I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2529 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for a behavioral and 

mental health outreach and education strategy to reduce stigma associated with mental health among the Hispanic and Latino population, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 14, 2021 

Mrs. NAPOLITANO (for herself, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Ms. 

VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. SOTO, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. VELA, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, 

Mr. VARGAS, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. CORREA, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Ms. 

SA ́NCHEZ, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. CHU, Mr. RUIZ, Ms. LEGER

FERNANDEZ, Mr. AGUILAR, Mr. SIRES, and Ms. ESCOBAR) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 

Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for 

a behavioral and mental health outreach and education 

strategy to reduce stigma associated with mental health 

among the Hispanic and Latino population, 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 for 

5 Latinos Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. HISPANIC AND LATINO BEHAVIORAL AND MENTAL 

2 HEALTH OUTREACH AND EDUCATION STRAT3 EGY. 

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

5 (42 U.S.C. 290dd et seq.) is amended by adding at the 

6 end the following new section: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 553. BEHAVIORAL AND MENTAL HEALTH OUTREACH 

8 AND EDUCATION STRATEGY. 

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

10 the Assistant Secretary, shall, in coordination with advo11 cacy and behavioral and mental health organizations serv12 ing populations of Hispanic and Latino individuals or 

13 communities, develop and implement an outreach and edu14 cation strategy to promote behavioral and mental health 

15 and reduce stigma associated with mental health condi16 tions and substance abuse among the Hispanic and Latino 

17 populations. Such strategy shall— 

18 ‘‘(1) be designed to— 

19 ‘‘(A) meet the diverse cultural and lan20 guage needs of the various Hispanic and Latino 

21 populations; and 

22 ‘‘(B) be developmentally and age-appro23 priate; 

24 ‘‘(2) increase awareness of symptoms of mental 

25 illnesses common among such populations, taking 

26 into account differences within subgroups, such as 


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1 gender, gender identity, age, sexual orientation, or 

2 ethnicity, of such populations; 

3 ‘‘(3) provide information on evidence-based, cul4 turally and linguistically appropriate and adapted 

5 interventions and treatments; 

6 ‘‘(4) ensure full participation of, and engage, 

7 both consumers and community members in the de8 velopment and implementation of materials; 

9 ‘‘(5) seek to broaden the perspective among 

10 both individuals in these communities and stake11 holders serving these communities to use a com12 prehensive public health approach to promoting be13 havioral health that addresses a holistic view of 

14 health by focusing on the intersection between be15 havioral and physical health; and 

16 ‘‘(6) address the impact of the SARS–CoV–2 

17 pandemic on the mental and behavioral health of the 

18 Hispanic and Latino populations. 

19 ‘‘(b) REPORTS.—Beginning not later than 1 year 

20 after the date of the enactment of this section and annu21 ally thereafter, the Secretary, acting through the Assistant 

22 Secretary, shall submit to Congress, and make publicly 

23 available, a report on the extent to which the strategy de24 veloped and implemented under subsection (a) improved 

25 behavioral and mental health outcomes associated with 


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1 mental health conditions and substance abuse among His2 panic and Latino populations. 

3 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

4 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

5 $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2022.’’. 

Æ 


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