[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5246 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5246

To amend the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 to reauthorize 
 the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network and establish a national 
          agricultural crisis hotline, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            August 22, 2023

Ms. Caraveo (for herself, Mr. Tony Gonzales of Texas, and Mr. Davis of 
 North Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
                      the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 to reauthorize 
 the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network and establish a national 
          agricultural crisis hotline, 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 ``National Agricultural Crisis Hotline 
Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the suicide rate for farmers is 3.5 times higher than 
        the suicide rate of the general population;
            (2) male farmers and ranchers have significantly higher 
        rates of suicide (43.2 per 100,000) compared to the average 
        rate of suicide across other professions (27.4 per 100,000);
            (3) the percentage of adults ages 26 and older that live in 
        completely rural areas has increased between 2019 and 2020, 
        making completely rural areas the most afflicted county types 
        with respect to alcohol abuse; and
            (4) evidence suggests that the stigma surrounding mental 
        health in farming and ranching communities has decreased but 
        still plays a significant role in influencing behavior.

SEC. 3. FARM AND RANCH STRESS ASSISTANCE NETWORK.

    Section 7522 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (7 
U.S.C. 5936) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)(1)--
                    (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) and (D) as 
                subparagraphs (D) and (E), respectively; and
                    (B) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the 
                following:
                    ``(C) mental health training for agriculture 
                professionals (including farm loan officers, extension 
                agents, and State department of agriculture staff);'';
            (2) by redesignating subsections (d) through (f) as 
        subsections (e) through (g), respectively;
            (3) by inserting after subsection (c) the following:
    ``(d) National Agricultural Crisis Hotline.--
            ``(1) In general.--As part of the Farm and Ranch Stress 
        Assistance Network established under subsection (a), the 
        Secretary shall establish, and maintain directly or by grant or 
        contract, a national agricultural crisis hotline (referred to 
        in this subsection as the `national agricultural crisis 
        hotline') to provide emotional support, information, suicide 
        crisis intervention, mental health and substance use disorder, 
        and agricultural support resources to--
                    ``(A) farmers, farm managers, farm workers, and 
                ranchers affected by mental health and substance use 
                disorders; and
                    ``(B) families or household members of those 
                farmers, farm managers, farm workers, and ranchers.
            ``(2) Requirements.--The national agricultural crisis 
        hotline shall--
                    ``(A) provide 24/7 real-time live assistance by 
                voice and through a mobile texting application;
                    ``(B) be staffed 24/7 in accordance with paragraph 
                (4);
                    ``(C) provide referral services to meet the needs 
                of family and household members of farmers, ranchers, 
                and related professionals;
                    ``(D) offer 24-hour follow-up calls to callers;
                    ``(E) provide standardized translation services 
                that meet the needs of the agricultural population; and
                    ``(F) comply with all Federal, State, and local 
                laws, including the Health Insurance Portability and 
                Accountability Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-191; 110 
                Stat. 1936).
            ``(3) Data collection.--The national agricultural crisis 
        hotline shall collect the following data:
                    ``(A) Call data, including total calls, calls 
                queued, calls answered, calls dropped, and average 
                speed of answer.
                    ``(B) Rescue data, including next steps suggested 
                and information provided to the caller.
                    ``(C) Follow-up calls.
                    ``(D) Caller information, including--
                            ``(i) whether the caller is calling for the 
                        first time or is a repeat caller;
                            ``(ii) the living situation of the caller; 
                        and
                            ``(iii) demographic information of the 
                        caller.
                    ``(E) Reason for call and caller needs and 
                concerns.
                    ``(F) Referrals provided, including resources 
                provided and strategies employed with respect to 
                addressing the needs and concerns of callers.
            ``(4) Staffing.--Call responders and supervisors of call 
        responders operating the national agricultural crisis hotline 
        shall--
                    ``(A) be crisis intervention specialists, licensed 
                health care professionals, or licensed mental health 
                professionals who--
                            ``(i) are trained in providing culturally 
                        and linguistically appropriate support;
                            ``(ii) have awareness training with respect 
                        to farm stress and the farming identity; and
                            ``(iii) have credentials that enable them 
                        to provide evidence-based suicide intervention 
                        hotline care, including accreditation from the 
                        American Association of Suicidology and the 
                        Alliance of Information and Referral Systems; 
                        and
                    ``(B) meet training requirements developed by the 
                Secretary or the entity maintaining the hotline, as 
                applicable, which, at a minimum, shall include--
                            ``(i) at least 80 hours of interactive 
                        training and content, which shall include--
                                    ``(I) elements of applied suicide 
                                intervention skills training;
                                    ``(II) information and training on 
                                providing trauma informed support; and
                                    ``(III) training and content on 
                                other relevant clinical topics;
                            ``(ii) foundational agriculture mental 
                        stress training that includes metrics that 
                        demonstrate competency;
                            ``(iii) a minimum of 24 hours of direct 
                        supervised shifts before answering calls 
                        independently; and
                            ``(iv) ongoing training on specialized 
                        topics on at least a quarterly basis.
            ``(5) Partnerships.--
                    ``(A) Existing hotlines.--The Secretary or an 
                entity receiving a grant or contract under paragraph 
                (1), as applicable, shall form partnerships between the 
                national agricultural crisis hotline and existing farm 
                telephone helplines and websites.
                    ``(B) USDA and other federal programs.--The 
                Secretary shall coordinate with--
                            ``(i) the Federal Office of Rural Health 
                        Policy and offices of the Department of 
                        Agriculture that administer financial 
                        assistance programs to farmers and ranchers to 
                        provide information about the national 
                        agricultural crisis hotline to participants of 
                        those programs; and
                            ``(ii) the Substance Abuse and Mental 
                        Health Services Administration to refer 
                        agriculture related calls received through the 
                        988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline to the national 
                        agricultural crisis hotline.
            ``(6) Directory.--The Secretary or an entity receiving a 
        grant or contract under paragraph (1), as applicable, shall 
        develop, and periodically update, a directory of organizations 
        to which staff of the national agricultural crisis hotline can 
        make referrals.
            ``(7) Outreach.--The Secretary shall, in consultation with 
        the Department of Health and Human Services, the Substance 
        Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, any other 
        relevant Federal agencies, and State departments of health and 
        agriculture, conduct a public awareness campaign for the 
        national agricultural crisis hotline.
            ``(8) Report.--The Secretary shall submit to Congress and 
        make publicly available an annual report on the effectiveness 
        of the national agricultural crisis hotline.''; and
            (4) in subsection (e) (as so redesignated), by striking 
        ``$10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2023'' and 
        inserting ``$19,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 
        2028, of which $4,000,000 each fiscal year shall be used to 
        carry out subsection (d)''.
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