Title: Healthier Students for Stronger Campuses Act
Policy area: Education

Summary:
Healthier Students for Stronger Campuses Act
This bill replaces a grant program for reducing and eliminating the illegal use of drugs and alcohol on college campuses with a grant program for preventing and addressing the effects of substance use on college campuses.
Specifically, it authorizes the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services to award substance misuse prevention and treatment grants to institutions of higher education (IHEs) with regional high incidences of substance use disorders, overdoses, and deaths. It requires at least 25% of funds to be awarded to IHEs in rural areas.
The bill requires IHEs to use funds for evidence-based or promising interventions designed to address and prevent substance use disorders among enrolled students, such as recovery services, treatment or referral to treatment, and mental health counseling. IHEs receiving such grants must provide at least a 20% match of nonfederal funds.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1281 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1281

    To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide grants for 
 institutions of higher education to prevent substance misuse, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 2, 2019

 Mr. Tester (for himself, Mrs. Capito, and Ms. Hassan) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide grants for 
 institutions of higher education to prevent substance misuse, 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 ``Healthier Students for Stronger 
Campuses Act''.

SEC. 2. SUBSTANCE MISUSE PREVENTION AND TREATMENT GRANTS FOR 
              INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION.

    Section 120(e) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1011i(e)) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(e) Substance Misuse Prevention and Treatment Grants for 
Institutions of Higher Education.--
            ``(1) Purposes.--The purposes of this grant program are 
        to--
                    ``(A) address the effect of substance misuse on 
                students enrolled in higher education;
                    ``(B) prevent students enrolled in higher education 
                from developing a substance use disorder;
                    ``(C) educate faculty and other staff about the 
                warning signs of substance use disorders and how to 
                help students who are affected by such disorders; and
                    ``(D) identify and promote evidence-based and 
                promising practices for helping to prevent and address 
                substance use disorders among students enrolled in 
                higher education.
            ``(2) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Evidence-based.--The term `evidence-based', 
                when used with respect to a program or practice, means 
                a program or practice that--
                            ``(i) is demonstrated to be effective when 
                        implemented with fidelity;
                            ``(ii) is based on a clearly articulated 
                        and empirically supported theory;
                            ``(iii) has measurable outcomes relevant to 
                        substance use disorder prevention, treatment, 
                        and recovery, including a detailed description 
                        of the outcomes produced in a particular 
                        population;
                            ``(iv) has been scientifically tested and 
                        proven effective through randomized control 
                        studies or comparison group studies; and
                            ``(v) has the ability to replicate and 
                        scale.
                    ``(B) Promising.--The term `promising', when used 
                with respect to a program or practice, means a program 
                or practice that--
                            ``(i) is demonstrated to be effective based 
                        on positive outcomes relevant to substance use 
                        disorder prevention or treatment from one or 
                        more objective, independent, and scientifically 
                        valid evaluations, as documented in writing to 
                        the Secretaries; and
                            ``(ii) will be evaluated through a well-
                        designed and rigorous study, as described in 
                        subparagraph (A)(iv).
                    ``(C) Secretaries.--The term `Secretaries' means 
                the Secretary of Education and the Secretary of Health 
                and Human Services (acting through the Assistant 
                Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use).
                    ``(D) Substance use.--The term `substance use' may 
                include the misuse or abuse of alcohol, prescription 
                opioids, methamphetamine, or other legal or illegal 
                substances.
            ``(3) Program authorized.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretaries, in accordance 
                with the interagency agreement described in paragraph 
                (4), may award, on a competitive basis, grants to 
                institutions of higher education, or consortia of 
                institutions of higher education, with regional high 
                incidences of substance use disorders, overdoses, and 
                deaths, in order to prevent and address the effects of 
                substance use on the campuses of the institutions of 
                higher education.
                    ``(B) Duration.--A grant under this subsection 
                shall be for a period of not more than 5 years, and may 
                be renewed for an additional 2 years if satisfactory 
                progress is made in preventing and reducing substance 
                use disorders as described in paragraph (5)(A).
                    ``(C) Reservation for rural areas.--The Secretaries 
                shall ensure that at least 25 percent of funds are 
                awarded to rural-serving institutions of higher 
                education, as defined in section 861.
            ``(4) Interagency agreement.--The Secretary of Education 
        and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through 
        the Assistant Secretary of Mental Health and Substance Use, 
        shall jointly administer the program under this subsection in 
        accordance with such terms as the Secretaries set forth in an 
        interagency agreement. Such interagency agreement shall include 
        a description of the respective roles and responsibilities of 
        the Secretaries (both jointly and separately).
            ``(5) Application.--An institution of higher education, or 
        consortium of institutions of higher education, desiring a 
        grant under paragraph (3)(A) shall submit an application at 
        such time and in such manner as the Secretaries may require. 
        Such application shall include--
                    ``(A) a description of the impact of substance use 
                disorders on students enrolled in each participating 
                institution of higher education, including--
                            ``(i) the number of overdoses in the past 
                        year;
                            ``(ii) the number of deaths related to 
                        substance use in the past year;
                            ``(iii) the degree to which students have 
                        substance use disorders, if such information is 
                        available; and
                            ``(iv) other indicators or information 
                        related to the most prevalent substance use in 
                        the region that such institution feels is 
                        necessary to fully describe the impact of the 
                        substance use on students;
                    ``(B) an assurance that the institution of higher 
                education, or consortia of institutions, has convened a 
                taskforce to address the impact of the most prevalent 
                substance use in the region on students, which shall 
                include--
                            ``(i) faculty and other staff;
                            ``(ii) current and former students, 
                        including students impacted by substance use 
                        disorders;
                            ``(iii) staff from campus health centers, 
                        if the institution operates campus health 
                        centers;
                            ``(iv) representatives from campus 
                        disability support services offices and student 
                        access support offices, if such offices exist 
                        at the institution;
                            ``(v) representatives from fraternities and 
                        sororities, if such organizations exist at the 
                        institution;
                            ``(vi) area local educational agencies;
                            ``(vii) local nonprofit organizations 
                        specializing in substance use treatment and 
                        prevention, including drug-free communities 
                        grantees under chapter 2 of subtitle A of title 
                        I of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 (21 U.S.C. 
                        1521 et seq.);
                            ``(viii) local hospitals, physicians, or 
                        other medical professionals;
                            ``(ix) local or campus law enforcement 
                        entities; and
                            ``(x) other stakeholders that the 
                        institution or consortium chooses to include;
                    ``(C) a plan developed by the taskforce described 
                in subparagraph (B) to use funds in accordance with 
                paragraph (6) to address the impact of substance use on 
                students enrolled in higher education, which shall 
                include a description of--
                            ``(i) the goals of the project, which shall 
                        include decreasing the number of students with 
                        substance use disorders; and
                            ``(ii) how the institution or consortium 
                        will--
                                    ``(I) use funds in accordance with 
                                paragraph (6), including the evidence 
                                base for proposed activities;
                                    ``(II) coordinate funds with other 
                                programs designed to prevent and 
                                address substance use disorders among 
                                students; and
                                    ``(III) sustain grant activities 
                                beyond the grant period, including 
                                methods for continuous improvement of 
                                grant activities; and
                    ``(D) an assurance that the institution or 
                consortium will continue to convene the taskforce 
                described in subparagraph (B) periodically to improve 
                institutional programming and policy related to 
                substance use disorders.
            ``(6) Uses of funds.--
                    ``(A) Required activities.--An institution of 
                higher education, or consortium of institutions of 
                higher education, receiving a grant under paragraph (3) 
                shall use grant funds for evidence-based or promising 
                interventions designed to address and prevent substance 
                use disorders among students enrolled in higher 
                education.
                    ``(B) Allowable activities.--The activities 
                described in subparagraph (A) may include--
                            ``(i) education efforts to provide students 
                        enrolled in higher education with information 
                        on the impact of substance use disorders;
                            ``(ii) recovery services for such students 
                        with substance use disorders, which may include 
                        recovery dorms that offer sober living along 
                        with substance use treatment services;
                            ``(iii) treatment or referrals to treatment 
                        for such students with substance use disorders;
                            ``(iv) institution-wide prevention efforts, 
                        which may include public service announcements;
                            ``(v) efforts to identify programs 
                        targeting populations of students, such as 
                        student athletes, fraternity members, sorority 
                        members, and others enrolled in higher 
                        education, with an increased risk for substance 
                        use disorders;
                            ``(vi) mental or behavioral health 
                        counseling or academic counseling services for 
                        students enrolled in higher education who are 
                        affected by substance use disorders; and
                            ``(vii) other programs designed to address 
                        or prevent substance use disorders among 
                        students enrolled in higher education.
            ``(7) Supplement not supplant.--Funds made available under 
        this subsection shall be used to supplement and not supplant 
        other Federal, State, and local funds available to the 
        institution to carry out the activities described in paragraph 
        (6).
            ``(8) Matching requirement.--An institution of higher 
        education, or consortium of institutions of higher education, 
        receiving a grant under paragraph (3) shall provide, from non-
        Federal sources, not less than 20 percent of matching funds, 
        which may be in cash or in-kind contributions.
            ``(9) National activities.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretaries may reserve not 
                more than 5 percent of funds made available under 
                paragraph (10) to--
                            ``(i) conduct a rigorous, independent 
                        evaluation of each grant funded under this Act, 
                        particularly its impact on the indicators 
                        described in paragraph (5)(A);
                            ``(ii) disseminate and promote the 
                        utilization of evidence-based or promising 
                        practices regarding substance use disorder 
                        prevention and treatment for students enrolled 
                        in higher education; and
                            ``(iii) provide technical assistance to 
                        institutions of higher education or consortia 
                        receiving a grant under paragraph (3).
                    ``(B) Role for ies director.--The Director of the 
                Institute of Education Sciences shall carry out the 
                roles and responsibilities under this paragraph that 
                are assigned to the Secretary of Education in 
                accordance with the interagency agreement under 
                paragraph (4).
            ``(10) Authorizations of appropriations.--There are 
        authorized to be appropriated to carry out this subsection 
        $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2020 and each of the 5 succeeding 
        fiscal years.''.
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