I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8444 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health 

and Human Services, acting through the Assistant Secretary for Mental 

Health and Substance Use, to establish grant programs to promote 

mental health in schools, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 17, 2024 

Mrs. NAPOLITANO (for herself, Ms. BALINT, Ms. NORTON, Mrs. WATSON

COLEMAN, Mr. ALLRED, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. SOTO, 

Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Mr. TORRES of New York, Ms. CHU, Ms. SALINAS, Ms. PORTER, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Mrs. RAMIREZ, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Ms. STANSBURY, and Ms. BARRAGA ́N) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through 

the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance 

Use, to establish grant programs to promote mental 

health in schools, 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 in 

5 Schools Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SAMHSA MENTAL HEALTH SCHOOL GRANT PRO2 GRAMS. 

3 Subpart 3 of part B of title V of the Public Health 

4 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb–31 et seq.) is amended by 

5 adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 520O. MENTAL HEALTH SCHOOL GRANT PROGRAMS. 

7 ‘‘(a) SCHOOL MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS GRANT

8 PROGRAM.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 

10 through the Assistant Secretary, shall establish a 

11 program, to be known as the School Mental Health 

12 Awareness Grant Program, to award grants to eligi13 ble entities to establish or expand eligible mental 

14 health education programs in schools served by local 

15 educational agencies. 

16 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE MENTAL HEALTH EDUCATION

17 PROGRAMS.—To be eligible for a grant under this 

18 subsection, a mental health education program 

19 shall— 

20 ‘‘(A) serve students by— 

21 ‘‘(i) promoting the mental health and 

22 well-being of students and destigmatizing 

23 mental health conditions; 

24 ‘‘(ii) helping students identify and rec25 ognize the key signs and symptoms of var26 ious mental health conditions; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) informing students about mental 

2 health services that are available to such 

3 students; 

4 ‘‘(iv) providing students with the skills 

5 needed to manage their emotions and es6 tablish and maintain positive relationships; 

7 ‘‘(v) using an evidence-based model ef8 fective in changing students’ knowledge of 

9 and attitudes toward mental health condi10 tions and help-seeking behavior; and 

11 ‘‘(vi) incorporating family engage12 ment; 

13 ‘‘(B) provide educational professionals with 

14 the necessary certification, recertification, and 

15 professional development to teach mental 

16 health-related content; and 

17 ‘‘(C) for any courses developed using a 

18 grant under this subsection, develop such 

19 courses with input from mental health profes20 sionals. 

21 ‘‘(3) ACTIVITY REQUIREMENTS.—A grant 

22 awarded under this subsection may only be used for 

23 activities that— 

24 ‘‘(A) are developmentally, linguistically, 

25 and culturally appropriate; 


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1 ‘‘(B) are trauma-informed; and 

2 ‘‘(C) promote healthy coping mechanisms 

3 for managing stress and other mental health 

4 challenges. 

5 ‘‘(b) MENTAL HEALTH CAREER PROMOTION GRANT

6 PROGRAM.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 

8 through the Assistant Secretary, shall establish a 

9 program, to be known as the Mental Health Career 

10 Promotion Grant Program, to award grants to eligi11 ble entities to establish or expand eligible mental 

12 health career promotion programs in schools served 

13 by local educational agencies. 

14 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE MENTAL HEALTH CAREER PRO15 MOTION PROGRAMS.—To be eligible for a grant 

16 under this subsection, a mental health career pro17 motion program shall promote careers in mental 

18 health to students in grades 9 through 12, such as 

19 by— 

20 ‘‘(A) providing educational presentations to 

21 students that increase exposure to and knowl22 edge of careers in the mental health field; 

23 ‘‘(B) coordinating internships and 

24 externships for students who demonstrate an 

25 interest in mental health; 


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1 ‘‘(C) providing opportunities for students 

2 to interact with and shadow mental health care 

3 professionals; 

4 ‘‘(D) providing students with mentorships 

5 and experiential learning opportunities; or 

6 ‘‘(E) partnering with local institutions of 

7 higher education and community behavioral 

8 health organizations to promote careers in men9 tal health. 

10 ‘‘(3) ACTIVITY REQUIREMENT.—A grant award11 ed under this subsection may only be used for activi12 ties that are developmentally, linguistically, and cul13 turally appropriate. 

14 ‘‘(4) CAREERS IN MENTAL HEALTH DEFINED.— 

15 In this subsection, the term ‘careers in mental 

16 health’ means occupations whose primary intent and 

17 function is the direct treatment or recovery support 

18 of patients with, or in recovery from, a mental 

19 health disorder, which may include— 

20 ‘‘(A) physicians (including physicians with 

21 a degree of doctor of medicine or doctor of os22 teopathic medicine); 

23 ‘‘(B) psychiatric nurses; 

24 ‘‘(C) social workers; 

25 ‘‘(D) marriage and family therapists; 


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1 ‘‘(E) mental health counselors; 

2 ‘‘(F) occupational therapists; 

3 ‘‘(G) psychologists; 

4 ‘‘(H) psychiatrists (including child and ad5 olescent psychiatrists); and 

6 ‘‘(I) neurologists. 

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

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

9 that includes— 

10 ‘‘(1) a State educational agency; 

11 ‘‘(2) 1 or more local educational agencies, or a 

12 consortium of such local educational agencies; and 

13 ‘‘(3) at least 1— 

14 ‘‘(A) community-based mental health pro15 vider (such as a health care entity, a trauma 

16 network, or a nonprofit mental health profes17 sional association); or 

18 ‘‘(B) other community-based entity, as de19 termined appropriate by the Secretary, acting 

20 through the Assistant Secretary (such as a 

21 human services agency, a child welfare agency, 

22 or an institution of higher education). 

23 ‘‘(d) AWARD DURATION; RENEWAL.—A grant award24 ed under this section shall be for a period of 5 years, and 

25 may be renewed. 


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1 ‘‘(e) GEOGRAPHICAL DIVERSITY.—The Secretary, 

2 acting through the Assistant Secretary, shall ensure that 

3 grants awarded under this section cover a diverse range 

4 of geographical areas. 

5 ‘‘(f) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary, act6 ing through the Assistant Secretary, may provide technical 

7 assistance to high-need local educational agencies in seek8 ing grants under this section. 

9 ‘‘(g) EVALUATION AND MEASURES OF OUTCOMES.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 

11 through the Assistant Secretary, shall develop a fis12 cally appropriate process for evaluating activities 

13 carried out through grants awarded under this sec14 tion. Under such process, the Secretary, acting 

15 through the Assistant Secretary, shall— 

16 ‘‘(A) provide to recipients of such grants— 

17 ‘‘(i) guidelines for the submission to 

18 the Assistant Secretary of data concerning 

19 such activities; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) measures of outcomes to be used 

21 by such recipients in evaluating the effec22 tiveness of such activities (including out23 comes related to the student, family, and 

24 local educational systems supported by 

25 such activities); 


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1 ‘‘(B) require each such recipient to submit 

2 to the Assistant Secretary annual reports— 

3 ‘‘(i) containing data on such activities 

4 carried out by the recipient; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) that use the measures of out6 comes described in subparagraph (A)(ii) to 

7 evaluate the effectiveness of such activities; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(C) not later than 1 year after the date 

10 of enactment of the Mental Health in Schools 

11 Act, and annually thereafter, submit to Con12 gress a report describing the results and effec13 tiveness of the programs under this section. 

14 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—A recipient of a grant 

15 under this section may not use more than 10 per16 cent of the amounts received to prepare and submit 

17 the annual reports required under paragraph (1)(B). 

18 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

19 ‘‘(1) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘local edu20 cational agency’ and ‘State educational agency’ have 

21 the meanings given such terms in section 8101 of 

22 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

23 1965. 

24 ‘‘(2) HEA TERMS.—The terms ‘high-need local 

25 educational agency’ and ‘institution of higher eduVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:54 Jun 29, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8444.IH H8444

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1 cation’ have the meanings given such terms, respec2 tively, in sections 200 and 101(a) of the Higher 

3 Education Act of 1965. 

4 ‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

5 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section for 

6 each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029— 

7 ‘‘(1) $50,000,000 with respect to grants award8 ed under subsection (a); and 

9 ‘‘(2) $50,000,000 with respect to grants award10 ed under subsection (b).’’. 

Æ 


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