I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4899 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide grants for communitybased mental health infrastructure improvement. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 19, 2007 

Mr. KENNEDY (for himself and Mrs. BONO) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide grants 

for community-based mental health infrastructure improvement. 

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 ‘‘Community-Based 

5 Mental Health Infrastructure Improvements Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. COMMUNITY-BASED MENTAL HEALTH INFRASTRUC7 TURE IMPROVEMENT. 

8 Title V of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

9 280g et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 


ccoleman on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
2 

•HR 4899 IH

1 ‘‘PART H—COMMUNITY-BASED MENTAL HEALTH 

2 INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS 

3 ‘‘SEC. 560. GRANTS FOR COMMUNITY-BASED MENTAL 

4 HEALTH INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS. 

5 ‘‘(a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary may 

6 award grants to eligible entities to expend funds for the 

7 construction or modernization of facilities used to provide 

8 mental health and behavioral health services to individ9 uals. 

10 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—In this section, the term 

11 ‘eligible entity’ means— 

12 ‘‘(1) a State that is the recipient of a Commu13 nity Mental Health Services Block Grant under sub14 part I of part B of title XIX and a Substance Abuse 

15 Prevention and Treatment Block Grant under sub16 part II of such part; or 

17 ‘‘(2) an Indian tribe or a tribal organization (as 

18 such terms are defined in sections 4(b) and 4(c) of 

19 the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assist20 ance Act). 

21 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—A eligible entity desiring a grant 

22 under this section shall submit to the Secretary an appli23 cation at such time, in such manner, and containing— 

24 ‘‘(1) a plan for the construction or moderniza25 tion of facilities used to provide mental health and 

26 behavioral health services to individuals that— 


ccoleman on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
3 

•HR 4899 IH

1 ‘‘(A) designates a single State or tribal 

2 agency as the sole agency for the supervision 

3 and administration of the grant; 

4 ‘‘(B) contains satisfactory evidence that 

5 such agency so designated will have the author6 ity to carry out the plan; 

7 ‘‘(C) provides for the designation of an ad8 visory council, which shall include representa9 tives of nongovernmental organizations or 

10 groups, and of the relevant State or tribal agen11 cies, that aided in the development of the plan 

12 and that will implement and monitor any grant 

13 awarded to the eligible entity under this section; 

14 ‘‘(D) in the case of an eligible entity that 

15 is a State, includes a copy of the State plan 

16 under section 1912(b) and section 1932(b); 

17 ‘‘(E)(i) includes a listing of the projects to 

18 be funded by the grant; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) in the case of an eligible entity that 

20 is a State, explains how each listed project 

21 helps the State in accomplishing its goals and 

22 objectives under the Community Mental Health 

23 Services Block Grant under subpart I of part B 

24 of title XIX and the Substance Abuse PrevenVerDate Aug 31 2005 05:07 Dec 27, 2007 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4899.IH H4899

ccoleman on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
4 

•HR 4899 IH

1 tion and Treatment Block Grant under subpart 

2 II of such part; 

3 ‘‘(F) includes assurances that the facilities 

4 will be used for a period of not less than 10 

5 years for the provision of community-based 

6 mental health or substance abuse services for 

7 those who cannot pay for such services, subject 

8 to subsection (e); and 

9 ‘‘(G) in the case of a facility that is not a 

10 public facility, includes the name and executive 

11 director of the entity who will provide services 

12 in the facility; and 

13 ‘‘(2) with respect to each construction or mod14 ernization project described in the application— 

15 ‘‘(A) a description of the site for the 

16 project; 

17 ‘‘(B) plans and specifications for the 

18 project and State or tribal approval for the 

19 plans and specifications; 

20 ‘‘(C) assurance that the title for the site is 

21 or will be vested with either the public entity or 

22 private nonprofit entity who will provide the 

23 services in the facility; 

24 ‘‘(D) assurance that adequate financial re25 sources will be available for the construction or 


ccoleman on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
5 

•HR 4899 IH

1 major rehabilitation of the project and for the 

2 maintenance and operation of the facility; 

3 ‘‘(E) estimates of the cost of the project; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(F) the estimated length of time for com6 pletion of the project. 

7 ‘‘(d) SUBGRANTS BY STATES.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives a 

9 grant under this section may award a subgrant to 

10 a qualified community program (as such term is 

11 used in section 1913(b)(1)). 

12 ‘‘(2) USE OF FUNDS.—Subgrants awarded pur13 suant to paragraph (1) may be used for activities 

14 such as— 

15 ‘‘(A) the construction, expansion, and mod16 ernization of facilities used to provide mental 

17 and behavioral health services to individuals; 

18 ‘‘(B) acquiring and leasing facilities and 

19 equipment (including paying the costs of amor20 tizing the principal of, and paying the interest 

21 on, loans for such facilities and equipment) to 

22 support or further the operation of the sub23 grantee; and 

24 ‘‘(C) the construction and structural modi25 fication (including equipment acquisition) of faVerDate Aug 31 2005 05:07 Dec 27, 2007 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4899.IH H4899

ccoleman on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
6 

•HR 4899 IH

1 cilities to permit the integrated delivery of be2 havioral health and primary care of specialty 

3 medical services to individuals with co-occurring 

4 mental illnesses and chronic medical or surgical 

5 diseases at a single service site. 

6 ‘‘(e) REQUEST TO TRANSFER OBLIGATION.—An eli7 gible entity that receives a grant under this section may 

8 submit a request to the Secretary for permission to trans9 fer the 10-year obligation of facility use, as described in 

10 subsection (c)(1)(F), to another facility. 

11 ‘‘(f) AGREEMENT TO FEDERAL SHARE.—As a condi12 tion of receipt of a grant under this section, an eligible 

13 entity shall agree, with respect to the costs to be incurred 

14 by the entity in carrying out the activities for which such 

15 grant is awarded, that the entity will make available non16 Federal contributions (which may include State or local 

17 funds, or funds from the qualified community program) 

18 in an amount equal to not less than $1 for every $1 of 

19 Federal funds provided under the grant. 

20 ‘‘(g) REPORTING.— 

21 ‘‘(1) REPORTING BY STATES.—During the 10- 

22 year period referred to in subsection (c)(1)(F), the 

23 Secretary shall require that a State that receives a 

24 grant under this section submit, as part of the re25 port of the State required under the Community 


ccoleman on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
7 

•HR 4899 IH

1 Mental Health Services Block Grant under subpart 

2 I of part B of title XIX and the Substance Abuse 

3 Prevention and Treatment Block Grant under sub4 part II of such part, a description of the progress 

5 on— 

6 ‘‘(A) the projects carried out pursuant to 

7 the grant under this section; and 

8 ‘‘(B) the assurances that the facilities in9 volved continue to be used for the purpose for 

10 which they were funded under such grant dur11 ing such 10-year period. 

12 ‘‘(2) REPORTING BY INDIAN TRIBES AND TRIB13 AL ORGANIZATIONS.—The Secretary shall establish 

14 reporting requirements for Indian tribes and tribal 

15 organizations that receive a grant under this section. 

16 Such reporting requirements shall include that such 

17 Indian tribe or tribal organization provide a descrip18 tion of the progress on— 

19 ‘‘(A) the projects carried out pursuant to 

20 the grant under this section; and 

21 ‘‘(B) the assurances that the facilities in22 volved continue to be used for the purpose for 

23 which they were funded under such grant dur24 ing the 10-year period referred to in subsection 

25 (c)(1)(F). 


ccoleman on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
8 

•HR 4899 IH

1 ‘‘(h) FAILURE TO MEET OBLIGATIONS.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If an eligible entity that re3 ceives a grant under this section fails to meet any 

4 of the obligations of the entity required under this 

5 section, the Secretary shall take appropriate steps, 

6 which may include— 

7 ‘‘(A) requiring that the entity return the 

8 unused portion of the funds awarded under this 

9 section for the projects that are incomplete; and 

10 ‘‘(B) extending the length of time that the 

11 entity must ensure that the facility involved is 

12 used for the purposes for which it is intended, 

13 as described in subsection (c)(1)(F). 

14 ‘‘(2) HEARING.—Prior to requesting the return 

15 of the funds under paragraph (1)(B), the Secretary 

16 shall provide the entity notice and opportunity for a 

17 hearing. 

18 ‘‘(i) COLLABORATION.—The Secretary may establish 

19 intergovernmental and interdepartmental memorandums 

20 of agreement as necessary to carry out this section. 

21 ‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

22 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

23 $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2008 and such sums as may 

24 be necessary for each of fiscal years 2009 through 2012.’’. 

Æ 


ccoleman on PROD1PC71 with BILLS