I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2412 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize grants to increase 

national capacity to provide pediatric behavioral health services at children’s hospitals and through community-based providers to improve children’s access to care; and to authorize grants to begin to address large 

numbers of children boarding in emergency departments, to support 

the pediatric behavioral health workforce, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 30, 2023 

Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER (for herself and Mr. FITZPATRICK) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize grants 

to increase national capacity to provide pediatric behavioral health services at children’s hospitals and through 

community-based providers to improve children’s access 

to care; and to authorize grants to begin to address 

large numbers of children boarding in emergency departments, to support the pediatric behavioral health workforce, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Helping Kids Cope 

3 Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAMS TO SUPPORT PEDIATRIC BEHAV5 IORAL HEALTH CARE. 

6 Part D of title III of the Public Health Service Act 

7 (42 U.S.C. 254b et seq.) is amended by inserting after 

8 subpart V the following new subpart: 

9 ‘‘Subpart VI—Pediatric Behavioral Health Programs 

10 ‘‘SEC. 340A–1. PROGRAM TO IMPROVE ACCESS TO COMMU11 NITY-BASED PEDIATRIC BEHAVIORAL 

12 HEALTH CARE. 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 

14 the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services 

15 Administration, shall award grants, contracts, or coopera16 tive agreements to eligible entities for the purpose of sup17 porting pediatric behavioral health care integration and 

18 coordination within communities to meet local community 

19 needs. 

20 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—Entities eligible for 

21 grants under subsection (a) include— 

22 ‘‘(1) health care providers, including family 

23 physicians, pediatric medical sub-specialists, and 

24 surgical specialists; 

25 ‘‘(2) children’s hospitals; 


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1 ‘‘(3) facilities that are eligible to receive funds 

2 under section 340E or 340H; 

3 ‘‘(4) nonprofit medical facilities that predomi4 nantly treat individuals under the age of 21; 

5 ‘‘(5) rural health clinics and Federally qualified 

6 health centers (as such terms are defined in section 

7 1861(aa) of the Social Security Act); 

8 ‘‘(6) pediatric mental health and substance use 

9 disorder providers, such as child and adolescent psy10 chiatrists, psychologists, developmental and behav11 ioral pediatricians, general pediatricians, advanced 

12 practice nurses, social workers, licensed professional 

13 counselors, and other licensed professionals that pro14 vide mental health and substance use disorder serv15 ices to patients under 21 years of age; 

16 ‘‘(7) child advocacy centers described in section 

17 214(c)(2)(B) of the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 

18 1990; 

19 ‘‘(8) school-based health centers; and 

20 ‘‘(9) other entities as determined appropriate by 

21 the Secretary. 

22 ‘‘(c) PRIORITIZATION.—In making awards under sub23 section (a), the Secretary shall prioritize— 

24 ‘‘(1) applicants that provide children and ado25 lescents from high-need, rural, or under-resourced 


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1 communities with services across the continuum of 

2 children’s mental health and substance use disorder 

3 care; and 

4 ‘‘(2) applicants that predominantly provide care 

5 to children and adolescents that demonstrate plans 

6 to utilize funds to expand provision of care to chil7 dren, adolescents, and youth under age 21. 

8 ‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.—Activities that may be funded 

9 through an award under subsection (a) include— 

10 ‘‘(1) increasing the capacity of pediatric prac11 tices, family medicine practices, and school-based 

12 health centers to integrate pediatric mental, emo13 tional, and behavioral health services into their prac14 tices including through co-location of mental, emo15 tional, and behavioral health providers; 

16 ‘‘(2) training for non-clinical pediatric health 

17 care workers, including care coordinators and navi18 gators, on child and adolescent mental health and 

19 substance use disorder, trauma-informed care, and 

20 local resources to support children and caregivers; 

21 ‘‘(3) expanding evidence-based, integrated mod22 els of care for pediatric mental health and substance 

23 use disorder services; 


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1 ‘‘(4) pediatric practice integration for the provi2 sion of pediatric mental health and substance use 

3 disorder services; 

4 ‘‘(5) addressing surge capacity for pediatric 

5 mental health and substance use disorder needs; 

6 ‘‘(6) providing pediatric mental, emotional, and 

7 behavioral health services to children as delivered by 

8 mental health and substance use disorder profes9 sionals utilizing telehealth services; 

10 ‘‘(7) establishing or maintaining initiatives to 

11 allow more children to access care outside of emer12 gency departments, including partial hospitalization, 

13 step down residency programs, and intensive out14 patient programs; 

15 ‘‘(8) supporting, enhancing, or expanding pedi16 atric mental health and substance use disorder pre17 ventive and crisis intervention services; 

18 ‘‘(9) establishing or maintaining pediatric men19 tal health and substance use disorder urgent care or 

20 walk-in clinics; 

21 ‘‘(10) establishing or maintaining community22 based pediatric mental health and substance use dis23 order initiatives, such as partnerships with schools 

24 and early childhood education programs; 


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1 ‘‘(11) addressing other access and coordination 

2 gaps to pediatric mental health and substance use 

3 disorder services in the community for children; and 

4 ‘‘(12) supporting the collection of data on chil5 dren and adolescents’ mental health needs, service 

6 utilization and availability, and demographic data, to 

7 capture community needs and identify gaps and bar8 riers in children’s access to care, in a manner that 

9 protects personal privacy, consistent with applicable 

10 Federal and State privacy laws. 

11 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 

12 carry out this section, there is authorized to be appro13 priated such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal 

14 years 2024 through 2028. 

15 ‘‘SEC. 340A–2. PEDIATRIC BEHAVIORAL HEALTH WORK16 FORCE TRAINING PROGRAM. 

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 

18 the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services 

19 Administration, shall award grants, contracts, or coopera20 tive agreements to eligible entities for the purpose of sup21 porting evidence-based pediatric mental health and sub22 stance use disorder workforce training. 

23 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—Entities eligible for 

24 grants under subsection (a) include— 

25 ‘‘(1) children’s hospitals; 


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1 ‘‘(2) facilities that are eligible to receive funds 

2 under section 340E or 340H; 

3 ‘‘(3) nonprofit medical facilities that predomi4 nantly treat individuals under the age of 21; 

5 ‘‘(4) rural health clinics and Federally qualified 

6 health centers (as such terms are defined in section 

7 1861(aa) of the Social Security Act); 

8 ‘‘(5) entities that employ mental health and 

9 substance use disorder professionals, such as child 

10 and adolescent psychiatrists, psychologists, develop11 mental and behavioral pediatricians, general pedia12 tricians, advanced practice nurses, social workers, li13 censed professional counselors, or other licensed pro14 fessionals that provide mental health or substance 

15 use disorder services to patients under 21 years of 

16 age; and 

17 ‘‘(6) other pediatric health care providers as de18 termined appropriate by the Secretary. 

19 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—Activities that may be sup20 ported through an award under subsection (a) include the 

21 following: 

22 ‘‘(1) Training to enhance the capabilities of the 

23 existing pediatric workforce, including pediatricians, 

24 primary care physicians, advanced practice reg25 istered nurses, and other pediatric health care proVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:09 Apr 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2412.IH H2412

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1 viders, including expanded training in pediatric men2 tal health and substance use disorders, and cul3 turally and developmentally appropriate care for 

4 children with mental health conditions. 

5 ‘‘(2) Training to support multi-disciplinary 

6 teams to provide pediatric mental health and sub7 stance use disorder treatment, including through in8 tegrated care models. 

9 ‘‘(3) Initiatives to accelerate the time to licen10 sure within the pediatric mental health or substance 

11 use disorder workforce. 

12 ‘‘(4) Activities to expand recruitment and reten13 tion, increase workforce diversity, or enhance work14 force training for critical pediatric mental health 

15 professions, including— 

16 ‘‘(A) child and adolescent psychiatrists; 

17 ‘‘(B) psychiatric nurses; 

18 ‘‘(C) psychologists; 

19 ‘‘(D) family therapists; 

20 ‘‘(E) social workers; 

21 ‘‘(F) mental health counselors; 

22 ‘‘(G) developmental and behavioral pedia23 tricians; 

24 ‘‘(H) pediatric substance use disorder spe25 cialists; and 


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1 ‘‘(I) other mental health care providers as 

2 determined appropriate by the Secretary. 

3 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 

4 carry out this section, there is authorized to be appro5 priated such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal 

6 years 2024 through 2028.’’. 

7 SEC. 3. INCREASING FEDERAL INVESTMENT IN PEDIATRIC 

8 BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SERVICES. 

9 The Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 201 et 

10 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘TITLE XXXIV—ASSISTANCE FOR 

12 CONSTRUCTION AND MOD13 ERNIZATION OF CHILDREN’S 

14 MENTAL HEALTH AND SUB15 STANCE USE DISORDER IN16 FRASTRUCTURE 

17 ‘‘SEC. 3401. INCREASING FEDERAL INVESTMENT IN PEDI18 ATRIC BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SERVICES. 

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 

20 the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services 

21 Administration, shall award grants, contracts, or coopera22 tive agreements to eligible entities for the purpose of im23 proving their ability to provide pediatric behavioral health 

24 services, including by— 


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1 ‘‘(1) constructing or modernizing sites of care 

2 for pediatric behavioral health services; 

3 ‘‘(2) expanding capacity to provide pediatric be4 havioral health services, including enhancements to 

5 digital infrastructure, telehealth capabilities, or other 

6 improvements to patient care infrastructure; 

7 ‘‘(3) supporting the reallocation of existing re8 sources to accommodate pediatric behavioral health 

9 patients, including by converting or adding a suffi10 cient number of beds to establish or increase the 

11 hospital’s inventory of licensed and operational, 

12 short-term psychiatric and substance use inpatient 

13 beds; and 

14 ‘‘(4) addressing gaps in the continuum of care 

15 for children, by expanding capacity to provide inter16 mediate levels of care, such as intensive outpatient 

17 services, partial hospitalization programs, and day 

18 programs that can prevent hospitalizations and sup19 port children as they transition back to their homes 

20 and communities. 

21 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to seek an award 

22 under this section, an entity shall be a hospital or rural 

23 health clinic that predominantly treats individuals under 

24 the age of 21, including any hospital that receives funds 

25 under section 340E. 


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1 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 

2 carry out this section, there is authorized to be appro3 priated such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal 

4 years 2024 through 2028. 

5 ‘‘(d) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—Funds pro6 vided under this section shall be used to supplement, not 

7 supplant Federal and non-Federal funds available for car8 rying out the activities described in this section. 

9 ‘‘(e) REPORTING.— 

10 ‘‘(1) REPORTS FROM AWARD RECIPIENTS.—Not 

11 later than 180 days after the completion of activities 

12 funded by an award under this section, the entity 

13 that received such award shall submit a report to 

14 the Secretary on the activities conducted using funds 

15 from such award, and other information as the Sec16 retary may require. 

17 ‘‘(2) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 

18 one year, the Secretary shall submit to the Com19 mittee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 

20 Representatives and the Committee on Health, Edu21 cation, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate a report 

22 on the projects and activities conducted with funds 

23 awarded under this section, and the outcome of such 

24 projects and activities. Such report shall include— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the number of projects supported by 

2 awards made under this section; 

3 ‘‘(B) an overview of the impact, if any, of 

4 such projects on pediatric health care infra5 structure, including any impact on access to pe6 diatric mental health and substance use dis7 order services; 

8 ‘‘(C) recommendations for improving the 

9 investment program under this section; and 

10 ‘‘(D) any other considerations as the Sec11 retary determines appropriate.’’. 

Æ 


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