I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 744 

To address behavioral health and well-being among education professionals 

and other school staff. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 2, 2023 

Ms. BONAMICI (for herself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, and Ms. WILD) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each 

case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 

the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To address behavioral health and well-being among education 

professionals and other school staff. 

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 ‘‘Supporting the Mental 

5 Health of Educators and Staff Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DISSEMINATION OF BEST PRACTICES. 

7 Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 

8 of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services 


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1 (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’), in consulta2 tion with the Secretary of Education, shall identify and 

3 disseminate evidence-based or evidence-informed best 

4 practices for— 

5 (1) preventing suicide and improving mental 

6 health and resiliency among education professionals 

7 and other school staff; and 

8 (2) training education professionals and other 

9 school staff in appropriate strategies to support, 

10 maintain, and promote their mental health. 

11 SEC. 3. EDUCATION AND AWARENESS INITIATIVE ENCOUR12 AGING USE OF MENTAL HEALTH AND SUB13 STANCE USE DISORDER SERVICES BY EDU14 CATION PROFESSIONALS AND OTHER 

15 SCHOOL STAFF. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 

17 with relevant stakeholders, including medical professional 

18 associations, shall establish a national evidence-based or 

19 evidence-informed education and awareness initiative— 

20 (1) to encourage education professionals and 

21 other school staff to seek support and care for their 

22 mental health or substance use concerns, to help 

23 such professionals and staff identify factors associ24 ated with risks for suicide and mental health condi25 tions, and to help such professionals and staff learn 


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1 how best to respond to such risks, with the goal of 

2 preventing suicide, mental health conditions, and 

3 substance use disorders; and 

4 (2) to address stigma associated with seeking 

5 mental health and substance use disorder services. 

6 (b) REPORTING.—Not later than 2 years after the 

7 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall provide 

8 to the Congress an update on the activities and outcomes 

9 of the initiative under subsection (a), including a descrip10 tion of quantitative and qualitative metrics used to evalu11 ate such activities and outcomes. 

12 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 

13 out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated 

14 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2025. 

15 SEC. 4. PROGRAMS TO PROMOTE MENTAL HEALTH AMONG 

16 THE EDUCATION WORKFORCE. 

17 Subpart I of part E of title VII of the Public Health 

18 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 294n et seq.) is amended— 

19 (1) by redesignating the second section 764 (42 

20 U.S.C. 294s, as added by section 4 of Public Law 

21 117–105) as section 764A; and 

22 (2) by inserting after such section 764A, as so 

23 redesignated, the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 764B. PROGRAMS TO PROMOTE MENTAL HEALTH 

2 AMONG THE EDUCATION WORKFORCE. 

3 ‘‘(a) PROGRAMS TO PROMOTE MENTAL HEALTH

4 AMONG EDUCATION PROFESSIONALS AND OTHER

5 SCHOOL STAFF.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 

7 grants or contracts to eligible entities to establish or 

8 enhance evidence-based or evidence-informed pro9 grams dedicated to improving mental health and re10 siliency for education professionals and other school 

11 staff. 

12 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a 

13 grant or contract under this subsection, an entity 

14 shall be a State educational agency, a local edu15 cational agency, an institution of higher education, 

16 or a consortia thereof. 

17 ‘‘(3) USE OF FUNDS.—An recipient of a grant 

18 or contract under this subsection shall use funds re19 ceived through the grant or contract to implement a 

20 new program or enhance an existing program to pro21 mote mental health among education professionals 

22 and other school staff, which may include— 

23 ‘‘(A) improving awareness among edu24 cation professionals and other school staff 

25 about risk factors for, and signs of, suicide and 

26 mental health or substance use disorders, in acVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:53 Feb 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H744.IH H744

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1 cordance with evidence-based or evidence-in2 formed practices; 

3 ‘‘(B) establishing new, or enhancing exist4 ing, evidence-based or evidence-informed pro5 grams for preventing suicide and improving 

6 mental health and resiliency among education 

7 professionals and other school staff; 

8 ‘‘(C) establishing new, or enhancing exist9 ing, peer-support programs among education 

10 professionals and other school staff; or 

11 ‘‘(D) providing mental health care, follow12 up services and care by a licensed or certified 

13 mental health professional (including by means 

14 of telehealth), or a referral for such care or 

15 services by a licensed or certified mental health 

16 professional, as appropriate. 

17 ‘‘(4) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants and con18 tracts under this subsection, the Secretary shall give 

19 priority to eligible entities in areas with a high per20 centage of schools receiving financial assistance 

21 under part A of title I of the Elementary and Sec22 ondary Education Act of 1965. 

23 ‘‘(b) TRAINING GRANTS.—The Secretary may estab24 lish a program to award grants to institutions of higher 

25 education, State educational agencies, local educational 


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1 agencies, State or local governments, Indian Tribes or 

2 Tribal organizations, or other appropriate public or pri3 vate nonprofit entities (or consortia of entities, including 

4 entities promoting multidisciplinary approaches) to sup5 port the inclusion in educator preparation programs (in6 cluding administrator preparation programs), and in 

7 training, continuing education, or professional develop8 ment programs for education professionals and other 

9 school staff, of evidence-based or evidence-informed strate10 gies— 

11 ‘‘(1) to address mental and substance use dis12 orders; and 

13 ‘‘(2) to improve mental health and resiliency 

14 among education professionals and other school 

15 staff. 

16 ‘‘(c) GRANT TERMS.—A grant or contract awarded 

17 under subsection (a) or (b) shall be for a period of 3 years. 

18 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION SUBMISSION.—An entity seeking 

19 a grant or contract under subsection (a) or (b) shall sub20 mit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such 

21 manner, and accompanied by such information as the Sec22 retary may require. 

23 ‘‘(e) ANNUAL REPORT.—An entity awarded a grant 

24 or contract under subsection (a) or (b) shall submit to the 


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1 Secretary an annual report evaluating the activities sup2 ported by the grant or contract. 

3 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 ‘‘(1) The term ‘institution of higher education’ 

5 has the meaning given to such term in section 101 

6 of the Higher Education Act of 1965. 

7 ‘‘(2) The terms ‘local educational agency’ and 

8 ‘State educational agency’ have the meanings given 

9 to such terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and 

10 Secondary Education Act of 1965. 

11 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 

12 carry out this section, there is authorized to be appro13 priated $35,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 

14 2026.’’. 

15 SEC. 5. REVIEW WITH RESPECT TO EDUCATION WORK16 FORCE MENTAL HEALTH AND RESILIENCY. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 

18 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consulta19 tion with relevant stakeholders, shall— 

20 (1) conduct a review on improving— 

21 (A) the mental health of education profes22 sionals and other school staff; and 

23 (B) the outcomes of programs authorized 

24 under this Act; and 


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1 (2) submit a report to the Congress on the re2 sults of such review. 

3 (b) CONSIDERATIONS.—The review under subsection 

4 (a) may include— 

5 (1) assessing the prevalence and severity of 

6 mental health conditions among education profes7 sionals and other school staff, and determining the 

8 factors that contribute to those mental health condi9 tions; 

10 (2) assessing barriers to seeking and accessing 

11 mental health care for education professionals and 

12 other school staff, and actions taken by State edu13 cational agencies and local educational agencies, or 

14 other organizations, as appropriate, to address such 

15 barriers; 

16 (3) determining the effects of the COVID–19 

17 public health emergency on the mental health of 

18 education professionals and other school staff and 

19 lessons learned for future public health emergencies; 

20 (4) assessing programs and policies that pro21 mote mental health and resiliency among education 

22 professionals and other school staff, including pro23 grams and policies to strengthen mental health and 

24 resiliency among education professionals and other 

25 school staff; and 


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1 (5) assessing the efficacy of training programs 

2 for education professionals and other school staff 

3 that promote resiliency and improve mental health. 

4 (c) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The review under sub5 section (a), as appropriate, shall identify best practices re6 lated to, and make recommendations to address— 

7 (1) improving mental health and resiliency 

8 among education professionals and other school 

9 staff; 

10 (2) removing barriers to mental health care for 

11 education professionals and other school staff; and 

12 (3) strategies to promote resiliency among edu13 cation professionals and other school staff in health 

14 care settings. 

15 SEC. 6. GAO REPORT. 

16 Not later than 4 years after the date of enactment 

17 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 

18 shall submit to the Congress a report on the extent to 

19 which Federal substance use disorder and mental health 

20 grant programs address the prevalence and severity of 

21 mental health conditions and substance use disorders 

22 among education professionals and other school staff. 

23 Such report shall— 

24 (1) include an analysis of available evidence and 

25 data related to such conditions and programs; and 


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1 (2) assess whether there are duplicative goals 

2 and objectives among such grant programs. 

Æ 


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