Mental Health Services for Students Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3713 To amend the Public Health Service Act to revise and extend projects relating to children and to provide access to school-based comprehensive mental health programs. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 25, 2023 Mrs. NAPOLITANO (for herself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. KILMER, Ms. DEAN of Pennsylvania, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. SABLAN, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. CASTEN, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. PHIL- LIPS, Ms. UNDERWOOD, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. VAN DREW, Mr. CON- NOLLY, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mr. MOSKOWITZ, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Ms. NORTON, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Mr. TRONE, Mr. POCAN, Mr. TORRES of New York, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. MAGAZINER, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. CHU, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. RYAN, Mr. GOMEZ, Ms. PORTER, Mr. KEATING, Ms. CRAIG, Ms. PETTERSEN, Mr. PETERS, Mr. VASQUEZ, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. SCHIFF, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. MOULTON, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. KAPTUR, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Mr. COHEN, Ms. TITUS, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Ms. DELBENE, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mrs. TORRES of California, Mr. HARDER of California, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. KUSTER, and Ms. WILD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Public Health Service Act to revise and extend projects relating to children and to provide access to school-based comprehensive mental health programs. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Jun 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H3713.IH H3713 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3713 IH Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Mental Health Services 4 for Students Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE 6 ACT. 7 (a) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.—The second part G 8 (relating to services provided through religious organiza- 9 tions) of title V of the Public Health Service Act (42 10 U.S.C. 290kk et seq.) is amended— 11 (1) by redesignating such part as part J; and 12 (2) by redesignating sections 581 through 584 13 as sections 596 through 596C, respectively. 14 (b) SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH AND CHIL- 15 DREN.—Section 581 of the Public Health Service Act (42 16 U.S.C. 290hh) (relating to children and violence) is 17 amended to read as follows: 18 ‘‘SEC. 581. SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH; CHILDREN 19 AND ADOLESCENTS. 20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 21 with the Secretary of Education, shall, through grants, 22 contracts, or cooperative agreements awarded to eligible 23 entities described in subsection (c), provide comprehensive 24 school-based mental health services and supports to assist 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Jun 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3713.IH H3713 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3713 IH children in local communities and schools (including 1 schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Education) deal- 2 ing with traumatic experiences, grief, bereavement, risk of 3 suicide, and violence. Such services and supports shall 4 be— 5 ‘‘(1) developmentally, linguistically, and cul- 6 turally appropriate; 7 ‘‘(2) trauma-informed; and 8 ‘‘(3) incorporate positive behavioral interven- 9 tions and supports. 10 ‘‘(b) ACTIVITIES.—Grants, contracts, or cooperative 11 agreements awarded under subsection (a), shall, as appro- 12 priate, be used for— 13 ‘‘(1) implementation of school- and community- 14 based mental health programs that— 15 ‘‘(A) build awareness of individual trauma 16 and the intergenerational, continuum of impacts 17 of trauma on populations; 18 ‘‘(B) train appropriate staff to identify, 19 and screen for, signs of trauma exposure, men- 20 tal health disorders, or risk of suicide; and 21 ‘‘(C) incorporate positive behavioral inter- 22 ventions, family engagement, student treatment, 23 and multigenerational supports to foster the 24 health and development of children, prevent 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Jun 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3713.IH H3713 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3713 IH mental health disorders, and ameliorate the im- 1 pact of trauma; 2 ‘‘(2) technical assistance to local communities 3 with respect to the development of programs de- 4 scribed in paragraph (1); 5 ‘‘(3) facilitating community partnerships among 6 families, students, law enforcement agencies, edu- 7 cation agencies, mental health and substance use 8 disorder service systems, family-based mental health 9 service systems, child welfare agencies, health care 10 providers (including primary care physicians, mental 11 health professionals, and other professionals who 12 specialize in children’s mental health such as child 13 and adolescent psychiatrists), institutions of higher 14 education, faith-based programs, trauma networks, 15 and other community-based systems to address child 16 and adolescent trauma, mental health issues, and vi- 17 olence; and 18 ‘‘(4) establishing mechanisms for children and 19 adolescents to report incidents of violence or plans 20 by other children, adolescents, or adults to commit 21 violence. 22 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS.— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Jun 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3713.IH H3713 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 3713 IH ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible for a grant, 1 contract, or cooperative agreement under subsection 2 (a), an entity shall be a partnership that includes— 3 ‘‘(A) a State educational agency, as de- 4 fined in section 8101 of the Elementary and 5 Secondary Education Act of 1965, in coordina- 6 tion with one or more local educational agen- 7 cies, as defined in section 8101 of the Elemen- 8 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, or 9 a consortium of any entities described in sub- 10 paragraph (B), (C), (D), or (E) of section 11 8101(30) of such Act; and 12 ‘‘(B) at least 1 community-based mental 13 health provider, including a public or private 14 mental health entity, health care entity, family- 15 based mental health entity, trauma network, or 16 other community-based entity, as determined by 17 the Secretary (and which may include addi- 18 tional entities such as a human services agency, 19 law enforcement or juvenile justice entity, child 20 welfare agency, agency, an institution of higher 21 education, or another entity, as determined by 22 the Secretary). 23 ‘‘(2) COMPLIANCE WITH HIPAA.—Any patient 24 records developed by covered entities through activi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Jun 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3713.IH H3713 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 3713 IH ties under the grant shall meet the regulations pro- 1 mulgated under section 264(c) of the Health Insur- 2 ance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. 3 ‘‘(3) COMPLIANCE WITH FERPA.—Section 444 4 of the General Education Provisions Act (commonly 5 known as the ‘Family Educational Rights and Pri- 6 vacy Act of 1974’) shall apply to any entity that is 7 a member of the partnership in the same manner 8 that such section applies to an educational agency or 9 institution (as that term is defined in such section). 10 ‘‘(d) GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION.—The Secretary 11 shall ensure that grants, contracts, or cooperative agree- 12 ments under subsection (a) will be distributed equitably 13 among the regions of the country and among urban and 14 rural areas. 15 ‘‘(e) DURATION OF AWARDS.—With respect to a 16 grant, contract, or cooperative agreement under sub- 17 section (a), the period during which payments under such 18 an award will be made to the recipient shall be 5 years, 19 with options for renewal. 20 ‘‘(f) EVALUATION AND MEASURES OF OUTCOMES.— 21 ‘‘(1) DEVELOPMENT OF PROCESS.—The Assist- 22 ant Secretary shall develop a fiscally appropriate 23 process for evaluating activities carried out under 24 this section. Such process shall include— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Jun 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3713.IH H3713 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 3713 IH ‘‘(A) the development of guidelines for the 1 submission of program data by grant, contract, 2 or cooperative agreement recipients; 3 ‘‘(B) the development of measures of out- 4 comes (in accordance with paragraph (2)) to be 5 applied by such recipients in evaluating pro- 6 grams carried out under this section; and 7 ‘‘(C) the submission of annual reports by 8 such recipients concerning the effectiveness of 9 programs carried out under this section. 10 ‘‘(2) MEASURES OF OUTCOMES.—The Assistant 11 Secretary shall develop measures of outcomes to be 12 applied by recipients of assistance under this section 13 to evaluate the effectiveness of programs carried out 14 under this section, including outcomes related to the 15 student, family, and local educational systems sup- 16 ported by this Act. 17 ‘‘(3) SUBMISSION OF ANNUAL DATA.—An eligi- 18 ble entity described in subsection (c) that receives a 19 grant, contract, or cooperative agreement under this 20 section shall annually submit to the Assistant Sec- 21 retary a report that includes data to evaluate the 22 success of the program carried out by the entity 23 based on whether such program is achieving the pur- 24 poses of the program. Such reports shall utilize the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Jun 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3713.IH H3713 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 3713 IH measures of outcomes under paragraph (2) in a rea- 1 sonable manner to demonstrate the progress of the 2 program in achieving such purposes. 3 ‘‘(4) EVALUATION BY ASSISTANT SECRETARY.— 4 Based on the data submitted under paragraph (3), 5 the Assistant Secretary shall annually submit to 6 Congress a report concerning the results and effec- 7 tiveness of the programs carried out with assistance 8 received under this section. 9 ‘‘(5) LIMITATION.—An eligible entity shall use 10 not more than 20 percent of amounts received under 11 a grant under this section to carry out evaluation 12 activities under this subsection. 13 ‘‘(g) INFORMATION AND EDUCATION.—The Sec- 14 retary shall disseminate best practices based on the find- 15 ings of the knowledge development and application under 16 this section. 17 ‘‘(h) AMOUNT OF GRANTS AND AUTHORIZATION OF 18 APPROPRIATIONS.— 19 ‘‘(1) AMOUNT OF GRANTS.—A grant under this 20 section shall be in an amount that is not more than 21 $2,000,000 for each of the first 5 fiscal years fol- 22 lowing the date of enactment of the Mental Health 23 Services for Students Act of 2023. The Secretary 24 shall determine the amount of each such grant based 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Jun 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3713.IH H3713 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 3713 IH on the population of children up to age 21 of the 1 area to be served under the grant. 2 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 3 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 4 this section, $300,000,000 for each of fiscal years 5 2024 through 2027.’’. 6 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Part G of title V of 7 the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290hh et seq.), 8 as amended by subsection (b), is further amended by strik- 9 ing the part designation and heading and inserting the 10 following: 11 ‘‘PART G—SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH’’. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Jun 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3713.IH H3713 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB