STANDUP Act of 2021
Bill: S.1391 | Sponsor: Sen. Kennedy, John (R-LA)
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Suicide Training and Awareness Nationally Delivered for Universal Prevention Act of 2021 or the STANDUP Act of 2021
This bill requires state, tribal, and local educational agencies that receive grant funding for priority mental-health needs, including through the Project AWARE State Education Agency Grant Program, to establish and implement evidence-based suicide awareness and prevention training policies. In addition, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, in coordination with the Department of Education, must provide educational agencies with best practices for these trainings.

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide best practices on 
 student suicide awareness and prevention training and condition State 
     educational agencies, local educational agencies, and tribal 
educational agencies receiving funds under section 520A of such Act to 
 establish and implement a school-based student suicide awareness and 
                      prevention training policy.

    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 ``Suicide Training and Awareness 
Nationally Delivered for Universal Prevention Act of 2021'' or the 
``STANDUP Act of 2021''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds as follows:
            (1) Since 2010, suicide has been the second-leading cause 
        of death for young people ages 10-24. In 2016, 6,159 young 
        people ages 10-24 died by suicide.
            (2) Based on the 2017 Youth Risk Behavior Survey of the 
        Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (in this section 
        referred to as ``CDC''), 7.4 percent of youth in grades 9-12 
        reported that they made at least one suicide attempt in the 
        past 12 months.
            (3) While there is no complete count of suicide attempts in 
        the United States, CDC data suggests that for every reported 
        suicide death, approximately 11.4 people visit a hospital for 
        self-harm-related injuries.
            (4) In 2016, suicide was the 10th-leading cause of death 
        overall in the United States, with over 44,000 people dying by 
        suicide, and there were more than twice as many suicides in the 
        United States as there were homicides.
            (5) Youth often display warning signs and signals before 
        harming themselves or others. Research shows that 70 percent of 
        those who die by suicide tell someone of their plans or give 
        another warning sign.
            (6) According to the CDC, the rates of suicide among 
        American Indians and Alaska Natives have been increasing since 
        2003 and are the highest of any racial or ethnic group in the 
        United States. In addition, recent studies of CDC data from 
        2001 through 2015 show that suicide rates for Black children 
        ages 5 through 12 were roughly two times higher than those of 
        similarly aged White children.

SEC. 3. STUDENT SUICIDE AWARENESS AND PREVENTION TRAINING.

    (a) In General.--Title V of the Public Health Service Act is 
amended by inserting after section 520A of such Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb-
32) the following:

``SEC. 520B. STUDENT SUICIDE AWARENESS AND PREVENTION TRAINING 
              POLICIES.

    ``(a) In General.--As a condition on receipt of funds under section 
520A, each State educational agency, local educational agency, and 
tribal educational agency that receives such funds, directly or through 
a State or Indian Tribe, for activities to be performed within 
elementary and secondary schools, including the Project AWARE State 
Education Agency Grant Program, shall--
            ``(1) establish and implement a school-based student 
        suicide awareness and prevention training policy;
            ``(2) consult with stakeholders (including principals, 
        teachers, parents, other school leaders) in the development of 
        the policy under subsection (a)(1); and
            ``(3) collect and report information in accordance with 
        subsection (c).
    ``(b) School-Based Student Suicide Awareness and Prevention 
Training Policy.--A school-based student suicide awareness and 
prevention training policy implemented pursuant to subsection (a)--
            ``(1) shall be evidence-based;
            ``(2) shall provide evidence-based training to students in 
        grades 6 through 12, in coordination with school-based mental 
        health service providers as defined in section 4102(6) of the 
        Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, if applicable, 
        regarding--
                    ``(A) suicide education and awareness, including 
                warning signs of self-harm or suicidal ideation;
                    ``(B) methods that students can use to seek help 
                for themselves and others; and
                    ``(C) student resources for suicide awareness and 
                prevention;
            ``(3) shall provide for retraining of such students every 
        school year;
            ``(4) may last for such period as the State educational 
        agency, local educational agency, or tribal educational agency 
        involved determines to be appropriate; and
            ``(5) may be implemented through any delivery method, 
        including in-person trainings, digital trainings, or train-the-
        trainer models.
    ``(c) Collection of Information and Reporting.--Each State 
educational agency, local educational agency, and tribal educational 
agency that receives funds under section 520A shall, with respect to 
each school served by the agency, collect and report to the Secretary 
the following information:
            ``(1) The number of student trainings conducted.
            ``(2) The number of students trained, disaggregated by age 
        and grade level.
            ``(3) The number of help-seeking reports made by students 
        after implementation of such policy.
    ``(d) Evidence-Based Program Listing.--The Secretary of Health and 
Human Services shall coordinate with the Secretary of Education to make 
publicly available the policies established by State educational 
agencies, local educational agencies, and tribal educational agencies 
pursuant to this section and the training that is available to students 
and teams pursuant to such policies, including identification of 
whether such training is available to trainees at no cost.
    ``(e) Implementation Timeline.--A State educational agency, local 
educational agency, or tribal educational agency shall establish and 
begin implementation of the policies required by subsection (a)(1) not 
later than the beginning of the third fiscal year following the date of 
enactment of this section for which the agency receives funds under 
section 520A.
    ``(f) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) The term `evidence-based' has the meaning given to 
        such term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary 
        Education Act of 1965.
            ``(2) The term `local education agency' has the meaning 
        given to such term in section 8101 of the Elementary and 
        Secondary Education Act of 1965.
            ``(3) The term `State educational agency' has the meaning 
        given to such term in section 8101 of the Elementary and 
        Secondary Education Act of 1965.
            ``(4) The term `tribal educational agency' has the meaning 
        given to such term in section 6132 of the Elementary and 
        Secondary Education Act of 1965.

``SEC. 520B-1. BEST PRACTICES FOR STUDENT SUICIDE AWARENESS AND 
              PREVENTION TRAINING.

    ``The Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the 
Assistant Secretary of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 
Administration, in coordination with the Secretary of Education, 
shall--
            ``(1) publish best practices for school-based student 
        suicide awareness and prevention training, pursuant to section 
        520B, that are based on--
                    ``(A) evidence-based practices; and
                    ``(B) input from relevant Federal agencies, 
                national organizations, and related stakeholders;
            ``(2) publish guidance, based on the best practices under 
        paragraph (1), to provide State educational agencies, local 
        educational agencies, and tribal educational agencies with 
        information on student suicide awareness and prevention best 
        practices;
            ``(3) disseminate such best practices to State educational 
        agencies, local educational agencies, and tribal educational 
        agencies; and
            ``(4) provide technical assistance to State educational 
        agencies, local educational agencies, and tribal educational 
        agencies.''.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendments made by this Act shall only apply with respect to 
applications for assistance under section 520A of the Public Health 
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb-32) that are submitted after the date of 
enactment of this Act.
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