[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3455 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3455

 To amend the Public Health Service Act with respect to mental health 
         services for children, adolescents and their families.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 18, 1999

  Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas (for herself, Ms. Millender-McDonald, Ms. 
Kilpatrick, Ms. Lee, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Green of Texas, Mr. McDermott, 
   Mr. Edwards, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Kucinich, Mrs. Mink of Hawaii, Mr. 
Rangel, Mr. Barrett of Wisconsin, Mr. Sawyer, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Pastor, 
 Mr. Cramer, Mrs. Meek of Florida, Ms. Brown of Florida, Mr. Davis of 
Illinois, Mr. Clyburn, Mr. Towns, Mrs. Napolitano, Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Farr 
   of California, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Udall of Colorado, Mr. Ford, Mr. 
 Martinez, Mr. Forbes, Mr. Rodriquez, Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Gonzalez, Mr. 
Fattah, Mr. Larson, Mr. Owens, Mr. Baldacci, Mr. Pascrell, Mr. Weygand, 
  Mr. Baca, Mr. Meeks of New York, Mr. Baird, Mr. Strickland, and Mr. 
   Lampson) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                         Committee on Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Public Health Service Act with respect to mental health 
         services for children, adolescents and their families.

    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 ``Give a Kid a Chance Omnibus Mental 
Health Services Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds as follows:
            (1) At least one in five children and adolescents has a 
        diagnosable mental, emotional, or behavioral problem that can 
        lead to school failure, alcohol or other drug use, violence, or 
        suicide. Mental disorders that begin early in life have a 
        strong effect on future educational success. Adolescent 
        emotional problems may increase the likelihood of risk-taking 
        behaviors, including gun violence, drug abuse, reckless 
        driving, and early sexual activity.
            (2) From a public health promotion/disease prevention 
        perspective, it is noteworthy that children and adolescents 
        with mental illnesses often don't become substance abusers 
        until 5 to 10 years after the mental illness becomes apparent. 
        This creates a window of opportunity during which time it may 
        be possible to prevent substance abuse from occurring in these 
        children.
            (3) The interaction of multiple factors has increased the 
        overall number of children suffering from psychological, 
        emotional and behavioral disorders. Children as a group suffer 
        from poverty at a higher rate than all other age groups. More 
        than one in three children are raised in single-parent 
        households. Children over the age of 10 years are frequently 
        caring for themselves after school and sometimes into the 
        evening before their parents or other caregivers arrive. These 
        factors create greater problems with children's emotional 
        development.
            (4) The combination of witnessing and experiencing 
        traumatic events, poverty, alienation, and multiple 
        environmental and family factors including abuse and neglect, 
        creates greater psychological neglect and social isolation, 
        further contributing to various mental health problems. The 
        combination of these factors in an emotionally unhealthy 
        climate combined with the availability of firearms can produce 
        deadly results.
            (5) In many urban, poor and predominantly minority 
        communities, young children are chronically exposed to serious 
        violent crime during their formative years. It is the recent 
        school violence in suburban and rural communities that has 
        increased awareness about the prevalence of violence in the 
        lives of America's children. Increasingly, in the home, 
        community and at school, children are affected by or involved 
        in theft, vandalism, bullying, intimidation, intolerance, and 
        disruption.
            (6) While the above behaviors are symptomatic of mental 
        health problems requiring service interventions, most children 
        with mental health problems are not violent to others. They are 
        more likely than their peers to be the recipients of 
        intimidation and violence, and are the largest, most neglected 
        group of children suffering from serious illness or disability.
            (7) Only one in five children with a serious emotional 
        disturbance receive mental health specialty services, although 
        twice as many such children receive some form of mental health 
        intervention. Thus, about 75 to 80 percent fail to receive 
        specialty services, and the majority of these children fail to 
        receive any services at all.
            (8) Mental health is indispensable to personal well-being, 
        family and interpersonal relationships, and contribution to 
        community or society. From early childhood until death, mental 
        health is the basis for thinking and communication skills, 
        learning, emotional growth, resilience, and self-esteem.
            (9) Mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders lead to 
        irregular school attendance, difficulty with concentration, 
        focus, and motivation to learn basic academic fundamentals.
            (10) Prevention programs, early intervention, help from the 
        faith-based community, and mental health services in the 
        family, school, and community setting have proven successful 
        and cost-effective using both school and community resources 
        for reducing the neglected tragedy of mental, emotional and 
        behavioral problems among youth.
            (11) Mental health services personnel can provide 
        consultation with teachers to improve classroom environment and 
        provide guidance around specific children. Consulting with 
        parents, they enable teachers and families to work together, 
        increasing the family's involvement in their child's academic 
        performance and psychosocial development.
            (12) The lack of mental health services in schools and 
        communities where the greatest need exists has resulted in a 
        disproportionate increase in children dropping out of school, 
        becoming involved in delinquent activity, and becoming part of 
        the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems. In fact, 
        because of the lack of intervention and mental health services, 
        more children are being certified to be tried as adults and are 
        being subjected to incarceration in the juvenile or adult 
criminal justice systems. These issues impact especially minority 
populations and those living in poverty.
            (13) Little effort has previously been directed toward 
        promoting the development of mental health, recognizing signs 
        of early problems and providing early intervention to 
        ameliorate these problems.

SEC. 3. MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES FOR CHILDREN, ADOLESCENTS AND THEIR 
              FAMILIES.

    Title V of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290aa et seq.) 
is amended by inserting after section 520B the following section:

``SEC. 520C. MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES FOR CHILDREN, ADOLESCENTS AND THEIR 
              FAMILIES.

    ``(a) In General.--In cooperation with the Secretary of Education, 
the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall support either 
directly or through grants, contracts or cooperative agreements with 
public entities programs to promote mental health among all children, 
from birth through adolescence, and their families and to provide early 
intervention services to ameliorate identified mental health problems 
in children and adolescents.
    ``(b) Equitable Distribution of Grants.--The Secretary shall 
provide for an equitable distribution of grants by region, to include 
urban, suburban and rural regions, including Native American 
communities.
    ``(c) Priority.--The Secretary shall give priority to those 
applicants who--
            ``(1) provide a comprehensive, community-based, culturally 
        competent and developmentally appropriate prevention and early 
        intervention program that provides for the identification of 
        early mental health problems and promotes the mental health and 
        enhances the resiliency of children from birth through 
        adolescence and their families;
            ``(2) incorporate families, schools and communities in an 
        integral role in the program;
            ``(3) coordinate behavioral health care services, 
        interventions, and supports in traditional and non-traditional 
        settings and provides a continuum of care for children from 
        birth through adolescence and their families;
            ``(4) provide public health education to improve the 
        public's understanding of healthy emotional development;
            ``(5) provide training, technical assistance, consultation, 
        and support for community service providers, school personnel, 
        families and children to promote healthy emotional development 
        and enhance resiliency in children from birth through 
        adolescence;
            ``(6) increase the resources available to such programs and 
        provide for their sustainability by requiring a commitment on 
        the part of local communities in which the programs provide 
        services;
            ``(7) provide for the evaluation of programs operating 
        under this section to ensure that they are providing intended 
        services in an efficient and effective manner; and
            ``(8) provide school-based mental health assessment and 
        treatment services conducted by a mental health professional 
        (who may be a school counselor, school nurse, school 
        psychologist, clinical psychologist, or school social worker) 
        in public elementary or secondary schools.
    ``(d) Matching Requirement.--A condition for an award under 
subsection (a) is that the entity involved agree that the entity will, 
with respect to the costs to be incurred by the entity in carrying out 
the purpose described in such subsection, make available (directly or 
through donations from public or private entities) non-Federal 
contributions toward such costs in an amount that is not less than $2 
for each $3 of Federal funds provided in the award.
    ``(e) Durations of Grants.--With respect to an award under 
subsection (a), the period during which payments under such award are 
made to the recipient may not exceed 5 years.
    ``(f) Evaluation.--The Secretary shall ensure that entities 
receiving awards under subsection (a) carry out an evaluation of the 
project which will include the effectiveness of program strategies, and 
short, intermediate, and long-term outcomes including the program's 
overall impact on strengthening families with young children and 
creating environments in home, school, and community settings that 
promote healthy emotional development and reduce incipient mental 
health and substance abuse problems. Local educational agencies 
receiving such grants shall ensure that the schools receiving these 
funds maintain an average ratio of one certified or licensed--
            ``(1) school counselor for every 250 students;
            ``(2) school nurse for every 700 students;
            ``(3) school psychologist for every 1000 students; and
            ``(4) school social worker for every 800 students.
    ``(g) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
            ``(1) The term `mental health' means a state of successful 
        performance of mental function, resulting in productive 
        activities, fulfilling relationships with other people, and the 
        ability to adapt to change and cope with adversity.
            ``(2) The term `mental illness' refers to all diagnosable 
        mental disorders (health conditions characterized by 
        alterations in thinking, mood, or behavior or some combination 
        thereof) associated with distress or impaired functioning or 
        both.
            ``(3) The term `mental health problems' refers to symptoms 
        of insufficient intensity or duration to meet the criteria for 
        any mental disorder.
            ``(4)(A) The term `mental health professionals' refers to 
        qualified counselors, nurses, psychologists, and social 
        workers.
            ``(B) The terms `school counselor', `school nurse', `school 
        psychologist', and `school social worker' mean an individual 
        who possesses licensure or certification in the State involved, 
        and who meets professional standards for practice in schools 
        and related settings, as a school counselor, school nurse, 
        school psychologist, or school social worker, respectively.
            ``(5) The term `public entity' means any State, any 
        political subdivision of a State, including any local 
        educational agency, and any Indian tribe or tribal organization 
        (as defined in section 4(b) and section 4(c) of the Indian 
        Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act).
    ``(h) Authorization of Appropriation.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $100,000,000 for fiscal year 
2000 and such sums as are necessary for fiscal years 2001 and 2002. 
These funds are authorized to be used to carry out the provision of 
this section and cannot be utilized to supplement or supplant funding 
provided for other mental health services programs.''.
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