Youth Mental Health Research Act

Summary: Youth Mental Health Research Act This bill authorizes the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to establish a Youth Mental Health Research Network for the conduct or support of youth mental health research and intervention services. The NIMH may award cooperative agreements, grants, and contracts to governments and private nonprofit entities for: (1) conducting youth mental health research or training for researchers in youth mental health research techniques; (2) providing youth mental health intervention services; and (3) collaborating with NIMH to build on the scientific findings and clinical techniques of earlier programs, studies, and demonstration projects. A number of these awards must go to entities that agree to: (1) focus primarily on the early detection and intervention of severe mental illness in young people; (2) conduct or coordinate multisite clinical trials for the prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of early severe mental illness in a community setting and rapidly disseminate their findings; and (3) adhere to the guidelines, protocols, and practices used in the North American Prodrome Longitudinal Study and the Recovery After an Initial Schizophrenia Episode initiative. The NIMH must establish a data coordinating center to assist awardees and distribute scientific findings generated by awardees.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Youth Mental Health Research Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) More than 100 million Americans currently have some 
        sort of brain-related condition. Millions of Americans, many of 
        whom are currently school children, have some sort of 
        developmental delay, autism, or learning disability.
            (2) Moreover, many Americans suffer from some form of 
        psychotic disorder, including schizophrenia and affective 
        psychotic disorders.
            (3) These brain disorders usually result in significant 
        life-long disability, and psychotic disorders in particular, 
        despite advances in treatment, rank among the top causes of 
        disability worldwide.
            (4) Neuroscience research has the potential to dramatically 
        improve the quality of life for people facing brain disease and 
        injury, and to significantly improve our understanding of 
        learning.
            (5) Because of the impact on the health and economy of the 
        country, the Federal Government has taken a special interest in 
        promoting neuroscience and mental health research. Several 
        Federal agencies, including the National Science Foundation, 
        National Institutes of Health (NIH), Veterans Administration, 
        and Department of Defense oversee research on the brain and 
        nervous system.
            (6) In December 2011, Congress directed the Office of 
        Science and Technology Policy to establish an Interagency 
        Working Group on Neuroscience (IWGN). The IWGN is currently 
        convening representatives across the Federal Government to make 
        recommendations about the future of neuroscience research.
            (7) Given the findings about the role of mental illness in 
        multiple shootings across the Nation, including Newton, 
        Connecticut, Aurora, Colorado, and other communities 
        experiencing similar tragedies, the Federal Government has an 
        interest in pursuing research on the early detection, 
        intervention, and prevention of psychosis.
            (8) In line with this, the Federal Government is looking 
        for new ways of increasing the Nation's knowledge of the 
        underlying causes of psychosis.
            (9) The United States commitment to furthering the early 
        detection of mental illness in youth was seen in its 
        participation in two public/private research programs that 
        studied the earliest stages of psychotic illness, namely--
                    (A) the North American Prodrome Longitudinal Study 
                (NAPLS); and
                    (B) the Recovery After an Initial Schizophrenia 
                Episode (RAISE) initiative.

SEC. 3. YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH RESEARCH NETWORK.

    (a) Youth Mental Health Research Network.--
            (1) Network.--The Director of the National Institutes of 
        Health may provide for the establishment of a Youth Mental 
        Health Research Network for the conduct or support of--
                    (A) youth mental health research; and
                    (B) youth mental health intervention services.
            (2) Collaboration by institutes and centers.--The Director 
        of NIH shall carry out this Act acting--
                    (A) through the Director of the National Institute 
                of Mental Health; and
                    (B) in collaboration with other appropriate 
                national research institutes and national centers that 
                carry out activities involving youth mental health 
                research.
            (3) Mental health research.--
                    (A) In general.--In carrying out paragraph (1), the 
                Director of NIH may award cooperative agreements, 
                grants, and contracts to State, local, and tribal 
                governments and private nonprofit entities for--
                            (i) conducting, or entering into consortia 
                        with other entities to conduct--
                                    (I) basic, clinical, behavioral, or 
                                translational research to meet unmet 
                                needs for youth mental health research; 
                                or
                                    (II) training for researchers in 
                                youth mental health research 
                                techniques;
                            (ii) providing, or partnering with non-
                        research institutions or community-based groups 
                        with existing connections to youth to provide, 
                        youth mental health intervention services; and
                            (iii) collaborating with the National 
                        Institute of Mental Health to make use of, and 
                        build on, the scientific findings and clinical 
                        techniques of the Institute's earlier programs, 
                        studies, and demonstration projects.
                    (B) Research.--The Director of NIH shall ensure 
                that--
                            (i) each recipient of an award under 
                        subparagraph (A)(i) conducts or supports at 
                        least one category of research described in 
                        subparagraph (A)(i)(I) and collectively such 
                        recipients conduct or support all such 
                        categories of research; and
                            (ii) one or more such recipients provide 
                        training described in subparagraph (A)(i)(II).
                    (C) Number of award recipients.--The Director of 
                NIH may make awards under this paragraph for not more 
                than 70 entities.
                    (D) Supplement, not supplant.--Any support received 
                by an entity under subparagraph (A) shall be used to 
                supplement, and not supplant, other public or private 
                support for activities authorized to be supported under 
                this paragraph.
                    (E) Duration of support.--Support of an entity 
                under subparagraph (A) may be for a period of not to 
                exceed 5 years. Such period may be extended by the 
                Director of NIH for additional periods of not more than 
                5 years.
            (4) Coordination.--The Director of NIH shall--
                    (A) as appropriate, provide for the coordination of 
                activities (including the exchange of information and 
                regular communication) among the recipients of awards 
                under this subsection; and
                    (B) require the periodic preparation and submission 
                to the Director of reports on the activities of each 
                such recipient.
    (b) Intervention Services for, and Research on, Severe Mental 
Illness.--
            (1) In general.--In making awards under subsection (a)(3), 
        the Director of NIH shall ensure that an appropriate number of 
        such awards are awarded to entities that agree to--
                    (A) focus primarily on the early detection and 
                intervention of severe mental illness in young people;
                    (B) conduct or coordinate one or more multisite 
                clinical trials of therapies for, or approaches to, the 
                prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of early severe 
                mental illness in a community setting;
                    (C) rapidly and efficiently disseminate scientific 
                findings resulting from such trials; and
                    (D) adhere to the guidelines, protocols, and 
                practices used in the North American Prodrome 
                Longitudinal Study (NAPLS) and the Recovery After an 
                Initial Schizophrenia Episode (RAISE) initiative.
            (2) Data coordinating center.--
                    (A) Establishment.--In connection with awards to 
                entities described in paragraph (1), the Director of 
                NIH shall establish a data coordinating center for the 
                following purposes:
                            (i) To distribute the scientific findings 
                        referred to in paragraph (1)(C).
                            (ii) To provide assistance in the design 
                        and conduct of collaborative research projects 
                        and the management, analysis, and storage of 
                        data associated with such projects.
                            (iii) To organize and conduct multisite 
                        monitoring activities.
                            (iv) To provide assistance to the Centers 
                        for Disease Control and Prevention in the 
                        establishment of patient registries.
                    (B) Reporting.--The Director of NIH shall--
                            (i) require the data coordinating center 
                        established under subparagraph (A) to provide 
                        regular reports to the Director of NIH on 
                        research conducted by entities described in 
                        paragraph (1), including information on 
                        enrollment in clinical trials and the 
                        allocation of resources with respect to such 
                        research; and
                            (ii) as appropriate, incorporate 
                        information reported under clause (i) into the 
                        Director's biennial reports under section 403 
                        of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
                        283).
    (c) Definitions.--In this Act, the terms ``Director of NIH'', 
``national center'', and ``national research institute'' have the 
meanings given to such terms in section 401 of the Public Health 
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 281).
    (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this Act, there 
is authorized to be appropriated $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 
2016 through 2020.