117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2877 

AN ACT 

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, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Behavioral Interven3 tion Guidelines Act of 2021’’. 

4 SEC. 2. BEST PRACTICES FOR BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION 

5 TEAMS. 

6 The Public Health Service Act is amended by insert7 ing after section 520G of such Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb–38) 

8 the following new section: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 520H. BEST PRACTICES FOR BEHAVIORAL INTERVEN10 TION TEAMS. 

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

12 facilitate the development of best practices to assist ele13 mentary schools, secondary schools, and institutions of 

14 higher education in establishing and using behavioral 

15 intervention teams. 

16 ‘‘(b) ELEMENTS.—The best practices under sub17 section (a)(1) shall include guidance on the following: 

18 ‘‘(1) How behavioral intervention teams can op19 erate effectively from an evidence-based, objective 

20 perspective while protecting the constitutional and 

21 civil rights of individuals. 

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

23 to identify concerning behaviors, implement interven24 tions, and manage risk through the framework of 

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

26 as applicable. 
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1 ‘‘(3) How behavioral intervention teams can, 

2 when assessing an individual— 

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

4 threat-assessment rubrics; 

5 ‘‘(B) ensure that such teams— 

6 ‘‘(i) have trained, diverse stakeholders 

7 with varied expertise; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) use cross validation by a wide9 range of individual perspectives on the 

10 team; and 

11 ‘‘(C) use violence risk assessment. 

12 ‘‘(4) How behavioral intervention teams can 

13 help mitigate— 

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

15 assessment; 

16 ‘‘(B) inappropriate limitations or restric17 tions on law enforcement’s jurisdiction over 

18 criminal matters; 

19 ‘‘(C) attempts to substitute the behavioral 

20 intervention process in place of a criminal proc21 ess, or impede a criminal process, when an indi22 vidual’s behavior has potential criminal implica23 tions; 

24 ‘‘(D) endangerment of an individual’s pri25 vacy by failing to ensure that all applicable 
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1 Federal and State privacy laws are fully com2 plied with; or 

3 ‘‘(E) inappropriate referrals to, or involve4 ment of, law enforcement when an individual’s 

5 behavior does not warrant a criminal response. 

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

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

8 ‘‘(1) the Secretary of Education; 

9 ‘‘(2) the Director of the National Threat As10 sessment Center of the United States Secretary 

11 Service; 

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

13 the Bureau of Justice Assistance; 

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

15 school administrators, school board members, school 

16 psychologists, mental health professionals, and par17 ents of students; 

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

19 law enforcement administrators; 

20 ‘‘(6) privacy experts; and 

21 ‘‘(7) other education and mental health profes22 sionals as the Secretary deems appropriate. 

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

24 date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall pub25 lish the best practices under subsection (a)(1) on the inter-
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1 net website of the Department of Health and Human 

2 Services. 

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

4 provide technical assistance to institutions of higher edu5 cation, elementary schools, and secondary schools to assist 

6 such institutions and schools in implementing the best 

7 practices under subsection (a). 

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

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

10 means a team of qualified individuals who— 

11 ‘‘(A) are responsible for identifying and as12 sessing individuals exhibiting concerning behav13 iors, experiencing distress, or who are at risk of 

14 harm to self or others; 

15 ‘‘(B) develop and facilitate implementation 

16 of evidence-based interventions to mitigate the 

17 threat of harm to self or others posed by an in18 dividual and address the mental and behavioral 

19 health needs of individuals to reduce risk; and 

20 ‘‘(C) provide information to students, par21 ents, and school employees on recognizing be22 havior described in this subsection. 

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

24 and ‘secondary school’ have the meanings given to 
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1 such terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and 

2 Secondary Education Act of 1965. 

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

4 has the meaning given to such term in section 102 

5 of the Higher Education Act of 1965. 

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

7 means an evaluation, primarily focused on diagnosis, 

8 determining the need for involuntary commitment, 

9 medication management, and on-going treatment 

10 recommendations. 

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

12 a broad determination of the potential risk of vio13 lence based on evidence-based literature.’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives May 13, 2021. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2877 

AN ACT 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to direct 

and for other purposes. use of behavioral intervention teams at schools, develop best practices for the establishment and the Secretary of Health and Human Services to