I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2648 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a grant program to 

provide self-harm and suicide prevention services in primary care offices, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 19, 2021 

Mr. DESAULNIER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a grant 

program to provide self-harm and suicide prevention 

services in primary care offices, 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 ‘‘Suicide Prevention As5 sistance Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GRANTS TO PROVIDE SELF-HARM AND SUICIDE 

2 PREVENTION SERVICES. 

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

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

5 end the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 520N. GRANTS TO PROVIDE SELF-HARM AND SUICIDE 

7 PREVENTION SERVICES. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 

9 Human Services, acting through the Assistant Secretary 

10 for Mental Health and Substance Use (referred to in this 

11 section as the ‘Secretary’), shall award grants to primary 

12 care offices to provide self-harm and suicide prevention 

13 services. 

14 ‘‘(b) ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED.—A primary care office 

15 awarded a grant under subsection (a) shall use amounts 

16 under the grant to carry out the following: 

17 ‘‘(1) The primary care office shall hire one or 

18 more clinical social workers to carry out the activi19 ties described in paragraphs (2) through (4). 

20 ‘‘(2) A primary care physician at the primary 

21 care office shall screen patients for self-harm and 

22 suicide in accordance with the standards of practice 

23 described in subsection (f)(1) and shall, as appro24 priate, notify a clinical social worker hired under 

25 paragraph (1) of screenings that yield an indicator 

26 of self-harm or suicide. 


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1 ‘‘(3) A clinical social worker hired under para2 graph (1) shall provide patients short-term self-harm 

3 and suicide prevention services in accordance with 

4 the results of the screenings described in paragraph 

5 (2). 

6 ‘‘(4) A clinical social worker hired under para7 graph (1) shall, as appropriate, refer patients to a 

8 health care facility for purposes of receiving long9 term self-harm and suicide prevention services. 

10 ‘‘(c) MAXIMUM NUMBER OF GRANTS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may not 

12 award more than 10 grants under subsection (a). 

13 ‘‘(2) WITH RESPECT TO A PRIMARY CARE OF14 FICE.—A primary care office may not be awarded 

15 more than 1 grant under subsection (a). 

16 ‘‘(3) WITH RESPECT TO A STATE.—Not more 

17 than 1 primary care office in any State may be 

18 awarded a grant under subsection (a). 

19 ‘‘(d) GRANT TERMS.—A grant awarded under sub20 section (a)— 

21 ‘‘(1) may not exceed $500,000; 

22 ‘‘(2) shall be for a period of 2 years; and 

23 ‘‘(3) may be renewed subject to the require24 ments of this section. 


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1 ‘‘(e) APPLICATIONS.—A primary care office seeking 

2 a grant under subsection (a) shall submit an application 

3 to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and accom4 panied by such information as the Secretary may require. 

5 ‘‘(f) STANDARDS OF PRACTICE.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

7 after the date of the enactment of this section, the 

8 Secretary shall develop standards of practice for 

9 screening patients for self-harm and suicide for pur10 poses of carrying out subsection (b)(2). 

11 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall de12 velop the standards of practice described in para13 graph (1) in consultation with stakeholder groups 

14 with expertise in self-harm and suicide prevention, 

15 including public, private, and non-profit entities. 

16 ‘‘(g) REPORTING.— 

17 ‘‘(1) REPORTS TO THE SECRETARY.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A primary care office 

19 awarded a grant under subsection (a) shall, at 

20 least quarterly for the duration of the grant, 

21 submit to the Secretary a report evaluating the 

22 activities supported by the grant. 

23 ‘‘(B) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The 

24 report required under subparagraph (A) shall 

25 include— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the number of patients receiv2 ing— 

3 ‘‘(I) screenings carried out at the 

4 primary care office; 

5 ‘‘(II) short-term self-harm and 

6 suicide prevention services at the pri7 mary care office; and 

8 ‘‘(III) referrals to health care fa9 cilities for the purposes of receiving 

10 long-term self-harm and suicide pre11 vention; 

12 ‘‘(ii) information on the adherence of 

13 the primary care office to the standards of 

14 practice described in subsection (f)(1); and 

15 ‘‘(iii) other information as the Sec16 retary determines appropriate to evaluate 

17 the use of grant funds. 

18 ‘‘(2) REPORTS TO CONGRESS AND IN THE DE19 PARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES.— 

20 Not later than 2 years after the date of the enact21 ment of this section, and biennially thereafter, the 

22 Secretary shall submit to the appropriate congres23 sional committees and the subcomponents of the De24 partment of Health and Human Services described 


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1 in paragraph (3) a report on the grant program 

2 under this section, including— 

3 ‘‘(A) a summary of reports received by the 

4 Secretary under paragraph (1); and 

5 ‘‘(B) an evaluation of the program by the 

6 Secretary. 

7 ‘‘(3) REPORTING IN THE DEPARTMENT OF

8 HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES.—The subcompo9 nents of the Department of Health and Human 

10 Services described in paragraph (2) are the Centers 

11 for Disease Control and Prevention and the National 

12 Institute of Mental Health. 

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

14 ‘‘(1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT15 TEES.—The term ‘appropriate congressional com16 mittees’ means— 

17 ‘‘(A) the Committee on Energy and Com18 merce of the House of Representatives; and 

19 ‘‘(B) the Committee on Health, Education, 

20 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate. 

21 ‘‘(2) PRIMARY CARE OFFICE.—The term ‘pri22 mary care office’ means a health care facility that 

23 provides primary care services. 

24 ‘‘(3) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means— 

25 ‘‘(A) a State; 


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1 ‘‘(B) the District of Columbia; 

2 ‘‘(C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; or 

3 ‘‘(D) any other territory or possession of 

4 the United States.’’. 

Æ 


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