I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 721 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to revise and extend projects relating 
to children and to provide access to school-based comprehensive mental 
health programs. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 2, 2021 
Mrs. NAPOLITANO (for herself, Mr. KATKO, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. TITUS, 
Mrs. HAYES, Ms. DEAN, Mr. MOULTON, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Ms. 
KAPTUR, Mr. SABLAN, Miss RICE of New York, Mr. PRICE of North 
Carolina, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. MATSUI, 
Mr. RYAN, Mr. O’HALLERAN, Mr. VAN DREW, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. SCAN-
LON, Mr. RASKIN, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, 
Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. CROW, Ms. PORTER, Mr. BLUMENAUER, 
Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. LIEU, Ms. 
SA´NCHEZ, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. COHEN, Mrs. TORRES of California, Ms. 
WILD, Ms. HOULAHAN, Mr. TRONE, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mr. PA-
NETTA, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. CASTEN, Mr. MCNERNEY, Ms. LEE of Cali-
fornia, Mr. SIRES, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. LEVIN of Cali-
fornia, Mr. DESAULNIER, Ms. CHU, Mr. MAST, Mr. GOMEZ, Ms. KELLY 
of Illinois, Ms. JOHNSON
of Texas, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. 
FITZPATRICK, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. 
GALLEGO, Mr. POCAN, and Mr. HASTINGS) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to revise and extend 
projects relating to children and to provide access to 
school-based comprehensive mental health programs. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Mental Health Services 
for Students Act of 2021’’. 
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE 
ACT. 
(a) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.—The second part G 
(relating to services provided through religious organiza-
tions) of title V of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 290kk et seq.) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating such part as part J; and 
(2) by redesignating sections 581 through 584 
as sections 596 through 596C, respectively. 
(b) SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH AND CHIL-
DREN.—Section 581 of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 290hh) (relating to children and violence) is 
amended to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 581. SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH; CHILDREN 
AND ADOLESCENTS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 
with the Secretary of Education, shall, through grants, 
contracts, or cooperative agreements awarded to eligible 
entities described in subsection (c), provide comprehensive 
school-based mental health services and supports to assist 
children in local communities and schools (including 
schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Education) deal-
ing with traumatic experiences, grief, bereavement, risk of 
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suicide, and violence. Such services and supports shall 
be— 
‘‘(1) developmentally, linguistically, and cul-
turally appropriate; 
‘‘(2) trauma-informed; and 
‘‘(3) incorporate positive behavioral interven-
tions and supports. 
‘‘(b) ACTIVITIES.—Grants, contracts, or cooperative 
agreements awarded under subsection (a), shall, as appro-
priate, be used for— 
‘‘(1) implementation of school and community- 
based mental health programs that— 
‘‘(A) build awareness of individual trauma 
and the intergenerational, continuum of impacts 
of trauma on populations; 
‘‘(B) train appropriate staff to identify, 
and screen for, signs of trauma exposure, men-
tal health disorders, or risk of suicide; and 
‘‘(C) incorporate positive behavioral inter-
ventions, family engagement, student treatment, 
and multigenerational supports to foster the 
health and development of children, prevent 
mental health disorders, and ameliorate the im-
pact of trauma; 
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‘‘(2) technical assistance to local communities 
with respect to the development of programs de-
scribed in paragraph (1); 
‘‘(3) facilitating community partnerships among 
families, students, law enforcement agencies, edu-
cation agencies, mental health and substance use 
disorder service systems, family-based mental health 
service systems, child welfare agencies, health care 
providers (including primary care physicians, mental 
health professionals, and other professionals who 
specialize in children’s mental health such as child 
and adolescent psychiatrists), institutions of higher 
education, faith-based programs, trauma networks, 
and other community-based systems to address child 
and adolescent trauma, mental health issues, and vi-
olence; and 
‘‘(4) establishing mechanisms for children and 
adolescents to report incidents of violence or plans 
by other children, adolescents, or adults to commit 
violence. 
‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible for a grant, 
contract, or cooperative agreement under subsection 
(a), an entity shall be a partnership that includes— 
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‘‘(A) a State educational agency, as de-
fined in section 8101 of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965, in coordina-
tion with one or more local educational agen-
cies, as defined in section 8101 of the Elemen-
tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, or 
a consortium of any entities described in sub-
paragraph (B), (C), (D), or (E) of section 
8101(30) of such Act; and 
‘‘(B) at least 1 community-based mental 
health provider, including a public or private 
mental health entity, health care entity, family- 
based mental health entity, trauma network, or 
other community-based entity, as determined by 
the Secretary (and which may include addi-
tional entities such as a human services agency, 
law enforcement or juvenile justice entity, child 
welfare agency, agency, an institution of higher 
education, or another entity, as determined by 
the Secretary). 
‘‘(2) COMPLIANCE WITH HIPAA.—Any patient 
records developed by covered entities through activi-
ties under the grant shall meet the regulations pro-
mulgated under section 264(c) of the Health Insur-
ance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. 
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‘‘(3) COMPLIANCE WITH FERPA.—Section 444 
of the General Education Provisions Act (commonly 
known as the ‘Family Educational Rights and Pri-
vacy Act of 1974’) shall apply to any entity that is 
a member of the partnership in the same manner 
that such section applies to an educational agency or 
institution (as that term is defined in such section). 
‘‘(d) GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION.—The Secretary 
shall ensure that grants, contracts, or cooperative agree-
ments under subsection (a) will be distributed equitably 
among the regions of the country and among urban and 
rural areas. 
‘‘(e) DURATION
OF AWARDS.—With respect to a 
grant, contract, or cooperative agreement under sub-
section (a), the period during which payments under such 
an award will be made to the recipient shall be 5 years, 
with options for renewal. 
‘‘(f) EVALUATION AND MEASURES OF OUTCOMES.— 
‘‘(1) DEVELOPMENT OF PROCESS.—The Assist-
ant Secretary shall develop a fiscally appropriate 
process for evaluating activities carried out under 
this section. Such process shall include— 
‘‘(A) the development of guidelines for the 
submission of program data by grant, contract, 
or cooperative agreement recipients; 
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‘‘(B) the development of measures of out-
comes (in accordance with paragraph (2)) to be 
applied by such recipients in evaluating pro-
grams carried out under this section; and 
‘‘(C) the submission of annual reports by 
such recipients concerning the effectiveness of 
programs carried out under this section. 
‘‘(2) MEASURES OF OUTCOMES.—The Assistant 
Secretary shall develop measures of outcomes to be 
applied by recipients of assistance under this section 
to evaluate the effectiveness of programs carried out 
under this section, including outcomes related to the 
student, family, and local educational systems sup-
ported by this Act. 
‘‘(3) SUBMISSION OF ANNUAL DATA.—An eligi-
ble entity described in subsection (c) that receives a 
grant, contract, or cooperative agreement under this 
section shall annually submit to the Assistant Sec-
retary a report that includes data to evaluate the 
success of the program carried out by the entity 
based on whether such program is achieving the pur-
poses of the program. Such reports shall utilize the 
measures of outcomes under paragraph (2) in a rea-
sonable manner to demonstrate the progress of the 
program in achieving such purposes. 
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‘‘(4) EVALUATION BY ASSISTANT SECRETARY.— 
Based on the data submitted under paragraph (3), 
the Assistant Secretary shall annually submit to 
Congress a report concerning the results and effec-
tiveness of the programs carried out with assistance 
received under this section. 
‘‘(5) LIMITATION.—An eligible entity shall use 
not more than 20 percent of amounts received under 
a grant under this section to carry out evaluation 
activities under this subsection. 
‘‘(g) INFORMATION
AND
EDUCATION.—The Sec-
retary shall disseminate best practices based on the find-
ings of the knowledge development and application under 
this section. 
‘‘(h) AMOUNT OF GRANTS AND AUTHORIZATION OF 
APPROPRIATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) AMOUNT OF GRANTS.—A grant under this 
section shall be in an amount that is not more than 
$2,000,000 for each of the first 5 fiscal years fol-
lowing the date of enactment of the Mental Health 
Services for Students Act of 2021. The Secretary 
shall determine the amount of each such grant based 
on the population of children up to age 21 of the 
area to be served under the grant. 
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