[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2677 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2677

 To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for behavioral and 
   mental health outreach and education strategies to reduce stigma 
    associated with mental health among the Asian American, Native 
               Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander population.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 25, 2017

Ms. Judy Chu of California (for herself and Mrs. Napolitano) introduced 
 the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                                Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for behavioral and 
   mental health outreach and education strategies to reduce stigma 
    associated with mental health among the Asian American, Native 
               Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander population.

    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 ``Stop Mental Health Stigma in Our 
Communities Act''.

SEC. 2. ASIAN AMERICAN, NATIVE HAWAIIAN, AND PACIFIC ISLANDER 
              BEHAVIORAL AND MENTAL HEALTH OUTREACH AND EDUCATION 
              STRATEGIES.

    Part D of title V of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290dd 
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

``SEC. 544. BEHAVIORAL AND MENTAL HEALTH OUTREACH AND EDUCATION 
              STRATEGIES.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary, acting through the Administrator 
of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 
shall, in coordination with advocacy and behavioral and mental health 
organizations serving populations of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, 
and Pacific Islander individuals or communities, develop and implement 
an outreach and education strategy to promote behavioral and mental 
health and reduce stigma associated with mental health conditions and 
substance abuse among the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific 
Islander populations. Such strategy shall--
            ``(1) be designed to--
                    ``(A) meet the diverse cultural and language needs 
                of the various Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and 
                Pacific Islander populations; and
                    ``(B) ensure such strategies are developmentally 
                and age appropriate;
            ``(2) increase awareness of symptoms of mental illnesses 
        common among such populations, taking into account differences 
        within subgroups, such as gender, gender identity, age, sexual 
        orientation, or ethnicity, of such populations;
            ``(3) provide information on evidence-based, culturally and 
        linguistically appropriate and adapted interventions and 
        treatments;
            ``(4) ensure full participation of, and engage, both 
        consumers and community members in the development and 
        implementation of materials; and
            ``(5) seek to broaden the perspective among both 
        individuals in these communities and stakeholders serving these 
        communities to use a comprehensive public health approach to 
        promoting behavioral health that addresses a holistic view of 
        health by focusing on the intersection between behavioral and 
        physical health.
    ``(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $300,000 for fiscal year 
2018.''.
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