[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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