[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1391 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1391
To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide best practices on
student suicide awareness and prevention training and condition State
educational agencies, local 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.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 27, 2021
Mr. Kennedy introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide best practices on
student suicide awareness and prevention training and condition State
educational agencies, local 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.
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 Training and Awareness
Nationally Delivered for Universal Prevention Act of 2021'' or the
``STANDUP Act of 2021''.
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 died by 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 dying by
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 die by suicide tell someone of their plans or give
another warning sign.
(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
ages 5 through 12 were roughly two times higher than those of
similarly aged White children.
SEC. 3. STUDENT SUICIDE AWARENESS AND PREVENTION TRAINING.
(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
POLICIES.
``(a) In General.--As a condition on receipt of funds under section
520A, each State educational agency, local educational agency, and
tribal educational agency that receives such funds, directly or through
a State or Indian Tribe, for activities to be performed within
elementary and secondary schools, including the Project AWARE State
Education Agency Grant Program, shall--
``(1) establish and implement a school-based student
suicide awareness and prevention training policy;
``(2) consult with stakeholders (including principals,
teachers, parents, other school leaders) in the development of
the policy under subsection (a)(1); and
``(3) collect and report information in accordance with
subsection (c).
``(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, in coordination with school-based mental
health service providers as defined in section 4102(6) of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, if applicable,
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, local 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) Collection of Information and Reporting.--Each State
educational agency, local 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) The number of student trainings conducted.
``(2) The number of students trained, disaggregated by age
and grade level.
``(3) The number of help-seeking reports made by students
after implementation of such policy.
``(d) 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, local 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.
``(e) Implementation Timeline.--A State educational agency, local
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.
``(f) 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 `local education agency' has the meaning
given to such term in section 8101 of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965.
``(3) The term `State educational agency' has the meaning
given to such term in section 8101 of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965.
``(4) The term `tribal educational agency' has the meaning
given to such term in section 6132 of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965.
``SEC. 520B-1. BEST PRACTICES FOR STUDENT SUICIDE AWARENESS AND
PREVENTION TRAINING.
``The Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the
Assistant Secretary of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration, in coordination with the Secretary of Education,
shall--
``(1) publish best practices for school-based student
suicide awareness and prevention training, pursuant to section
520B, that are based on--
``(A) evidence-based practices; and
``(B) input from relevant Federal agencies,
national organizations, and related stakeholders;
``(2) publish guidance, based on the best practices under
paragraph (1), to provide State educational agencies, local
educational agencies, and tribal educational agencies with
information on student suicide awareness and prevention best
practices;
``(3) disseminate such best practices to State educational
agencies, local educational agencies, and tribal educational
agencies; and
``(4) provide technical assistance to State educational
agencies, local educational agencies, and tribal educational
agencies.''.
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.
The amendments made by this Act shall only apply with respect to
applications for assistance under section 520A of the Public Health
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb-32) that are submitted after the date of
enactment of this Act.
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