I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 822 

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

and Human Services, acting through the Assistant Secretary for Mental 

Health and Substance Use, to award grants to eligible entities to establish or maintain a student mental health and safety helpline, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 2, 2023 

Mr. STEWART (for himself and Ms. BONAMICI) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize the 

Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through 

the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance 

Use, to award grants to eligible entities to establish 

or maintain a student mental health and safety helpline, 

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 ‘‘Student Mental Health 

5 Helpline Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR STUDENT MENTAL HEALTH AND SAFE2 TY HELPLINE. 

3 Part D of title V of the Public Health Service Act 

4 (42 U.S.C. 290dd et seq.) is amended by adding at the 

5 end the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 553. GRANTS FOR STUDENT MENTAL HEALTH AND 

7 SAFETY HELPLINE. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

9 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OR MAINTENANCE

10 GRANTS.—The Secretary, acting through the Assist11 ant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, 

12 and in consultation with the Secretary of Education, 

13 may award grants to eligible entities to establish or 

14 maintain a student mental health and safety helpline 

15 that— 

16 ‘‘(A) is free and confidential; 

17 ‘‘(B) is accessible to students through mul18 tiple platforms; 

19 ‘‘(C) provides information to school offi20 cials about student health and safety issues, to 

21 the extent permitted by the HIPAA privacy reg22 ulations; and 

23 ‘‘(D) operates 24 hours a day, seven days 

24 a week, every day of the year. 

25 ‘‘(2) TRANSITION GRANTS.— 


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

2 through the Assistant Secretary for Mental 

3 Health and Substance Use, and in consultation 

4 with the Secretary of Education, may award 

5 grants to States, local governments, Indian 

6 Tribes, and Tribal organizations to transition, 

7 by not later than 2 years after the award of the 

8 grant, a helpline that was in existence on the 

9 day before the date of enactment of the Student 

10 Mental Health Helpline Act to an agency or 

11 subdivision whose primary responsibility relates 

12 to health, public health, or education so as to 

13 become eligible for grants under paragraph (1). 

14 ‘‘(B) USE OF FUNDS.—A grant under sub15 paragraph (A) shall be used exclusively for 

16 costs associated with the transition described in 

17 such subparagraph. 

18 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION OF HIPAA PRIVACY REGULA19 TIONS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) COVERED ENTITY.—A helpline funded 

21 under subsection (a)(1) shall be treated as a covered 

22 entity (as defined in section 106.103 of title 45, 

23 Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regula24 tions)), and information received by the helpline 

25 from students contacting the helpline shall be treatVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:50 Mar 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H822.IH H822

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1 ed as protected health information (as defined in 

2 such section 106.103 (or successor regulations)), for 

3 purposes of the HIPAA privacy regulations. 

4 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL PRIVACY STANDARDS.—Noth5 ing in this section shall be construed to preempt or 

6 otherwise prohibit the application, with respect to a 

7 helpline funded under this section, of privacy stand8 ards in addition to those applicable under the 

9 HIPAA privacy regulations. 

10 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE GRANTEES.—To be eligible to receive 

11 a grant under subsection (a)(1), an entity shall be an 

12 agency or other subdivision— 

13 ‘‘(1) of a State, a local government, an Indian 

14 Tribe, or a Tribal organization; and 

15 ‘‘(2) whose primary responsibility relates to 

16 health, public health, or education. 

17 ‘‘(d) REQUIREMENTS.—A recipient of a grant under 

18 subsection (a)(1) shall use the grant for each of the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(1) Supporting a phone line, texting, and so21 cial media accounts for students facing challenges 

22 with abuse, bullying, depression, risk of self-injury, 

23 risk of injury to others, or suicidal thoughts. 

24 ‘‘(2) Providing such support in a culturally 

25 competent manner, including to students who— 


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1 ‘‘(A) are from diverse backgrounds; or 

2 ‘‘(B) identify with groups associated with a 

3 higher risk of bullying, abuse, and suicide, such 

4 as individuals who are LGBTQ or have disabil5 ities. 

6 ‘‘(3) Coordinating with— 

7 ‘‘(A) other mental health crisis lines; 

8 ‘‘(B) State and local mental health agen9 cies and providers, local educational agencies, 

10 school administrators, and community-based 

11 health service providers; and 

12 ‘‘(C) in cases of neglect and abuse, State 

13 and local family service agencies. 

14 ‘‘(4) Ensuring that— 

15 ‘‘(A) activities funded through the grant 

16 are conducted in accordance with all applicable 

17 Federal and State privacy standards; and 

18 ‘‘(B) health care information collected 

19 through such activities will be maintained in a 

20 secure manner. 

21 ‘‘(5) Developing a disaster recovery plan and 

22 redundancy measures to ensure continuous technical 

23 operations. 


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1 ‘‘(e) OTHER ALLOWABLE USES.—A recipient of a 

2 grant under subsection (a)(1) may choose to use the grant 

3 for any of the following: 

4 ‘‘(1) Supporting forms of communication in ad5 dition to those specified in subsection (d)(1), such as 

6 online forms and an email account. 

7 ‘‘(2) In addition to coordinating with the enti8 ties specified in subsection (d)(3), coordinating with 

9 nonprofit organizations and institutions of higher 

10 education. 

11 ‘‘(3) Developing educational curricula that 

12 schools may choose to offer, in conjunction with the 

13 helpline funded through the grant, to remove the 

14 stigma of mental illness, prevent bullying, prevent 

15 domestic violence, prevent suicide, or otherwise ad16 dress student mental health and safety. 

17 ‘‘(4) Promoting activities to encourage students 

18 to use the helpline funded through the grant. 

19 ‘‘(5) Collecting and analyzing data on the use 

20 of the helpline funded through the grant to improve 

21 and adjust services offered through the helpline. 

22 ‘‘(6) Providing support in multiple languages in 

23 areas with a high concentration of multiple language 

24 speakers. 


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1 ‘‘(7) Developing, in accordance with best prac2 tices and guidelines of the Substance Abuse and 

3 Mental Health Services Administration for behav4 ioral health crisis care, protocols and training for 

5 identifying and responding to students who present 

6 an imminent risk of harming themselves or others. 

7 ‘‘(8) Providing training, technology, and per8 sonnel necessary to comply with the HIPAA privacy 

9 regulations or other relevant privacy standards. 

10 ‘‘(9) Coordinating and sharing best practices 

11 with other student mental health and safety 

12 helplines, including other helplines funded pursuant 

13 to this section. 

14 ‘‘(10) Sharing personnel (such as crisis coun15 selors), services (such as technology and data man16 agement services), and other resources deemed ap17 propriate by the Secretary with other mental health 

18 and safety helplines that— 

19 ‘‘(A) are operated by the recipient of the 

20 grant; or 

21 ‘‘(B) are operated by another entity and 

22 funded through the Substance Abuse and Men23 tal Health Services Administration. 

24 ‘‘(f) PERIOD OF A GRANT.—The period of a grant 

25 under subsection (a)(1) shall be not less than 5 years. 


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1 ‘‘(g) SUBGRANTS AND CONTRACTS.— 

2 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION.—A recipient of a grant 

3 under subsection (a)(1) may award subgrants and 

4 enter into contracts to carry out activities funded 

5 through the grant. 

6 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE SUBGRANTEES AND CONTRAC7 TORS.—To be eligible to receive a subgrant or con8 tract under paragraph (1), an entity shall be— 

9 ‘‘(A) a local educational agency; 

10 ‘‘(B) an institution of higher education; 

11 ‘‘(C) a nonprofit organization; 

12 ‘‘(D) a for-profit organization that pro13 vides— 

14 ‘‘(i) website or data management serv15 ices; 

16 ‘‘(ii) specialized staff trained in crisis 

17 intervention to answer incoming messages; 

18 or 

19 ‘‘(iii) other products or services 

20 deemed by the Secretary to be appropriate 

21 for establishing or maintaining a helpline 

22 funded under subsection (a)(1); 

23 ‘‘(E) a school; or 


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1 ‘‘(F) another type of entity deemed by the 

2 Secretary to be appropriate for subgrants or 

3 contracts under paragraph (1). 

4 ‘‘(3) ACCREDITATION.—To be eligible to receive 

5 a subgrant or contract under paragraph (1) for spe6 cialized staff trained in crisis intervention to answer 

7 incoming messages, an entity shall be accredited by 

8 a nationally recognized accreditation entity that ap9 plies current evidence-based practices related to 

10 mental and behavioral health. 

11 ‘‘(4) PRIORITY.—In awarding subgrants and 

12 contracts under paragraph (1), a recipient of a 

13 grant under subsection (a)(1) shall give priority to 

14 eligible entities that— 

15 ‘‘(A) retain a licensed mental health care 

16 practitioner on staff; and 

17 ‘‘(B) participate in the network of the Na18 tional Suicide Prevention Lifeline. 

19 ‘‘(h) REPORTING.— 

20 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Each 

21 fiscal year for which grants are awarded under sub22 section (a)(1) or (a)(2), the Secretary shall— 

23 ‘‘(A) study the results of the grants; and 

24 ‘‘(B) submit to the Congress a report on 

25 such results, including— 


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1 ‘‘(i) an evaluation of the outcomes of 

2 the programs under subsections (a)(1) and 

3 (a)(2); 

4 ‘‘(ii) a summary of activities carried 

5 out with grants under subsections (a)(1) 

6 and (a)(2) and the results achieved 

7 through those activities; 

8 ‘‘(iii) to the extent practicable, the de9 mographics of students served and nature 

10 of messages received through grants under 

11 subsections (a)(1) and (a)(2); and 

12 ‘‘(iv) in the case of grants under sub13 section (a)(2), an analysis of changes in 

14 the outcomes, activities, demographics, and 

15 nature of messages described in clauses (i), 

16 (ii), and (iii) as a result of transitioning 

17 helplines to different agencies or subdivi18 sions. 

19 ‘‘(2) REPORT ON FEASIBILITY OF A NATIONAL

20 STUDENT HELPLINE.—Not later than 1 year after 

21 the date of enactment of the Student Mental Health 

22 Helpline Act, the Secretary, in consultation with the 

23 Secretary of Education and the Chair of the Federal 

24 Communications Commission, shall publish a report 

25 on— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the feasibility of making a student 

2 mental health and safety helpline nationally 

3 available; 

4 ‘‘(B) how to successfully integrate the 

5 helplines of States and other entities into a con6 solidated national student mental health and 

7 safety helpline; and 

8 ‘‘(C) the feasibility and potential benefits 

9 and drawbacks of adding a student-specific ca10 pability to the National Suicide Prevention 

11 Lifeline. 

12 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

13 ‘‘(1) The term ‘HIPAA privacy regulations’ 

14 means the Federal regulations (concerning the pri15 vacy of individually identifiable health information) 

16 promulgated under section 264(c) of the Health In17 surance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 

18 (42 U.S.C. 1320d–2 note). 

19 ‘‘(2) The terms ‘Indian Tribe’ and ‘Tribal orga20 nization’ have the meanings given to such terms in 

21 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu22 cation Assistance Act. 

23 ‘‘(3) The term ‘institution of higher education’ 

24 has the meaning given to such term in section 101 

25 of the Higher Education Act of 1965. 


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1 ‘‘(4) The term ‘local educational agency’ has 

2 the meaning given to such term in section 8101 of 

3 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

4 1965. 

5 ‘‘(5) The term ‘State’ includes the District of 

6 Columbia and each territory or commonwealth of the 

7 United States. 

8 ‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 

9 carry out this section, there is authorized to be appro10 priated $55,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 

11 2034.’’. 

Æ 


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