II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 708 

To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to convene a task 

force to advise the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance 

Use on a national strategy for preventing mental health and substance 

use crises during a public health emergency, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 11, 2021 

Mr. KELLY (for himself and Mrs. CAPITO) introduced the following bill; which 

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

Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to 

convene a task force to advise the Assistant Secretary 

for Mental Health and Substance Use on a national 

strategy for preventing mental health and substance use 

crises during a public health emergency, 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 ‘‘Preventing Mental 

5 Health and Substance Use Crises During Emergencies 

6 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) The United States invests annually in the 

4 public mental health of people of the United States. 

5 (2) Congress appropriated $3,600,000,000 in 

6 fiscal year 2020 to the Substance Abuse and Mental 

7 Health Services Administration. 

8 (3) Funds are also appropriated to address 

9 mental health and substance use in targeted popu10 lations through the Department of Veterans Affairs, 

11 the Department of the Interior, and the National In12 stitute of Mental Health. 

13 (4) On January 31, 2020, the Secretary of 

14 Health and Human Services declared a public health 

15 emergency due to the spread of COVID–19, and ex16 tended such declaration, most recently, on October 

17 2, 2020. 

18 (5) As of August 1, 2020, Congress provided an 

19 additional $725,000,000 in supplemental funding to 

20 augment mental health and substance use services 

21 during the COVID–19 pandemic. 

22 (6) Such supplemental funding included 

23 $425,000,000 to the Substance Abuse and Mental 

24 Health Services Administration, of which— 

25 (A) $110,000,000 was allocated for emer26 gency grants for behavioral health services; 


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1 (B) $250,000,000 was allocated for the 

2 Certified Community Behavioral Health Centers 

3 program; and 

4 (C) $50,000,000 was allocated for suicide 

5 prevention. 

6 (7) The COVID–19 pandemic has exacerbated 

7 concerns about the mental health and well-being of 

8 the people of the United States. 

9 (8) A third of people in the United States are 

10 feeling severe anxiety, according to Census Bureau 

11 data, and nearly a quarter show signs of depression. 

12 (9) A recent poll by the Kaiser Family Founda13 tion found that the pandemic had negatively affected 

14 the mental health of 56 percent of adults. 

15 (10) In April, texts to a Federal emergency 

16 mental-health line were up 1,000 percent from the 

17 year before. 

18 (11) The situation is particularly dire for cer19 tain vulnerable groups that face a significant risk of 

20 post-traumatic stress disorder, including— 

21 (A) health care workers; 

22 (B) COVID–19 patients with severe cases; 

23 and 

24 (C) individuals who have lost loved ones. 


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1 (12) In overburdened intensive-care units, de2 lirious patients are seeing chilling hallucinations. 

3 (13) At least 2 overwhelmed emergency medical 

4 workers have died by suicide since the beginning of 

5 the COVID–19 pandemic. 

6 (14) The public mental health crisis will con7 tinue after the COVID–19 pandemic subsides. 

8 (b) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 

9 United States to protect the health and safety of all people 

10 of the United States during public health emergencies and 

11 to proactively lead public health efforts to advance the 

12 mental health of the Nation. 

13 SEC. 3. TASK FORCE TO PREVENT MENTAL HEALTH AND 

14 SUBSTANCE USE CRISES. 

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

16 Human Services (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Sec17 retary’’) shall convene a task force known as the Task 

18 Force to Prevent Mental Health and Substance Use Crises 

19 (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Task Force’’) to— 

20 (1) assess the response of the Federal Govern21 ment with respect to mental health and substance 

22 use during and after the spread of COVID–19; and 

23 (2) advise the Assistant Secretary for Mental 

24 Health and Substance Use on a national strategy for 


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1 preventing mental health and substance use crises 

2 during a public health emergency. 

3 (b) ASSESSMENT.—In carrying out subsection (a), 

4 the Task Force shall assess— 

5 (1) the efficacy, outcomes, and cost of each 

6 Federal initiative taken during the spread of 

7 COVID–19 to support mental health and address 

8 substance use, including an identification of— 

9 (A) any initiative that was not successful; 

10 and 

11 (B) best practices and strategies; 

12 (2) the ability of Federal agencies to coordinate 

13 mental health programs and services and allocate re14 sources to respond to a public health emergency; 

15 (3) the ability of Federal agencies to use tech16 nology developed through the Small Business Inno17 vation Research Program established under section 

18 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638) to re19 spond to a public health emergency; 

20 (4) the ability of Federal, State, and local agen21 cies to coordinate with other government agencies, 

22 nonprofit organizations, and entities in the private 

23 sector during a public health emergency; 

24 (5) any needed improvements to coordination 

25 described in paragraphs (2) and (4); 


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1 (6) a review of research programs of the Fed2 eral agencies listed in subsection (c)(3) with respect 

3 to mental health and substance use during a public 

4 health emergency; and 

5 (7) a review of the amount of funds used by 

6 such Federal agencies to support mental health and 

7 address substance use during a public health emer8 gency. 

9 (c) MEMBERSHIP.— 

10 (1) CHAIR.—Not later than 60 days after the 

11 date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall 

12 appoint an individual to serve as the Chair of the 

13 Task Force. 

14 (2) COMPOSITION.—The Task Force shall be 

15 composed of— 

16 (A) representatives of Federal agencies, in17 cluding the agencies listed in paragraph (3); 

18 (B) representatives of nongovernmental or19 ganizations; 

20 (C) patient advocates; and 

21 (D) State and local public health experts 

22 who specialize in mental health and substance 

23 use. 


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1 (3) FEDERAL AGENCIES.—The agencies rep2 resented under paragraph (2)(A) shall, at a min3 imum, include the following: 

4 (A) The Centers for Disease Control and 

5 Prevention. 

6 (B) The National Institute of Mental 

7 Health. 

8 (C) The National Institutes of Health. 

9 (D) The National Institute on Drug 

10 Abuse. 

11 (E) The Food and Drug Administration. 

12 (F) The Health Resources and Services 

13 Administration. 

14 (G) The Substance Abuse and Mental 

15 Health Services Administration. 

16 (H) The Agency for Healthcare Research 

17 and Quality. 

18 (I) The Administration for Children and 

19 Families. 

20 (J) The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 

21 Services. 

22 (K) The Department of the Interior. 

23 (L) The Department of Veterans Affairs. 

24 (M) The Department of Education. 

25 (N) The Department of Defense. 


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1 (O) The Department of Justice. 

2 (P) The Department of Housing and 

3 Urban Development. 

4 (Q) The Administration for Community 

5 Living. 

6 (R) The Indian Health Service. 

7 (S) The Department of Labor. 

8 (d) MEETINGS.—Not later than 180 days after the 

9 date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall con10 vene a meeting of the Task Force and shall convene subse11 quent meetings on a periodic basis. 

12 (e) SUBMISSIONS TO CONGRESS.— 

13 (1) PROGRESS REPORT.—Not later than one 

14 year after the date of enactment of this section, the 

15 Task Force shall submit to the appropriate congres16 sional committees a report on the progress of the 

17 Task Force in carrying out subsection (a). 

18 (2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 2 years 

19 after the date of enactment of this section, and an20 nually thereafter, the Task Force shall submit to the 

21 appropriate congressional committees a report on 

22 the activities of the Task Force in carrying out sub23 section (a), including— 

24 (A) the results of the assessment under 

25 subsection (b); and 


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1 (B) any findings, conclusions, and rec2 ommendations. 

3 (f) DISPOSITION OF RECORDS.—Upon dissolution of 

4 the Task Force, the records of the Task Force shall be5 come records of the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health 

6 and Substance Use. 

7 (g) PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY DEFINED.—In 

8 this section, the term ‘‘public health emergency’’ means 

9 a public health emergency declared pursuant to section 

10 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d). 

11 SEC. 4. NATIONAL STRATEGY ON MENTAL HEALTH AND 

12 SUBSTANCE USE DURING A PUBLIC HEALTH 

13 EMERGENCY. 

14 Section 501 of the Public Health Service Act (42 

15 U.S.C. 290aa) is amended— 

16 (1) by redesignating subsection (q) as sub17 section (r); and 

18 (2) by inserting after subsection (p) the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(q) NATIONAL STRATEGY DURING PUBLIC HEALTH

21 EMERGENCIES.—Not later than 30 months after the date 

22 of enactment of the Preventing Mental Health and Sub23 stance Use Crises During Emergencies Act, and annually 

24 thereafter, the Assistant Secretary shall prepare and sub25 mit a national strategy to the appropriate congressional 


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1 committees on preventing mental health and substance use 

2 crises during a public health emergency declared by the 

3 Secretary under section 319. Such strategy shall be based 

4 on the reports submitted to Congress by the Task Force 

5 to Prevent Mental Health and Substance Use Crises es6 tablished under section 3 of the Preventing Mental Health 

7 and Substance Use Crises During Emergencies Act and 

8 shall include— 

9 ‘‘(1) advancements in research with respect to 

10 mental health and substance use during a public 

11 health emergency; and 

12 ‘‘(2) a plan to increase the ability of Federal 

13 agencies to coordinate mental health programs and 

14 services and allocate resources to respond to a public 

15 health emergency.’’. 

Æ 


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