I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8444 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health 
and Human Services, acting through the Assistant Secretary for Mental 
Health and Substance Use, to establish grant programs to promote 
mental health in schools, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 17, 2024 
Mrs. NAPOLITANO (for herself, Ms. BALINT, Ms. NORTON, Mrs. WATSON 
COLEMAN, Mr. ALLRED, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. SOTO, 
Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Mr. TORRES of New York, Ms. CHU, Ms. SALI-
NAS, Ms. PORTER, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Mrs. RAMIREZ, Ms. KELLY of Illi-
nois, Ms. STANSBURY, and Ms. BARRAGA´N) 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 Sec-
retary of Health and Human Services, acting through 
the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance 
Use, to establish grant programs to promote mental 
health in schools, 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 ‘‘Mental Health in 
Schools Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. SAMHSA MENTAL HEALTH SCHOOL GRANT PRO-
GRAMS. 
Subpart 3 of part B of title V of the Public Health 
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb–31 et seq.) is amended by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 520O. MENTAL HEALTH SCHOOL GRANT PROGRAMS. 
‘‘(a) SCHOOL MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS GRANT 
PROGRAM.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 
through the Assistant Secretary, shall establish a 
program, to be known as the School Mental Health 
Awareness Grant Program, to award grants to eligi-
ble entities to establish or expand eligible mental 
health education programs in schools served by local 
educational agencies. 
‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE
MENTAL
HEALTH
EDUCATION 
PROGRAMS.—To be eligible for a grant under this 
subsection, a mental health education program 
shall— 
‘‘(A) serve students by— 
‘‘(i) promoting the mental health and 
well-being of students and destigmatizing 
mental health conditions; 
‘‘(ii) helping students identify and rec-
ognize the key signs and symptoms of var-
ious mental health conditions; 
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‘‘(iii) informing students about mental 
health services that are available to such 
students; 
‘‘(iv) providing students with the skills 
needed to manage their emotions and es-
tablish and maintain positive relationships; 
‘‘(v) using an evidence-based model ef-
fective in changing students’ knowledge of 
and attitudes toward mental health condi-
tions and help-seeking behavior; and 
‘‘(vi) incorporating family engage-
ment; 
‘‘(B) provide educational professionals with 
the necessary certification, recertification, and 
professional 
development 
to 
teach 
mental 
health-related content; and 
‘‘(C) for any courses developed using a 
grant under this subsection, develop such 
courses with input from mental health profes-
sionals. 
‘‘(3) 
ACTIVITY
REQUIREMENTS.—A 
grant 
awarded under this subsection may only be used for 
activities that— 
‘‘(A) are developmentally, linguistically, 
and culturally appropriate; 
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‘‘(B) are trauma-informed; and 
‘‘(C) promote healthy coping mechanisms 
for managing stress and other mental health 
challenges. 
‘‘(b) MENTAL HEALTH CAREER PROMOTION GRANT 
PROGRAM.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 
through the Assistant Secretary, shall establish a 
program, to be known as the Mental Health Career 
Promotion Grant Program, to award grants to eligi-
ble entities to establish or expand eligible mental 
health career promotion programs in schools served 
by local educational agencies. 
‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE MENTAL HEALTH CAREER PRO-
MOTION
PROGRAMS.—To be eligible for a grant 
under this subsection, a mental health career pro-
motion program shall promote careers in mental 
health to students in grades 9 through 12, such as 
by— 
‘‘(A) providing educational presentations to 
students that increase exposure to and knowl-
edge of careers in the mental health field; 
‘‘(B) 
coordinating 
internships 
and 
externships for students who demonstrate an 
interest in mental health; 
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‘‘(C) providing opportunities for students 
to interact with and shadow mental health care 
professionals; 
‘‘(D) providing students with mentorships 
and experiential learning opportunities; or 
‘‘(E) partnering with local institutions of 
higher education and community behavioral 
health organizations to promote careers in men-
tal health. 
‘‘(3) ACTIVITY REQUIREMENT.—A grant award-
ed under this subsection may only be used for activi-
ties that are developmentally, linguistically, and cul-
turally appropriate. 
‘‘(4) CAREERS IN MENTAL HEALTH DEFINED.— 
In this subsection, the term ‘careers in mental 
health’ means occupations whose primary intent and 
function is the direct treatment or recovery support 
of patients with, or in recovery from, a mental 
health disorder, which may include— 
‘‘(A) physicians (including physicians with 
a degree of doctor of medicine or doctor of os-
teopathic medicine); 
‘‘(B) psychiatric nurses; 
‘‘(C) social workers; 
‘‘(D) marriage and family therapists; 
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‘‘(E) mental health counselors; 
‘‘(F) occupational therapists; 
‘‘(G) psychologists; 
‘‘(H) psychiatrists (including child and ad-
olescent psychiatrists); and 
‘‘(I) neurologists. 
‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—To be eligible to receive 
a grant under this section, an entity shall be a partnership 
that includes— 
‘‘(1) a State educational agency; 
‘‘(2) 1 or more local educational agencies, or a 
consortium of such local educational agencies; and 
‘‘(3) at least 1— 
‘‘(A) community-based mental health pro-
vider (such as a health care entity, a trauma 
network, or a nonprofit mental health profes-
sional association); or 
‘‘(B) other community-based entity, as de-
termined appropriate by the Secretary, acting 
through the Assistant Secretary (such as a 
human services agency, a child welfare agency, 
or an institution of higher education). 
‘‘(d) AWARD DURATION; RENEWAL.—A grant award-
ed under this section shall be for a period of 5 years, and 
may be renewed. 
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‘‘(e) GEOGRAPHICAL DIVERSITY.—The Secretary, 
acting through the Assistant Secretary, shall ensure that 
grants awarded under this section cover a diverse range 
of geographical areas. 
‘‘(f) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary, act-
ing through the Assistant Secretary, may provide technical 
assistance to high-need local educational agencies in seek-
ing grants under this section. 
‘‘(g) EVALUATION AND MEASURES OF OUTCOMES.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 
through the Assistant Secretary, shall develop a fis-
cally appropriate process for evaluating activities 
carried out through grants awarded under this sec-
tion. Under such process, the Secretary, acting 
through the Assistant Secretary, shall— 
‘‘(A) provide to recipients of such grants— 
‘‘(i) guidelines for the submission to 
the Assistant Secretary of data concerning 
such activities; and 
‘‘(ii) measures of outcomes to be used 
by such recipients in evaluating the effec-
tiveness of such activities (including out-
comes related to the student, family, and 
local educational systems supported by 
such activities); 
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‘‘(B) require each such recipient to submit 
to the Assistant Secretary annual reports— 
‘‘(i) containing data on such activities 
carried out by the recipient; and 
‘‘(ii) that use the measures of out-
comes described in subparagraph (A)(ii) to 
evaluate the effectiveness of such activities; 
and 
‘‘(C) not later than 1 year after the date 
of enactment of the Mental Health in Schools 
Act, and annually thereafter, submit to Con-
gress a report describing the results and effec-
tiveness of the programs under this section. 
‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—A recipient of a grant 
under this section may not use more than 10 per-
cent of the amounts received to prepare and submit 
the annual reports required under paragraph (1)(B). 
‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘local edu-
cational agency’ and ‘State educational agency’ have 
the meanings given such terms in section 8101 of 
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965. 
‘‘(2) HEA TERMS.—The terms ‘high-need local 
educational agency’ and ‘institution of higher edu-
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cation’ have the meanings given such terms, respec-
tively, in sections 200 and 101(a) of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965. 
‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section for 
each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029— 
‘‘(1) $50,000,000 with respect to grants award-
ed under subsection (a); and 
‘‘(2) $50,000,000 with respect to grants award-
ed under subsection (b).’’. 
Æ 
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