S. 2072Senate118th Congress (2023-2025)In Committee

Supporting Mental Health for Military Children Act

AI-Generated Summary

Updated January 20, 2026 at 9:12 AM UTC

The Supporting Mental Health for Military Children Act creates a four‑year pilot program to give routine mental‑health screenings to students at Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA) schools, both in the United States and overseas. It aims to identify common childhood mental‑health issues early, connect students with treatment, and evaluate the program’s effectiveness. The bill affects military‑connected children, their families, school staff, and the Department of Defense’s health providers.

Key Provisions

The Secretary of Defense must launch the pilot within one year, starting with 10 DODEA schools (at least 2 overseas) and adding 10 more each year.
Students aged 3‑17 receive biannual or semesterly mental‑health check‑ups using tools like PHQ‑2/9, including an initial virtual screen and follow‑up by a school psychologist or nurse.
Military medical treatment facility behavioral‑health providers conduct the screenings and are trained to recognize symptoms and de‑escalate crises.
A streamlined referral process sends identified students to certified community behavioral‑health clinics or provides school‑based services, with formal agreements rather than just a list of providers.
Parents receive notice and can opt their child out; informed consent is required before any referral or information sharing.
The program includes training for licensed mental‑health professionals, school nurses, and counselors, plus awareness‑building and telehealth support options.
The Secretary must evaluate the pilot every 180 days and report to Armed Services committees a year before the program ends, recommending whether to expand it.
Appropriations are authorized for fiscal years 2024‑2029 to fund the program.

Legislative Activity

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1 earlier action

SenateIntro Referral Latest Action

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S2188)

Armed Services Committee

June 21, 2023

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SenateIntro Referral

Introduced in Senate

June 21, 2023

SenateIntro Referral

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S2188)

Armed Services Committee

June 21, 2023

Floor Debate

2 members

What members said about S. 2072 on the floor

2 Democrats

Sen. Tim KaineD-VA · Jun 21, 2023

Madam President, today, I am introducing legislation to remove ``Robert E. Lee Memorial'' from the official name of Arlington House. This legislation is partially inspired by requests from…

Madam President, today, I am introducing legislation to remove ``Robert E. Lee Memorial'' from the official name of Arlington House.

This legislation is partially inspired by requests from descendants of General Robert E. Lee and people who were enslaved at Arlington House. This is an effort to promote a society that is more just and equitable for all, regardless of race, by moving on from a public symbol that honors a figure that fought to protect slavery.

Arlington House is the first name of the historic mansion, which sits on Federal land within Arlington National Cemetery. The property is administered by the National Park Service and overlooks the Potomac River and the Nation's Capital. The house was built by Martha Custis Washington's grandson, George Washington Parke Custis, as the Nation's first memorial to George Washington. Later, his daughter married Robert E. Lee and the couple lived in the home until the Civil War, when Federal forces occupied the house and surrounding property. During that period, the site was chosen to serve as a national military cemetery in part to prevent Lee from returning.

Only in the 20th century, in 1955 and again in 1972, did Congress add the commemorative text honoring Robert E. Lee to the site's formal name in Federal statute. This was part of a retrograde effort across the former Confederacy to bestow public recognition on prominent Confederate figures as heroes while minimizing or whitewashing their roles in taking up arms

against the United States to preserve slavery. As Senator from the State that has among the most difficult histories when it comes to slavery, civil rights, and Confederate monuments, I believe these symbolic proposals matter, that the Federal Government should reserve honorifics for individuals whose lives advanced American values and ideals, not detracted from them.

Today, the National Park Service is dedicated to telling the story of those who were enslaved at the Arlington House. I am hopeful that this name change will help to do just a little bit more to encapsulate the full history of the site, which included the presence of many families and generations throughout history, such as the Syphax, Burke, Parks, and Gray families.

I am pleased that companion legislation is also being introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by my colleague, Representative Don Beyer, who has led this effort for years.

Sen. Alex PadillaD-CA · Jun 21, 2023

Madam President, I rise to introduce the Supporting Mental Health for Military Children Act. This legislation would establish a routine mental-health and well-being checkup pilot program in…

Sen. Alex PadillaD-CA · Jun 21, 2023

Madam President, I rise to introduce the Supporting Mental Health for Military Children Act. This legislation would establish a routine mental-health and well-being checkup pilot program in…

Bill Text

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Introduced in SenateIssued June 21, 2023

118th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 2072

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

June 21, 2023

Mr. Padilla introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services

A BILL

To establish a pilot program to provide mental health check-ups for students at schools operated by the Department of Defense Education Activity, and for other purposes.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Supporting Mental Health for Military Children Act.

Pilot program for routine mental health check-ups in schools operated by the Department of Defense Education Activity

(a)

In general

Beginning not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall establish and implement a pilot program to provide routine metal health check-ups for students in covered DODEA schools.

(b)

Program activities

Under the pilot program established under subsection (a), the Secretary shall—

(1)

subject to subsection (d), ensure that students at covered DODEA schools receive routine mental health check-ups, conducted by military medical treatment facility behavioral health providers assigned to such schools, and which may include the use of mental health screening tools, such as the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 or the Patient Health Questionnaire-9;

(2)

ensure that such mental health check-ups—

(A)

consist of biannual or semesterly mental and behavioral health screenings for disorders common in children aged 3 to 17, including—

(i)

an initial virtual screening test for all students; and

(ii)

a follow-up screening carried out by a school psychologist or school nurse for students with specific needs identified through the initial screening; and

(B)

include questions about a student’s mood, emotional state, habits, and behaviors to help diagnose conditions such as—

(i)

depression;

(ii)

suicidal ideation;

(iii)

anxiety;

(iv)

attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD);

(v)

eating disorders;

(vi)

substance abuse; and

(vii)

dual diagnosis conditions;

(3)

train licensed mental and behavioral health professionals to conduct mental health check-ups, including training in—

(A)

recognizing the signs and symptoms of mental illnesses; and

(B)

safely de-escalating crises involving individuals with a mental illness;

(4)

establish a streamlined diagnosis-to-treatment process, including a comprehensive process through which a student with needs identified through a mental health check-up—

(A)

may be referred to a certified community behavioral health clinic in the community in which the school is located; and

(B)

may receive additional care or treatment through comprehensive school-based services;

(5)

mobilize school nurses and counselors to facilitate screening in collaboration with administrators and teachers;

(6)

conduct awareness-building educational efforts in conjunction with the screening process;

(7)

implement a robust school-based and telehealth support system (including options for individual or group therapy) for students seeking support after diagnosis; and

(8)

make resources available to the communities surrounding schools for individuals with a mental illness through a coordinated referral process with local community-based health clinics and school-based mental health clinics if such school-based mental health clinics are available and have the capacity and expertise to handle complex mental health situations.

(c)

Selection of schools

(1)

Initial selection

For the one-year period beginning on the date on which the pilot program established under subsection (a) commences, the Secretary shall select 10 covered DODEA schools at which to carry out the pilot program.

(2)

Subsequent years

For the one-year period beginning after the end of the one-year period described in paragraph (1), and each one-year period thereafter until the termination of the pilot program under subsection (h), the Secretary shall select an additional 10 covered DODEA schools at which to carry out the pilot program relative to the number of schools at which the pilot program is carried out in the preceding one-year period.

(3)

Selection of schools overseas

In selecting covered DODEA schools under paragraph (1) or (2) for any one-year period, the Secretary shall select not fewer than 2 such schools located outside the United States.

(d)

Referral process requirements

(1)

Agreements with behavioral health clinics

For purposes of the comprehensive referral process described in subsection (b)(4), the Secretary of Defense shall seek to enter into memoranda of understanding or other agreements with federally funded community behavioral health clinics in communities in which covered DODEA schools are located pursuant to which a school may refer students to such a clinic and make appointments for students at the clinic. The requirement to establish such a referral process may not be satisfied solely by providing a list of nearby community behavioral health clinics to parents of students at covered DODEA schools.

(2)

Exception

In a case in which the Secretary of Defense is unable to meet the requirements of paragraph (1) because there is no federally funded community behavioral health clinic in a community in which a covered DODEA school is located, the Secretary of Defense shall develop and make available a comprehensive guide to the mental health resources that are available to students and parents in that community.

(e)

Student privacy protections

In carrying out the pilot program established under subsection (a), the Secretary shall ensure that a parent or guardian of a student at a covered DODEA school—

(1)

is provided with—

(A)

notice that a student may receive a mental health check-up under the pilot program; and

(B)

an opportunity to opt the student out of any such mental health check-up before it is administered; and

(2)

gives informed consent before—

(A)

the referral of a student to a community-based health clinic as described in subsection (b)(4)(A); or

(B)

the disclosure of any information concerning such student to such a clinic.

(f)

Evaluations

Not later than 180 days after commencing the pilot program under subsection (a), and not less frequently than every 180 days thereafter, the Secretary of Defense shall conduct an evaluation of the pilot program, which shall include evaluation of—

(1)

processes under the pilot program; and

(2)

student outcomes under the pilot program.

(g)

Report

Not later than one year before the pilot program terminates under subsection (h), the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives a report on the progress of the pilot program. The report shall include—

(1)

the results of the evaluations conducted under subsection (f);

(2)

an assessment of whether the pilot program should be continued;

(3)

a strategy for expanding the pilot program to all DODEA schools; and

(4)

such other information as the Secretary determines appropriate.

(h)

Termination

The pilot program established under subsection (a) shall terminate on the date that is 4 years after the commencement of the pilot program.

(i)

Authorization of appropriations

There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 2024 through 2029.

(j)

Definitions

In this section:

(1)

Certified community behavioral health clinic

The term certified community behavioral health clinic means a certified community behavioral health clinic as such term is used in section 223 of the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 (42 U.S.C. 1396a note).

(2)

Covered DODEA school

The term covered DODEA school means an elementary school or secondary school—

(A)

operated by the Department of Defense Education Activity within or outside the United States; and

(B)

that the Secretary determines has adequate mental health infrastructure in place to provide mental health check-ups under the pilot program established under subsection (a).

(3)

Elementary school; secondary school

The terms elementary school and secondary school have the meanings given those terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).

(4)

Military medical treatment facility

The term military medical treatment facility means a facility described in subsection (b), (c), or (d) of section 1073d of title 10, United States Code.