Youth Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1803 To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a grant program to promote comprehensive mental health and suicide pre- vention efforts in high schools, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 11, 2021 Mr. CA´RDENAS (for himself and Mrs. TRAHAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee con- cerned A BILL To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a grant program to promote comprehensive mental health and suicide prevention efforts in high schools, 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 ‘‘Youth Mental Health 4 and Suicide Prevention Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:15 May 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1803.IH H1803 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1803 IH SEC. 2. COORDINATED PROMOTION OF HIGH SCHOOL COM- 1 PREHENSIVE MENTAL HEALTH AND SUICIDE 2 PREVENTION PLANS. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through the 4 Director of the Center for Mental Health Services of the 5 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administra- 6 tion, may carry out a program to award grants, on a com- 7 petitive basis, to eligible entities to enhance services for 8 high school students with mental health and behavioral 9 health issues that can lead to school failure, including de- 10 pression, substance abuse, and suicide attempts. 11 (b) APPLICATION.—To be eligible for a grant under 12 this section, an eligible entity shall submit to the Secretary 13 an application in such form, at such time, and containing 14 such information as the Secretary determines appropriate, 15 including, at a minimum— 16 (1) a description of identified mental health and 17 behavioral health needs of high school students 18 served by such eligible entity; 19 (2) a description of existing Federal, State, 20 local, private, and institutional resources available to 21 address the needs described in paragraph (1); 22 (3) a description of the outreach strategies of 23 such eligible entity to promote access to services, in- 24 cluding a proposed plan for mental health equity and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:15 May 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1803.IH H1803 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1803 IH assisting students most in need of mental health 1 services; 2 (4) a description of how such eligible entity will 3 involve, as appropriate, students and peer represent- 4 atives in the planning, implementation, and evalua- 5 tion processes; 6 (5) a description of how such eligible entity will 7 support other students and the school community if 8 a student dies by suicide; 9 (6) a plan to— 10 (A) implement the activities described in 11 subsection (c); and 12 (B) evaluate the outcomes of such activi- 13 ties; and 14 (7) an assurance that such eligible entity will 15 submit to the Secretary, for each fiscal year in which 16 grant funds are used, a report with respect to— 17 (A) the activities carried out under sub- 18 section (c); and 19 (B) the outcomes of such activities. 20 (c) GRANT USES.—A grant awarded under this sec- 21 tion may only be used, with respect to high school students 22 served by an eligible entity, for— 23 (1) evaluating existing program activities and 24 prevention strategies; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:15 May 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1803.IH H1803 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1803 IH (2) educational seminars; 1 (3) educational awareness campaign materials 2 for students, families of students, and school staff to 3 increase the awareness of potential mental and be- 4 havioral health issues of students; 5 (4) peer-to-peer program support; 6 (5) programs that assist schools in adopting a 7 public health approach to mental health; 8 (6) social media applications used for mental 9 and behavioral health purposes, such as suicide risk 10 and mental health screenings; 11 (7) providing mental health services for stu- 12 dents through telehealth; 13 (8) training programs for students and high 14 school teachers, school leaders, and other school per- 15 sonnel to learn to respond effectively to students 16 with mental health and behavioral health issues that 17 can lead to school failure, including depression, anx- 18 iety, substance abuse, and suicide attempts; and 19 (9) the creation of an infrastructure to facili- 20 tate communication between high schools served by 21 a local educational agency or State educational agen- 22 cy that does not have mental health services, includ- 23 ing health care providers who can treat mental 24 health and behavioral health issues. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:15 May 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1803.IH H1803 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1803 IH (d) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 1 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity receiving a 2 grant under this section shall provide non-Federal 3 matching funds (including funds from donations 4 from public or private entities) equal to the amount 5 of the grant. 6 (2) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNT CONTRIB- 7 UTED.— 8 (A) IN-KIND SUPPORT.—Non-Federal 9 matching funds described in paragraph (1) may 10 include cash or in-kind support. 11 (B) FEDERAL SUPPORT.—Amounts pro- 12 vided by the Federal Government, or services 13 assisted or subsidized to any significant extent 14 by the Federal Government may not be in- 15 cluded when determining the amount of non- 16 Federal matching funds provided. 17 (3) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive the 18 matching funds requirement of paragraph (1) with 19 respect to a grant made to an eligible entity under 20 this section if the Secretary determines that such eli- 21 gible entity has demonstrated extraordinary need for 22 such a waiver. 23 (e) STUDY AND REPORT.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:15 May 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1803.IH H1803 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1803 IH (1) STUDY.—For each fiscal year during which 1 grants are awarded under this section, the Secretary 2 shall conduct a study on the results of the grant 3 program. 4 (2) REPORT.—For each study conducted under 5 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall submit to Con- 6 gress a report on the results of such study, includ- 7 ing— 8 (A) an evaluation of the outcomes of the 9 grant program, including a summary of activi- 10 ties carried out by eligible entities and the re- 11 sults of such activities; and 12 (B) recommendations with respect to im- 13 proving access to mental health and behavioral 14 heath services at high schools, including efforts 15 to reduce the occurrence of suicide and sub- 16 stance abuse. 17 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 18 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 19 ty’’ means a local educational agency or State edu- 20 cational agency that serves at least one secondary 21 school. 22 (2) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘high school’’, 23 ‘‘local educational agency’’, ‘‘secondary school’’, and 24 ‘‘State educational agency’’ have the meanings given 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:15 May 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1803.IH H1803 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1803 IH such terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and 1 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 2 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 3 the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in 4 consultation with the Secretary of Education and 5 the heads of other appropriate agencies. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:15 May 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1803.IH H1803 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS