I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2877 

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

and Human Services to develop best practices for the establishment 

and use of behavioral intervention teams at schools, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 28, 2021 

Mr. FERGUSON (for himself, Mr. BURGESS, Mr. PETERS, and Mr. PANETTA) 

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

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop best 

practices for the establishment and use of behavioral 

intervention teams at 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 ‘‘Behavioral Interven5 tion Guidelines Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. BEST PRACTICES FOR BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION 

2 TEAMS. 

3 The Public Health Service Act is amended by insert4 ing after section 520G of such Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb–38) 

5 the following new section: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 520H. BEST PRACTICES FOR BEHAVIORAL INTERVEN7 TION TEAMS. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall identify and 

9 facilitate the development of best practices to assist ele10 mentary schools, secondary schools, and institutions of 

11 higher education in establishing and using behavioral 

12 intervention teams. 

13 ‘‘(b) ELEMENTS.—The best practices under sub14 section (a)(1) shall include guidance on the following: 

15 ‘‘(1) How behavioral intervention teams can op16 erate effectively from an evidence-based, objective 

17 perspective while protecting the constitutional and 

18 civil rights of individuals. 

19 ‘‘(2) The use of behavioral intervention teams 

20 to identify concerning behaviors, implement interven21 tions, and manage risk through the framework of 

22 the school’s or institution’s rules or code of conduct, 

23 as applicable. 

24 ‘‘(3) How behavioral intervention teams can, 

25 when assessing an individual— 


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1 ‘‘(A) access training on evidence-based, 

2 threat-assessment rubrics; 

3 ‘‘(B) ensure that such teams— 

4 ‘‘(i) have trained, diverse stakeholders 

5 with varied expertise; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) use cross validation by a wide7 range of individual perspectives on the 

8 team; and 

9 ‘‘(C) use violence risk assessment. 

10 ‘‘(4) How behavioral intervention teams can 

11 help mitigate— 

12 ‘‘(A) inappropriate use of a mental health 

13 assessment; 

14 ‘‘(B) inappropriate limitations or restric15 tions on law enforcement’s jurisdiction over 

16 criminal matters; 

17 ‘‘(C) attempts to substitute the behavioral 

18 intervention process in place of a criminal proc19 ess, or impede a criminal process, when an indi20 vidual’s behavior has potential criminal implica21 tions; 

22 ‘‘(D) endangerment of an individual’s pri23 vacy by failing to ensure that all applicable 

24 Federal and State privacy laws are fully com25 plied with; or 


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1 ‘‘(E) inappropriate referrals to, or involve2 ment of, law enforcement when an individual’s 

3 behavior does not warrant a criminal response. 

4 ‘‘(c) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out subsection 

5 (a)(1), the Secretary shall consult with— 

6 ‘‘(1) the Secretary of Education; 

7 ‘‘(2) the Director of the National Threat As8 sessment Center of the United States Secretary 

9 Service; 

10 ‘‘(3) the Attorney General and the Director of 

11 the Bureau of Justice Assistance; 

12 ‘‘(4) teachers and other educators, principals, 

13 school administrators, school board members, school 

14 psychologists, mental health professionals, and par15 ents of students; 

16 ‘‘(5) local law enforcement agencies and campus 

17 law enforcement administrators; 

18 ‘‘(6) privacy experts; and 

19 ‘‘(7) other education and mental health profes20 sionals as the Secretary deems appropriate. 

21 ‘‘(d) PUBLICATION.—Not later than 2 years after the 

22 date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall pub23 lish the best practices under subsection (a)(1) on the inter24 net website of the Department of Health and Human 

25 Services. 


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1 ‘‘(e) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall 

2 provide technical assistance to institutions of higher edu3 cation, elementary schools, and secondary schools to assist 

4 such institutions and schools in implementing the best 

5 practices under subsection (a). 

6 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 ‘‘(1) The term ‘behavioral intervention team’ 

8 means a team of qualified individuals who— 

9 ‘‘(A) are responsible for identifying and as10 sessing individuals exhibiting concerning behav11 iors, experiencing distress, or who are at risk of 

12 harm to self or others; 

13 ‘‘(B) develop and facilitate implementation 

14 of evidence-based interventions to mitigate the 

15 threat of harm to self or others posed by an in16 dividual and address the mental and behavioral 

17 health needs of individuals to reduce risk; and 

18 ‘‘(C) provide information to students, par19 ents, and school employees on recognizing be20 havior described in this subsection. 

21 ‘‘(2) The terms ‘elementary school’, ‘parent’, 

22 and ‘secondary school’ have the meanings given to 

23 such terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and 

24 Secondary Education Act of 1965. 


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1 ‘‘(3) The term ‘institution of higher education’ 

2 has the meaning given to such term in section 102 

3 of the Higher Education Act of 1965. 

4 ‘‘(4) The term ‘mental health assessment’ 

5 means an evaluation, primarily focused on diagnosis, 

6 determining the need for involuntary commitment, 

7 medication management, and on-going treatment 

8 recommendations. 

9 ‘‘(5) The term ‘violence risk assessment’ means 

10 a broad determination of the potential risk of vio11 lence based on evidence-based literature.’’. 

Æ 


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