I 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7116 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a grant program to 
provide self-harm and suicide prevention services in primary care offices, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 6, 2018 
Mr. DESAULNIER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a grant 
program to provide self-harm and suicide prevention 
services in primary care offices, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Suicide Prevention As-
sistance Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. GRANTS TO PROVIDE SELF-HARM AND SUICIDE 
PREVENTION SERVICES. 
Part B of title V of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 290aa et seq.) is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 520N. GRANTS TO PROVIDE SELF-HARM AND SUICIDE 
PREVENTION SERVICES. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 
Human Services, acting through the Assistant Secretary 
for Mental Health and Substance Use (referred to in this 
section as the ‘Secretary’), shall award grants to primary 
care offices to provide self-harm and suicide prevention 
services. 
‘‘(b) ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED.—A primary care office 
awarded a grant under subsection (a) shall use amounts 
under the grant to carry out the following: 
‘‘(1) The primary care office shall hire one or 
more clinical social workers to carry out the activi-
ties described in paragraphs (2) through (4). 
‘‘(2) A primary care physician at the primary 
care office shall screen patients for self-harm and 
suicide in accordance with the standards of practice 
described in subsection (f)(1) and shall, as appro-
priate, notify a clinical social worker hired under 
paragraph (1) of screenings that yield an indicator 
of self-harm or suicide. 
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‘‘(3) A clinical social worker hired under para-
graph (1) shall provide patients short-term self-harm 
and suicide prevention services in accordance with 
the results of the screenings described in paragraph 
(2). 
‘‘(4) A clinical social worker hired under para-
graph (1) shall, as appropriate, refer patients to a 
health care facility for purposes of receiving long- 
term self-harm and suicide prevention services. 
‘‘(c) MAXIMUM NUMBER OF GRANTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary may not 
award more than 10 grants under subsection (a). 
‘‘(2) WITH RESPECT TO A PRIMARY CARE OF-
FICE.—A primary care office may not be awarded 
more than 1 grant under subsection (a). 
‘‘(3) WITH RESPECT TO A STATE.—Not more 
than 1 primary care office in any State may be 
awarded a grant under subsection (a). 
‘‘(d) GRANT TERMS.—A grant awarded under sub-
section (a)— 
‘‘(1) may not exceed $500,000; 
‘‘(2) shall be for a period of 2 years; and 
‘‘(3) may be renewed subject to the require-
ments of this section. 
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‘‘(e) APPLICATIONS.—A primary care office seeking 
a grant under subsection (a) shall submit an application 
to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and accom-
panied by such information as the Secretary may require. 
‘‘(f) STANDARDS OF PRACTICE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this section, the 
Secretary shall develop standards of practice for 
screening patients for self-harm and suicide for pur-
poses of carrying out subsection (b)(2). 
‘‘(2) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall de-
velop the standards of practice described in para-
graph (1) in consultation with stakeholder groups 
with expertise in self-harm and suicide prevention, 
including public, private, and non-profit entities. 
‘‘(g) REPORTING.— 
‘‘(1) REPORTS TO THE SECRETARY.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A primary care office 
awarded a grant under subsection (a) shall, at 
least quarterly for the duration of the grant, 
submit to the Secretary a report evaluating the 
activities supported by the grant. 
‘‘(B) MATTERS
TO
BE
INCLUDED.—The 
report required under subparagraph (A) shall 
include— 
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‘‘(i) the number of patients receiv-
ing— 
‘‘(I) screenings carried out at the 
primary care office; 
‘‘(II) short-term self-harm and 
suicide prevention services at the pri-
mary care office; and 
‘‘(III) referrals to health care fa-
cilities for the purposes of receiving 
long-term self-harm and suicide pre-
vention; 
‘‘(ii) information on the adherence of 
the primary care office to the standards of 
practice described in subsection (f)(1); and 
‘‘(iii) other information as the Sec-
retary determines appropriate to evaluate 
the use of grant funds. 
‘‘(2) REPORTS TO CONGRESS AND IN THE DE-
PARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES.— 
Not later than 2 years after the date of the enact-
ment of this section, and biennially thereafter, the 
Secretary shall submit to the appropriate congres-
sional committees and the subcomponents of the De-
partment of Health and Human Services described 
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in paragraph (3) a report on the grant program 
under this section, including— 
‘‘(A) a summary of reports received by the 
Secretary under paragraph (1); and 
‘‘(B) an evaluation of the program by the 
Secretary. 
‘‘(3) REPORTING
IN
THE
DEPARTMENT
OF 
HEALTH
AND
HUMAN
SERVICES.—The subcompo-
nents of the Department of Health and Human 
Services described in paragraph (2) are the Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention and the National 
Institute of Mental Health. 
‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’ means— 
‘‘(A) the Committee on Energy and Com-
merce of the House of Representatives; and 
‘‘(B) the Committee on Health, Education, 
Labor and Pensions of the Senate. 
‘‘(2) PRIMARY CARE OFFICE.—The term ‘pri-
mary care office’ means a health care facility that 
provides primary care services. 
‘‘(3) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means— 
‘‘(A) a State; 
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‘‘(B) the District of Columbia; 
‘‘(C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; or 
‘‘(D) any other territory or possession of 
the United States.’’. 
Æ 
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