[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2245 Referred in House (RFH)]
109th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2245
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 15, 2006
Referred to the Committee on Resources, and in addition to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To establish an Indian youth telemental health demonstration project.
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 ``Indian Youth Telemental Health
Demonstration Project Act of 2006''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
(1) suicide for Indians and Alaska Natives is 2\1/2\ times
higher than the national average and the highest for all ethnic
groups in the United States, at a rate of more than 16 per
100,000 males of all age groups, and 27.9 per 100,000 for males
aged 15 through 24, according to data for 2002;
(2) according to national data for 2002, suicide was the
second-leading cause of death for Indians and Alaska Natives
aged 15 through 34 and the fourth-leading cause of death for
Indians and Alaska Natives aged 10 through 14;
(3) the suicide rates of Indian and Alaska Native males
aged 15 through 24 are nearly 4 times greater than suicide
rates of Indian and Alaska Native females of that age group;
(4)(A) 90 percent of all teens who die by suicide suffer
from a diagnosable mental illness at the time of death; and
(B) more than \1/2\ of the people who commit suicide in
Indian Country have never been seen by a mental health
provider;
(5) death rates for Indians and Alaska Natives are
statistically underestimated;
(6) suicide clustering in Indian Country affects entire
tribal communities; and
(7) since 2003, the Indian Health Service has carried out a
National Suicide Prevention Initiative to work with Service,
tribal, and urban Indian health programs.
(b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to authorize the Secretary
to carry out a demonstration project to test the use of telemental
health services in suicide prevention, intervention, and treatment of
Indian youth, including through--
(1) the use of psychotherapy, psychiatric assessments,
diagnostic interviews, therapies for mental health conditions
predisposing to suicide, and alcohol and substance abuse
treatment;
(2) the provision of clinical expertise to, consultation
services with, and medical advice and training for frontline
health care providers working with Indian youth;
(3) training and related support for community leaders,
family members and health and education workers who work with
Indian youth;
(4) the development of culturally-relevant educational
materials on suicide; and
(5) data collection and reporting.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Demonstration project.--The term ``demonstration
project'' means the Indian youth telemental health
demonstration project authorized under section 4(a).
(2) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the
Department of Health and Human Services.
(3) Indian.--The term ``Indian'' means any individual who
is a member of an Indian tribe or is eligible for health
services under the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (25
U.S.C. 1601 et seq.).
(4) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian tribe'' has the
meaning given the term in section 4 of the Indian Self-
Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b).
(5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Health and Human Services.
(6) Service.--The term ``Service'' means the Indian Health
Service.
(7) Telemental health.--The term ``telemental health''
means the use of electronic information and telecommunications
technologies to support long distance mental health care,
patient and professional-related education, public health, and
health administration.
(8) Traditional health care practices.--The term
``traditional health care practices'' means the application by
Native healing practitioners of the Native healing sciences (as
opposed or in contradistinction to Western healing sciences)
that--
(A) embody the influences or forces of innate
Tribal discovery, history, description, explanation and
knowledge of the states of wellness and illness; and
(B) call upon those influences or forces in the
promotion, restoration, preservation, and maintenance
of health, well-being, and life's harmony.
(9) Tribal organization.--The term ``tribal organization''
has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the Indian Self-
Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b).
SEC. 4. INDIAN YOUTH TELEMENTAL HEALTH DEMONSTRATION PROJECT.
(a) Authorization.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary is authorized to carry out a
demonstration project to award grants for the provision of
telemental health services to Indian youth who--
(A) have expressed suicidal ideas;
(B) have attempted suicide; or
(C) have mental health conditions that increase or
could increase the risk of suicide.
(2) Eligibility for grants.--Grants described in paragraph
(1) shall be awarded to Indian tribes and tribal organizations
that operate 1 or more facilities--
(A) located in Alaska and part of the Alaska
Federal Health Care Access Network;
(B) reporting active clinical telehealth
capabilities; or
(C) offering school-based telemental health
services relating to psychiatry to Indian youth.
(3) Grant period.--The Secretary shall award grants under
this section for a period of up to 4 years.
(4) Maximum number of grants.--Not more than 5 grants shall
be provided under paragraph (1), with priority consideration
given to Indian tribes and tribal organizations that--
(A) serve a particular community or geographic area
in which there is a demonstrated need to address Indian
youth suicide;
(B) enter into collaborative partnerships with
Service or other tribal health programs or facilities
to provide services under this demonstration project;
(C) serve an isolated community or geographic area
which has limited or no access to behavioral health
services; or
(D) operate a detention facility at which Indian
youth are detained.
(b) Use of Funds.--An Indian tribe or tribal organization shall use
a grant received under subsection (a) for the following purposes:
(1) To provide telemental health services to Indian youth,
including the provision of--
(A) psychotherapy;
(B) psychiatric assessments and diagnostic
interviews, therapies for mental health conditions
predisposing to suicide, and treatment; and
(C) alcohol and substance abuse treatment.
(2) To provide clinician-interactive medical advice,
guidance and training, assistance in diagnosis and
interpretation, crisis counseling and intervention, and related
assistance to Service or tribal clinicians and health services
providers working with youth being served under the
demonstration project.
(3) To assist, educate, and train community leaders, health
education professionals and paraprofessionals, tribal outreach
workers, and family members who work with the youth receiving
telemental health services under the demonstration project,
including with identification of suicidal tendencies, crisis
intervention and suicide prevention, emergency skill
development, and building and expanding networks among those
individuals and with State and local health services providers.
(4) To develop and distribute culturally-appropriate
community educational materials on--
(A) suicide prevention;
(B) suicide education;
(C) suicide screening;
(D) suicide intervention; and
(E) ways to mobilize communities with respect to
the identification of risk factors for suicide.
(5) To conduct data collection and reporting relating to
Indian youth suicide prevention efforts.
(c) Applications.--To be eligible to receive a grant under
subsection (a), an Indian tribe or tribal organization shall prepare
and submit to the Secretary an application, at such time, in such
manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require,
including--
(1) a description of the project that the Indian tribe or
tribal organization will carry out using the funds provided
under the grant;
(2) a description of the manner in which the project funded
under the grant would--
(A) meet the telemental health care needs of the
Indian youth population to be served by the project; or
(B) improve the access of the Indian youth
population to be served to suicide prevention and
treatment services;
(3) evidence of support for the project from the local
community to be served by the project;
(4) a description of how the families and leadership of the
communities or populations to be served by the project would be
involved in the development and ongoing operations of the
project;
(5) a plan to involve the tribal community of the youth who
are provided services by the project in planning and evaluating
the mental health care and suicide prevention efforts provided,
in order to ensure the integration of community, clinical,
environmental, and cultural components of the treatment; and
(6) a plan for sustaining the project after Federal
assistance for the demonstration project has terminated.
(d) Traditional Health Care Practices.--The Secretary, acting
through the Service, shall ensure that the demonstration project
involves the use and promotion of the traditional health care practices
of the Indian tribes of the youth to be served.
(e) Collaboration.--The Secretary, acting through the Service,
shall encourage Indian tribes and tribal organizations receiving grants
under this section to collaborate to enable comparisons about best
practices across projects.
(f) Annual Report.--Each grant recipient shall submit to the
Secretary an annual report that--
(1) describes the number of telemental health services
provided; and
(2) includes any other information that the Secretary may
require.
(g) Report to Congress.--Not later than 270 days after the date of
termination of the demonstration project, the Secretary shall submit to
the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on
Resources and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of
Representatives a final report that--
(1) describes the results of the projects funded by grants
awarded under this section, including any data available that
indicate the number of attempted suicides;
(2) evaluates the impact of the telemental health services
funded by the grants in reducing the number of completed
suicides among Indian youth;
(3) evaluates whether the demonstration project should be--
(A) expanded to provide more than 5 grants; and
(B) designated a permanent program; and
(4) evaluates the benefits of expanding the demonstration
project to include urban Indian organizations.
(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this section $1,500,000 for each of fiscal
years 2007 through 2010.
Passed the Senate May 11, 2006.
Attest:
EMILY J. REYNOLDS,
Secretary.