2011 federal suicide prevention legislation overview webinar

8/3/2019 2011 Federal Suicide Prevention Legislation Overview Webinar

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2011 Federal Suicide Prevention

Legislation Overview

Trevor Summerfield

Manager of Public PolicyAmerican Foundation for Suicide Prevention/SPAN USA


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An overview of federal suicide preventionlegislation including:

A summary of each bill

Sponsor/Co-sponsor informationWhere the bill is in the legislative process

The legislation discussed today relates toAFSP/SPAN USAs federal policy priorities.


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Achieve appropriations at the highest attainable level for Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act (GLSMA)programs.Maintain veteran and military personnel suicide prevention and education programs as a top priorityfor Congress, the Administration, DOD and the Department of Veterans Affairs.Encourage the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to invest more substantially in research related tosuicide prevention and work with Congress to appropriate more dollars in this area.Fund the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) with enough money to cover theprogram in all fifty states.

Monitor and respond as necessary to the implementation/potential scale back of health care reformlaws as they relate to mental health parity and any other issues related to mental or behavioralhealth.Achieve reauthorization of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration(SAMHSA).Achieve authorization and funding of Native American youth suicide prevention and educationprograms at the highest levels possible.Achieve authorization and funding of LGBT data collection, support for safe schools and anti-bullyingefforts.

Achieve authorization and funding of bridge barrier projects like the Golden Gate Bridge.Achieve authorization and or funding of bullying and cyber-bullying programs and projects.Secure appropriations at the highest levels possible for the Depression Centers of Excellence.


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Safe Schools Improvement Act

Bill # S. 506 H.R. 1648

Date of Introduction March 8, 2011 April 15, 2011

Sponsor Senator Robert Casey (D-PA) Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA)

Co-Sponsors 30 98

Status Senate Health, Education,

Labor and Pensions

Committee

House Education and

Workforce Committee


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The Safe Schools Improvement Act is a comprehensiveFederal anti-bullying bill. Bullying and harassment includesrace, color, national origin, sex, disability, sexual orientation,gender identity or religion.

Specifically, SSIA amends the Elementary and SecondaryEducation Act of 1965 to require states, on an ongoing basis,to:

collect and report certain information on bullying and harassmentby youth in their elementary and secondary schools andcommunities;

conduct, and report the results of, a needs assessment forbullying and harassment prevention programs; andprovide technical assistance to local educational agencies (LEAs)and schools in their efforts to thwart bullying and harassment.


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Additionally, SSIA requires schools to:include clear prohibitions against bullying and harassment toinclude within their discipline policies;establish and monitor performance indicators for incidents ofbullying and harassment; and

establish grievance procedures students, parents, and educatorscan use to redress such conduct.

SSIA directs schools to notify parents, students, andeducators annually on:

the bullying and harassment prohibited by their discipline

policies,the numbers and nature of bullying and harassment incidents foreach of their schools, andgrievance procedures for redressing such conduct.


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Finally, SSIA requires:

the Secretary of Education to conduct, and reporton, an independent biennial evaluation of

programs to combat bullying and harassment inelementary and secondary schools; and

the Commissioner for Education Statistics to collectdata, that are subject to independent review, to

determine the incidence and prevalence of bullyingand harassment in elementary andsecondary schools in this country.


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Student Non-Discrimination Act

Bill # S. 555 H.R. 998

Date of Introduction March 20, 2011 March 10, 2011

Sponsor Senator Al Franken(D-MN) Rep. Jared Polis(D-CO)Co-Sponsors 33 145

Status Senate Health, Education,

Labor and Pensions

Committee

House Education and

Workforce Subcommittee on

Early Childhood, Elementary

and Secondary Education


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The Student Non-Discrimination Act prohibitsany school program or activity receiving federalfinancial assistance from discriminating againstany public school student on the basis of actualor perceived sexual orientation or genderidentity. In addition, the SNDA preventsdiscrimination against any public school student

because of the actual or perceived sexualorientation or gender identity of a person withwhom a student associates or has associated.


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Discrimination includes, but is not limited to,exclusion from or denial of access to anyprogram or activity that receives federalfinancial assistance. Discrimination also

includes harassment of a student. Retaliationbased on an individuals opposition to conductmade unlawful by the SNDA is also prohibited

by the Act.

SNDA is modeled after Title IX


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Mental Health in Schools Act

Bill # H.R. 751

Date of Introduction February 17, 2011

Sponsor Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-CA)Co-Sponsors 49

Status House Energy and Commerce

Subcommittee on Health


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The Mental Health in Schools Act wouldestablish a grants program within the SubstanceAbuse and Mental Health Services

Administration (SAMHSA) to provide funds toeligible local educational agency/local mentalhealth organizations partnering to providecomprehensive school mental health programs.


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Embedded Mental Health Providers for Reserves Act of 2011

Bill # S. 325 H.R. 948

Date of Introduction February 10, 2011 March 8, 2011

Sponsor Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) Rep. Dave Loebsack (R-IA)Co-Sponsors 7 17

Status Senate Armed Services

Committee

House Armed Services

Subcommittee on Military

Personnel


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Directs the Secretary of the military departmentconcerned to provide to each reserve memberperforming inactive-duty training during

scheduled unit training assemblies access tomental health assessments with a licensedmental health professional, who shall beavailable for referrals during duty hours at the

principal duty location of the member's unit.


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Requires all mental health services provided tobe subject to and comply with applicablefederal privacy and security rules.

Requires each reserve member participating inannual training or individual duty training tohave access, during such participation, tospecified behavioral health support programs,including:

(1) suicide prevention and post-suicide response,and

(2) psychological health programs.


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Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Reauthorization Act of 2011

Bill # S. 740

Date of Introduction April 7, 2011

Sponsor Senator Jack Reed (D-RI)

Co-Sponsors 12

Status Senate Health, Education, Labor and

Pensions Committee


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The reauthorization maintains the three corecomponents to the law: Grants for SuicidePrevention Resource Center (SPRC); Grants for

States and Tribes; and Grants to CollegeCounseling Centers. The reauthorization makesa number of changes to current law:


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SPRC: There are no substantive changes to the SPRC, butthe reauthorization repeals an existing $4 millionauthorization included in the same section of the PublicHealth Services Act (PHSA), which authorizes technicalassistance grants in carrying out state-of-the-art mentalhealth and justice-related services and successful mentalhealth and substance abuse-justice collaborations thatfocus on children and adolescents. This provision wasauthored by Senator Reed, but he never requested

funding for it (neither did SAMHSA) as there is an existingprogram run through Department of Justice.

State and Tribal Grants: Increases the authorization from$30 million to $32 million annually.


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College Campus Grants: Increases the flexibility given to college counselingcenters in the use of funds to include:

Provision of a broad range of prevention related initiatives such as promotion ofmental health, voluntary screening, early intervention, voluntary assessment;Provision of mental health and substance use disorder services to students;Outreach to students about the existence of mental health and substance usedisorder services;

Educating students, families, faculty and staff to increase awareness aboutmental health and substance use disorders;The hiring or training of qualified personnel;Provision of training to students, faculty and staff to respond effectively tostudents with mental health and substance use disorders;Creation of a networking infrastructure to link colleges and universities withproviders who can treat mental health and substance use disorders;

Developing, supporting, evaluating, and disseminating evidence-based andemerging best practices.Finally, the bill increases the authorization from $5 million to $7 millionannually.


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Do you need clarification on a particular bill?

Have a question about other federal suicide

prevention legislation not covered in thiswebinar today?

Want to get involved or know how to help?


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Monthly reports on federal suicide preventionlegislation that is being tracked by AFSP/SPAN USAcan be found on www.spanusa.org under theFederal Policy Resource CenterYou can find a complete Co-Sponsor list for each bill

discussed today in the latest monthly federallegislative reportWant to become an AFSP/SPAN USA FieldAdvocate? Visit www.spanusa.org and click onField Advocate Program or contact NicoleCardarelli, AFSPs Manager of State Advocacy andGrassroots Outreach, at (202) 449-3600 ext. 105 [email protected]
http://www.spanusa.org/http://www.spanusa.org/http://www.spanusa.org/http://www.spanusa.org/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.spanusa.org/http://www.spanusa.org/


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THANK YOU!

Trevor Summerfield (202) 449-3600 ext. 102 or

[email protected] of Public PolicyAmerican Foundation for Suicide Prevention/SPAN USA
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]

2011 federal suicide prevention legislation overview webinar

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