I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1336 

To require the Federal Government to provide mental health services to 

each child who has been separated from one or more parent as a 

result of implementation of the Trump Administration’s zero tolerance 

policy at the United States border, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 25, 2019 

Ms. BARRAGA ́N introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on 

the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To require the Federal Government to provide mental health 

services to each child who has been separated from one 

or more parent as a result of implementation of the 

Trump Administration’s zero tolerance policy at the 

United States border, 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 Care 

5 for Children Inhumanely Separated from Parents by the 

6 Federal Government Act of 2019’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
2 

•HR 1336 IH

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) On April 6, 2018, Attorney General Jeff 

4 Sessions announced that the Trump Administration 

5 would begin implementing a new zero tolerance pol6 icy for immigrants crossing the border into the 

7 United States illegally. 

8 (2) Between April 19 and May 31, 2018, 1,995 

9 children were separated by the Department of 

10 Homeland Security from their migrant parents at 

11 the border. 

12 (3) On May 8, 2018, the president of the Amer13 ican Academy of Pediatrics issued a statement op14 posing separation of children and parents at the bor15 der, explaining that ‘‘highly stressful experiences, 

16 like family separation, can cause irreparable harm, 

17 disrupting a child’s brain architecture and affecting 

18 his or her short- and long-term health. This type of 

19 prolonged exposure to serious stress—known as 

20 toxic stress—can carry lifelong consequences for 

21 children.’’. 

22 (4) On May 29, 2018, the president of the 

23 American Psychological Association issued a state24 ment regarding the ‘‘traumatic effects of separating 

25 immigrant families’’, explaining that ‘‘[t]he longer 

26 that children and parents are separated, the greater 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
3 

•HR 1336 IH

1 the reported symptoms of anxiety and depression for 

2 the children. Negative outcomes for children include 

3 psychological distress, academic difficulties and dis4 ruptions in their development.’’. 

5 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con6 gress that the separation of children from migrating par7 ents, as is resulting from the Trump Administration’s im8 plementation of the zero tolerance immigration policy, is 

9 cruel, inhumane, and harmful to the mental health of sep10 arated children. 

11 SEC. 3. MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES FOR CHILDREN SEPA12 RATED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

13 SECURITY AT THE BORDER. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Government shall, 

15 including through contracts with qualified mental health 

16 professionals, ensure that— 

17 (1) beginning not later than 24 hours after a 

18 child is separated from one or more parent by the 

19 Department of Homeland Security at the United 

20 States border, such child receives a mental health 

21 assessment by such a professional who is not em22 ployed by the Federal Government; 

23 (2) not later than 24 hours after the date of the 

24 enactment of this Act, any child who was separated 

25 from one or more parent at the United States border 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
4 

•HR 1336 IH

1 at any time on or after April 6, 2018, shall receive 

2 a mental health assessment from such a professional 

3 who is not employed by the Federal Government; 

4 (3) on an ongoing basis and as described in 

5 subsection (c), a child described in paragraph (1) or 

6 (2) is, subject to subsection (b), provided with men7 tal health services by such a professional regardless 

8 of whether such child remains in a detention center 

9 or is released to a family member or guardian (pro10 vided such child remains in the United States) and 

11 an adequate network of such professionals is avail12 able nationwide to enable access to such services; 

13 and 

14 (4) 100 percent of the costs of such assessment 

15 and services provided to a child pursuant to this 

16 subsection are covered by the Federal Government, 

17 without any cost-sharing or other related obligation 

18 with respect to such assessment or services provided 

19 to such child. 

20 (b) OPT-OUT.—After release from a detention center, 

21 the parent or legal guardian of a child described in sub22 section (a) may choose for such child to not receive serv23 ices otherwise made available pursuant to paragraph (3) 

24 of such subsection and to not be provided an independent 

25 assessment described in subsection (c). 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
5 

•HR 1336 IH

1 (c) TERMINATION.—On an annual basis, a child re2 ceiving mental health services provided pursuant to sub3 section (a)(3) shall be subject to an independent assess4 ment by a qualified mental health professional who is not 

5 directly involved in the provision of mental health services 

6 to such child and who is not employed by the Federal Gov7 ernment to determine whether such child continues to 

8 need such services or if such services should be termi9 nated. In the case a determination is made pursuant to 

10 the previous sentence that such services should be termi11 nated, the requirements under subsection (a) with respect 

12 to such child shall terminate. Prior to the termination of 

13 services, the qualified mental health professional involved 

14 in the provision of mental health services to such child 

15 shall consult the parent or guardian of such child in plan16 ning for reducing and then terminating such services. 

17 (d) QUALIFIED MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONAL

18 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘qualified mental 

19 health professional’’ means a provider of mental health 

20 services who is eligible to participate as such a provider 

21 under a State plan under the Medicaid program under 

22 title XIX of the Social Security Act or under a State child 

23 health plan under the Children’s Health Insurance Pro24 gram under title XXI of such Act and who— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
6 

•HR 1336 IH

1 (1) has training in the treatment of mental ill2 ness in children and adolescents; and 

3 (2) agrees to maintain patient records for chil4 dren and adolescents receiving mental health serv5 ices under this Act in accordance with State and 

6 Federal health information privacy and security laws 

7 in the same manner and to the same extent as such 

8 provider would be required under such laws to main9 tain such records for such children and adolescents 

10 if such children and adolescents were nationals of 

11 the United States (as such term is defined in para12 graph (22) of section 101 of the Immigration and 

13 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101)). 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS