IB 

Union Calendar No. 452 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5469 

[Report No. 116–552] 

To address mental health issues for youth, particularly youth of color, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 17, 2019 

Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN (for herself, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 

CLEAVER, Ms. OMAR, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. ADAMS, Mrs. 

HAYES, Mr. HORSFORD, and Ms. LEE of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

SEPTEMBER 29, 2020 

Additional sponsors: Ms. MOORE, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, Ms. JACKSON LEE, 

Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. 

BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mr. ENGEL, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, 

Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. 

PAYNE, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mr. TRONE, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. 

RASKIN, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. SAN NICOLAS, Mr. SIRES, Ms. DEAN, Ms. 

SCANLON, Mrs. LAWRENCE, and Mr. DESAULNIER

SEPTEMBER 29, 2020 

Reported with an amendment; committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on December 17, 2019] 


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A BILL 

To address mental health issues for youth, particularly youth 

of color, and for other purposes. 


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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pursuing Equity in 

5 Mental Health Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

7 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Table of contents. 

TITLE I—HEALTH EQUITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY 

Sec. 101. Integrated Health Care Demonstration Program. 

Sec. 102. Addressing racial and ethnic minority mental health disparities research gaps. 

Sec. 103. Health professions competencies to address racial and ethnic minority 

mental health disparities. 

Sec. 104. Racial and ethnic minority behavioral and mental health outreach and 

education strategy. 

Sec. 105. Additional funds for National Institutes of Health. 

Sec. 106. Additional funds for National Institute on Minority Health and Health 

Disparities. 

TITLE II—OTHER PROVISIONS 

Sec. 201. Reauthorization of Minority Fellowship Program. 

Sec. 202. Study on the Effects of Smartphone and Social Media Use on Adolescents. 

8 TITLE I—HEALTH EQUITY AND 

9 ACCOUNTABILITY 

10 SEC. 101. INTEGRATED HEALTH CARE DEMONSTRATION 

11 PROGRAM. 

12 Part D of title V of the Public Health Service Act (42 

13 U.S.C. 290dd et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 

14 following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 554. INTERPROFESSIONAL HEALTH CARE TEAMS FOR 

2 PROVISION OF BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CARE IN 

3 PRIMARY CARE SETTINGS. 

4 ‘‘(a) GRANTS.—The Secretary shall award grants to 

5 eligible entities for the purpose of establishing interprofes6 sional health care teams that provide behavioral health care. 

7 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—To be eligible to receive a 

8 grant under this section, an entity shall be a Federally 

9 qualified health center (as defined in section 1861(aa) of 

10 the Social Security Act), rural health clinic, or behavioral 

11 health program, serving a high proportion of individuals 

12 from racial and ethnic minority groups (as defined in sec13 tion 1707(g)). 

14 ‘‘(c) SCIENTIFICALLY BASED.—Integrated health care 

15 funded through this section shall be scientifically based, tak16 ing into consideration the results of the most recent peer17 reviewed research available. 

18 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 

19 out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated 

20 $20,000,000 for each of the first 5 fiscal years following the 

21 date of enactment of the Pursuing Equity in Mental Health 

22 Act.’’. 


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1 SEC. 102. ADDRESSING RACIAL AND ETHNIC MINORITY 

2 MENTAL HEALTH DISPARITIES RESEARCH 

3 GAPS. 

4 Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment 

5 of this Act, the Director of the National Institutes of Health 

6 shall enter into an arrangement with the National Acad7 emies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (or, if the Na8 tional Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 

9 decline to enter into such an arrangement, the Patient-Cen10 tered Outcomes Research Institute, the Agency for 

11 Healthcare Research and Quality, or another appropriate 

12 entity)— 

13 (1) to conduct a study with respect to mental 

14 health disparities in racial and ethnic minority 

15 groups (as defined in section 1707(g) of the Public 

16 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300u–6(g))); and 

17 (2) to submit to the Congress a report on the re18 sults of such study, including— 

19 (A) a compilation of information on the dy20 namics of mental disorders in such racial and 

21 ethnic minority groups; and 

22 (B) a compilation of information on the 

23 impact of exposure to community violence, ad24 verse childhood experiences, structural racism, 

25 and other psychological traumas on mental dis26 orders in such racial and minority groups. 


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1 SEC. 103. HEALTH PROFESSIONS COMPETENCIES TO AD2 DRESS RACIAL AND ETHNIC MINORITY MEN3 TAL HEALTH DISPARITIES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 

5 Human Services shall award grants to qualified national 

6 organizations for the purposes of— 

7 (1) developing, and disseminating to health pro8 fessional educational programs best practices or core 

9 competencies addressing mental health disparities 

10 among racial and ethnic minority groups for use in 

11 the training of students in the professions of social 

12 work, psychology, psychiatry, marriage and family 

13 therapy, mental health counseling, and substance mis14 use counseling; and 

15 (2) certifying community health workers and 

16 peer wellness specialists with respect to such best 

17 practices and core competencies and integrating and 

18 expanding the use of such workers and specialists into 

19 health care to address mental health disparities 

20 among racial and ethnic minority groups. 

21 (b) BEST PRACTICES; CORE COMPETENCIES.—Organi22 zations receiving funds under subsection (a) may use the 

23 funds to engage in the following activities related to the de24 velopment and dissemination of best practices or core com25 petencies described in subsection (a)(1): 


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1 (1) Formation of committees or working groups 

2 comprised of experts from accredited health profes3 sions schools to identify best practices and core com4 petencies relating to mental health disparities among 

5 racial and ethnic minority groups. 

6 (2) Planning of workshops in national fora to 

7 allow for public input into the educational needs as8 sociated with mental health disparities among racial 

9 and ethnic minority groups. 

10 (3) Dissemination and promotion of the use of 

11 best practices or core competencies in undergraduate 

12 and graduate health professions training programs 

13 nationwide. 

14 (4) Establishing external stakeholder advisory 

15 boards to provide meaningful input into policy and 

16 program development and best practices to reduce 

17 mental health disparities among racial and ethnic 

18 minority groups. 

19 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

20 (1) QUALIFIED NATIONAL ORGANIZATION.—The 

21 term ‘‘qualified national organization’’ means a na22 tional organization that focuses on the education of 

23 students in one or more of the professions of social 

24 work, psychology, psychiatry, marriage and family 


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1 therapy, mental health counseling, and substance mis2 use counseling. 

3 (2) RACIAL AND ETHNIC MINORITY GROUP.—The 

4 term ‘‘racial and ethnic minority group’’ has the 

5 meaning given to such term in section 1707(g) of the 

6 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300u–6(g)). 

7 SEC. 104. RACIAL AND ETHNIC MINORITY BEHAVIORAL AND 

8 MENTAL HEALTH OUTREACH AND EDU9 CATION STRATEGY. 

10 Part D of title V of the Public Health Service Act (42 

11 U.S.C. 290dd et seq.), as amended by section 101, is further 

12 amended by adding at the end the following new section: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 555. BEHAVIORAL AND MENTAL HEALTH OUTREACH 

14 AND EDUCATION STRATEGY. 

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, in consulta16 tion with advocacy and behavioral and mental health orga17 nizations serving racial and ethnic minority groups, de18 velop and implement an outreach and education strategy 

19 to promote behavioral and mental health and reduce stigma 

20 associated with mental health conditions and substance 

21 abuse among racial and ethnic minority groups. Such strat22 egy shall— 

23 ‘‘(1) be designed to— 


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1 ‘‘(A) meet the diverse cultural and language 

2 needs of the various racial and ethnic minority 

3 groups; and 

4 ‘‘(B) be developmentally and age-appro5 priate; 

6 ‘‘(2) increase awareness of symptoms of mental 

7 illnesses common among such groups, taking into ac8 count differences within at-risk subgroups; 

9 ‘‘(3) provide information on evidence-based, cul10 turally and linguistically appropriate and adapted 

11 interventions and treatments; 

12 ‘‘(4) ensure full participation of, and engage, 

13 both consumers and community members in the devel14 opment and implementation of materials; and 

15 ‘‘(5) seek to broaden the perspective among both 

16 individuals in these groups and stakeholders serving 

17 these groups to use a comprehensive public health ap18 proach to promoting behavioral health that addresses 

19 a holistic view of health by focusing on the intersec20 tion between behavioral and physical health. 

21 ‘‘(b) REPORTS.—Beginning not later than 1 year after 

22 the date of the enactment of this section and annually there23 after, the Secretary shall submit to Congress, and make pub24 licly available, a report on the extent to which the strategy 

25 developed and implemented under subsection (a) increased 


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1 behavioral and mental health outcomes associated with 

2 mental health conditions and substance abuse among racial 

3 and ethnic minority groups. 

4 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘racial 

5 and ethnic minority group’ has the meaning given to that 

6 term in section 1707(g). 

7 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

8 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

9 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025.’’. 

10 SEC. 105. ADDITIONAL FUNDS FOR NATIONAL INSTITUTES 

11 OF HEALTH. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to amounts otherwise 

13 authorized to be appropriated to the National Institutes of 

14 Health, there is authorized to be appropriated to such Insti15 tutes $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 

16 2025 to build relations with communities and conduct or 

17 support clinical research, including clinical research on ra18 cial or ethnic disparities in physical and mental health. 

19 (b) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘clinical re20 search’’ has the meaning given to such term in section 409 

21 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 284d). 


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1 SEC. 106. ADDITIONAL FUNDS FOR NATIONAL INSTITUTE 

2 ON MINORITY HEALTH AND HEALTH DISPARI3 TIES. 

4 In addition to amounts otherwise authorized to be ap5 propriated to the National Institute on Minority Health 

6 and Health Disparities, there is authorized to be appro7 priated to such Institute $650,000,000 for each of fiscal 

8 years 2021 through 2025. 

9 TITLE II—OTHER PROVISIONS 

10 SEC. 201. REAUTHORIZATION OF MINORITY FELLOWSHIP 

11 PROGRAM. 

12 Section 597(c) of the Public Health Service Act (42 

13 U.S.C. 297ll(c)) is amended by striking ‘‘$12,669,000 for 

14 each of fiscal years 2018 through 2022’’ and inserting 

15 ‘‘$25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025’’. 

16 SEC. 202. STUDY ON THE EFFECTS OF SMARTPHONE AND 

17 SOCIAL MEDIA USE ON ADOLESCENTS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

19 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and 

20 Human Services shall conduct or support research on— 

21 (1) smartphone and social media use by adoles22 cents; and 

23 (2) the effects of such use on— 

24 (A) emotional, behavioral, and physical 

25 health and development; and 


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1 (B) disparities in minority and under2 served populations. 

3 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 5 years after the date 

4 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to 

5 the Congress, and make publicly available, a report on the 

6 findings of research described in this section. 

7 SEC. 203. TECHNICAL CORRECTION. 

8 Title V of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

9 290aa et seq.) is amended— 

10 (1) by redesignating the second section 550 (42 

11 U.S.C. 290ee–10) (relating to Sobriety Treatment 

12 And Recovery Teams) as section 553; and 

13 (2) by moving such section, as so redesignated, 

14 so as to appear after section 552 (42 U.S.C. 290ee– 

15 7). 


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Union Calendar No. 452 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5469 

[Report No. 116–552] 

A BILL 

To address mental health issues for youth, 

particularly youth of color, and for other purposes. 

SEPTEMBER 29, 2020 

Reported with an amendment; committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS