119-hr5557

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5557 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 5557

 To amend the Public Health Service Act to revise and extend projects 
 relating to children and to provide access to school-based 
 comprehensive mental health programs.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 September 23, 2025

Ms. Salinas (for herself, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Ms. Barragan, Ms. Bonamici, 
 Ms. Brownley, Ms. Budzinski, Mr. Carey, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. 
 Cohen, Ms. Craig, Ms. Dean of Pennsylvania, Ms. DelBene, Mr. Doggett, 
 Ms. Lois Frankel of Florida, Mr. Frost, Mr. Garcia of California, Mr. 
 Harder of California, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Mr. Magaziner, Ms. 
McCollum, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Moulton, Mr. Mrvan, Mr. Mullin, Ms. Norton, 
Mr. Pappas, Ms. Pingree, Mr. Pocan, Mrs. Ramirez, Mr. Ryan, Ms. Titus, 
 Ms. Tokuda, Mr. Torres of New York, Ms. Scanlon, Ms. Scholten, Mr. 
 Schneider, Mr. Sorensen, and Ms. Underwood) introduced the following 
 bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To amend the Public Health Service Act to revise and extend projects 
 relating to children and to provide access to school-based 
 comprehensive mental health programs.

 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 ``Mental Health Services for Students 
Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE ACT.

    (a) Technical Amendments.--The second part G (relating to services 
provided through religious organizations) of title V of the Public 
Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290kk et seq.) is amended--

    (1) by redesignating such part as part J; and

    (2) by redesignating sections 581 through 584 as sections 
 596 through 596C, respectively.

    (b) School-Based Mental Health and Children.--

Section 581 of the 
Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290hh) (relating to children and 
violence) is amended to read as follows:

``

SEC. 581. SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH; CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS.

 ``

    (a) In General.--The Secretary, in consultation with the 
Secretary of Education, shall, through grants, contracts, or 
cooperative agreements awarded to eligible entities described in 
subsection
            (c) , provide comprehensive school-based mental health 
services and supports to assist children in local communities and 
schools (including schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Education) 
dealing with traumatic experiences, grief, bereavement, risk of 
suicide, and violence. Such services and supports shall be--
 ``

    (1) developmentally, linguistically, and culturally 
 appropriate;
 ``

    (2) trauma-informed; and
 ``

    (3) incorporate positive behavioral interventions and 
 supports.
 ``

    (b) Activities.--Grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements 
awarded under subsection

    (a) , shall, as appropriate, be used for--
 ``

    (1) implementation of school- and community-based mental 
 health programs that--
 ``
        (A) build awareness of individual trauma and the 
 intergenerational continuum of impacts of trauma on 
 populations;
 ``
        (B) train appropriate staff to identify, and 
 screen for, signs of trauma exposure, mental health 
 disorders, or risk of suicide; and
 ``
            (C) incorporate positive behavioral 
 interventions, family engagement, student treatment, 
 and multigenerational supports to foster the health and 
 development of children, prevent mental health 
 disorders, and ameliorate the impact of trauma;
 ``

    (2) technical assistance to local communities with 
 respect to the development of programs described in paragraph

    (1) ;
 ``

    (3) facilitating community partnerships among families, 
 students, law enforcement agencies, education agencies, mental 
 health and substance use disorder service systems, family-based 
 mental health service systems, child welfare agencies, health 
 care providers (including primary care physicians, mental 
 health professionals, and other professionals who specialize in 
 children's mental health such as child and adolescent 
 psychiatrists), institutions of higher education, faith-based 
 programs, trauma networks, and other community-based systems to 
 address child and adolescent trauma, mental health issues, and 
 violence; and
 ``

    (4) establishing mechanisms for children and adolescents 
 to report incidents of violence or plans by other children, 
 adolescents, or adults to commit violence.
 ``
            (c) Requirements.--
 ``

    (1) In general.--To be eligible for a grant, contract, or 
 cooperative agreement under subsection

    (a) , an entity shall be 
 a partnership that includes--
 ``
        (A) a State educational agency, as defined in 
 

section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
 Act of 1965, in coordination with one or more local 
 educational agencies, as defined in 

section 8101 of the 
 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, or a 
 consortium of any entities described in subparagraph
        (B) ,
            (C) ,
            (D) , or
        (E) of 

section 8101

    (30) of such Act; 
 and
 ``
        (B) at least 1 community-based mental health 
 provider, including a public or private mental health 
 entity, health care entity, family-based mental health 
 entity, trauma network, or other community-based 
 entity, as determined by the Secretary (and which may 
 include additional entities such as a human services 
 agency, law enforcement or juvenile justice entity, 
 child welfare agency, agency, an institution of higher 
 education, or another entity, as determined by the 
 Secretary).
 ``

    (2) Compliance with hipaa.--Any patient records developed 
 by covered entities through activities under a grant, contract, 
 or cooperative agreement under this section shall meet the 
 regulations promulgated under 

section 264
            (c) of the Health 
 Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.
 ``

    (3) Compliance with ferpa.--

Section 444 of the General 
 Education Provisions Act (commonly known as the `Family 
 Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974') shall apply to any 
 entity that is a member of a partnership entered into pursuant 
 to paragraph

    (1) in the same manner that such section applies 
 to an educational agency or institution (as that term is 
 defined in such section).
 ``
            (d) Geographical Distribution.--The Secretary shall ensure that 
grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements under subsection

    (a) will 
be distributed equitably among the regions of the country and among 
urban and rural areas.
 ``

    (e) Duration of Awards.--With respect to a grant, contract, or 
cooperative agreement under subsection

    (a) , the period during which 
payments under such an award will be made to the recipient shall be 5 
years, with options for renewal.
 ``

    (f) Evaluation and Measures of Outcomes.--
 ``

    (1) Development of process.--The Assistant Secretary 
 shall develop a fiscally appropriate process for evaluating 
 activities carried out under this section. Such process shall 
 include--
 ``
        (A) the development of guidelines for the 
 submission of program data by grant, contract, or 
 cooperative agreement recipients;
 ``
        (B) the development of measures of outcomes (in 
 accordance with paragraph

    (2) ) to be applied by such 
 recipients in evaluating programs carried out under 
 this section; and
 ``
            (C) the submission of annual reports by such 
 recipients concerning the effectiveness of programs 
 carried out under this section.
 ``

    (2) Measures of outcomes.--The Assistant Secretary shall 
 develop measures of outcomes to be applied by recipients of 
 assistance under this section to evaluate the effectiveness of 
 programs carried out under this section, including outcomes 
 related to the student, family, and local educational systems 
 supported by this Act.
 ``

    (3) Submission of annual data.--An eligible entity 
 described in subsection
            (c) that receives a grant, contract, or 
 cooperative agreement under this section shall annually submit 
 to the Assistant Secretary a report that includes data to 
 evaluate the success of the program carried out by the entity 
 based on whether such program is achieving the purposes of the 
 program. Such reports shall utilize the measures of outcomes 
 under paragraph

    (2) in a reasonable manner to demonstrate the 
 progress of the program in achieving such purposes.
 ``

    (4) Evaluation by assistant secretary.--Based on the data 
 submitted under paragraph

    (3) , the Assistant Secretary shall 
 annually submit to Congress a report concerning the results and 
 effectiveness of the programs carried out with assistance 
 received under this section.
 ``

    (5) Limitation.--An eligible entity shall use not more 
 than 20 percent of amounts received under a grant under this 
 section to carry out evaluation activities under this 
 subsection.
 ``

    (g) Information and Education.--The Secretary shall disseminate 
best practices based on the findings of the knowledge development and 
application under this section.
 ``

    (h) Amount of Grants and Authorization of Appropriations.--
 ``

    (1) Amount of grants.--A grant under this section shall 
 be in an amount that is not more than $2,000,000 for each of 
 the first 5 fiscal years following the date of enactment of the 
 Mental Health Services for Students Act of 2025. The Secretary 
 shall determine the amount of each such grant based on the 
 population of children up to age 21 of the area to be served 
 under the grant.
 ``

    (2) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized 
 to be appropriated to carry out this section, $300,000,000 for 
 each of fiscal years 2027 through 2028.''.
            (c) Conforming Amendment.--Part G of title V of the Public Health 
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290hh et seq.), as amended by subsection

    (b) , is 
further amended by striking the part designation and heading and 
inserting the following:

 ``PART G--SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH''.

 <all>