Text of US SB 3949 (2024)

II 118TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3949 To amend title V of the Public Health Service Act to ensure protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth and their families. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 14, 2024 Ms. BUTLER (for herself, Ms. SMITH, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. CASEY, Mr. WELCH, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. BOOKER, and Ms. BALDWIN) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend title V of the Public Health Service Act to ensure protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth and their families. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pride In Mental 4 Health Act of 2024’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:45 Mar 27, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3949.IS S3949 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3949 IS SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES FOR 1 LGBTQ+ YOUTH. 2 Subpart 3 of part B of title V of the Public Health 3 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb–31 et seq.) is amended by 4 adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘SEC. 520O. GRANTS FOR MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES FOR 6 LGBTQ+ YOUTH. 7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 8 the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance 9 Use (referred to in this section as the ‘Secretary’), shall 10 establish a program under which the Secretary will award 11 grants to eligible entities to assess and improve lesbian, 12 gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, non- 13 binary, intersex, and Two Spirit youth mental health and 14 substance use outcomes. 15 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity receiving a 16 grant under this section shall use funds received through 17 such grant— 18 ‘‘(1) to provide behavioral health and crisis 19 intervention resources for lesbian, gay, bisexual, 20 transgender, queer or questioning, nonbinary, 21 intersex, and Two Spirit youth, including trauma-in- 22 formed care; 23 ‘‘(2) to provide cultural competency training for 24 caregivers; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:45 Mar 27, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3949.IS S3949 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3949 IS ‘‘(3) to develop and disseminate behavioral 1 health and crisis intervention resources for lesbian, 2 gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, 3 nonbinary, intersex, and Two Spirit youth, and their 4 families and caregivers; 5 ‘‘(4) to develop and disseminate evidence-based 6 practices to be added to the Evidence-Based Prac- 7 tices Resource Center of the Substance Abuse and 8 Mental Health Administration; 9 ‘‘(5) to collect data with respect to the behav- 10 ioral health of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, 11 queer or questioning, nonbinary, intersex, and Two 12 Spirit youth; 13 ‘‘(6) to issue school bullying prevention guide- 14 lines with respect to lesbian, gay, bisexual, 15 transgender, queer or questioning, nonbinary, 16 intersex, and Two Spirit youth; 17 ‘‘(7) to provide for the integration within school 18 systems of behavioral health services for lesbian, 19 gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, 20 nonbinary, intersex, and Two Spirit youth; 21 ‘‘(8) to establish and implement behavioral 22 health patient navigator programs for lesbian, gay, 23 bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, non- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:45 Mar 27, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3949.IS S3949 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3949 IS binary, intersex, and Two Spirit youth, and their 1 families; and 2 ‘‘(9) to create and disseminate family accept- 3 ance and support models for lesbian, gay, bisexual, 4 transgender, queer or questioning, nonbinary, 5 intersex, and Two Spirit youth, and their families 6 and caregivers. 7 ‘‘(c) LIMITATION.— 8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity selected 9 to receive a grant under this section shall agree, as 10 a condition on receiving the grant that such funds 11 shall not be used— 12 ‘‘(A) to provide conversion therapy to any 13 individual; 14 ‘‘(B) to advertise for the provision of con- 15 version therapy and claim in such advertising— 16 ‘‘(i) to change another individual’s 17 sexual orientation or gender identity; 18 ‘‘(ii) to eliminate or reduce sexual or 19 romantic attractions or feelings toward in- 20 dividuals of the same gender; or 21 ‘‘(iii) that such efforts are harmless or 22 without risk to individuals receiving such 23 therapy; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:45 Mar 27, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3949.IS S3949 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3949 IS ‘‘(C) to knowingly assist or facilitate the 1 provision of conversion therapy to an individual 2 if such person receives compensation from any 3 source in connection with providing conversion 4 therapy; or 5 ‘‘(D) to promote or direct an individual to 6 conversion therapy resources or providers. 7 ‘‘(2) CONVERSION THERAPY DEFINED.—In this 8 subsection, the term ‘conversion therapy’— 9 ‘‘(A) means any practice or treatment by 10 any person that seeks to change another indi- 11 vidual’s sexual orientation or gender identity, 12 including efforts to change behaviors or gender 13 expressions, or to eliminate or reduce sexual or 14 romantic attractions or feelings toward individ- 15 uals of the same gender, if such person— 16 ‘‘(i) receives monetary compensation 17 in exchange for such practice or treatment; 18 or 19 ‘‘(ii) instead of, or in addition to, re- 20 ceiving monetary compensation in ex- 21 change for such practice or treatment di- 22 rectly, receives monetary compensation in 23 exchange for a product or service that is 24 integral to the provision of such practice or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:45 Mar 27, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3949.IS S3949 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3949 IS treatment by such person, unless such 1 product or service is protected by the First 2 Amendment to the Constitution; and 3 ‘‘(B) does not include any practice or 4 treatment, which does not seek to change sexual 5 orientation or gender identity, that— 6 ‘‘(i) provides assistance to an indi- 7 vidual undergoing a gender transition; or 8 ‘‘(ii) provides acceptance, support, 9 and understanding of a client or facilita- 10 tion of a client’s coping, social support, 11 and identity exploration and development, 12 including sexual orientation-neutral inter- 13 ventions to prevent or address unlawful 14 conduct or unsafe sexual practices. 15 ‘‘(d) REVIEW OF REPORTS.— 16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 17 the date of the enactment of this section, the Sec- 18 retary shall review, and update as necessary, the re- 19 ports and publications listed on the internet website 20 of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Adminis- 21 tration as of the date of the enactment of this sec- 22 tion that are focused on lesbian, gay, bisexual, 23 transgender, queer or questioning, nonbinary, 24 intersex, and Two Spirit individuals. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:45 Mar 27, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3949.IS S3949 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3949 IS ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—In reviewing reports and pub- 1 lications under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 2 prioritize updating older reports and commissioning 3 new reports that fill information gaps with respect 4 to the behavioral health of lesbian, gay, bisexual, 5 transgender, queer or questioning, nonbinary, 6 intersex, and Two Spirit individuals. 7 ‘‘(e) FEDERAL SURVEY.—The Secretary shall develop 8 and conduct a Federal survey measuring serious psycho- 9 logical distress, mental illness, mental health, and mental 10 health care among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, 11 queer or questioning, nonbinary, intersex, and Two Spirit 12 youth. In developing such survey, the Secretary may con- 13 sider integrating such survey as an enhanced feature of 14 the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. 15 ‘‘(f) REPORT.— 16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 17 after the date of the enactment of this section, the 18 Secretary shall, in consultation with the Director of 19 the National Institute of Mental Health and the As- 20 sistant Secretary for the Administration for Children 21 and Families, commence a report on mental health, 22 mental health care, and cultural competency in men- 23 tal health care for lesbian, gay, bisexual, 24 transgender, queer or questioning, nonbinary, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:45 Mar 27, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3949.IS S3949 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 8 •S 3949 IS intersex, and Two Spirit youth in foster care and 1 who are beneficiaries of other social services pro- 2 grams subject to Federal oversight. 3 ‘‘(2) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—Not later 4 than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this 5 section, the Secretary shall submit the report re- 6 quired under paragraph (1) to the Committee on 7 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Sen- 8 ate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of 9 the House of Representatives.’’. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:45 Mar 27, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3949.IS S3949 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS