I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7859 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish in the Substance Abuse 

and Mental Health Services Administration a Center for School Behavioral Health Technical Assistance, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 30, 2020 

Mr. CA ́RDENAS (for himself, Mr. CARTER of Georgia, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. 

FITZPATRICK, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. TRONE, and Mr. 

JOYCE of Pennsylvania) 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 in 

the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration a Center for School Behavioral Health Technical Assistance, 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 ‘‘Strengthening Behav5 ioral Health Supports for Schools Act of 2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CENTER FOR SCHOOL BEHAVIORAL HEALTH TECH2 NICAL ASSISTANCE. 

3 The Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 201 et 

4 seq.) is amended by inserting after section 520A of such 

5 Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb–32) the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 520B. CENTER FOR SCHOOL BEHAVIORAL HEALTH 

7 TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. 

8 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

9 Administration a Center for School Behavioral Health 

10 Technical Assistance (in this section referred to as the 

11 ‘Center’). 

12 ‘‘(b) SCHOOL BEHAVIORAL HEALTH PROGRAM.— 

13 The Center shall carry out a program, to be known as 

14 the School Behavioral Health Program, to provide tech15 nical assistance and support to schools and school systems 

16 with respect to mental health and substance use disorders, 

17 including by— 

18 ‘‘(1) providing direct technical assistance and 

19 training on— 

20 ‘‘(A) the implementation of evidence-based, 

21 culturally competent, and trauma-informed 

22 mental health and substance use disorder serv23 ices in schools and school systems, including 

24 processes for suicide prevention and trauma-in25 formed care; 


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1 ‘‘(B) the importance of evidence-based 

2 mental health and substance use disorder serv3 ices in schools and linkages and referral to such 

4 services where direct care is not possible; and 

5 ‘‘(C) translation services, interpretation, or 

6 other such services for individuals in schools 

7 and school systems with limited English speak8 ing proficiency; and 

9 ‘‘(2) disseminating information related to evi10 dence-based models of school-based mental health 

11 and substance use disorder services, including ways 

12 in which these models can be implemented and in13 corporating student literacy on mental and behav14 ioral health. 

15 ‘‘(c) DATA COLLECTION.—The Center shall collect 

16 data to support research with respect to prevention and 

17 treatment for mental health and substance use disorders 

18 in schools and school systems. 

19 ‘‘(d) BEST PRACTICES.—The Center shall annually 

20 issue evidence-based best practices with respect to mental 

21 health and substance use disorders for use by schools and 

22 school systems. 

23 ‘‘(e) COORDINATION.—In carrying out this section, 

24 the Center shall coordinate with— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the Department of Education, the Depart2 ment of Justice, and other agencies within the De3 partment of Health and Human Services, as appro4 priate; 

5 ‘‘(2) the National Child Traumatic Stress Ini6 tiative under section 582; and 

7 ‘‘(3) other programs of the Administration that 

8 disseminate and implement evidence-based practices 

9 for the continuum of prevention and treatment for 

10 mental health and substance use disorders. 

11 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

12 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

13 $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025.’’. 

Æ 


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