[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2044 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2044
To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a grant program to
provide self-harm and suicide prevention services in primary care
offices, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 11, 2025
Mr. DeSaulnier introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a grant program to
provide self-harm and suicide prevention services in primary care
offices, 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 Prevention Assistance Act''.
SEC. 2. GRANTS TO PROVIDE SELF-HARM AND SUICIDE PREVENTION SERVICES.
Subpart 3 of part B of title V of the Public Health Service Act (42
U.S.C. 290bb-31 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 520O. GRANTS TO PROVIDE SELF-HARM AND SUICIDE PREVENTION
SERVICES.
``(a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services,
acting through the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance
Use (referred to in this section as the `Secretary'), shall award
grants to primary care offices to provide self-harm and suicide
prevention services.
``(b) Activities Supported.--A primary care office awarded a grant
under subsection (a) shall use amounts under the grant to carry out the
following:
``(1) The primary care office shall hire 1 or more clinical
social workers to carry out the activities described in
paragraphs (2) through (4).
``(2) A primary care physician at the primary care office
shall screen patients for self-harm and suicide in accordance
with the standards of practice described in subsection (f)(1)
and shall, as appropriate, notify a clinical social worker
hired under paragraph (1) of screenings that yield an indicator
of self-harm or suicide.
``(3) A clinical social worker hired under paragraph (1)
shall provide patients short-term self-harm and suicide
prevention services in accordance with the results of the
screenings described in paragraph (2).
``(4) A clinical social worker hired under paragraph (1)
shall, as appropriate, refer patients to a health care facility
for purposes of receiving long-term self-harm and suicide
prevention services.
``(c) Maximum Number of Grants.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary may not award more than 10
grants under subsection (a).
``(2) With respect to a primary care office.--A primary
care office may not be awarded more than 1 grant under
subsection (a).
``(3) With respect to a state.--Not more than 1 primary
care office in any State may be awarded a grant under
subsection (a).
``(d) Grant Terms.--A grant awarded under subsection (a)--
``(1) may not exceed $500,000;
``(2) shall be for a period of 2 years; and
``(3) may be renewed subject to the requirements of this
section.
``(e) Applications.--A primary care office seeking a grant under
subsection (a) shall submit an application to the Secretary at such
time, in such manner, and accompanied by such information as the
Secretary may require.
``(f) Standards of Practice.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date
of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall develop
standards of practice for screening patients for self-harm and
suicide for purposes of carrying out subsection (b)(2).
``(2) Consultation.--The Secretary shall develop the
standards of practice described in paragraph (1) in
consultation with stakeholder groups with expertise in self-
harm and suicide prevention, including public, private, and
non-profit entities.
``(g) Reporting.--
``(1) Reports to the secretary.--
``(A) In general.--A primary care office awarded a
grant under subsection (a) shall, at least quarterly
for the duration of the grant, submit to the Secretary
a report evaluating the activities supported by the
grant.
``(B) Matters to be included.--The report required
under subparagraph (A) shall include--
``(i) the number of patients receiving--
``(I) screenings carried out at the
primary care office;
``(II) short-term self-harm and
suicide prevention services at the
primary care office; and
``(III) referrals to health care
facilities for the purposes of
receiving long-term self-harm and
suicide prevention;
``(ii) information on the adherence of the
primary care office to the standards of
practice described in subsection (f)(1); and
``(iii) other information as the Secretary
determines appropriate to evaluate the use of
grant funds.
``(2) Reports to congress and in the department of health
and human services.--Not later than 2 years after the date of
the enactment of this section, and biennially thereafter, the
Secretary shall submit to the appropriate congressional
committees and the subcomponents of the Department of Health
and Human Services described in paragraph (3) a report on the
grant program under this section, including--
``(A) a summary of reports received by the
Secretary under paragraph (1); and
``(B) an evaluation of the program by the
Secretary.
``(3) Reporting in the department of health and human
services.--The subcomponents of the Department of Health and
Human Services described in this paragraph are the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute of
Mental Health.
``(h) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
`appropriate congressional committees' means--
``(A) the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the
House of Representatives; and
``(B) the Committee on Health, Education, Labor,
and Pensions of the Senate.
``(2) Primary care office.--The term `primary care office'
means a health care facility that provides primary care
services.
``(3) State.--The term `State' means--
``(A) a State;
``(B) the District of Columbia;
``(C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; or
``(D) any other territory or possession of the
United States.''.
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