Enhancing Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Through Campus Planning Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4843 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4843

  To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to promote comprehensive 
   campus mental health and suicide prevention plans, and for other 
                               purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 18, 2026

 Mr. Blumenthal (for himself, Mr. Scott of South Carolina, Mr. Murphy, 
and Mr. Bennet) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
  To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to promote comprehensive 
   campus mental health and suicide prevention plans, 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 ``Enhancing Mental Health and Suicide 
Prevention Through Campus Planning Act''.

SEC. 2. ENCOURAGING CAMPUS COMPREHENSIVE MENTAL HEALTH AND SUICIDE 
              PREVENTION PLANS.

    Part L of title VIII of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1161l et seq.) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating section 826 as section 827; and
            (2) by inserting after section 825 the following new 
        section:

``SEC. 826. ENCOURAGING CAMPUS COMPREHENSIVE MENTAL HEALTH AND SUICIDE 
              PREVENTION PLANS.

    ``(a) Model Plans.--
            ``(1) In general.--Beginning not later than 1 year after 
        the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary, in 
        coordination with the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
        (acting through the Administrator of the Substance Abuse and 
        Mental Health Services Administration) shall develop and 
        disseminate 1 or more evidence-based model mental health and 
        suicide prevention action plans to serve as models for 
        institutions of higher education that want to implement such 
        plans. The Secretary shall ensure that those model plans are 
        aligned with the evidence-based suicide prevention programs of 
        the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
            ``(2) Updates.--Not less frequently than once every 5 
        years, the Secretary shall update the model plans described in 
        paragraph (1).
    ``(b) Technical Assistance.--After developing and disseminating the 
model plans described in subsection (a), the Secretary, in coordination 
with the Secretary of Health and Human Services (acting through the 
Administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 
Administration), shall provide technical assistance to institutions of 
higher education that want to implement comprehensive mental health and 
suicide prevention plans modeled after the model plans described in 
subsection (a). In providing such technical assistance, the Secretary--
            ``(1) shall take into consideration existing State efforts 
        to address mental health and suicide prevention at institutions 
        of higher education; and
            ``(2) may collaborate with nonprofit organizations, 
        community-based organizations, student organizations, or other 
        experts and stakeholders in the field of mental health and 
        suicide prevention at institutions of higher education.
    ``(c) Reports.--The Secretary, or a designee of the Secretary, 
shall submit a report to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions of the Senate, the Energy and Commerce Committee of the House 
of Representatives, and the Education and Workforce Committee of the 
House of Representatives on the activities of the Secretary carried out 
under this section--
            ``(1) not later than 1 year after the developing the first 
        model plan described in subsection (a)(1); and
            ``(2) not later than 1 year after each update described in 
        subsection (a)(2).
    ``(d) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed as creating new legal requirements for institutions of higher 
education.''.
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