Student Mental Health Helpline Act of 2021
Bill: H.R.5235 | Sponsor: Rep. Newman, Marie (D-IL)
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Student Mental Health Helpline Act of 2021
This bill authorizes grants to support student mental health and safety helplines (i.e., a free, confidential service that is accessible via telephone and other communication platforms that assists students facing challenges with abuse, bullying, depression, self-harm, and related issues). The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) may award the grants to agencies or other subdivisions of a state, Indian tribe, or local government that are primarily responsible for health, public health, or education.
Among other purposes, recipients must use funds to establish or maintain a helpline that provides information to school officials (to the extent permitted by federal privacy standards for health information) about student mental health and safety concerns.
The bill also requires SAMHSA to report on the feasibility of setting up a nationally available student mental health and safety helpline.

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 Representatives 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''.

SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR STUDENT MENTAL HEALTH AND SAFETY 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 Assistant 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 multiple 
                platforms;
                    ``(C) provides information to school officials 
                about student health and safety issues, to the extent 
                permitted by the HIPAA privacy regulations; and
                    ``(D) operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 
                every day of the year.
            ``(2) Transition grants.--
                    ``(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 responsibility relates to health, public 
                health, or education so as to become eligible for 
                grants under paragraph (1).
                    ``(B) Use of funds.--A grant under subparagraph (A) 
                shall be used exclusively for costs associated with the 
                transition described in such subparagraph.
    ``(b) Application of HIPAA Privacy Regulations.--
            ``(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 regulations)), and information received by the 
        helpline from students contacting the helpline shall be treated 
        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.--Nothing in this 
        section shall be construed to preempt or otherwise prohibit the 
        application, with respect to a helpline funded under this 
        section, of privacy standards 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 following:
            ``(1) Supporting a phone line, texting, and social media 
        accounts for students facing challenges with abuse, bullying, 
        depression, risk of self-injury, risk of injury to others, or 
        suicidal thoughts.
            ``(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 disabilities.
            ``(3) Coordinating with--
                    ``(A) other mental health crisis lines;
                    ``(B) State and local mental health agencies 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.
    ``(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 addition to 
        those specified in subsection (d)(1), such as online forms and 
        an email account.
            ``(2) In addition to coordinating with the entities 
        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 address 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.
            ``(7) Developing, in accordance with best practices and 
        guidelines of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 
        Administration for behavioral 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 personnel 
        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 counselors), 
        services (such as technology and data management services), and 
        other resources deemed appropriate 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 Mental Health Services 
                Administration.
    ``(f) Period of a Grant.--The period of a grant under subsection 
(a)(1) shall be not less than 5 years.
    ``(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 contractors.--To be eligible 
        to receive a subgrant or contract 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 provides--
                            ``(i) website or data management services;
                            ``(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
                    ``(F) another type of entity deemed by the 
                Secretary to be appropriate for subgrants or contracts 
                under paragraph (1).
            ``(3) Accreditation.--To be eligible to receive a subgrant 
        or contract under paragraph (1) for specialized staff trained 
        in crisis intervention to answer incoming messages, an entity 
        shall be accredited by a nationally recognized accreditation 
        entity that applies current evidence-based practices related to 
        mental and behavioral health.
            ``(4) Priority.--In awarding subgrants and contracts under 
        paragraph (1), a recipient of a grant under subsection (a)(1) 
        shall give priority to eligible entities that--
                    ``(A) retain a licensed mental health care 
                practitioner on staff; and
                    ``(B) participate in the network the National 
                Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
    ``(h) Reporting.--
            ``(1) Annual reports to congress.--Each fiscal year for 
        which grants are awarded under subsection (a)(1) or (a)(2), the 
        Secretary shall--
                    ``(A) study the results of the grants; and
                    ``(B) submit to the Congress a report on such 
                results, including--
                            ``(i) an evaluation of the outcomes of the 
                        programs under subsections (a)(1) and (a)(2);
                            ``(ii) a summary of activities carried out 
                        with grants under subsections (a)(1) and (a)(2) 
                        and the results achieved through those 
                        activities;
                            ``(iii) to the extent practicable, the 
                        demographics of students served and nature of 
                        messages received through grants under 
                        subsections (a)(1) and (a)(2); and
                            ``(iv) in the case of grants under 
                        subsection (a)(2), an analysis of changes in 
                        the outcomes, activities, demographics, and 
                        nature of messages described in clauses (i), 
                        (ii), and (iii) as a result of transitioning 
                        helplines to different agencies or 
                        subdivisions.
            ``(2) Report on feasibility of a national student 
        helpline.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
        the Student Mental Health Helpline Act of 2021, the Secretary, 
        in consultation with the Secretary of Education and the Chair 
        of the Federal Communications Commission, shall publish a 
        report on--
                    ``(A) the feasibility of making a student mental 
                health and safety helpline nationally available;
                    ``(B) how to successfully integrate the helplines 
                of States and other entities into a consolidated 
                national student mental health and safety helpline; and
                    ``(C) the feasibility and potential benefits and 
                drawbacks of adding a student-specific capability to 
                the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
    ``(i) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) The term `HIPAA privacy regulations' means the 
        Federal regulations (concerning the privacy of individually 
        identifiable health information) promulgated under section 
        264(c) of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability 
        Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C. 1320d-2 note).
            ``(2) The terms `Indian Tribe' and `Tribal organization' 
        have the meanings given to such terms in section 4 of the 
        Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act.
            ``(3) The term `institution of higher education' has the 
        meaning given to such term in section 101 of the Higher 
        Education Act of 1965.
            ``(4) The term `local educational agency' has the meaning 
        given to such term in section 8101 of the Elementary and 
        Secondary Education Act of 1965.
            ``(5) The term `State' includes the District of Columbia 
        and each territory or commonwealth of the United States.
    ``(j) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section, 
there is authorized to be appropriated $55,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2022 through 2032.''.
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