I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8016 

To establish a centralized network of peer support warmlines, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 11, 2020 

Ms. MUCARSEL-POWELL (for herself, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. JUDY CHU of 

California, Ms. PORTER, Mr. TRONE, Ms. SHERRILL, and Mr. 

LOWENTHAL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To establish a centralized network of peer support warmlines, 

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 Assisted Relief 

5 Through Networks of Empathetic Resources and Supports 

6 Act of 2020’’ or the ‘‘PARTNERS Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. NATIONAL PEER SUPPORT WARMLINE PROGRAM. 

2 Subpart 3 of part B of title V of the Public Health 

3 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb–31 et seq.) is amended by 

4 adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 520N. NATIONAL PEER SUPPORT WARMLINE PRO6 GRAM. 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary shall es8 tablish and maintain a centralized network of peer support 

9 warmlines to— 

10 ‘‘(1) provide accessible resources to individuals 

11 seeking mental health support by— 

12 ‘‘(A) establishing and maintaining a single, 

13 toll-free telephone number through which indi14 viduals throughout the United States may ac15 cess such peer support warmlines; and 

16 ‘‘(B) coordinating the operation of the tele17 phone number established under subparagraph 

18 (A) with the National Suicide Prevention Life19 line; and 

20 ‘‘(2) establish best practices for the operation of 

21 peer support warmlines. 

22 ‘‘(b) CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE.— 

23 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—In carrying out the 

24 program under this section, not later than 6 months 

25 after the date of enactment of this section, the As26 sistant Secretary shall award a grant to, or enter 


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1 into a cooperative agreement with, not less than 4 

2 and not more than 5 entities. 

3 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE USES.—An entity receiving a 

4 grant or entering into a cooperative agreement 

5 under this section shall— 

6 ‘‘(A) for any such entity not operating a 

7 peer support warmline as of the date on which 

8 such entity receives a grant or enters into a co9 operative agreement, establish and operate a 

10 new center of excellence to operate such peer 

11 support warmline; or 

12 ‘‘(B) for any such entity operating a peer 

13 support warmline that meets the criteria speci14 fied in paragraph (3) as of the date on which 

15 such entity receives a grant or enters into a co16 operative agreement, establish a center of excel17 lence to support and operate such warmline 

18 under the program established under subsection 

19 (a). 

20 ‘‘(3) CONDITIONS.—As a condition on the re21 ceipt of a grant under this section, the grant recipi22 ent— 

23 ‘‘(A) may not use grant funds to remu24 nerate an individual who operates a peer sup25 port warmline for the grant recipient unless 


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1 such individual is an employee of such grant re2 cipient; 

3 ‘‘(B) shall ensure that employees operating 

4 the peer support warmline are qualified peer 

5 support specialists and experts in peer support 

6 services, including the provision of such services 

7 using telehealth; 

8 ‘‘(C) shall consider hiring employees who 

9 speak a language other than English, including 

10 a language relevant to the region in which such 

11 grant recipient is located, to operate the peer 

12 support warmline; 

13 ‘‘(D) shall require that employees oper14 ating the peer support warmline complete— 

15 ‘‘(i) 2 training courses, consisting of 

16 at least a 10-hour introductory training 

17 course and, within 2 years of employment, 

18 a 40-hour advanced training course, that 

19 cover topics including— 

20 ‘‘(I) peer support values and 

21 practices; 

22 ‘‘(II) active listening skills; 

23 ‘‘(III) structured sharing of per24 sonal or shared experiences; and 

25 ‘‘(IV) how to— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) connect with an indi2 vidual using a peer support 

3 warmline with compassion; 

4 ‘‘(bb) avoid giving advice or 

5 providing psychotherapy-like 

6 services to an individual using a 

7 peer support warmline; 

8 ‘‘(cc) identify when an indi9 vidual using a peer support 

10 warmline is experiencing an event 

11 constituting a suicide emergency 

12 and refer such individual to the 

13 National Suicide Prevention Life14 line; 

15 ‘‘(dd) collaborate with other 

16 qualified peer support specialists 

17 when an individual using a peer 

18 support warmline experiences a 

19 mental health or suicide crisis; 

20 ‘‘(ee) refer an individual 

21 using a peer support warmline to 

22 a community-based peer support 

23 organization, other mental health 

24 crisis organization, or licensed 


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1 mental health professional, as ap2 propriate; and 

3 ‘‘(ff) assist an individual 

4 who is seeking other peer support 

5 services or a referral to mental 

6 health services, but refrain from 

7 providing any healthcare rec8 ommendations; and 

9 ‘‘(V) any other training course 

10 that the Assistant Secretary deter11 mines is appropriate; and 

12 ‘‘(E) shall implement the best practices for 

13 operating peer support warmlines, as identified 

14 by the study required under subsection (d). 

15 ‘‘(4) SELECTION.—In awarding grants under 

16 this section, the Assistant Secretary shall— 

17 ‘‘(A) select grant recipients that are lo18 cated in different geographic regions of the 

19 United States which, collectively, represent the 

20 entire United States; and 

21 ‘‘(B) ensure that each grant recipient is re22 sponsible for maintaining a peer support 

23 warmline that serves the geographic region in 

24 which it is located. 


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1 ‘‘(5) TIMELINE FOR NEW CENTERS OF EXCEL2 LENCE.—Any entity described in paragraph (2)(A) 

3 shall establish a center of excellence under the pro4 gram not later than 6 months after the date on 

5 which the entity receives a grant under subsection 

6 (b). 

7 ‘‘(c) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE CENTER.—Not later 

8 than 30 days after the date of enactment of this section, 

9 the Assistant Secretary shall establish a technical assist10 ance center to— 

11 ‘‘(1) serve as the coordinating body between the 

12 centers of excellence; 

13 ‘‘(2) provide technical support to such centers; 

14 ‘‘(3) disseminate to such centers the best prac15 tices for operating peer support warmlines, as identi16 fied by the study required under subsection (d); and 

17 ‘‘(4) enforce the implementation of such best 

18 practices in each center of excellence. 

19 ‘‘(d) STUDY AND REPORT.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Concurrent with the estab21 lishment of the centers of excellence created under 

22 subsection (b), the Assistant Secretary shall enter 

23 into appropriate arrangements with the National 

24 Academies under which the National Academies 

25 agree to conduct a study over a 1-year period to 


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1 identify the best practices for operating a peer sup2 port warmline. 

3 ‘‘(2) ELEMENTS.—The study required under 

4 paragraph (1) shall include an assessment of— 

5 ‘‘(A) any peer support warmline program 

6 that existed before the date of enactment of this 

7 section, as determined appropriate to include in 

8 the study by the National Academies; and 

9 ‘‘(B) each of the centers of excellence es10 tablished pursuant to subsection (b). 

11 ‘‘(3) REPORT.—The agreement entered into 

12 under paragraph (1) shall include a requirement 

13 that the National Academies submit to Congress and 

14 to the technical assistance center established under 

15 subsection (c) a report identifying the best practices 

16 for operating a peer support warmline. 

17 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

18 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

19 $55,000,000 for fiscal year 2021 and $50,000,000 for 

20 each of fiscal years 2022 through 2024. Of the funds 

21 made available under the preceding sentence, the Assist22 ant Secretary shall reserve not less than $1,000,000 for 

23 each fiscal year to carry out subsection (c) and not less 

24 than $1,500,000 to carry out subsection (d). 

25 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 ‘‘(1) COMMUNITY-BASED PEER SUPPORT ORGA2 NIZATION.—The term ‘community-based peer sup3 port organization’ means an organization, private 

4 enterprise, or nonprofit organization, that— 

5 ‘‘(A) provides professional mental health 

6 peer support services to a community; 

7 ‘‘(B) has been operational for not less than 

8 2 years; and 

9 ‘‘(C) has a staff composed of individuals 

10 with lived experiences of mental health chal11 lenges and recovery, including qualified peer 

12 support specialists. 

13 ‘‘(2) PEER SUPPORT WARMLINE.—The term 

14 ‘peer support warmline’ means a telephone and chat 

15 support service that is provided by a peer to an indi16 vidual who is seeking non-emergent mental health 

17 support, but that is not a mental health service or 

18 a substitution for mental health services provided 

19 through a health care professional or in a health 

20 care setting. 

21 ‘‘(3) QUALIFIED PEER SUPPORT SPECIALIST.— 

22 The term ‘qualified peer support specialist’ means 

23 an individual who— 

24 ‘‘(A) is recovering or has recovered from a 

25 mental health or substance use condition; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) is certified to provide peer support 

2 services by a certification process that— 

3 ‘‘(i) is consistent with the National 

4 Practice Guidelines for Peer Supporters 

5 published by the National Association of 

6 Peer Supporters and the Core Com7 petencies for Peer Workers in Behavioral 

8 Health Settings published by the Adminis9 tration on December 7, 2015; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) is a process that— 

11 ‘‘(I) is a national process that 

12 the Assistant Secretary determines is 

13 appropriate; or 

14 ‘‘(II) is established by a State in 

15 which such individual provides peer 

16 support services.’’. 

Æ 


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