SUICIDE PREVENTION LIFELINE IMPROVEMENT.

SEC. 1103. SUICIDE PREVENTION LIFELINE IMPROVEMENT.(a) Suicide Prevention Lifeline.—(1) Activities.—Section 520E–3(b) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb–36c(b)) is amended—(A) in paragraph (1)—(i) by inserting “supporting and” before “coordinating”; and (ii) by striking “crisis intervention services” and inserting “mental health crisis intervention services, including appropriate follow-up services,”; (B) in paragraph (2), by striking “and” at the end; (C) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at the end and inserting a semicolon; and136 STAT. 5638 (D) by adding at the end the following:“(4) improving awareness of the program for suicide prevention and mental health crisis intervention services, including by conducting an awareness initiative and ongoing outreach to the public; and “(5) improving the collection and analysis of demographic information, in a manner that protects personal privacy, consistent with applicable Federal and State privacy laws, in order to understand disparities in access to the program among individuals who are seeking help.” . (2) Plan.—Section 520E–3 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb–36c) is further amended—(A) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (f); and (B) by inserting after subsection (b) the following:“(c) Plan.—“(1) In general.—For purposes of supporting the crisis centers under subsection (b)(1) and maintaining the suicide prevention hotline under subsection (b)(2), the Secretary shall develop and implement a plan to ensure the provision of high-quality services. “(2) Contents.—The plan required by paragraph (1) shall include the following:“(A) Program evaluation, including performance measures to assess progress toward the goals and objectives of the program and to improve the responsiveness and performance of the hotline, including at all backup call centers. “(B) Requirements that crisis centers and backup centers must meet—“(i) to participate in the network under subsection (b)(1); and “(ii) to ensure that each telephone call and applicable other communication received by the hotline, including at backup call centers, is answered in a timely manner, consistent with evidence-based guidance or other guidance or best practices, as appropriate. “(C) Specific recommendations and strategies for implementing evidence-based practices, including with respect to followup and communicating the availability of resources in the community for individuals in need. “(D) Criteria for carrying out periodic testing of the hotline during each fiscal year, including at crisis centers and backup centers, to identify and address any problems in a timely manner. “(3) Consultation.—In developing requirements under paragraph (2)(B), the Secretary shall consult with State departments of health, local governments, Indian Tribes, and Tribal organizations. “(4) Initial plan; updates.—The Secretary shall—“(A) not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act of 2022, complete development of the initial plan under paragraph (1) and make such plan publicly available; and “(B) periodically thereafter, update such plan and make the updated plan publicly available.” .136 STAT. 5639 (3) Transmission of data to cdc and to assist state and local agencies.—Section 520E–3 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb–36c) is amended by inserting after subsection (c), as added by paragraph (2), the following:“(d) Improving Epidemiological Data.—The Secretary shall, as appropriate, formalize and strengthen agreements between the Suicide Prevention Lifeline program and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with respect to the secure sharing of de-identified epidemiological data. Such agreements shall include appropriate privacy and security protections that meet the requirements of applicable Federal law, at a minimum. “(e) Data to Assist State and Local Suicide Prevention Activities.—The Secretary shall ensure that the aggregated information collected and any applicable analyses conducted under subsection (b)(5), including from local call centers, as applicable, are made available in a usable format to State and local agencies in order to inform suicide prevention activities.” . (4) Authorization of appropriations.—Subsection (f) of section 520E–3 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb–36c), as redesignated by paragraph (2), is amended to read as follows:“(f) Authorization of Appropriations.—To carry out this section, there are authorized to be appropriated $101,621,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2027.” . (b) Pilot Program on Innovative Technologies.—(1) In general.—The Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, shall, as appropriate, carry out a pilot program to research, analyze, and employ various technologies and platforms of communication (including social media platforms, texting platforms, and email platforms) for suicide prevention in addition to the telephone and online chat service provided by the Suicide Prevention Lifeline. (2) Report.—Not later than 24 months after the date on which the pilot program under paragraph (1) commences, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, shall submit to the Congress a report on the pilot program. With respect to each platform of communication employed pursuant to the pilot program, the report shall include—(A) a full description of the program; (B) the number of individuals served by the program; (C) the average wait time for each individual to receive a response; (D) the cost of the program, including the cost per individual served; and (E) any other information the Secretary determines appropriate. (c) HHS Study and Report.—Not later than 2 years after the Secretary of Health and Human Services completes development of the plan under section 520E–3(c) of the Public Health Service Act, as added by subsection (a)(2)(B), the Secretary shall—(1) complete a study on—(A) the implementation of such plan, including the progress towards meeting the goals and objectives identified pursuant to paragraph (2)(A) of such section 520E–3(c); and136 STAT. 5640 (B) in consultation with the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, options to improve data regarding usage of the Suicide Prevention Lifeline, such as repeat calls, consistent with applicable Federal and State privacy laws; and (2) submit a report to Congress on the progress made on meeting the goals and objectives identified pursuant to paragraph (2)(A) of such section 520E–3(c) and recommendations on improving the program, including improvements to enhance data collection and usage. (d) GAO Study and Report.—(1) In general.—Not later than 2 years after the Secretary of Health and Human Services begins implementation of the plan required by section 520E–3(c) of the Public Health Service Act, as added by subsection (a)(2)(B), the Comptroller General of the United States shall—(A) complete a study on the Suicide Prevention Lifeline; and (B) submit a report to the Congress on the results of such study. (2) Content.—The study required by paragraph (1) shall include what is known about—(A) the feasibility of routing calls to the Suicide Prevention Lifeline to the nearest crisis center based on the physical location of the contact; (B) capacity of the Suicide Prevention Lifeline; (C) State and regional variation with respect to access to crisis centers described in section 520E–3(b)(1) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb–36c(b)(1)), including wait times, answer times, hours of operation, and funding sources; (D) the implementation of the plan under section 520E–3(c) of the Public Health Service Act, as added by subsection (a)(2)(B), including the progress toward meeting the goals and objectives in such plan; and (E) the capacity of the Suicide Prevention Lifeline to handle calls from individuals with limited English proficiency. (3) Recommendations.—The report required by paragraph (1) shall include recommendations for improving the Suicide Prevention Lifeline, including recommendations for administrative actions. (e) Definition.—In this section, the term “Suicide Prevention Lifeline” means the suicide prevention hotline maintained pursuant to section 520E–3 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb–36c).