I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2736 

To provide for a Youth Mental Health Research Network. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 11, 2015 

Mr. FATTAH (for himself and Mr. THOMPSON of California) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To provide for a Youth Mental Health Research Network. 

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 ‘‘Youth Mental Health 

5 Research Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) More than 100 million Americans currently 

9 have some sort of brain-related condition. Millions of 

10 Americans, many of whom are currently school chil11 dren, have some sort of developmental delay, autism, 

12 or learning disability. 


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1 (2) Moreover, many Americans suffer from 

2 some form of psychotic disorder, including schizo3 phrenia and affective psychotic disorders. 

4 (3) These brain disorders usually result in sig5 nificant life-long disability, and psychotic disorders 

6 in particular, despite advances in treatment, rank 

7 among the top causes of disability worldwide. 

8 (4) Neuroscience research has the potential to 

9 dramatically improve the quality of life for people 

10 facing brain disease and injury, and to significantly 

11 improve our understanding of learning. 

12 (5) Because of the impact on the health and 

13 economy of the country, the Federal Government 

14 has taken a special interest in promoting neuro15 science and mental health research. Several Federal 

16 agencies, including the National Science Foundation, 

17 National Institutes of Health (NIH), Veterans Ad18 ministration, and Department of Defense oversee re19 search on the brain and nervous system. 

20 (6) In December 2011, Congress directed the 

21 Office of Science and Technology Policy to establish 

22 an Interagency Working Group on Neuroscience 

23 (IWGN). The IWGN is currently convening rep24 resentatives across the Federal Government to make 


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1 recommendations about the future of neuroscience 

2 research. 

3 (7) Given the findings about the role of mental 

4 illness in multiple shootings across the Nation, in5 cluding Newton, Connecticut, Aurora, Colorado, and 

6 other communities experiencing similar tragedies, 

7 the Federal Government has an interest in pursuing 

8 research on the early detection, intervention, and 

9 prevention of psychosis. 

10 (8) In line with this, the Federal Government 

11 is looking for new ways of increasing the Nation’s 

12 knowledge of the underlying causes of psychosis. 

13 (9) The United States commitment to fur14 thering the early detection of mental illness in youth 

15 was seen in its participation in two public/private re16 search programs that studied the earliest stages of 

17 psychotic illness, namely— 

18 (A) the North American Prodrome Longi19 tudinal Study (NAPLS); and 

20 (B) the Recovery After an Initial Schizo21 phrenia Episode (RAISE) initiative. 

22 SEC. 3. YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH RESEARCH NETWORK. 

23 (a) YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH RESEARCH NET24 WORK.— 


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1 (1) NETWORK.—The Director of the National 

2 Institutes of Health may provide for the establish3 ment of a Youth Mental Health Research Network 

4 for the conduct or support of— 

5 (A) youth mental health research; and 

6 (B) youth mental health intervention serv7 ices. 

8 (2) COLLABORATION BY INSTITUTES AND CEN9 TERS.—The Director of NIH shall carry out this 

10 Act acting— 

11 (A) through the Director of the National 

12 Institute of Mental Health; and 

13 (B) in collaboration with other appropriate 

14 national research institutes and national centers 

15 that carry out activities involving youth mental 

16 health research. 

17 (3) MENTAL HEALTH RESEARCH.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out para19 graph (1), the Director of NIH may award co20 operative agreements, grants, and contracts to 

21 State, local, and tribal governments and private 

22 nonprofit entities for— 

23 (i) conducting, or entering into con24 sortia with other entities to conduct— 


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1 (I) basic, clinical, behavioral, or 

2 translational research to meet unmet 

3 needs for youth mental health re4 search; or 

5 (II) training for researchers in 

6 youth mental health research tech7 niques; 

8 (ii) providing, or partnering with non9 research institutions or community-based 

10 groups with existing connections to youth 

11 to provide, youth mental health interven12 tion services; and 

13 (iii) collaborating with the National 

14 Institute of Mental Health to make use of, 

15 and build on, the scientific findings and 

16 clinical techniques of the Institute’s earlier 

17 programs, studies, and demonstration 

18 projects. 

19 (B) RESEARCH.—The Director of NIH 

20 shall ensure that— 

21 (i) each recipient of an award under 

22 subparagraph (A)(i) conducts or supports 

23 at least one category of research described 

24 in subparagraph (A)(i)(I) and collectively 


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1 such recipients conduct or support all such 

2 categories of research; and 

3 (ii) one or more such recipients pro4 vide training described in subparagraph 

5 (A)(i)(II). 

6 (C) NUMBER OF AWARD RECIPIENTS.— 

7 The Director of NIH may make awards under 

8 this paragraph for not more than 70 entities. 

9 (D) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—Any 

10 support received by an entity under subpara11 graph (A) shall be used to supplement, and not 

12 supplant, other public or private support for ac13 tivities authorized to be supported under this 

14 paragraph. 

15 (E) DURATION OF SUPPORT.—Support of 

16 an entity under subparagraph (A) may be for a 

17 period of not to exceed 5 years. Such period 

18 may be extended by the Director of NIH for 

19 additional periods of not more than 5 years. 

20 (4) COORDINATION.—The Director of NIH 

21 shall— 

22 (A) as appropriate, provide for the coordi23 nation of activities (including the exchange of 

24 information and regular communication) among 


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1 the recipients of awards under this subsection; 

2 and 

3 (B) require the periodic preparation and 

4 submission to the Director of reports on the ac5 tivities of each such recipient. 

6 (b) INTERVENTION SERVICES FOR, AND RESEARCH

7 ON, SEVERE MENTAL ILLNESS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—In making awards under 

9 subsection (a)(3), the Director of NIH shall ensure 

10 that an appropriate number of such awards are 

11 awarded to entities that agree to— 

12 (A) focus primarily on the early detection 

13 and intervention of severe mental illness in 

14 young people; 

15 (B) conduct or coordinate one or more 

16 multisite clinical trials of therapies for, or ap17 proaches to, the prevention, diagnosis, or treat18 ment of early severe mental illness in a commu19 nity setting; 

20 (C) rapidly and efficiently disseminate sci21 entific findings resulting from such trials; and 

22 (D) adhere to the guidelines, protocols, 

23 and practices used in the North American Pro24 drome Longitudinal Study (NAPLS) and the 


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1 Recovery After an Initial Schizophrenia Episode 

2 (RAISE) initiative. 

3 (2) DATA COORDINATING CENTER.— 

4 (A) ESTABLISHMENT.—In connection with 

5 awards to entities described in paragraph (1), 

6 the Director of NIH shall establish a data co7 ordinating center for the following purposes: 

8 (i) To distribute the scientific findings 

9 referred to in paragraph (1)(C). 

10 (ii) To provide assistance in the de11 sign and conduct of collaborative research 

12 projects and the management, analysis, 

13 and storage of data associated with such 

14 projects. 

15 (iii) To organize and conduct multisite 

16 monitoring activities. 

17 (iv) To provide assistance to the Cen18 ters for Disease Control and Prevention in 

19 the establishment of patient registries. 

20 (B) REPORTING.—The Director of NIH 

21 shall— 

22 (i) require the data coordinating cen23 ter established under subparagraph (A) to 

24 provide regular reports to the Director of 

25 NIH on research conducted by entities deVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:42 Jun 16, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2736.IH H2736

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1 scribed in paragraph (1), including infor2 mation on enrollment in clinical trials and 

3 the allocation of resources with respect to 

4 such research; and 

5 (ii) as appropriate, incorporate infor6 mation reported under clause (i) into the 

7 Director’s biennial reports under section 

8 403 of the Public Health Service Act (42 

9 U.S.C. 283). 

10 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act, the terms ‘‘Director 

11 of NIH’’, ‘‘national center’’, and ‘‘national research insti12 tute’’ have the meanings given to such terms in section 

13 401 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 281). 

14 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 

15 out this Act, there is authorized to be appropriated 

16 $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2016 through 2020. 

Æ 


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