II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3704 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary of Health 

and Human Services to award grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements to schools and school-based health centers to increase the number 

of behavioral health care providers in such schools and health centers, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 17, 2022 

Mr. WARNOCK (for himself, Ms. HASSAN, Ms. STABENOW, and Mr. BOOKER) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize the 

Secretary of Health and Human Services to award 

grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements to schools 

and school-based health centers to increase the number 

of behavioral health care providers in such schools and 

health centers, 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 ‘‘Advancing Student 

5 Services In Schools Today Act’’ or the ‘‘ASSIST Act’’. 


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•S 3704 IS

1 SEC. 2. PROGRAM TO INCREASE MENTAL HEALTH AND 

2 SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER CARE PRO3 VIDERS IN SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL-BASED 

4 HEALTH CENTERS. 

5 Subpart I of part D of title III of the Public Health 

6 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254b et seq.) is amended by adding 

7 at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 330O. PROGRAM TO INCREASE MENTAL HEALTH AND 

9 SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER CARE PRO10 VIDERS IN SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL-BASED 

11 HEALTH CENTERS. 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 months after 

13 the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary, in 

14 consultation with the Secretary of Education, shall award 

15 grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements to eligible en16 tities to increase the number of mental health and sub17 stance use disorder care providers in schools and health 

18 centers served by such entities. 

19 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity seeking an 

20 award under this section shall submit an application to 

21 the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con22 taining such information as the Secretary may require, in23 cluding a description of— 

24 ‘‘(1) the mental health and substance use dis25 order needs of the student population served by the 

26 eligible entity; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) with respect to the student population 

2 served by the eligible entity, how the eligible entity 

3 will ensure that the mental health and substance use 

4 disorder care providers supported by the eligible en5 tity, and the services administered by such pro6 viders, are culturally competent and linguistically 

7 appropriate. 

8 ‘‘(c) REPORTING.— 

9 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY REPORTING.—Eligible 

10 entities receiving an award under this section shall 

11 submit an annual report to the Secretary accom12 panied by such information as the Secretary may re13 quire, including— 

14 ‘‘(A) the number of mental health and sub15 stance use disorder care providers working at 

16 the schools or health centers served by the eligi17 ble entity, and the number of such providers 

18 supported through the award; 

19 ‘‘(B) the types of services provided by the 

20 mental health and substance use disorder care 

21 providers and the efficacy of such services; 

22 ‘‘(C) the practices used by the schools or 

23 health centers served by the eligible entity to 

24 recruit and retain mental health and substance 

25 use disorder care providers; and 


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1 ‘‘(D) the rates of retention of mental 

2 health and substance use disorder care pro3 viders at the school or health center. 

4 ‘‘(2) SECRETARY.—Not later than 18 months 

5 after the date of enactment of this section, and an6 nually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to Con7 gress a report on the effectiveness of the awards 

8 under this section. 

9 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en11 tity’ means— 

12 ‘‘(A) a local educational agency, as defined 

13 in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec14 ondary Education Act of 1965; 

15 ‘‘(B) an institution of higher education (as 

16 defined in section 101 of the Higher Education 

17 Act of 1965); 

18 ‘‘(C) a school operated by the Bureau of 

19 Indian Affairs; or 

20 ‘‘(D) a school-based health center, as de21 fined in section 399Z–1(a)(3). 

22 ‘‘(2) MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE USE

23 DISORDER CARE PROVIDER.—The term ‘behavioral 

24 health care provider’ means an individual who is liVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:07 Feb 24, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3704.IS S3704

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1 censed to provide mental and behavioral health serv2 ices, including— 

3 ‘‘(A) a school counselor; 

4 ‘‘(B) a school psychologist or any other 

5 psychologist; 

6 ‘‘(C) a psychiatrist who specializes in child 

7 or adolescent psychiatry; 

8 ‘‘(D) a school social worker; and 

9 ‘‘(E) other providers, as the Secretary de10 termines appropriate.’’. 

11 SEC. 3. INCREASING THE APPLICABLE FMAP FOR STATE 

12 EXPENDITURES ATTRIBUTABLE TO CERTAIN 

13 BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SERVICES. 

14 Section 1905 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

15 1396d) is amended— 

16 (1) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘and (ii)’’ and 

17 inserting ‘‘(ii), and (jj)’’; and 

18 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub19 section: 

20 ‘‘(jj)(1) Notwithstanding any preceding provision of 

21 this section, with respect to State expenditures for medical 

22 assistance consisting of services provided by a behavioral 

23 care provider and furnished at a school (as defined in sec24 tion 330O(d) of the Public Health Service Act) or at a 

25 school-based health center (as defined in section 399Z– 


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1 1(a)(3) of such Act) on or after the date that is 3 months 

2 after the date of the enactment of this subsection, the 

3 Federal medical assistance percentage otherwise deter4 mined under subsection (b) shall, subject to paragraph 

5 (2), be equal to 90 percent. 

6 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply in the case of 

7 State expenditures described in such paragraph if applica8 tion of such paragraph would result in a lower Federal 

9 medical assistance percentage for such expenditures than 

10 would otherwise apply without application of such para11 graph.’’. 

Æ 


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