II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3453 

To establish a grant program to facilitate peer-to-peer mental health support 

programs for secondary school students, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 7, 2023 

Mr. HICKENLOOPER (for himself and Ms. MURKOWSKI) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To establish a grant program to facilitate peer-to-peer mental 

health support programs for secondary school students, 

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 ‘‘Peer-to-Peer Mental 

5 Health Support Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PEER-TO-PEER MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT GRANT 

7 PROGRAM. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 


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1 (1) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Assist2 ant Secretary’’ means the Assistant Secretary for 

3 Mental Health and Substance Use. 

4 (2) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘evidence5 based’’, ‘‘local educational agency’’, and ‘‘secondary 

6 school’’ have the meanings given those terms in sec7 tion 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu8 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

9 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti10 ty’’ means— 

11 (A) a local educational agency; 

12 (B) an Indian Tribe or a Tribal organiza13 tion (as such terms are defined in section 4 of 

14 the Indian Self-Determination and Education 

15 Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)) or a Tribal 

16 educational agency; and 

17 (C) the Bureau of Indian Education. 

18 (4) PEER-TO-PEER MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT

19 PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘peer-to-peer mental health 

20 support program’’ means an evidence-based inter21 vention that trains students to become peer support 

22 specialists and provide mental health support to 

23 other students. 

24 (5) SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES

25 PROVIDER.—The term ‘‘school-based mental health 


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1 services provider’’ has the meaning given the term in 

2 section 4102 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu3 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7112). 

4 (b) GRANT PROGRAM.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning not later than 1 

6 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

7 Assistant Secretary, in consultation with the Sec8 retary of Education, as part of the Project AWARE 

9 (Advancing Wellness and Resiliency in Education) 

10 program of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health 

11 Services Administration, or a similar program, shall 

12 award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible enti13 ties to carry out evidence-based peer-to-peer mental 

14 health support programs for students enrolled in 

15 secondary schools. 

16 (2) SUFFICIENT SIZE AND SCOPE.—Grants 

17 awarded under this section shall be of sufficient size 

18 and scope to allow recipients to carry out the activi19 ties described in this section. 

20 (3) DURATION.—A grant awarded under this 

21 section shall be for a period of not more than 5 

22 years. 

23 (c) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

24 under this section, an eligible entity shall submit an appli25 cation to the Assistant Secretary at such time, in such 


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1 manner, and containing such information as the Assistant 

2 Secretary may reasonably require. 

3 (d) USE OF AMOUNTS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity shall use 

5 grant amounts provided under this section only to— 

6 (A) implement new or operate existing evi7 dence-based peer-to-peer mental health support 

8 programs that meet the requirements of para9 graph (2) in 1 or more secondary schools served 

10 by the eligible entity; or 

11 (B) provide training to students, adult su12 pervisors, and school-based mental health serv13 ices providers in implementing the evidence14 based peer-to-peer mental health support pro15 grams that meet the requirements of paragraph 

16 (2). 

17 (2) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—Each peer-to18 peer mental health support program funded by a 

19 grant under this section shall include, at a min20 imum, the following components: 

21 (A) TRAINING.—Peer support specialists 

22 and participating school staff overseeing the 

23 peer-to-peer mental health support program 

24 shall receive training in— 

25 (i) empathic listening; 


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1 (ii) enhancing protective mental 

2 health factors; 

3 (iii) recognizing and appropriately re4 sponding to risk factors and warning signs 

5 of mental health challenges, including sui6 cidal ideation and depression; 

7 (iv) connecting students with profes8 sional mental health services and recovery 

9 supports, as necessary; 

10 (v) recognizing and appropriately re11 sponding to risk factors and warning signs 

12 associated with mental health and sub13 stance use challenges, including co-occur14 ring challenges; and 

15 (vi) other areas included in the Na16 tional Model Standards for Peer Support 

17 Certification of the Substance Abuse and 

18 Mental Health Services Administration. 

19 (B) PROGRAM OVERSIGHT.—Each peer-to20 peer mental health support program shall— 

21 (i) be overseen by a trained and cer22 tified youth peer support supervisor; and 

23 (ii) receive guidance from a school24 based mental health services provider. 


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1 (C) FERPA.—Any education record of a 

2 student collected or maintained under sub3 section (d) shall have the protections required 

4 for education records under section 444 of the 

5 General Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 

6 1232g). 

7 (e) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER FEDERAL PRO8 GRAMS.—An eligible entity that receives a grant under 

9 this section may combine such grant funds with other 

10 Federal funds to support the activities carried out under 

11 this section. 

12 (f) PRIORITY; AMOUNTS.— 

13 (1) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this 

14 section, the Assistant Secretary shall give priority to 

15 applications submitted by eligible entities that— 

16 (A) propose to use grant amounts to estab17 lish new peer-to-peer mental health support 

18 programs in a majority of secondary schools 

19 served by such eligible entity; 

20 (B) propose to use grant amounts to estab21 lish a new peer-to-peer mental health support 

22 program in 1 or more secondary schools without 

23 such programs; 


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1 (C) propose to use grant amounts for peer2 to-peer mental health support programs that 

3 have a suicide prevention component; or 

4 (D) are located in areas that have high 

5 rates of suicide or have experienced recent trau6 matic events. 

7 (2) GRANT AMOUNTS.—A grant awarded to an 

8 eligible entity under the Program may not exceed 

9 $250,000. 

10 (g) EVALUATION; REPORT.— 

11 (1) EVALUATION.—The Assistant Secretary 

12 shall carry out an evaluation to measure the efficacy 

13 of the program under this section. The evaluation 

14 shall measure— 

15 (A) student participation in the peer-to16 peer mental health support program and in17 clude a demographic analysis; 

18 (B) the efficacy of the training provided to 

19 peer support specialists and school staff in in20 creasing their knowledge of protective factors, 

21 risk factors, and warning signs of mental health 

22 challenges; and 

23 (C) the percentage of students partici24 pating in the peer-to-peer mental health support 

25 program who report improved mental health 


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1 outcomes or are connected to professional men2 tal health services. 

3 (2) REPORT.—The Assistant Secretary shall 

4 prepare and submit a report to the Committee on 

5 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Sen6 ate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

7 and the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

8 of the House of Representatives containing the re9 sults of the evaluation conducted under paragraph 

10 (1). 

11 (h) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Assistant Sec12 retary, in coordination with the Secretary of Education, 

13 shall provide technical assistance to eligible entities apply14 ing for and receiving grants under this section, which shall 

15 include the development and dissemination of best prac16 tices for evidence-based peer-to-peer mental health sup17 port programs. 

18 (i) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Section 4001 of the 

19 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

20 U.S.C. 7101) (not including the exception under sub21 section (a)(2)(B)(i) of such section) shall apply to an enti22 ty receiving a grant under this section in the same manner 

23 as such section applies to an entity receiving funding 

24 under title IV of such Act. 

25 (j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

2 appropriated to carry out this section $20,000,000 

3 for each of fiscal years from 2024 through 2028. 

4 (2) RESERVATIONS.—From the total amount 

5 appropriated under paragraph (1) for a fiscal year, 

6 the Assistant Secretary shall reserve— 

7 (A) not more than 2 percent for awards to 

8 eligible entities described in subsection 

9 (a)(3)(C); 

10 (B) not less than 2 percent for technical 

11 assistance and administration; and 

12 (C) not more than 2 percent for evalua13 tion, in accordance with subsection (g). 

Æ 


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