[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1555 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1555

  To provide sufficient funds for the research necessary to enable an 
 effective public health approach to the problems of youth suicide and 
 violence, and to develop ways to intervene early and effectively with 
children and adolescents who suffer depression or other mental illness, 
so as to avoid the tragedy of suicide, violence, and long-term illness 
                            and disability.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 5, 1999

  Mr. Domenici (for himself and Mr. Kennedy) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide sufficient funds for the research necessary to enable an 
 effective public health approach to the problems of youth suicide and 
 violence, and to develop ways to intervene early and effectively with 
children and adolescents who suffer depression or other mental illness, 
so as to avoid the tragedy of suicide, violence, and long-term illness 
                            and disability.

    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 ``Public Health Response to Youth 
Suicide and Violence Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young 
        people 15 to 24 years of age, following unintentional injuries 
        and homicide, and is the fourth leading cause of death in those 
        10 to 14 years of age. Scientific research has found that there 
        are an estimated 8 to 25 attempted suicides to 1 completion, 
        and the strongest risk factors for attempted suicide in youth 
        are depression and alcohol or drug use.
            (2) There is a critical need for additional research into 
        the underlying causes of youth violence-both suicide and 
        violence against others. 50 percent of parents with a child 
        suffering from a serious mental disorder believe their child 
        would become violent without appropriate treatment and 
        services.
            (3) A public health model should seek to ascertain ways to 
        identify children and adolescents who are depressed or 
        suffering from other mental or emotional disorders that might 
        result in violent behavior against themselves or others, as 
        well as long-term illness disability, and to intervene before 
        that occurs.
            (4) Not enough is known about serious mental disorders in 
        adolescents and children, devastating illnesses which often 
        lead to school failure, suicide, and violence. A primary reason 
        for this is the lack of trained scientific investigators in 
        this area of research. It is critical that increased efforts be 
        made to strengthen the scientific expertise and capability in 
        the area of child mental disorders.
            (5) About 1 in 10 children and adolescents suffer from 
        mental illness severe enough to cause some level of impairment, 
        but fewer than 1 in 5 of these children receives treatment. 
        Children who go untreated not only suffer, cannot learn, and 
        may not form healthy relationships with peers or family, but 
        face an increased likelihood of eventual incarceration as 
        juveniles and adults.
            (6) Prevention of youth suicide and violence requires a 
        long-term commitment to comprehensive, cost effective, and 
        sustainable interventions directed at known risk factors, and 
        to the evaluation of their success in diverse community 
        settings by targeting multiple risk factors that predispose 
        them to suicide, delinquency and violence.
            (7) Much more information is needed concerning the 
        psychotherapeutic and service system treatment of serious 
        mental illness in children as well as barriers to appropriate 
        and effective treatment and  services for these children, in 
the health care and educational systems.

SEC. 3. EXPANSION OF ACTIVITIES.

    Subpart 16 of part C of title IV of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 285p et seq) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 464U-1. EXPANSION OF RESEARCH ACTIVITIES WITH RESPECT TO 
              CHILDREN.

    ``(a) In General.--The Director of the National Institute of Mental 
Health shall use amounts made available under this section to carry out 
activities to expand and intensify research aimed at better 
understanding the underlying developmental and other causes of mental 
disorders that lead to youth suicide and violence.
    ``(b) Mandatory Activities.--To carry out the purpose described in 
subsection (a), the Director of the Institute shall--
            ``(1) work to develop investigators who are trained in the 
        area of childhood mental disorders in order to continue the 
        effort to understand the developing brain and mental disorders 
        in children and to strengthen the capacity to ascertain the 
        factors underlying suicide and other violent behavior in youth;
            ``(2) expand support for basic research that has led to a 
        better understanding of the structure, function and circuitry 
        of the brain, and which promises to yield even more 
        understanding as neuroimaging techniques become even more 
        sophisticated;
            ``(3) carry out activities to further encourage research to 
        clarify--
                    ``(A) the relationship between mental disorders and 
                youth violence and suicide;
                    ``(B) the first emergence of mental illnesses in 
                children, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, 
                and obsessive-compulsive disorder;
                    ``(C) effective early treatments for such illnesses 
                and disorders; and
                    ``(D) in collaboration with the Director of the 
                Centers for Mental Health Services, where appropriate, 
                the manner in which to effectively disseminate 
                information derived under this paragraph to care-
                providers in the community;
            ``(4) in order to address the major problem of lack of 
        recognition of mental disorders, and to ensure appropriate 
        diagnosis and treatment, continue to encourage, in 
        collaboration with the Administrator of the Agency for Health 
        Care Policy and Research, where appropriate, services research 
        aimed at better understanding the impact of mental disorders on 
        children, on their families, on the health care system, and on 
        schools as well as services research aimed at improving care-
        provider and educator knowledge of mental disorders in 
        children;
            ``(5) seek to develop, conduct research on, and in 
        collaboration with the Director of the Center for Mental Health 
        Services, where appropriate, disseminate information about, 
        mechanisms for avoiding the inappropriate criminalization of 
        children with mental disorders and the appropriate treatment of 
        any such children in criminal settings;
            ``(6) in collaboration with the Director of the Centers for 
        Disease Control and Prevention, carry out additional activities 
        to better understand the scope and effect of childhood mental 
        disorders, including epidemiological monitoring and 
        surveillance of childhood mental illness, suicide and incidence 
        of violence;
            ``(7) in collaboration with the Director of the Centers for 
        Disease Control and Prevention, families dealing with mental 
        illness in their children, and other appropriate agencies, 
        carry out activities to develop a model curriculum of education 
        about mental disorders in children for use in the training of 
        primary care physicians, nurses, school psychologists, 
        teachers, and others individuals responsible for the care of 
        children on an ongoing basis; and
            ``(8) in collaboration with the Director of the Centers for 
        Disease Control and Prevention, establish a system to provide 
        technical assistance to schools and communities to provide 
        public health information and best practices to enable such 
        schools and communities to handle high-risk youth.
    ``(c) Permissible Activities.--To carry out the purpose described 
in subsection (a), the Director of the Institute may carry out 
activities--
            ``(1) relating to research concerning the effects of early 
        trauma and exposure to violence on further childhood 
        development;
            ``(2) that ensure that the goals of all intervention 
        development under this section include a focus on both 
        effectiveness and sustainability;
            ``(3) for the development and evaluation of programs aimed 
        at prevention, early recognition, and intervention for 
        depression, youth suicide and violence in diverse school and 
        community settings to determine their effectiveness and 
        sustainability;
            ``(4) to examine the feasibility of public health programs 
        combining individual, family and community level interventions 
        to address suicide and violence and identify related best 
        practices; and
            ``(5) to disseminate information to families, schools, and 
        communities concerning the recognition of childhood depression, 
        suicide risk, substance abuse, and Attention Deficit 
        Hyperactivity Disorder in order to decrease the stigma 
        associated with seeking help for such conditions.
    ``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section, $200,000,000 for fiscal year 
2000, and such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2001 
through 2004.''.
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