I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1689 

To authorize the Secretary of Education, in coordination with the Secretary 

of Health and Human Services, to award grants to eligible entities 

to support the mental and behavioral health of elementary and secondary 

school students, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 21, 2023 

Ms. SPANBERGER (for herself and Mr. FITZPATRICK) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for 

a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Education, in coordination 

with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to 

award grants to eligible entities to support the mental 

and behavioral health of elementary and secondary school 

students, 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 ‘‘Connecting Students 

5 with Mental Health Services Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GRANTS TO SUPPORT MENTAL AND BEHAVIORAL 

2 HEALTH OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY 

3 SCHOOL STUDENTS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education, in 

5 coordination with the Secretary of Health and Human 

6 Services, shall carry out a program consisting of awarding 

7 grants to eligible entities to support the mental and behav8 ioral health of students in elementary schools and sec9 ondary schools, especially such students who reside in 

10 rural areas or lack access to mental and behavioral health 

11 services. 

12 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity receiving a 

13 grant under this section shall use the grant for resources 

14 to support the mental and behavioral health of students 

15 in elementary schools and secondary schools, which may 

16 include— 

17 (1) purchasing or upgrading equipment (which 

18 may include physical equipment and technology) to 

19 implement a telehealth program that includes mental 

20 and behavioral health care; 

21 (2) ensuring sufficient space and personnel to 

22 support such a telehealth program in one or more 

23 schools; and 

24 (3) hiring, or providing additional compensation 

25 for, staff to help administer such a telehealth pro26 gram. 


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1 (c) APPLICATION.— 

2 (1) SUBMISSION.—To seek a grant under this 

3 section, an eligible entity shall submit an application 

4 to the Secretary of Education at such time, in such 

5 manner, and containing such information and assur6 ances as the Secretary may require. 

7 (2) CONTENTS.—Each such application shall 

8 include a plan— 

9 (A) detailing the applicant’s proposed tele10 health program that includes mental and behav11 ioral health care, to be supported through the 

12 plan; and 

13 (B) providing assurances that any collec14 tion, maintenance, or use of student informa15 tion through such telehealth program will be in 

16 accordance with applicable privacy laws. 

17 (d) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec18 tion, the Secretary of Education shall give priority to eligi19 ble entities that— 

20 (1) submit an application in accordance with 

21 subsection (c); and 

22 (2) serve— 

23 (A) high-poverty elementary schools and 

24 secondary schools; 


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1 (B) rural elementary schools and sec2 ondary schools; or 

3 (C) elementary schools and secondary 

4 schools that are located in a health professional 

5 shortage area designated under section 332 of 

6 the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

7 254e). 

8 (e) TIMING.—The Secretary of Education shall estab9 lish the program required by subsection (a) not later than 

10 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act. 

11 (f) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—Funds made 

12 available under this section shall be used to supplement 

13 and not supplant other Federal, State, and local funds 

14 provided for activities funded under this section. 

15 (g) REPORT.—Not later than September 30, 2025, 

16 the Secretary of Education and the Secretary of Health 

17 and Human Services, acting jointly, shall submit to the 

18 Congress and make publicly available a report including— 

19 (1) analysis on the impact of the program 

20 under this section (in a manner that does not in21 clude information that would reveal personally iden22 tifiable information about an individual student)— 

23 (A) on the number of students in elemen24 tary schools and secondary schools receiving 

25 health care (including behavioral and mental 


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1 health services) through a telehealth program; 

2 and 

3 (B) on the number of such students receiv4 ing behavioral and mental health services 

5 through a telehealth program; and 

6 (2) recommendations for the reauthorization, 

7 expansion, and improvement of the program under 

8 this section. 

9 (h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 (1) The term ‘‘community health care pro11 vider’’— 

12 (A) subject to subparagraph (B), includes 

13 a university health care system; and 

14 (B) excludes any provider that does not ac15 cept payment under a State plan (or waiver of 

16 such plan) under title XIX of the Social Secu17 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.). 

18 (2) The terms ‘‘educational service agency’’, 

19 ‘‘elementary school’’, ‘‘local educational agency’’, 

20 and ‘‘secondary school’’ have the meanings given to 

21 those terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and 

22 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

23 (3) The term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means a partner24 ship between— 


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1 (A) a local educational agency or a consor2 tium of any such agencies; and 

3 (B) a community health care provider or 

4 an educational service agency. 

5 (4) The term ‘‘telehealth’’ means the use of 

6 electronic information and telecommunications tech7 nologies to support long-distance clinical health care, 

8 patient and professional health-related education, 

9 public health, and health administration. 

10 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 

11 out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated 

12 $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2027. 

Æ 


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