PEER Mental Health Act of 2023

Subjects: Health


<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2642 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2642

 To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary of 
 Health and Human Services, acting through the Assistant Secretary for 
Mental Health and Substance Use, to award grants for peer mental health 
                   first aid, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 17, 2023

  Ms. Balint 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 the Secretary of 
 Health and Human Services, acting through the Assistant Secretary for 
Mental Health and Substance Use, to award grants for peer mental health 
                   first aid, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Peer Education and Emergency 
Response for Mental Health Act of 2023'' or the ``PEER Mental Health 
Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR PEER MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID.

    Title V of the Public Health Service Act is amended by inserting 
after section 520J of such Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb-41) the following:

``SEC. 520J-1. GRANTS FOR PEER MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall award grants to eligible 
entities--
            ``(1) to train teachers, other relevant school personnel 
        (including education support professionals), students, and 
        parents and caregivers of students--
                    ``(A) to recognize symptoms of childhood and 
                adolescent mental health conditions;
                    ``(B) to refer teachers, school personnel, 
                students, and their family members to appropriate 
                mental health services if necessary; and
                    ``(C) to recognize signs of immediate mental 
                distress and, upon recognizing such signs apply mental 
                health first aid tactics; and
            ``(2) to provide education to such teachers, personnel, 
        students, parents, and caregivers regarding resources that are 
        available in the community for individuals with a mental 
        illness.
    ``(b) Relation to Other Mental Health Awareness Training Grants.--
An eligible entity may receive grant funds under this section in 
addition to receiving amounts made available to such eligible entity 
pursuant to section 520J.
    ``(c) Allocation for Schools in Rural Areas.--In awarding grants 
under this section, the Secretary shall award not less than 25 percent 
of the grants to eligible entities that are elementary schools and 
secondary schools in rural areas.
    ``(d) Application.--
            ``(1) In general.--To seek a grant under this section, an 
        eligible entity shall submit an application to the Secretary at 
        such time, in such manner, and containing such information as 
        the Secretary may require, including a plan for the rigorous 
        evaluation of activities that are carried out with funds 
        received through the grant.
            ``(2) Streamlined process.--The Secretary shall streamline 
        the process for applying for a grant under this section so as 
        to keep such process from imposing an unreasonable barrier, 
        especially for eligible entities with limited personnel 
        available to prepare a grant application.
    ``(e) Technical Assistance.--The Secretary shall provide technical 
assistance to eligible entities applying for or receiving grants under 
this section.
    ``(f) Definition.--In this section:
            ``(1) The terms `elementary school', `local educational 
        agency', `secondary school', and `State educational agency' 
        have the meanings given to those terms in section 8101 of the 
        Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
            ``(2) The term `eligible entity' means an elementary 
        school, a local educational agency, a secondary school, or a 
        State educational agency.
            ``(3) The term `rural area' refers to a rural area as 
        defined by the Health Resources and Services Administration for 
        purposes of awarding rural health grants.
    ``(g) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section, 
there is authorized to be appropriated $24,963,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2024 through 2028''.
                                 &lt;all&gt;
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