A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the establishment of a National Office for Social Work Research.

Summary: National Office for Social Work Research Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish the Office of Social Work Research in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to conduct, support, and disseminate targeted research concerning social work methods and outcomes related to problems of significant social concern. Requires the Office to: (1) promote research and training to inform social work practices, and (2) provide policymakers with research to better understand complex social issues and make informed funding decisions about service effectiveness and cost efficiency. Sets forth duties of the Director of the Office, which shall include: (1) recommending an agenda for conducting and supporting social work research through the national research institutes and centers; (2) promoting coordination and cooperation among such institutes and centers; (3) promoting the sufficient allocation of NIH resources for such research; and (4) promoting and encouraging the establishment of a centralized clearinghouse for social work research to provide understandable information about this research to the public, social service professionals, medical professionals, patients, and families. Requires the Director to serve as the principal adviser to the Director of NIH and to provide advice to other relevant agencies. Authorizes the Director of the Office to enter into cooperative agreements with, and make grants to, public or private nonprofit entities to pay all or part of the cost of planning, establishing, or strengthening, and providing basic operating support for centers of excellence for clinical and psychosocial research, training in, and demonstration of social work research.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``National Office for Social Work 
Research Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Social workers help people overcome some of life's most 
        difficult challenges: poverty, discrimination, abuse, 
        addiction, physical illness, divorce, loss, unemployment, 
        educational problems, disability, and mental illness. They help 
        prevent crises and counsel individuals, families, and 
        communities to cope more effectively with the stresses of 
        everyday life. Professional social workers are found in every 
        facet of community life--in schools, hospitals, mental health 
        clinics, senior centers, elected office, private practices, 
        prisons, the military, corporations, and in numerous public and 
        private agencies that serve individuals and families in need.
            (2) Social workers focus on the improvement of individual 
        and family functioning and the creation of effective health and 
        mental health prevention and treatment interventions in order 
        for individuals to become more productive members of society.
            (3) Social workers provide front line prevention and 
        treatment services in the areas of school violence, aging, teen 
        pregnancy, child abuse, domestic violence, juvenile crime, and 
        substance abuse, particularly in rural and underserved 
        communities.
            (4) Social workers are in a unique position to provide 
        valuable research information on these complex social concerns, 
        taking into account a wide range of social, medical, economic, 
        and community influences from an interdisciplinary, family-
        centered and community-based approach.
            (5) Social work research as it relates to the health of 
        individuals sheds light on the behavioral and social 
        determinants of wellness and disease and helps to develop 
        effective interventions for improving health outcomes.

SEC. 3. NATIONAL OFFICE OF SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH.

    Part A of title IV of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 281 
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 404I. NATIONAL OFFICE OF SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH.

    ``(a) Establishment.--There is established within the Office of the 
Director of NIH an office to be known as the Office of Social Work 
Research (in this section referred to as the `Office'), which shall be 
headed by a Director (in this section referred to as the `Director') to 
be appointed by the Director of NIH.
    ``(b) Purpose of Office.--The general purpose of the Office is the 
conduct and support of, and dissemination of, targeted research 
concerning social work methods and outcomes related to problems of 
significant social concern. The Office shall--
            ``(1) promote research and training that is designed to 
        inform social work practices, and otherwise increase the 
        knowledge base which promotes a healthier America; and
            ``(2) provide policymakers with empirically based research 
        information to enable such policymakers to better understand 
        complex social issues and make informed funding decisions about 
        service effectiveness and cost efficiency.
    ``(c) Duties.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Director of the Office shall carry 
        out the following:
                    ``(A) Recommend an agenda for conducting and 
                supporting social work research through the national 
                research institutes and centers. The agenda shall 
                provide for a broad range of research, training and 
                education activities, including scientific workshops 
                and symposia to identify social work research 
                opportunities.
                    ``(B) With respect to social work, promote 
                coordination and cooperation among the national 
                research institutes and centers and entities whose 
                research is supported by such institutes.
                    ``(C) If determined appropriate, and in 
                collaboration with the directors of the other relevant 
                institutes and centers of the National Institutes of 
                Health, enter into cooperative agreements with and make 
                grants for centers of excellence on social work in 
                accordance with section 404G.
                    ``(D) Promote the sufficient allocation of the 
                resources of the National Institutes of Health for 
                conducting and supporting social work research.
                    ``(E) Promote and encourage the establishment of a 
                centralized clearinghouse for social work research that 
                will provide understandable information about this 
                research to the public, social service professionals, 
                medical professionals, patients and families.
                    ``(F) Biennially prepare a report that describes 
                the social work research and education activities being 
                conducted or supported through the national research 
                institutes and centers, and that identifies particular 
                projects or types of projects that should in the future 
                be conducted or supported by the national research 
                institutes and centers or other entities in the field 
                of social work research.
                    ``(G) Prepare the annual report of the Director of 
                NIH to Congress concerning social work research 
                conducted by or supported through the national research 
                institutes and centers.
            ``(2) Principal advisor regarding social work research.--
        With respect to social work research, the Director shall serve 
        as the principal advisor to the Director of NIH and shall 
        provide advice to other relevant agencies. The Director shall 
        provide liaison with national and international patient, health 
        and behavioral health and social service organizations 
        concerned with social work research.
    ``(d) Definitions.--For purposes of this section, the term `social 
work research' means the study of preventive interventions, treatment 
of acute psychosocial problems, care and rehabilitation of individuals 
with severe, chronic difficulties, community development interventions, 
organizational administration, and the effects of social policy actions 
on the practice of social work (TFSWR, 1991, p.1). Social work research 
may cover the entire lifespan, and may be focused at clinical and 
services and policy issues, focusing on individual, family, group, 
community or organizational levels of intervention and analysis.
    ``(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--For the purpose of carrying 
out this section, there are authorized to be appropriated such sums as 
may have been appropriated for fiscal year 2011 for such purpose, and 
$4,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2012 through 2015.''.

SEC. 4. SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE.

    Title IV of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 281 et seq.), 
as amended by section 3, is further amended by inserting after section 
404I the following:

``SEC. 404J. SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE.

    ``(a) Cooperative Agreements and Grants.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Director of the Office of Social 
        Work Research (in this section referred to as the `Director'), 
        in collaboration with the directors of the other relevant 
        institutes and centers of the National Institutes of Health, 
        may enter into cooperative agreements with, and make grants to, 
        public or private nonprofit entities to pay all or part of the 
        cost of planning, establishing, or strengthening, and providing 
        basic operating support for, centers of excellence for clinical 
        and psychosocial research, training in, and demonstration of 
        social work research.
            ``(2) Policies.--A cooperative agreement or grant under 
        paragraph (1) shall be entered into in accordance with policies 
        established by the Director of NIH.
    ``(b) Coordination With Other Institutes.--The Director shall 
coordinate the activities under this section with similar activities 
conducted by other national research institutes, centers and agencies 
of the National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Veterans 
Affairs, the Department of Defense, the Administration for Children and 
Families, the Department of Justice, the Department of Education, the 
Department of Housing and Urban Development, to the extent that such 
institutes, centers and agencies have responsibilities that are related 
to social work research.
    ``(c) Uses for Federal Payments Under Cooperative Agreements or 
Grants.--Federal payments made under a cooperative agreement or grant 
under subsection (a) may be used for--
            ``(1) staffing, administrative, and other basic operating 
        costs, including such patient care costs as are required for 
        research;
            ``(2) interdisciplinary training for health and social 
        service professionals on research and the use of evidence, with 
        respect to social work research; and
            ``(3) social work research and demonstration programs.
    ``(d) Period of Support; Additional Periods.--Support of a center 
under subsection (a) may be for a period of not to exceed 5 years. Such 
period may be extended by the Director for additional periods of not to 
exceed 5 years if the operations of such center have been reviewed by 
an appropriate technical and scientific peer review group established 
by the Director and if such group has recommended to the Director that 
such period should be extended.
    ``(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--For the purpose of carrying 
out this section, there are authorized to be appropriated such sums as 
may have been appropriated for fiscal year 2011 for such purpose, and 
$20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2012 through 2015.''.