IV 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 434 
Declaring a mental health crisis among youth in the United States, and 
expressing the pressing need for historic investments in mental health 
care for students. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 22, 2023 
Mr. MOULTON (for himself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. STEWART, Mr. TRONE, 
and Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN) submitted the following resolution; which 
was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition 
to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee con-
cerned 
RESOLUTION 
Declaring a mental health crisis among youth in the United 
States, and expressing the pressing need for historic 
investments in mental health care for students. 
Whereas over the past few decades and over the course of the 
pandemic, mental health issues amongst young people 
have steadily become worse; 
Whereas the Department of Health and Human Services 
states that about 49.5 percent of adolescents in the 
United States have faced mental health disorders at some 
point in their lives; 
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Whereas the White House states that over the course of the 
pandemic, emergency room visits due to mental health 
reasons for children ages 5 through 11 increased by 24 
percent and for children ages 12 through 17 increased by 
over 30 percent; 
Whereas the Wisconsin Hospital Association Information 
Center states that over a third, or 37 percent, of high 
school students reported that they experienced poor men-
tal health during the COVID–19 pandemic, and 44 per-
cent reported feeling sad or hopeless during the past 
year; 
Whereas the World Health Organization states that suicide 
is the fourth leading cause of death among 15–19 year 
olds and the second leading cause of death for 10–24 
year olds; 
Whereas the National Institute of Mental Health states that 
the consequences of adolescent mental health crises also 
include higher propensity to engage in substance abuse or 
face anxiety, depression, or other related conditions later 
in life; 
Whereas the National Institutes of Health states that mental 
health crises cause immense financial burdens dispropor-
tionately affecting those from lower income or rural 
households; 
Whereas current State mental health interventions often re-
main mismanaged or difficult to fund; 
Whereas high-risk populations in rural or underfunded areas 
are less exposed to knowledge regarding mental health 
conditions; and 
Whereas high-risk populations in rural or underfunded areas 
are often overlooked as places that may face severe men-
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tal health crises, such that current infrastructure dedi-
cated toward alleviating youth mental health concerns is 
inequitably distributed: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives recog-
nizes that the United States is currently suffering from 
a mental health crisis among its youth, and that in order 
to begin mitigating the detrimental effects of this crisis, 
the Federal Government must— 
(1) encourage States, local educational agencies, 
schools, and community organizations to support 
students suffering from mental health crises at all 
grade levels by— 
(A) improving the training given to edu-
cators such that they are better equipped to re-
spond to signs and manifestations of mental 
health disorders among students that they are 
in direct contact with; 
(B) recognizing that young children often 
go mis- or undiagnosed when it comes to men-
tal health disorders and therefore lack adequate 
support when dealing with mental health crises; 
(C) investing greater resources toward on- 
campus mental health resources that prioritize 
recovery over penalizations against students 
dealing with mental health difficulties; 
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(D) removing support for ‘‘risk assess-
ment’’ teams that have evidently caused harm 
to the mental and emotional well-being of chil-
dren in schools and disproportionately affect 
students of color by perpetuating existing stig-
mas that only further their engagement with 
law enforcement; 
(E) evaluating the preservation of con-
tinuity of care for students whose treatment is 
interrupted by changes in legal status, such as 
when they turn 18; and 
(F) recognizing the unique struggles of un-
documented and lower income students whose 
legal and economic status may preclude them 
from seeking care, and reducing pathways be-
tween mental health care and criminalization 
and deportation; 
(2) recognize that mental and physical health 
are undoubtedly intertwined, so therefore must be 
treated together, and that age is not a determinant 
for who may suffer from mental illness, in that chil-
dren can face mental health difficulties as early as 
elementary school; 
(3) recognize the urgency for increasing public 
knowledge on mental health disorders through en-
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couraging Federal, State, and local institutions to 
disseminate robust resources regarding the effects 
and available treatment options for various mental 
health disorders; 
(4) address the current public, institutional, 
and internalized stigmas associated with mental ill-
ness and thereby their accompanied isolating, preju-
dicial, and discriminatory repercussions by urging 
States to adopt peer-to-peer mental health treatment 
models that prioritize community openness; 
(5) create a comprehensive method to contact 
high-risk populations and isolated communities with 
little access to knowledge about and resources to 
support young people suffering from mental health 
disorders; and 
(6) address detained children in need who have 
repeatedly been overlooked by medical professionals 
as suffering from developmental, intellectual, or 
other disabilities by providing them with specific 
educational and health care services tailored to their 
needs, such as— 
(A) regularly screening juvenile youth for 
mental health conditions that may have been 
exacerbated by their time in prison; and 
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(B) understanding the relationship between 
previous childhood trauma and children’s en-
gagement with law enforcement, and creating 
individualized care plans based on this under-
standing. 
Æ 
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