[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2599 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2599
To amend the Public Health Service Act to require State educational
agencies and tribal educational agencies receiving funds under section
520A of such Act to establish and implement a school-based student
suicide awareness and prevention training policy and school threat
assessment team policy, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 8, 2019
Mr. Peters (for himself, Mr. Bilirakis, Mr. Deutch, and Mr.
Fitzpatrick) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Public Health Service Act to require State educational
agencies and tribal educational agencies receiving funds under section
520A of such Act to establish and implement a school-based student
suicide awareness and prevention training policy and school threat
assessment team policy, and for other purposes.
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 ``Suicide and Threat Assessment
Nationally Dedicated to Universal Prevention Act of 2019''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds as follows:
(1) Since 2010, suicide has been the second-leading cause
of death for young people ages 10-24. In 2016, 6,159 young
people ages 10-24 completed suicide.
(2) Based on the 2017 Youth Risk Behavior Survey of the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (in this section
referred to as ``CDC''), 7.4 percent of youth in grades 9-12
reported that they made at least one suicide attempt in the
past 12 months.
(3) While there is no complete count of suicide attempts in
the United States, CDC data suggests that for every reported
suicide death, approximately 11.4 people visit a hospital for
self-harm-related injuries.
(4) In 2016, suicide was the 10th-leading cause of death
overall in the United States, with over 44,000 people
completing suicide, and there were more than twice as many
suicides in the United States as there were homicides.
(5) Youth often display warning signs and signals before
harming themselves or others. Research shows that 70 percent of
those who complete suicide tell someone of their plans or give
another warning sign, and 80 percent of school shooters tell
someone of their plans.
(6) According to the CDC, the rates of suicide among
American Indians and Alaska Natives have been increasing since
2003 and are the highest of any racial or ethnic group in the
United States. In addition, recent studies of CDC data from
2001 through 2015 show that suicide rates for Black children
aged 5 through 12 were roughly two times higher than those of
similarly aged White children.
(7) Research has shown that evidence-based school threat
assessment teams reduce suicide; interpersonal violence,
bullying, and aggression; school staff anxiety about violence;
and expulsion and suspension rates. Evidence-based school
threat assessment teams have been shown to increase the
willingness of students to seek help for threats of violence
and mental illness, use of school counseling, and parental
involvement.
(8) Research has shown that evidence-based school threat
assessment teams can lead to a reduction in racial disparities
between White, Black, and Hispanic students in school
disciplinary outcomes and legal actions. Additionally, research
shows that evidence-based school threat assessment teams can
help combat the school-to-prison pipeline.
SEC. 3. STUDENT SUICIDE AWARENESS AND PREVENTION TRAINING AND TEAMS.
(a) In General.--Title V of the Public Health Service Act is
amended by inserting after section 520A of such Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb-
32) the following:
``SEC. 520B. STUDENT SUICIDE AWARENESS AND PREVENTION TRAINING AND
TEAMS.
``(a) In General.--As a condition on receipt of funds under section
520A, each State educational agency and tribal educational agency that
receives such funds, directly or through a State or Indian Tribe,
shall--
``(1) establish and implement--
``(A) a school-based student suicide awareness and
prevention training policy; and
``(B) a school threat assessment team policy; and
``(2) collect and report information in accordance with
subsection (d).
``(b) School-Based Student Suicide Awareness and Prevention
Training Policy.--A school-based student suicide awareness and
prevention training policy implemented pursuant to subsection (a)--
``(1) shall be evidence-based;
``(2) shall provide evidence-based training to students in
grades 6 through 12 regarding--
``(A) suicide education and awareness, including
warning signs of self-harm or suicidal ideation;
``(B) methods that students can use to seek help
for themselves and others; and
``(C) student resources for suicide awareness and
prevention;
``(3) shall provide for retraining of such students every
school year;
``(4) may last for such period as the State educational
agency or tribal educational agency involved determines to be
appropriate; and
``(5) may be implemented through any delivery method,
including in-person trainings, digital trainings, or train-the-
trainer models.
``(c) School Threat Assessment Team Policy.--A school threat
assessment team policy implemented pursuant to subsection (a) shall--
``(1) be evidence-based;
``(2) identify and establish a school threat assessment
team within each school, consisting of two or more school
personnel, with the team designated to provide triage, and
serve as a liaison to intervention, for all reported threats of
suicide and interpersonal violence within the school;
``(3) provide evidence-based training to each such team on
how to identify, assess, and respond to threats of suicide and
interpersonal violence, including training on--
``(A) identification of threats, signs, and
behaviors that could result in harm towards one's self
or others;
``(B) evaluation of the seriousness of the threat
or danger posed;
``(C) intervention to reduce the risk of violence;
and
``(D) followup to assess intervention results;
``(4) provide for retraining of the members of each such
team no less frequently than every 3 school years;
``(5) establish guidelines to ensure that--
``(A) where a credible threat is identified, the
response conforms with any applicable State and school
disciplinary policies; and
``(B) disciplinary action is not applied
disproportionately to students on the basis of race,
color, religion, sex, national origin, or disability;
and
``(6) create procedures and protocols for coordinating with
local law enforcement, State reporting websites, and tip lines.
``(d) Collection of Information and Reporting.--Each State
educational agency and tribal educational agency that receives funds
under section 520A shall, with respect to each school served by the
agency, collect and report to the Secretary the following information:
``(1) For the school-based student suicide awareness and
prevention training policy required by subsection (a)(1)(A):
``(A) The number of student trainings conducted.
``(B) The number of students trained, disaggregated
by age and grade level.
``(C) The number of help-seeking behaviors
undertaken by students after implementation of such
policy.
``(D) The number and type of threats of suicide,
mental illness, or interpersonal violence reported by
students.
``(2) For the school threat assessment team policy required
by subsection (a)(1)(B):
``(A) The number and type of threats of suicide,
mental illness, or interpersonal violence reported.
``(B) The number of suicide attempts and
completions in the school.
``(C) The method of reporting within the school a
threat of suicide, mental illness, or interpersonal
violence, such as in-person reporting, electronic
reporting, and anonymous reporting.
``(D) The number of false reports received.
``(E) The response to each threat reported.
``(F) The demographic information of the students
being reported or self-reporting, disaggregated by age,
grade level, gender, race, and ethnicity.
``(G) The point of contact for each school's team.
``(e) Evidence-Based Program Listing.--The Secretary of Health and
Human Services shall coordinate with the Secretary of Education to make
publicly available the policies established by State educational
agencies and tribal educational agencies pursuant to this section and
the training that is available to students and teams pursuant to such
policies, including identification of whether such training is
available to trainees at no cost.
``(f) Implementation Timeline.--A State educational agency or
tribal educational agency shall establish and begin implementation of
the policies required by subsection (a)(1) not later than the beginning
of the third fiscal year following the date of enactment of this
section for which the agency receives funds under section 520A.
``(g) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) The term `evidence-based' has the meaning given to
such term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965.
``(2) The term `State educational agency' has the meaning
given to such term in section 8101 of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965.
``(3) The term `tribal educational agency' has the meaning
given to such term in section 6132 of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965.''.
<all>