I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1803 

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a 

grant program to promote comprehensive mental health and suicide prevention efforts in high schools, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 11, 2021 

Mr. CA ́RDENAS (for himself and Mrs. TRAHAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in 

addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, 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 authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

to establish a grant program to promote comprehensive 

mental health and suicide prevention efforts in high 

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 ‘‘Youth Mental Health 

5 and Suicide Prevention Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. COORDINATED PROMOTION OF HIGH SCHOOL COM2 PREHENSIVE MENTAL HEALTH AND SUICIDE 

3 PREVENTION PLANS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through the 

5 Director of the Center for Mental Health Services of the 

6 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administra7 tion, may carry out a program to award grants, on a com8 petitive basis, to eligible entities to enhance services for 

9 high school students with mental health and behavioral 

10 health issues that can lead to school failure, including de11 pression, substance abuse, and suicide attempts. 

12 (b) APPLICATION.—To be eligible for a grant under 

13 this section, an eligible entity shall submit to the Secretary 

14 an application in such form, at such time, and containing 

15 such information as the Secretary determines appropriate, 

16 including, at a minimum— 

17 (1) a description of identified mental health and 

18 behavioral health needs of high school students 

19 served by such eligible entity; 

20 (2) a description of existing Federal, State, 

21 local, private, and institutional resources available to 

22 address the needs described in paragraph (1); 

23 (3) a description of the outreach strategies of 

24 such eligible entity to promote access to services, in25 cluding a proposed plan for mental health equity and 


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1 assisting students most in need of mental health 

2 services; 

3 (4) a description of how such eligible entity will 

4 involve, as appropriate, students and peer represent5 atives in the planning, implementation, and evalua6 tion processes; 

7 (5) a description of how such eligible entity will 

8 support other students and the school community if 

9 a student dies by suicide; 

10 (6) a plan to— 

11 (A) implement the activities described in 

12 subsection (c); and 

13 (B) evaluate the outcomes of such activi14 ties; and 

15 (7) an assurance that such eligible entity will 

16 submit to the Secretary, for each fiscal year in which 

17 grant funds are used, a report with respect to— 

18 (A) the activities carried out under sub19 section (c); and 

20 (B) the outcomes of such activities. 

21 (c) GRANT USES.—A grant awarded under this sec22 tion may only be used, with respect to high school students 

23 served by an eligible entity, for— 

24 (1) evaluating existing program activities and 

25 prevention strategies; 


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1 (2) educational seminars; 

2 (3) educational awareness campaign materials 

3 for students, families of students, and school staff to 

4 increase the awareness of potential mental and be5 havioral health issues of students; 

6 (4) peer-to-peer program support; 

7 (5) programs that assist schools in adopting a 

8 public health approach to mental health; 

9 (6) social media applications used for mental 

10 and behavioral health purposes, such as suicide risk 

11 and mental health screenings; 

12 (7) providing mental health services for stu13 dents through telehealth; 

14 (8) training programs for students and high 

15 school teachers, school leaders, and other school per16 sonnel to learn to respond effectively to students 

17 with mental health and behavioral health issues that 

18 can lead to school failure, including depression, anx19 iety, substance abuse, and suicide attempts; and 

20 (9) the creation of an infrastructure to facili21 tate communication between high schools served by 

22 a local educational agency or State educational agen23 cy that does not have mental health services, includ24 ing health care providers who can treat mental 

25 health and behavioral health issues. 


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1 (d) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity receiving a 

3 grant under this section shall provide non-Federal 

4 matching funds (including funds from donations 

5 from public or private entities) equal to the amount 

6 of the grant. 

7 (2) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNT CONTRIB8 UTED.— 

9 (A) IN-KIND SUPPORT.—Non-Federal 

10 matching funds described in paragraph (1) may 

11 include cash or in-kind support. 

12 (B) FEDERAL SUPPORT.—Amounts pro13 vided by the Federal Government, or services 

14 assisted or subsidized to any significant extent 

15 by the Federal Government may not be in16 cluded when determining the amount of non17 Federal matching funds provided. 

18 (3) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive the 

19 matching funds requirement of paragraph (1) with 

20 respect to a grant made to an eligible entity under 

21 this section if the Secretary determines that such eli22 gible entity has demonstrated extraordinary need for 

23 such a waiver. 

24 (e) STUDY AND REPORT.— 


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1 (1) STUDY.—For each fiscal year during which 

2 grants are awarded under this section, the Secretary 

3 shall conduct a study on the results of the grant 

4 program. 

5 (2) REPORT.—For each study conducted under 

6 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall submit to Con7 gress a report on the results of such study, includ8 ing— 

9 (A) an evaluation of the outcomes of the 

10 grant program, including a summary of activi11 ties carried out by eligible entities and the re12 sults of such activities; and 

13 (B) recommendations with respect to im14 proving access to mental health and behavioral 

15 heath services at high schools, including efforts 

16 to reduce the occurrence of suicide and sub17 stance abuse. 

18 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

19 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti20 ty’’ means a local educational agency or State edu21 cational agency that serves at least one secondary 

22 school. 

23 (2) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘high school’’, 

24 ‘‘local educational agency’’, ‘‘secondary school’’, and 

25 ‘‘State educational agency’’ have the meanings given 


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1 such terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and 

2 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

3 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

4 the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in 

5 consultation with the Secretary of Education and 

6 the heads of other appropriate agencies. 

Æ 


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