II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4677 

To increase language access to mental health services at certain health 

centers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 28, 2022 

Mr. HEINRICH (for himself, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. BOOKER, and Ms. WARREN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To increase language access to mental health services at 

certain health centers, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Mental Health Work5 force and Language Access Act of 2022’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM TO INCREASE LANGUAGE ACCESS 

2 AT FEDERALLY QUALIFIED HEALTH CEN3 TERS. 

4 (a) LOAN REPAYMENTS TO QUALIFIED MENTAL

5 HEALTH PROFESSIONALS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose of increas7 ing language access to mental health services, the 

8 Secretary shall carry out a demonstration project 

9 under which— 

10 (A) the Secretary matches qualified mental 

11 health professionals with Federally qualified 

12 health centers; 

13 (B) the qualified mental health profes14 sionals each agree to a period of obligated serv15 ice at a Federally qualified health center with 

16 which they are so matched; and 

17 (C) the Secretary agrees to make loan re18 payments under section 338B of the Public 

19 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254l–1) on be20 half of such qualified mental health profes21 sionals. 

22 (2) PREFERENCE.—In matching qualified men23 tal health professionals with Federally qualified 

24 health centers under paragraph (1), the Secretary 

25 shall give preference to placement at Federally quali26 fied health centers at which at least 20 percent of 


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1 the patients are best served in a language other than 

2 English, as indicated by data in the Uniform Data 

3 System (or any successor database) or as otherwise 

4 determined by the Secretary. 

5 (3) ENHANCED COMPENSATION.—For each 

6 year of obligated service that a qualified mental 

7 health professional contracts to serve under para8 graph (1) at a Federally qualified health center at 

9 which at least 20 percent of the patients are best 

10 served in a language other than English, as indi11 cated by data in the Uniform Data System (or any 

12 successor database) or as otherwise determined by 

13 the Secretary, the Secretary shall pay the qualified 

14 mental health professional— 

15 (A) except as provided in subparagraph 

16 (B), $10,000 above the maximum amount oth17 erwise applicable under section 338B(g)(2)(A) 

18 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

19 254l–1(g)(2)(A)); or 

20 (B) if the qualified mental health profes21 sional is fluent in a language other than 

22 English that is needed by such Federally quali23 fied health center, $15,000 above such max24 imum amount. 


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1 (4) ACHIEVING FLUENCY.—A qualified mental 

2 health professional subject to the pay amount speci3 fied in paragraph (3)(A) at the beginning of the pro4 fessional’s period of obligated service may transition 

5 to being subject to the higher pay amount specified 

6 in paragraph (3)(B) if the professional is determined 

7 by the Federally qualified health center at which the 

8 professional serves to have achieved fluency in a lan9 guage other than English needed by that health cen10 ter. 

11 (b) GRANTS TO HEALTH CENTERS.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry 

13 out a demonstration program consisting of awarding 

14 grants under section 330 of the Public Health Serv15 ice Act (42 U.S.C. 254b) to Federally qualified 

16 health centers to recruit, hire, employ, and supervise 

17 qualified mental health professionals who are fluent 

18 in a language other than English to provide mental 

19 health services in such other language. 

20 (2) PREFERENCE.—In selecting grant recipi21 ents under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall give 

22 preference to Federally qualified health centers at 

23 which at least 20 percent of the patients are best 

24 served in a language other than English, as indi25 cated by data in the Uniform Data System (or any 


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1 successor database) or as otherwise determined by 

2 the Secretary. 

3 (3) MARKETING.—A Federally qualified health 

4 center receiving a grant under this subsection shall 

5 use a portion of the grant funds to disseminate in6 formation about, and otherwise market, the mental 

7 health services supported through the grant. 

8 (c) REPORTS.— 

9 (1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 6 months 

10 after the first loan repayment awards have been 

11 made under subsection (a) and the first grants have 

12 been awarded under subsection (b), the Secretary 

13 shall submit to the Committees on Appropriations of 

14 the House of Representatives and the Senate, and to 

15 other appropriate congressional committees, a report 

16 on the implementation of the programs under this 

17 section. Such report shall include— 

18 (A) the languages spoken by the qualified 

19 mental health professionals receiving loan re20 payments pursuant to subsection (a) or re21 cruited pursuant to a grant under subsection 

22 (b); 

23 (B) the Federally qualified health centers 

24 at which such professionals were placed; 


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1 (C) how many Federally qualified health 

2 centers received funding through the grant pro3 gram under subsection (b); 

4 (D) an analysis, conducted in consultation 

5 with the Federally qualified health centers re6 ceiving grants under section (b), of the effec7 tiveness of such grants at increasing language 

8 access to mental health services; and 

9 (E) best practices, developed in consulta10 tion with Federally qualified health centers re11 ceiving grants under section (b), for the recruit12 ment and retention of mental health profes13 sionals at Federally qualified health centers. 

14 (2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than September 

15 30, 2026, the Secretary shall submit to the Commit16 tees on Appropriations of the House of Representa17 tives and the Senate, and to other appropriate con18 gressional committees, a final report on the imple19 mentation of the programs under this section, in20 cluding the information, analysis, and best practices 

21 listed in subparagraphs (A) through (E) of para22 graph (1). 

23 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

24 (1) FEDERALLY QUALIFIED HEALTH CEN25 TER.—The term ‘‘Federally qualified health center’’ 


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1 has the meaning given the term in section 1861(aa) 

2 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(aa)). 

3 (2) QUALIFIED MENTAL HEALTH PROFES4 SIONAL.—The term ‘‘qualified mental health profes5 sional’’ means— 

6 (A) a physician, allopathic physician, osteo7 pathic physician, nurse practitioner, or physi8 cian assistant with a specialty in mental health 

9 and psychiatry; 

10 (B) a health service psychologist; 

11 (C) a licensed clinical social worker; 

12 (D) a psychiatric nurse specialist; 

13 (E) a marriage and family therapist; 

14 (F) a licensed professional counselor; 

15 (G) a substance use disorder counselor; 

16 (H) an occupational therapist; or 

17 (I) any other individual who— 

18 (i) has not yet been licensed or cer19 tified to serve as a professional listed in 

20 any of subparagraphs (A) through (H); 

21 and 

22 (ii) will serve at the Federally quali23 fied health center under the supervision of 

24 a licensed individual or certified profes25 sional so listed. 


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1 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 

3 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—To carry out this section, 

5 there is authorized to be appropriated $75,000,000 

6 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2027. 

7 (2) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Amounts 

8 made available to carry out this section shall be in 

9 addition to amounts otherwise available to provide 

10 mental health services at Federally qualified health 

11 centers pursuant to sections 338B and 330 of the 

12 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254l–1, 254b). 

Æ 


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