MINDS Act

Subjects: International Affairs


<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 767 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

&lt;DOC&gt;






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 767

To enhance mental health and psychosocial support within United States 
           development and humanitarian assistance programs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 9, 2023

 Mr. Casey (for himself, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Booker, Mrs. Shaheen, Mrs. 
Murray, Mr. Merkley, and Mr. Fetterman) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To enhance mental health and psychosocial support within United States 
           development and humanitarian assistance programs.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLES.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Mental Health in International 
Development and Humanitarian Settings Act'' or the ``MINDS Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) According to the World Health Organization (referred to 
        in this section as ``WHO''), an estimated 1,000,000,000 
        individuals worldwide have a mental health or substance use 
        disorder.
            (2) The Lancet Commission estimates that nearly 130,000,000 
        additional cases of major depressive and anxiety disorders 
        globally in 2020 resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic.
            (3) According to WHO--
                    (A) depression is among the primary causes of 
                illness and disability in adolescents;
                    (B) 50 percent of mental health disorders emerge by 
                the time an adolescent reaches 14 years of age; and
                    (C) 14 percent of children and adolescents 
                worldwide experience mental health conditions, the 
                majority of whom do not seek care, receive care, or 
                have access to care.
            (4) According to a report commissioned by the United 
        Nations--
                    (A) more than 1 out of every 5 individuals living 
                in a conflict-affected area has a mental health 
                disorder;
                    (B) approximately 1,500,000,000 (or 2 out of every 
                3) of the world's children younger than 18 years of age 
                live in countries affected by conflict;
                    (C) more than 1 out of every 6 children live in 
                conflict zones;
                    (D) a greater number of children live in areas 
                affected by armed conflict and war now than at any 
                other time during this century; and
                    (E) the mental health burden in conflict-affected 
                contexts is twice the global average.
            (5) According to the WHO--
                    (A) risk factors that increase susceptibility to 
                mental health disorders include--
                            (i) poverty and hunger;
                            (ii) chronic health conditions;
                            (iii) trauma or maltreatment;
                            (iv) social exclusion;
                            (v) discrimination; and
                            (vi) exposure to, and displacement by, war 
                        or conflict;
                    (B) these risk factors, along with demographic risk 
                factors, manifest at all stages in life;
                    (C) preliminary research illustrates that the 
                COVID-19 pandemic--
                            (i) has increased the risk factors 
                        affecting communities, families, and 
                        individuals for multiple types of adversity; 
                        and
                            (ii) compounded preexisting conditions and 
                        vulnerabilities.
            (6) According to a Lancet Commission report--
                    (A) allocations for mental health have never risen 
                above 1 percent of health-related global development 
                assistance; and
                    (B) child and adolescent mental health services 
                receive an estimated 0.1 percent of health-related 
                global development assistance.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) helping to ensure that individuals have the opportunity 
        to thrive and reach their fullest potential is a critical 
        component of effective and sustainable international 
        development efforts;
            (2) mental health is integral and essential to overall 
        health outcomes and other development objectives;
            (3) mental health is an issue of critical and growing 
        importance for United States development and humanitarian 
        assistance programs that requires coordinated efforts to ensure 
        that programming funded by the United States Government is 
        evidence-based, culturally competent, and trauma-informed;
            (4) the relevant United States Government development and 
        humanitarian assistance strategies should include a mental 
        health and psychosocial support component;
            (5) the redesign of USAID--
                    (A) reflects the nexus between humanitarian and 
                development interventions; and
                    (B) should be applied to all mental health and 
                psychosocial support efforts of United States 
                development and humanitarian assistance programs; and
            (6) ongoing efforts to improve social service workforce 
        development and local capacity building are essential to 
        expanding mental health and psychosocial support activities 
        across all United States development and humanitarian 
        assistance programs.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
        Administrator of USAID.
            (2) USAID.--The term ``USAID'' means the United States 
        Agency for International Development.

SEC. 4. COORDINATOR FOR MENTAL HEALTH AND PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT.

    Section 135 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2152f) 
is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (f) as subsection (g); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (e) the following:
    ``(f) Coordinator for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support.--
            ``(1) Appointment.--The Administrator of the United States 
        Agency for International Development, in consultation with the 
        Secretary of State, is authorized to appoint a Mental Health 
        and Psychosocial Support Coordinator (referred to in this 
        section as the `MHPSS Coordinator').
            ``(2) Specific duties.--The MHPSS Coordinator shall--
                    ``(A) establish and chair the Mental Health and 
                Psychosocial Support Working Group authorized under 
                section 4 of the MINDS Act;
                    ``(B) guide, oversee, and direct mental health and 
                psychosocial support programming and integration across 
                United States foreign assistance programming;
                    ``(C) serve as the main point of contact on mental 
                health and psychosocial support in the Bureau for 
                Global Health, the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, 
                regional bureaus, the Center for Education and the 
                Inclusive Development Hub in the Bureau for 
                Development, Democracy, and Innovation, other bureaus, 
                the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator and Global 
                Health Diplomacy, and other interagency or presidential 
                initiatives;
                    ``(D) promote best practices, coordination and 
                reporting in mental health and psychosocial support 
                programming across United States development and 
                humanitarian assistance programs;
                    ``(E) provide direction, guidance, and oversight on 
                the integration of mental health and psychosocial 
                support in United States development and humanitarian 
                assistance programs; and
                    ``(F) participate in the Advancing Protection and 
                Care for Children in Adversity Interagency Working 
                Group.
            ``(3) Focus populations.--The MHPSS Coordinator, as 
        appropriate, should prioritize populations with increased risk 
        factors for developing mental health disorders, including--
                    ``(A) adult caretakers and children, including 
                families and adults who are long-term caretakers;
                    ``(B) children and others who are separated from a 
                family unit; and
                    ``(C) other specific populations in need of mental 
                health and psychosocial support, such as crisis 
                affected communities, displaced populations, gender-
                based violence survivors, and individuals and 
                households coping with the consequences of diseases, 
                such as Ebola, HIV/AIDS, and COVID-19.''.

SEC. 5. MENTAL HEALTH AND PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT WORKING GROUP.

    The Administrator, in cooperation with the Mental Health and 
Psychosocial Support Coordinator appointed pursuant to section 135(f) 
of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as added by section 4, shall 
establish the Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Working Group, 
which shall include senior representatives from relevant USAID bureaus, 
the Department of State, and other Federal departments and agencies, as 
appropriate, to ensure continuity and integration of mental health and 
psychosocial support across United States development and humanitarian 
assistance programs.

SEC. 6. INTEGRATION OF MENTAL HEALTH AND PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT.

    (a) Statement of Policy.--It is the policy of the United States to 
integrate mental health and psychosocial support across all relevant 
United States development and humanitarian assistance programs.
    (b) Implementation of Policy.--The Administrator and the Secretary 
of State should--
            (1) require all USAID and Department of State regional 
        bureaus and missions to advance the policy described in 
        subsection (a) through relevant development and humanitarian 
        assistance efforts, including by building local capacity to 
        inform, design, and implement mental health and psychosocial 
        support programming;
            (2) ensure that all USAID and Department of State mental 
        health and psychosocial support programming--
                    (A) is evidence-based and culturally competent;
                    (B) responds to all types of childhood adversity; 
                and
                    (C) includes trauma-specific interventions in 
                accordance with the recognized principles of a trauma-
                informed approach, whenever applicable; and
            (3) integrate the principles of the Advancing Protection 
        and Care for Children in Adversity Strategy.

SEC. 7. CONSULTATION AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Consultation.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in coordination with the 
Secretary of State, shall consult with the Committee on Foreign 
Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 
House of Representatives regarding--
            (1) the progress made in carrying out section 6(b); and
            (2) any barriers preventing the full integration of the 
        strategy referred to in section 6(b)(3).
    (b) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, and annually thereafter for the following 5 fiscal years, 
the Administrator and the Secretary of State, in consultation with the 
Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Coordinator appointed pursuant 
to section 135(f) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as added by 
section 4, and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, as 
necessary and appropriate, shall submit a report to the Committee on 
Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 
the House of Representatives that describes--
            (1) the amount of United States development and 
        humanitarian assistance program funding that was obligated and 
        expended during the most recently concluded fiscal year on 
        mental health and psychosocial support programming;
            (2) how USAID and the Department of State are working to 
        integrate mental health and psychosocial programming, including 
        child-specific programming, into their development and 
        humanitarian assistance programs across relevant sectors, 
        including health, education, nutrition, and protection;
            (3) the metrics of success of the Advancing Protection and 
        Care for Children in Adversity Strategy and the progress made 
        towards achieving broader mental health outcomes;
            (4) the programs in which trauma-specific strategies are 
        being implemented, and how best practices for trauma-informed 
        programming are being shared across programs;
            (5) any barriers preventing full integration of child 
        mental health and psychosocial support into programs for 
        children and youth, and recommendations for modifications or 
        expansion of such programs;
            (6) any barriers to the expansion of mental health and 
        psychosocial support programming in conflict and humanitarian 
        settings, and how such barriers are being addressed;
            (7) the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health 
        and psychosocial support programming; and
            (8) funding data, including a list of programs to which 
        USAID and the Department of State have obligated funds during 
        the most recently concluded fiscal year to improve access to, 
        and the quality of, mental health and psychosocial support 
        programming in development and humanitarian contexts.

SEC. 8. SUNSET.

    This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, shall terminate on 
the date that is 5 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.
                                 &lt;all&gt;
</pre></body></html>