Congressional Update on the Campus Care and Counseling Act

On It’s Way to Becoming Law: Elements of the Campus Care and Counseling Maintained in Version to be Passed by U.S. House of Representatives in September

July 2004

On July 22, the U.S. House of Representatives reached an agreement, after over a week’s worth of intense negotiating, to pass an amended version of the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act, S. 2634 which contains provisions from the APA developed Campus Care and Counseling Act (S. 2215/H.R. 3593). The Campus Care and Counseling Act was introduced in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate by bi-partisan coalition of Members (see previous update). The House leadership has made a commitment to Sen. Smith to pass the bill when they return from congressional recess in early September. The Senate leadership, in turn has made a commitment to pass it immediately following the House action. Because the House has amended or changed the legislation, the Senate will again have to pass S.2634. Following that action, the bill will be sent to the President of the United States for his signature. White House staff has indicated the President’s support for the bill.

The final version that is poised to become law is significantly different from the Senate passed version. While the final bill does not contain all the important provisions that were included in the original Campus Care and Counseling Act (or in the Senate passed version of the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act) it does represent an important first step in establishing critical and needed support for mental and behavioral health services to students on college campuses. Further, it acknowledges the significant toll that mental and behavioral health problems take on a student’s ability to succeed in college.

While we are pleased to see our proposal a step closer to being enacted into law and pleased to witness the extraordinary advocacy efforts of APA members from across the country pay off, we acknowledge that the bill could stand some improvement. Both the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration provisions and the Higher Education Act are slated for reauthorization consideration next year. That being the case, we may have an opportunity to make changes to the legislation in hopes of more comprehensively addressing the real and documented needs of students on college campuses today. In addition to the omission of direct services under the grant and the lack of clear authority to hire qualified staff in centers on campus that provide mental and behavioral health services, we are looking forward to hear your comments about the other provisions of the legislation. As many of you were instrumental in drafting the initial legislation, we will want to hear from you about how to improve the new version next year.

The following provisions are included in the amended version of S. 2634, the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act:

Under the Findings section, the bill maintains the important statements about the mental and behavioral health needs of students that exist on college campuses.
The legislation authorizes the creation of a new “research, training, and technical assistance center” that will provide information, training and technical assistance to “states, political subdivisions of a state, federally recognized Indian tribes, tribal organization, institutions of higher education, public organizations or private nonprofit organizations” for a range of services and support related to youth suicide. Entities eligible to apply for the $3 million dollars authorized for the additional technical assistance center include, “public or nonprofit private entities.”
The bill identifies the youth population in need of services as those from ages 10 – 24 (increased from those aged 21).
The bill includes a new section, 520E, Youth Suicide Early Intervention and Prevention Strategies which authorizes a new statewide grant program. Some funds within the grant program are reserved to “provide grants to institutions of higher education to coordinate the implementation of State-sponsored statewide or tribal youth suicide early intervention or prevention strategies, which may include prevention, screening, early intervention, assessment, treatment, management, and education with respect to mental and behavioral health problems that can lead to school failure, such as depression, substance abuse, and suicide attempts by students enrolled at the institution.” Funds reserved for this purpose are set at 5% of the 85% of funds reserved for direct services under the program.
Finally, the bill establishes a new section, 520E-2, on Mental and Behavioral Health services on Campus. This section authorizes competitive grants to IHEs to enhance services for students with mental and behavioral health problems that can lead to school failure, such as depression, substance abuse and suicide attempts so that students will successfully complete their studies. Funds must be used for any of the following activities (but are limited to these activities): 1) Educational seminars; 2) The operation of hotlines; 3) Preparation of informational material; 4) Preparation of educational materials for families of students to increase awareness of potential mental and behavioral health issues of students enrolled at the institution of higher education; 5) Training programs for students and campus personnel to respond effectively to students with mental and behavioral health problems that can lead to school failure, such as depression, substance abuse and suicide attempts; OR 6) The creation of a networking infrastructure to link colleges and universities that do not have mental health services with health care providers trained to identify mental and behavioral health issues.
Eligible grant recipients for this new section 520E-2 include college counseling centers; college and university psychological service centers; mental health centers; psychology training clinics; and institutions of higher education supported, evidence-based, mental health and substance abuse programs.

Learn more about the Campus Care and Counseling Act