I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8140 

To address the psychological, social, and emotional needs of racial and ethnic 

minorities who experience trauma associated with law enforcement violence, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 1, 2020 

Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To address the psychological, social, and emotional needs 

of racial and ethnic minorities who experience trauma 

associated with law enforcement violence, 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 ‘‘Investing in Commu5 nity Healing Act of 2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. RESEARCH, GRANTS, AND EDUCATION STRATEGY. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title V of the Public Health Serv3 ice Act is amended by inserting after section 565 of such 

4 Act (42 U.S.C. 290ff–4) the following: 

5 ‘‘PART F—INVESTING IN COMMUNITY HEALING 

6 ‘‘SEC. 571. RESEARCH ON ADVERSE HEALTH EFFECTS ASSO7 CIATED WITH INTERACTIONS WITH LAW EN8 FORCEMENT. 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct re10 search on the adverse health effects with respect to mental 

11 health conditions and substance use disorders associated 

12 with violent interactions with law enforcement. 

13 ‘‘(b) EFFECTS AMONG RACIAL AND ETHNIC MINORI14 TIES.—The research under subsection (a) shall include re15 search on— 

16 ‘‘(1) the health consequences, both individual 

17 and community-wide, of trauma related to violence 

18 committed by law enforcement among racial and 

19 ethnic minorities; 

20 ‘‘(2) the rates of mental health conditions and 

21 substance use disorders related to direct or indirect 

22 exposure to violence committed by law enforcement 

23 among racial and ethnic minorities; and 

24 ‘‘(3) the disproportionate burden of morbidity 

25 and mortality associated with such violence. 


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1 ‘‘(c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

2 of enactment of this part, the Secretary shall— 

3 ‘‘(1) complete the research under this section; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(2) submit to the Congress a report on the 

6 findings, conclusions, and recommendations resulting 

7 from such research. 

8 ‘‘SEC. 572. GRANTS FOR INCREASING RACIAL AND ETHNIC 

9 MINORITY ACCESS TO HIGH-QUALITY TRAU10 MA SUPPORT SERVICES AND MENTAL 

11 HEALTH CARE. 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 

13 grants to eligible entities to establish or expand programs 

14 for the purpose of increasing racial and ethnic minority 

15 access to high-quality trauma support services, mental 

16 health care, and substance use disorder treatment. 

17 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—To seek a grant under 

18 this section, an entity shall be a community-based pro19 gram or organization that— 

20 ‘‘(1) provides culturally competent programs 

21 and resources that are aligned with evidence-based 

22 practices for trauma-informed care; and 

23 ‘‘(2) has demonstrated expertise in serving com24 munities of color or can partner with a program that 

25 has such demonstrated expertise. 


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1 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—As a condition on receipt of 

2 a grant under this section, a grantee shall agree to use 

3 the grant to increase racial and ethnic minority access to 

4 high-quality trauma support services, mental health care, 

5 and substance use disorder treatment, such as by— 

6 ‘‘(1) establishing and maintaining community7 based programs providing evidence-based services in 

8 trauma-informed care and culturally specific services 

9 and other resources; 

10 ‘‘(2) developing innovative culturally specific 

11 strategies and projects to enhance access to trauma12 informed care and resources for racial and ethnic 

13 minorities who face obstacles to using more tradi14 tional services and resources (such as obstacles in 

15 geographic access to providers, lack of insurance 

16 coverage, and access to audio and video tech17 nologies); 

18 ‘‘(3) working with State and local governments 

19 and social service agencies to develop and enhance 

20 effective strategies to provide culturally specific serv21 ices to racial and ethnic minorities; 

22 ‘‘(4) increasing communities’ capacity to pro23 vide culturally specific resources and support for 

24 communities of color; 


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1 ‘‘(5) working in cooperation with the commu2 nity to develop education and prevention strategies 

3 highlighting culturally specific issues and resources 

4 regarding racial and ethnic minorities; 

5 ‘‘(6) providing culturally specific programs for 

6 racial and ethnic minorities exposed to law enforce7 ment violence; and 

8 ‘‘(7) examining the dynamics of culture and its 

9 impact on victimization and healing. 

10 ‘‘(d) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec11 tion, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible entities 

12 proposing to serve communities that have faced high rates 

13 of community trauma, including from exposure to law en14 forcement violence, intergenerational poverty, civil unrest, 

15 discrimination, or oppression. 

16 ‘‘(e) GRANT PERIOD.—The period of a grant under 

17 this section shall be 4 years. 

18 ‘‘(f) EVALUATION.—Not later than 6 months after 

19 the end of the period of all grants under this section, the 

20 Secretary shall— 

21 ‘‘(1) conduct an evaluation of the programs 

22 funded by a grant under this section; 

23 ‘‘(2) include in such evaluation an assessment 

24 of the outcomes of each such program; and 


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1 ‘‘(3) submit a report on the results of such 

2 evaluation to the Congress. 

3 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 

4 carry out this section, there is authorized to be appro5 priated $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 

6 2025. 

7 ‘‘SEC. 573. BEHAVIORAL AND MENTAL HEALTH OUTREACH 

8 EDUCATION STRATEGY. 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, in consulta10 tion with advocacy and behavioral and mental health orga11 nizations serving racial and ethnic minority groups, de12 velop and implement an outreach and education strategy 

13 to promote awareness of behavioral and mental health, 

14 and reduce stigma associated with behavioral and mental 

15 health conditions, among racial and ethnic minorities. 

16 ‘‘(b) DESIGN.—The strategy under this section shall 

17 be designed to— 

18 ‘‘(1) meet the diverse cultural and language 

19 needs of racial and ethnic minority groups; 

20 ‘‘(2) provide information on evidence-based, cul21 turally and linguistically appropriate and adapted 

22 interventions and treatments; 

23 ‘‘(3) increase awareness of symptoms of mental 

24 illness among racial and ethnic minority groups; and 


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

2 both consumers and community members in the de3 velopment and implementation of materials. 

4 ‘‘(c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

5 of enactment of this part, the Secretary shall submit to 

6 the Congress, and make publicly available, a report detail7 ing the outreach and education strategy that is developed 

8 and implemented under this section and the results of 

9 such implementation.’’. 

10 (b) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.—Title V of the Public 

11 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290aa et seq.) is amended 

12 by striking the designation and heading of part F relating 

13 to a model comprehensive program for treatment of sub14 stance abuse. 

Æ 


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