Youth Mental Health Data Act of 2023

Bill: 118-s-3532
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Casey, Robert P., Jr. [D-PA]
Introduced: 2023-12-14
Policy area: Health
Latest action: action_date: 2023-12-14
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Summaries:

tv_txt: II 118th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 3532 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES December 14, 2023 Mr. Casey (for himself, Mr. Brown , and Mr. Booker ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the establishment of a Task Force on Youth Mental Health Data Integration.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Youth Mental Health Data Act of 2023 . 2. Task force on youth mental health Title III of the Public Health Service Act ( 42 U.S.C. 241 et seq. ) is amended by inserting after section 317L–1 ( 42 U.S.C. 247b–13a ) the following: 317L–2. Task Force on Youth Mental Health Data Integration (a) Establishment Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of the Youth Mental Health Data Act of 2023 , the Secretary, in consultation with the Behavioral Health Coordinating Council, the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs, and any other councils on children designated by the Secretary, shall establish a task force, to be known as the Task Force on Youth Mental Health Data Integration (referred to in this section as the Task Force ), to assess and make recommendations to improve Federal data systems on youth mental health. (b) Membership (1) Composition The Task Force shall be composed of— (A) the Assistant Secretary for Health of the Department of Health and Human Services (or the Assistant Secretary’s designee) who shall serve as the Chair of the Task Force; (B) the Federal members under paragraph (2); and (C) the non-Federal members under paragraph (3). (2) Federal members In addition to the Assistant Secretary for Health, the Federal members of the Task Force shall consist of the heads of the following Federal departments and agencies (or their designees): (A) The Administration for Children and Families. (B) The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (C) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (D) The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (E) The Health Resources and Services Administration. (F) The Food and Drug Administration. (G) The Indian Health Service. (H) The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation of the Department of Health and Human Services. (I) The Office of Minority Health of the Department of Health and Human Services. (J) The Office of the Surgeon General. (K) The National Institutes of Health. (L) The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (M) The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response. (N) The Department of Education. (O) The Department of Justice. (P) The Department of Labor. (Q) Such other Federal departments and agencies as the Secretary determines appropriate, such as the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. (3) Non-Federal members The non-Federal members of the Task Force shall— (A) compose not less than half of the total membership of the Task Force; (B) be appointed by the Secretary; and (C) include— (i) representatives of medical societies with expertise in youth mental health; (ii) representatives of nonprofit organizations with expertise in youth mental health; (iii) individuals under age 21, including at least one such individual who has received a diagnosis of a mental health condition; (iv) individuals ages 21 to 24, including at least one such individual who has received a diagnosis of a mental health condition; (v) representatives of media and technology companies; and (vi) other representatives, as appropriate. (4) Deadline for designating designees If the Assistant Secretary for Health, or the head of a Federal department or agency serving as a member of the Task Force under paragraph (2), chooses to be represented on the Task Force by a designee, the Assistant Secretary or head shall designate such designee not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of the Youth Mental Health Data Act of 2023 . (c) National strategy The Task Force shall develop a national strategy to improve data systems to understand youth mental health needs, services, and evidence-based or evidence-informed interventions, including processes for— (1) data integration across governments and health systems, to enable real-time, longitudinal surveillance of youth mental health trends, including de-identified data that can be disaggregated, with appropriate protections to ensure the anonymity and personal privacy of youth with mental health conditions or functional mental health needs, by— (A) location, at the State and national levels; (B) age; (C) gender; (D) race; (E) ethnicity; (F) mental health diagnosis; (G) insurance status and payor type; (H) health care provider type, including primary care provider type and, if applicable, mental health specialist type; (I) youth involved in the juvenile justice system; (J) youth involved in the child welfare system; and (K) other relevant categories identified by the Task Force; (2) tracking the use of electronic health records among pediatric primary care and mental health service providers, and barriers to such use; (3) developing and strengthening public-private research partnerships between academic institutions, community-based organizations, media and technology companies, health care organizations, and others, as appropriate, to understand needs, risk and protective factors, and outcomes for youth mental health; (4) tracking the scale of use and outcomes associated with innovative, scalable therapies and approaches, such as self-guided, computerized, and group-based therapies and peer support programs; (5) using dissemination and implementation science to scale up evidence-based or evidence-informed prevention, screening, and treatment of mental health conditions in systems that serve youth, such as academic, health care, social services, child welfare, and juvenile justice settings; (6) understanding social media and digital technology’s impact on youth mental health, evaluating guardrails for safe use of media and digital technology by youth, and identifying opportunities for the use of technology to engage youth and families in positive mental health behaviors and suicide prevention, including use of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline; (7) facilitating information sharing between federally-funded research and programs addressing youth mental health in order to maximize the impact of such programs and inform related State and Federal programs; and (8) creating a public-facing website that integrates and displays real-time information on youth mental health needs and trends, the status of federally-funded work to address such needs, and opportunities for community-based organizations to support youth mental health. (d) Meetings The Task Force shall— (1) meet not less than 4 times each year; and (2) convene public meetings, as appropriate, to fulfill its duties under this section. (e) Reports to the public and Federal leaders The Task Force shall make publicly available and submit to the heads of relevant Federal departments and agencies, the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives, and other relevant congressional committees, the following: (1) Not later than 1 years after the first meeting of the Task Force, an initial national strategy under subsection (c). (2) Each year thereafter— (A) an updated national strategy under subsection (c), as appropriate; and (B) a report summarizing the activities of the Task Force. (f) Reports to governors Upon finalizing the national strategy under subsection (c), or a subsequent update to such strategy pursuant to subsection (e)(2)(A), the Task Force shall submit to the governors of all States a report describing opportunities for local- and State-level partnerships identified under subsection (c)(3) and information sharing described in subsection (c)(7). (g) Sunset The Task Force shall terminate on the date that is 5 years after the date on which the Task Force is established under subsection (a). .