I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5235 
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 to eligible entities to estab-
lish or maintain a student mental health and safety helpline, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 10, 2021 
Ms. NEWMAN (for herself and Mr. STEWART) 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 to eligible entities to establish 
or maintain a student mental health and safety helpline, 
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 ‘‘Student Mental Health 
Helpline Act of 2021’’. 
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SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR STUDENT MENTAL HEALTH AND SAFE-
TY HELPLINE. 
Part D of title V of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 290dd et seq.) is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 553. GRANTS FOR STUDENT MENTAL HEALTH AND 
SAFETY HELPLINE. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 
‘‘(1) 
ESTABLISHMENT
OR
MAINTENANCE 
GRANTS.—The Secretary, acting through the Assist-
ant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, 
and in consultation with the Secretary of Education, 
may award grants to eligible entities to establish or 
maintain a student mental health and safety helpline 
that— 
‘‘(A) is free and confidential; 
‘‘(B) is accessible to students through mul-
tiple platforms; 
‘‘(C) provides information to school offi-
cials about student health and safety issues, to 
the extent permitted by the HIPAA privacy reg-
ulations; and 
‘‘(D) operates 24 hours a day, seven days 
a week, every day of the year. 
‘‘(2) TRANSITION GRANTS.— 
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‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 
through the Assistant Secretary for Mental 
Health and Substance Use, and in consultation 
with the Secretary of Education, may award 
grants to States, local governments, Indian 
Tribes, and Tribal organizations to transition, 
by not later than 2 years after the award of the 
grant, a helpline that was in existence on the 
day before the date of enactment of the Student 
Mental Health Helpline Act of 2021 to an 
agency or subdivision whose primary responsi-
bility relates to health, public health, or edu-
cation so as to become eligible for grants under 
paragraph (1). 
‘‘(B) USE OF FUNDS.—A grant under sub-
paragraph (A) shall be used exclusively for 
costs associated with the transition described in 
such subparagraph. 
‘‘(b) APPLICATION
OF HIPAA PRIVACY REGULA-
TIONS.— 
‘‘(1) COVERED
ENTITY.—A helpline funded 
under subsection (a)(1) shall be treated as a covered 
entity (as defined in section 106.103 of title 45, 
Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regula-
tions)), and information received by the helpline 
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from students contacting the helpline shall be treat-
ed as protected health information (as defined in 
such section 106.103 (or successor regulations)), for 
purposes of the HIPAA privacy regulations. 
‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL PRIVACY STANDARDS.—Noth-
ing in this section shall be construed to preempt or 
otherwise prohibit the application, with respect to a 
helpline funded under this section, of privacy stand-
ards in addition to those applicable under the 
HIPAA privacy regulations. 
‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE GRANTEES.—To be eligible to receive 
a grant under subsection (a)(1), an entity shall be an 
agency or other subdivision— 
‘‘(1) of a State, a local government, an Indian 
Tribe, or a Tribal organization; and 
‘‘(2) whose primary responsibility relates to 
health, public health, or education. 
‘‘(d) REQUIREMENTS.—A recipient of a grant under 
subsection (a)(1) shall use the grant for each of the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(1) Supporting a phone line, texting, and so-
cial media accounts for students facing challenges 
with abuse, bullying, depression, risk of self-injury, 
risk of injury to others, or suicidal thoughts. 
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‘‘(2) Providing such support in a culturally 
competent manner, including to students who— 
‘‘(A) are from diverse backgrounds; or 
‘‘(B) identify with groups associated with a 
higher risk of bullying, abuse, and suicide, such 
as individuals who are LGBTQ or have disabil-
ities. 
‘‘(3) Coordinating with— 
‘‘(A) other mental health crisis lines; 
‘‘(B) State and local mental health agen-
cies and providers, local educational agencies, 
school administrators, and community-based 
health service providers; and 
‘‘(C) in cases of neglect and abuse, State 
and local family service agencies. 
‘‘(4) Ensuring that— 
‘‘(A) activities funded through the grant 
are conducted in accordance with all applicable 
Federal and State privacy standards; and 
‘‘(B) health care information collected 
through such activities will be maintained in a 
secure manner. 
‘‘(5) Developing a disaster recovery plan and 
redundancy measures to ensure continuous technical 
operations. 
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‘‘(e) OTHER ALLOWABLE USES.—A recipient of a 
grant under subsection (a)(1) may choose to use the grant 
for any of the following: 
‘‘(1) Supporting forms of communication in ad-
dition to those specified in subsection (d)(1), such as 
online forms and an email account. 
‘‘(2) In addition to coordinating with the enti-
ties specified in subsection (d)(3), coordinating with 
nonprofit organizations and institutions of higher 
education. 
‘‘(3) Developing educational curricula that 
schools may choose to offer, in conjunction with the 
helpline funded through the grant, to remove the 
stigma of mental illness, prevent bullying, prevent 
domestic violence, prevent suicide, or otherwise ad-
dress student mental health and safety. 
‘‘(4) Promoting activities to encourage students 
to use of the helpline funded through the grant. 
‘‘(5) Collecting and analyzing data on the use 
of the helpline funded through the grant to improve 
and adjust services offered through the helpline. 
‘‘(6) Providing support in multiple languages in 
areas with a high concentration of multiple language 
speakers. 
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‘‘(7) Developing, in accordance with best prac-
tices and guidelines of the Substance Abuse and 
Mental Health Services Administration for behav-
ioral health crisis care, protocols and training for 
identifying and responding to students who present 
an imminent risk of harming themselves or others. 
‘‘(8) Providing training, technology, and per-
sonnel necessary to comply with the HIPAA privacy 
regulations or other relevant privacy standards. 
‘‘(9) Coordinating and sharing best practices 
with other student mental health and safety 
helplines, including other helplines funded pursuant 
to this section. 
‘‘(10) Sharing personnel (such as crisis coun-
selors), services (such as technology and data man-
agement services), and other resources deemed ap-
propriate by the Secretary with other mental health 
and safety helplines that— 
‘‘(A) are operated by the recipient of the 
grant; or 
‘‘(B) are operated by another entity and 
funded through the Substance Abuse and Men-
tal Health Services Administration. 
‘‘(f) PERIOD OF A GRANT.—The period of a grant 
under subsection (a)(1) shall be not less than 5 years. 
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‘‘(g) SUBGRANTS AND CONTRACTS.— 
‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION.—A recipient of a grant 
under subsection (a)(1) may award subgrants and 
enter into contracts to carry out activities funded 
through the grant. 
‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE SUBGRANTEES AND CONTRAC-
TORS.—To be eligible to receive a subgrant or con-
tract under paragraph (1), an entity shall be— 
‘‘(A) a local educational agency; 
‘‘(B) an institution of higher education; 
‘‘(C) a nonprofit organization; 
‘‘(D) a for-profit organization that pro-
vides— 
‘‘(i) website or data management serv-
ices; 
‘‘(ii) specialized staff trained in crisis 
intervention to answer incoming messages; 
or 
‘‘(iii) 
other 
products 
or 
services 
deemed by the Secretary to be appropriate 
for establishing or maintaining a helpline 
funded under subsection (a)(1); 
‘‘(E) a school; or 
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