H.R. 5733 — Community Mental Wellness Worker Training Act

This section establishes a grant program administered by the Secretary, acting through the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, to support eligible entities in training, certifying, and supervising community mental wellness workers (i.e., individuals trained to screen for common mental health and substance use conditions and deliver evidence-informed counseling and interventions, including suicide risk reduction). Grant funds may be used for worker training and supervision; digital platforms for screening, training, treatment delivery, quality assurance, and outcomes evaluation; and clinical supervision and certification costs. The Secretary must provide technical assistance to grantees on employing such workers and disseminate it to states, localities, Indian Tribes, substance use treatment providers, and other behavioral health organizations. Grant priority is given to entities in high-poverty/unemployment areas (per American Community Survey), medically underserved communities, areas with above-average substance use rates (per National Institute on Drug Abuse), or communities with above-average dually eligible Medicare-Medicaid populations. This section applies malpractice liability protections from section 224(g)-(l) of the Public Health Service Act to covered grant entities, officers, employees, and contractors participating in the program (with list submission required), beginning in the first full fiscal year after enactment. The Secretary must report to Congress on program results—an interim report one year after enactment and a final report by the end of FY2030—including totals of participating and certified workers.