SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Children’s Mental 
Health Screening and Prevention Act of 2003’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds as follows: 
(1) Over the past 20 years, advances in sci-
entific research have changed the way of thinking 
about children’s mental health and proven that the 
same mental disorders that afflict adults can also 
occur in children and adolescents. 
(2) In January 2001, the Report of the Sur-
geon General’s Conference on Children’s Mental 
Health noted that 74 percent of individuals age 21 
with mental disorders had prior problems, indicating 
that children’s mental disorders often persist into 
adulthood. 
(3) Scientific research has demonstrated that 
early identification and treatment of mental dis-
orders in youth greatly improves a child or adoles-
cent’s prognosis throughout his or her lifetime. 
(4) In January 2001, the Surgeon General 
noted that, while 1 in 10 children and adolescents in 
the United States suffers from mental illness severe 
enough to cause some level of impairment, only 1 in 
5 of such children and adolescents receives needed 
mental health treatment.
(5) According to an interim report by the Presi-
dent’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, 
about 7 to 9 percent of all children who are 9 to 17 
years of age (about 1 or 2 in every classroom) have 
a serious emotional disturbance. 
(6) In September 2002, the National Council 
on Disability noted that between 60 and 70 percent 
of youth in the juvenile justice system have an emo-
tional disturbance and almost 50 percent have co-oc-
curring disabilities. 
(7) The World Health Organization has re-
ported that youth neuropsychiatric disorders will rise 
by over 50 percent by 2020, making such disorders 
1 of the top 5 causes of disability, morbidity, and 
mortality among children and adolescents. 
(8) Psychological autopsy studies have found 
that 90 percent of youths who end their own lives 
have depression or another diagnosable mental or 
substance abuse disorder at the time of their deaths, 
verifying a link between mental illness and suicide. 
(9) According to an interim report by the Presi-
dent’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, 
more than 30,000 lives are lost every year to suicide, 
which is a largely preventable public health problem.
(10) In 1999, the Surgeon General recognized 
that mental illness and substance abuse disorders 
are, in fact, the greatest risk factors for suicidal be-
havior, and that properly identifying and treating 
mental illness and substance abuse disorders are an 
important part of suicide prevention activities. 
(11) The National Council on Disability has 
also stated that ‘‘the failure to identify and treat 
mental disabilities between children and youth has 
serious consequences, including school failure, in-
volvement with the justice system and other tragic 
outcomes,’’ including ‘‘the growing problem of teen 
suicides and/or suicide attempts’’. 
(12) The Centers for Disease Control and Pre-
vention reported that in 2000 suicide was the 3rd 
leading cause of death among youth 15 to 24 years 
of age. 
(13) The Substance Abuse and Mental Health 
Services Administration reported that in 1999 al-
most 3,000,000 youth were at risk for suicide, but 
only 36 percent received mental health treatment. 
(14) According to the Youth Risk Behavior 
Surveillance System of the Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention, among high school students 
surveyed in 2001, 19 percent had seriously consid-
ered attempting suicide, almost 15 percent had 
made a specific plan to attempt suicide, almost 9 
percent had attempted suicide, and almost 3 percent 
had made an attempt at suicide that required med-
ical attention. 
(15) The Centers for Disease Control and Pre-
vention reported that each year in the United States, 
almost as many adolescents and young adults com-
mit suicide as die from all natural causes combined, 
including leukemia, birth defects, pneumonia, influ-
enza, and AIDS. 
(16) In January 2001, the Surgeon General 
issued a goal to ‘‘improve the assessment of and rec-
ognition of mental health needs in children’’ in part 
by encouraging ‘‘early identification of mental health 
needs in existing preschool, child care, education, 
health, welfare, juvenile justice, and substance abuse 
treatment systems’’. 
(17) In May 2003, the National Council on 
Disability noted that ‘‘despite calls for significant 
prevention and early intervention efforts in schools 
and the juvenile justice system, there is little evi-
dence that such efforts are widespread’’. The Coun-
cil also found that ‘‘the absence is notable because 
research suggests that such programming may be
the only effective method for reducing the involve-
ment of youth with disabilities in the juvenile justice 
system’’. 
(18) The April 2003 Outline of the Final Re-
port for the President’s New Freedom Commission 
on Mental Health states that ‘‘evidence-based prac-
tice interventions should be tested in demonstration 
projects with oversight by a public-private consor-
tium of stakeholders’’. 
(19) An interim report by the President’s New 
Freedom Commission on Mental Health concludes 
that there is a range of effective treatments, serv-
ices, and supports to facilitate recovery from mental 
illness, but the current system can not efficiently de-
liver them. 
(20) The efforts, initiatives, and activities of 
the Federal Government should be used to support 
evidence-based preventive-screening tools to detect 
mental illness and suicidal tendencies in school-age 
youth. 
SEC. 3. MENTAL HEALTH SCREENING DEMONSTRATION 
PROJECT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 
Human Services, the Secretary of Education, and the At-
torney General, acting jointly and in consultation with the
Directors (as that term is defined in subsection (k)), shall 
make 10 grants to demonstration facilities to implement 
evidence-based preventive-screening tools to detect mental 
illness and suicidal tendencies in school-age youth and to 
refer those youth in need of assessment or treatment. 
(b) EQUITABLE GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.—To 
the extent practicable, the Secretaries shall ensure an eq-
uitable distribution of grants under this section among the 
geographic regions of the United States. 
(c) PERIOD OF GRANTS.—Each grant made under 
subsection (a) shall be for a period of 3 years. 
(d) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—To seek a grant under this 
section, a demonstration facility shall submit an ap-
plication at such time and in such manner as the 
Secretaries reasonably require. 
(2) CONTENTS.—An application submitted by a 
demonstration facility for a grant under subsection 
(a) shall—
(A) demonstrate that the facility has 
formed a multidisciplinary project implementa-
tion committee; 
(B) specify an evidence-based preventive-
screening tool to be implemented with the 
grant;
(F) demonstrate that the facility has ob-
tained full approval to screen at such location; 
(G) identify the sample of school-age youth 
to be screened; 
(H) identify a method for obtaining writ-
ten consent from the parent or legal guardian 
of any minor participating in the demonstration 
project; 
(I) identify licensed mental health pro-
viders (including mental health professionals, 
hospitals, residential treatment centers, or out-
patient clinics) in the community where the fa-
cility is located that will partner with the facil-
ity to provide further mental health assess-
ments and treatment for participating youth 
with symptoms or indicators of mental illness, 
and demonstrate the ability of those providers 
to accept referrals; and 
(J) contain such other information as the 
Secretaries reasonably require. 
(e) MULTIDISCIPLINARY PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION 
COMMITTEE.—The Secretaries may not make a grant to 
a demonstration facility under subsection (a) for a dem-
onstration project unless the facility agrees to the fol-
lowing:
(1) The multidisciplinary project implementa-
tion committee formed under subsection (d)(2)(A) 
will consist of the following: 
(A) Representatives of the facility. 
(B) Representatives of the location where 
the specified evidence-based preventive screen-
ing tool will be implemented (if that location is 
other than the demonstration facility). 
(C) A facility case manager (as that posi-
tion is described in subsection (d)(2)(D)(ii)). 
(D) Mental health providers in the commu-
nity. 
(E) Mental health consumers or family 
members of mental health consumers. 
(F) Parents or guardians of any school-
aged youth to be screened. 
(2) When possible, the multidisciplinary project 
implementation committee will follow the guidance of 
any suicide prevention plan endorsed by State or 
local government officials or local public health offi-
cials. 
(3) The multidisciplinary project implementa-
tion committee will be responsible for ensuring com-
pliance with the representations made by the facility 
in its grant application.
(4) The multidisciplinary project implementa-
tion committee will coordinate and collaborate with 
mental health providers in the community, including 
those identified in subsection (d)(2)(I), to guarantee 
that all youth with symptoms or indicators for men-
tal illness, suicidal ideation, or suicide attempts re-
ceive appropriate and affordable treatment regard-
less of the financial or insurance status of the 
youth’s parent or guardian. 
(f) INFORMATION
COLLECTION.—The Secretaries 
may not make a grant to an applicant under subsection 
(a) for a demonstration project unless the applicant agrees 
to collect the following: 
(1) Information on the demographics of youth 
participating in the project, including—
(A) the number of youth invited to partici-
pate in the project, including the number of 
such youth disaggregated by age, gender, and 
ethnicity; and 
(B) the number of youth with symptoms or 
indicators for mental illness requiring clinical 
consultation or assessment, including such 
number disaggregated by disorder. 
(2) Information on the outcomes of evidence-
based preventive-screening tools, including—
(A) the number of screening refusals, due 
to lack of consent by a parent or legal guardian 
or refusal of the youth; 
(B) the number of youth with symptoms or 
indicators for all mental illnesses, including 
such number disaggregated by disorder; and 
(C) post assessment, the number of youth 
with positive outcomes for suicidal ideation or 
suicide attempts. 
(3) Information on referrals based on outcomes, 
including—
(A) the number of youth referred for clin-
ical interviews to determine the need for further 
evaluation or treatment; 
(B) the number of youth referred for fur-
ther evaluation or treatment, including such 
number disaggregated by type and location of 
treatment; 
(C) the number of youth and their parents 
or legal guardians who accept referrals for fur-
ther evaluation or treatment; and 
(D) the number of youth and their parents 
or legal guardians who refuse referrals for fur-
ther evaluation or treatment.
(4) To the extent practicable, information on 
treatment based on referrals, including the number 
of appointments kept by referred youth. 
(5) To the extent practicable, information on 
suicide attempts, suicide rates, and access to evi-
dence-based mental health screening and suicide pre-
vention programs among school-age youth in the 
designated jurisdiction in which the grantee is lo-
cated for the 3 years preceding the commencement 
of the project. 
(6) To the extent practicable, data on barriers 
to care encountered by referred youth, including but 
not limited to linguistic barriers, transportation dif-
ficulties, lack of providers in the community, or lack 
of insurance. 
(7) Such additional information as the Secre-
taries reasonably require. 
(g) INFORMATION
REPORTING.—The Secretaries 
may not make a grant to an applicant under subsection 
(a) for a demonstration project unless the applicant agrees 
to report information collected under subsection (f) to the 
Secretaries as follows: 
(1) Information collected under paragraphs (1), 
(2), (3), (4), (6), (7), and (8) of subsection (f) shall 
be reported—