II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 3079

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for suicide prevention

activities with respect to children and adolescents.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

SEPTEMBER 20, 2000

Mr. HATCH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

A BILL

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for

suicide prevention activities with respect to children and

adolescents.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SUICIDE PREVENTION.

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

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

6 adding at the end the following:

7 ‘‘SEC. 520C. SUICIDE PREVENTION FOR CHILDREN AND

8 ADOLESCENTS.

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

10 grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements to States, po-
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1 litical subdivisions of States, Indian tribes, tribal organiza2 tions, public organizations, or private nonprofit organiza3 tions to establish programs to reduce suicide deaths in the

4 United States among children and adolescents.

5 ‘‘(b) COLLABORATION.—In carrying out subsection

6 (a), the Secretary shall ensure that activities under this

7 section are coordinated among the Substance Abuse and

8 Mental Health Services Administration, the relevant insti9 tutes at the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for

10 Disease Control and Prevention, the Health Resources

11 and Services Administration, and the Administration on

12 Children and Families.

13 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS.—A State, political subdivision

14 of a State, Indian tribe, tribal organization, public organi15 zation, or private nonprofit organization desiring a grant,

16 contract, or cooperative agreement under this section shall

17 demonstrate that the suicide prevention program such en18 tity proposes will—

19 ‘‘(1) provide for the timely assessment, treat20 ment, or referral for mental health or substance

21 abuse services of children and adolescents at risk for

22 suicide;

23 ‘‘(2) be based on best evidence-based, suicide

24 prevention practices and strategies that are adapted

25 to the local community;
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1 ‘‘(3) integrate its suicide prevention program

2 into the existing health care system in the commu3 nity including primary health care, mental health

4 services, and substance abuse services;

5 ‘‘(4) be integrated into other systems in the

6 community that address the needs of children and

7 adolescents including the educational system, juve8 nile justice system, welfare and child protection sys9 tems, and community youth support organizations;

10 ‘‘(5) use primary prevention methods to educate

11 and raise awareness in the local community by dis12 seminating evidence-based information about suicide

13 prevention;

14 ‘‘(6) include suicide prevention, mental health,

15 and related information and services for the families

16 and friends of those who completed suicide, as need17 ed;

18 ‘‘(7) provide linguistically appropriate and cul19 turally competent services, as needed;

20 ‘‘(8) provide a plan for the evaluation of out21 comes and activities at the local level, according to

22 standards established by the Secretary, and agree to

23 participate in a national evaluation; and

24 ‘‘(9) ensure that staff used in the program are

25 trained in suicide prevention and that professionals
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1 involved in the system of care have received training

2 in identifying persons at risk of suicide.

3 ‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts provided under

4 grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements under sub5 section (a) shall be used to supplement and not supplant

6 other Federal, State, and local public funds that are ex7 pended to provide services for eligible individuals.

8 ‘‘(e) CONDITION.—An applicant for a grant, contract,

9 or cooperative agreement under subsection (a) shall dem10 onstrate to the Secretary that the applicant has the sup11 port of the local community and relevant public health of12 ficials.

13 ‘‘(f) SPECIAL POPULATIONS.—In awarding grants,

14 contracts, and cooperative agreements under subsection

15 (a), the Secretary shall ensure that such awards are made

16 in a manner that will focus on the needs of communities

17 or groups that experience high or rapidly rising rates of

18 suicide.

19 ‘‘(g) APPLICATION.—A State, political subdivision of

20 a State, Indian tribe, tribal organization, public organiza21 tion, or private nonprofit organization receiving a grant,

22 contract, or cooperative agreement under subsection (a)

23 shall prepare and submit an application to the Secretary

24 at such time, in such manner, and containing such infor25 mation as the Secretary may reasonably require. Such ap-
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1 plication shall include a plan for the rigorous evaluation

2 of activities funded under the grant, contract, or coopera3 tive agreement, including a process and outcome evalua4 tion.

5 ‘‘(h) DISTRIBUTION OF AWARDS.—In awarding

6 grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements under sub7 section (a), the Secretary shall ensure that such awards

8 are distributed among the geographical regions of the

9 United States and between urban and rural settings.

10 ‘‘(i) EVALUATION.—A State, political subdivision of

11 a State, Indian tribe, tribal organization, public organiza12 tion, or private nonprofit organization receiving a grant,

13 contract, or cooperative agreement under subsection (a)

14 shall prepare and submit to the Secretary at the end of

15 the program period, an evaluation of all activities funded

16 under this section.

17 ‘‘(j) DISSEMINATION AND EDUCATION.—The Sec18 retary shall ensure that findings derived from activities

19 carried out under this section are disseminated to State,

20 county and local governmental agencies and public and

21 private nonprofit organizations active in promoting suicide

22 prevention and family support activities.

23 ‘‘(k) DURATION OF PROJECTS.—With respect to a

24 grant, contract, or cooperative agreement awarded under

25 this section, the period during which payments under such
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1 award may be made to the recipient may not exceed 5

2 years.

3 ‘‘(l) STUDY.—Within 1 year after the date of enact4 ment of this section, the Secretary shall, directly or by

5 grant or contract, initiate a study to assemble and analyze

6 data to identify—

7 ‘‘(1) unique profiles of children under 13 who

8 attempt or complete suicide;

9 ‘‘(2) unique profiles of youths between ages 13

10 and 21 who attempt or complete suicide; and

11 ‘‘(3) a profile of services which might have been

12 available to these groups and the use of these serv13 ices by children and youths from paragraphs (1) and

14 (2).

15 ‘‘(m) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION.—

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of carrying

17 out this section, there is authorized to be appro18 priated $75,000,000 for fiscal year 2001 and such

19 sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal

20 years 2002 and 2003.

21 ‘‘(2) PROGRAM MANAGEMENT.—In carrying out

22 this section, the Secretary shall use 1 percent of the

23 amount appropriated under paragraph (1) for each
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1 fiscal year for managing programs under this sec2 tion.’’.

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