“A bill to address mental health issues for youth, particularly youth of color, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section amends the Primary and Behavioral Health Care grant program by (1) authorizing the Secretary, as appropriate, to give special consideration in awarding grants to eligible entities serving high proportions of racial and ethnic minority groups; and (2) revising the authorization of appropriations to $60 million for FY2025 and $80 million for each of FY2026 through 2031 (from $60 million for each of FY2023 through 2027). (Thus, the program—which provides grants to promote integration of primary behavioral health care services into community-based primary care settings—is extended through FY2031.)
This section directs the Director of the National Institutes of Health, in consultation with the Directors of the National Institute of Mental Health and National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities and the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, to enter into an arrangement no later than 9 months after enactment with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (or, if they decline, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute or another appropriate entity; fallback to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) to (1) conduct a study on mental health disparities research gaps in racial and ethnic minority groups (as defined in section 1707(g) of the Public Health Service Act); and (2) submit a report to Congress including (A) a compilation of information on the prevalence of mental health outcomes in such groups, (B) an assessment of the impact of exposure to community violence, adverse childhood experiences, structural bias, and other psychological traumas on mental health outcomes in such groups, and (C) potential recommendations to remedy the research gap.
This section amends the Minority Fellowship Program, which awards fellowships with stipends for postbaccalaureate training (e.g., master's and doctoral degrees) of mental and substance use disorder professionals (e.g., in psychiatry, nursing, psychology) to improve services for racial and ethnic minority populations with such disorders. It inserts new subsection (b) authorizing fellowship recipients or the program administrator to use funds for developing and disseminating best practices or core competencies addressing mental health disparities among racial and ethnic minority groups in training students in specified professions (social work, psychology, psychiatry, addiction medicine, marriage and family therapy, mental health counseling, and substance misuse counseling), including (1) forming expert committees or working groups from accredited health professions schools, (2) planning national workshops for public input, (3) promoting use in undergraduate and graduate training programs, and (4) establishing external advisory boards. The section also extends authorization of $25 million annually for the program through FY2031 (from FY2027).
This section establishes a behavioral and mental health outreach and education strategy for racial and ethnic minority groups (as defined in section 1707(g) of the Public Health Service Act), to be developed and implemented by the Secretary of Health and Human Services in consultation with relevant advocacy and service organizations. The strategy must (1) address diverse cultural, language, developmental, and age-appropriate needs; (2) increase awareness of common mental illness symptoms within at-risk subgroups; (3) provide information on evidence-based, culturally and linguistically appropriate interventions and treatments; (4) engage service recipients and community members, including adolescents and young adults, in materials development and implementation; and (5) promote a comprehensive public health approach integrating behavioral and physical health. It requires the Secretary to submit annual reports to Congress, and make them publicly available, for five years beginning one year after enactment, and authorizes $20 million for each of FY2026 through FY2031.
This section authorizes an additional $150 million for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2031 to (1) build relations with communities and conduct or support clinical research, including clinical research on racial or ethnic disparities in physical and mental health; and (2) carry out the Strategic Framework for Addressing Youth Mental Health Disparities developed by the National Institute of Mental Health. In this section, clinical research has the meaning given in section 409 of the Public Health Service Act (i.e., patient-oriented research conducted with human subjects, or research on the causes and consequences of disease in human populations involving material of human origin).
This section authorizes appropriations of $750 million for the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2031, in addition to amounts otherwise authorized for the institute.