II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3628 

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a 

grant program to promote comprehensive mental health and suicide prevention efforts in schools, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 10, 2022 

Ms. ROSEN (for herself and Ms. MURKOWSKI) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

to establish a grant program to promote comprehensive 

mental health and suicide prevention efforts in schools, 

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 ‘‘Youth Mental Health 

5 and Suicide Prevention Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. COORDINATED PROMOTION OF SCHOOL COM2 PREHENSIVE MENTAL HEALTH AND SUICIDE 

3 PREVENTION PLANS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through the 

5 Director of the Center for Mental Health Services of the 

6 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administra7 tion, may carry out a program to award grants, on a com8 petitive basis, to eligible entities to enhance services for 

9 school-age youth with mental health and behavioral health 

10 issues that can lead to low academic proficiency, low rates 

11 of school attendance and graduation, and other negative 

12 outcomes, including depression, substance abuse, and sui13 cide attempts. 

14 (b) APPLICATION.—To be eligible for a grant under 

15 this section, an eligible entity shall submit to the Secretary 

16 an application in such form, at such time, and containing 

17 such information as the Secretary determines appropriate, 

18 including, at a minimum— 

19 (1) a description of identified mental health and 

20 behavioral health needs of school-age youth served 

21 by such eligible entity; 

22 (2) a description of revenue from Federal, 

23 State, local, private, and institutional sources the eli24 gible entity has available to address the needs de25 scribed in paragraph (1); 


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1 (3) a description of the eligible entity’s pro2 posed plan for using the grant funds to increase ac3 cess to evidence-based mental and behavioral health 

4 services; 

5 (4) a description of the eligible entity’s pro6 posed plan for improving mental health equity and 

7 assisting school-age youth most in need of mental 

8 health services; 

9 (5) a description of how such eligible entity will 

10 involve, as appropriate, school-age youth and peer 

11 representatives in the planning, implementation, and 

12 evaluation processes related to the use of grant 

13 funds and for purposes of achieving mental health 

14 equity; 

15 (6) a description of how such eligible entity will 

16 support other school-age youth and the school com17 munity if a school-age youth attempts suicide or dies 

18 by suicide; 

19 (7) a plan to— 

20 (A) implement the activities described in 

21 subsection (c); and 

22 (B) evaluate the outcomes of such activi23 ties; and 


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1 (8) an assurance that such eligible entity will 

2 submit to the Secretary, for each fiscal year in which 

3 grant funds are used, a report with respect to— 

4 (A) the activities carried out under sub5 section (c); and 

6 (B) the outcomes of such activities, re7 ported in accordance with the requirements of 

8 section 444 of the General Education Provi9 sions Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g; commonly known 

10 as the ‘‘Family Educational Rights and Privacy 

11 Act of 1974’’). 

12 (c) ALLOWABLE USES OF GRANT FUNDS.—A grant 

13 awarded under this section may be used by an eligible enti14 ty for— 

15 (1) evaluating existing program activities and 

16 prevention strategies; 

17 (2) educational seminars; 

18 (3) educational awareness campaign materials 

19 for school-age youth, families of school-age youth, 

20 and school staff to increase the awareness of poten21 tial mental and behavioral health issues of school22 age youth; 

23 (4) peer-to-peer program support; 

24 (5) programs that assist schools in adopting a 

25 public health approach to mental health; 


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1 (6) social media applications used for mental 

2 and behavioral health purposes, such as suicide risk 

3 and mental health screenings; 

4 (7) providing mental health services for school5 age youth through telehealth; 

6 (8) training programs for school-age youth and 

7 teachers, school leaders, and other school personnel 

8 to learn to respond effectively to school-age youth 

9 with mental health and behavioral health issues that 

10 can lead to low academic proficiency, low rates of 

11 school attendance and graduation, and other nega12 tive outcomes, including depression, substance 

13 abuse, and suicide attempts; and 

14 (9) providing culturally specific mental health 

15 and substance use education and prevention pro16 grams for school-age youth. 

17 (d) GEOGRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION.—In awarding 

18 grants under this section, the Secretary shall ensure that 

19 grant funds are distributed with the greatest possible geo20 graphical representation, including to State and local edu21 cational agencies that serve rural areas. 

22 (e) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary may 

23 provide technical assistance to grantees in carrying out 

24 this section. 

25 (f) STUDY AND REPORT.— 


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1 (1) STUDY.—For each fiscal year during which 

2 grants are awarded under this section, the Secretary 

3 shall conduct a study on the results of the grant 

4 program. 

5 (2) REPORT.—For each study conducted under 

6 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall submit to Con7 gress a report on the results of such study, includ8 ing— 

9 (A) an evaluation of the outcomes of the 

10 grant program, including a summary of activi11 ties carried out by eligible entities and the re12 sults of such activities; and 

13 (B) recommendations with respect to im14 proving access to mental health and behavioral 

15 heath services at schools, including efforts to 

16 reduce the occurrence of suicide and substance 

17 abuse. 

18 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

19 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti20 ty’’ means— 

21 (A) a local educational agency; 

22 (B) a State educational agency; or 

23 (C) an Indian Tribe or Tribal organization. 

24 (2) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘local edu25 cational agency’’ and ‘‘State educational agency’’ 


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1 have the meanings given such terms in section 8101 

2 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

3 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

4 (3) INDIAN TRIBE; TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.— 

5 The terms ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ and ‘‘Tribal organiza6 tion’’ have the meanings given the terms ‘‘Indian 

7 tribe’’ and ‘‘tribal organization’’, respectively, in sec8 tion 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu9 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

10 (4) SCHOOL-AGE YOUTH.—The term ‘‘school11 age youth’’ means— 

12 (A) individuals between the ages of 5 and 

13 17, inclusive; and 

14 (B) children with disabilities, as defined in 

15 section 602(3) of the Individuals with Disabil16 ities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1401(3)), who 

17 receive services under part B of such Act (20 

18 U.S.C. 1411 et seq.). 

19 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

20 the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in 

21 consultation with the Secretary of Education and 

22 the heads of other appropriate agencies. 

23 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

2 appropriated such sums as may be necessary to 

3 carry out this section. 

4 (2) SET-ASIDE.—Of the amount appropriated 

5 to carry out this section for a fiscal year, 10 percent 

6 shall be reserved for grants to eligible entities that 

7 serve Indian Tribes or Tribal organizations. 

Æ 


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