requiring school personnel in elemen- 11 tary and secondary schools and students in sec- 12 ondary schools to complete student emotional 13 well-being, mental health, and suicide awareness 14 and prevention training that— 15 ‘‘(i) includes at least one classroom 16 session each school year; 17 ‘‘(ii) is evidence-informed; and 18 ‘‘(iii) includes training on— 19 ‘‘(I) the warning signs of, and 20 elevated risk factors for, poor emo- 21 tional well-being, mental health issues, 22 and suicide of oneself and of others; 23 ‘‘(II) suggested responses to such 24 warning signs; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3682.IH H3682 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 3682 IH ‘‘(III) further suicide awareness 1 and prevention resources; and 2 ‘‘(IV) the method and manner of 3 making an appropriate referral to a 4 school-based mental health services 5 provider; and 6 ‘‘(B) requiring, with respect to such school 7 personnel, that such training include training 8 on— 9 ‘‘(i) cultural competency and 10 intersectionality sensitivity; and 11 ‘‘(ii) an overview of applicable Fed- 12 eral, State, and local law concerning re- 13 porting requirements. 14 ‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—As used in subsection 15 (a)(6) and this subsection: 16 ‘‘(A) The term ‘evidence-informed’ means 17 informed by practices that— 18 ‘‘(i) use the best available research 19 and practice knowledge to guide program 20 design and implementation; 21 ‘‘(ii) allow for innovation while incor- 22 porating the lessons learned from the exist- 23 ing research literature; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3682.IH H3682 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 3682 IH ‘‘(iii) are responsive to families’ cul- 1 tural backgrounds, community values, and 2 individual preferences. 3 ‘‘(B) The term ‘school-based mental health 4 services provider’ includes a State-licensed or 5 State-certified school counselor, school psycholo- 6 gist, school social worker, or other State-li- 7 censed or certified mental health professional 8 qualified under State law to provide mental 9 health services to children and adolescents. 10 ‘‘(C) The term ‘school personnel’ means— 11 ‘‘(i) principals or other heads of a 12 school; other professional instructional 13 staff (such as staff involved in curriculum 14 development, staff development, or oper- 15 ating library, media, and computer cen- 16 ters); specialized instructional support per- 17 sonnel such as school counselors, school so- 18 cial workers, and school psychologists; and 19 other qualified professional personnel, such 20 as school nurses, speech language patholo- 21 gists, and school librarians, involved in 22 providing assessment, diagnosis, coun- 23 seling, and educational, therapeutic, and 24 other necessary services; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3682.IH H3682 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 3682 IH ‘‘(ii) other school employees and con- 1 tractors who interact with students, includ- 2 ing bus drivers, cafeteria workers, coaches, 3 janitorial staff, and after-school program 4 employees.’’. 5 (c) FUNDING.—Subsection (n) of section 520E of the 6 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb–36), as re- 7 designated by subsection (b)(1), is amended— 8 (1) by striking ‘‘For the purpose’’ and inserting 9 the following: 10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose’’; 11 (2) by striking ‘‘$40,000,000’’ and inserting 12 ‘‘$48,000,000’’; and 13 (3) by adding at the end the following: 14 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION.—Of the amounts made 15 available to carry out this section for a fiscal year, 16 not less than 15 percent of such amounts shall be 17 used for grants or cooperative agreements to carry 18 out subsection (a)(6) (to establish and implement a 19 statewide policy requiring school personnel in ele- 20 mentary and secondary schools and students in sec- 21 ondary schools to complete student emotional well- 22 being, mental health, and suicide awareness and pre- 23 vention training).’’. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3682.IH H3682 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB