HR6226-119

What This Bill Does

The bill responds to findings that Latino youth report high rates of adverse childhood experiences, persistent sadness, and suicide risk while receiving less treatment. It adds a Public Health Service Act program requiring HHS, through SAMHSA and in consultation with the Office of Minority Health, NIH, CDC, Education, and community advocates, to study prior outreach and then run a culturally and linguistically competent campaign for parents, caregivers, youth, teachers, school staff, and school clinic staff. The campaign must explain symptoms, prevalence, stigma, social determinants, trauma-informed screening and treatment, 988 resources, school and community workshops, youth mental-health first aid, partnerships, screenings, and on-site consultations. The bill authorizes $5 million per year from fiscal years 2026 through 2030 for the campaign and $1 million each for studies on Latino youth mental-health crisis data and Latino mental-health workforce shortages.

Who Benefits and How

Latino youth, parents, caregivers, schools, school clinics, community centers, and culturally competent mental-health providers benefit from targeted outreach, better 988 awareness, screenings, and referral pathways. SAMHSA, CDC, NIH, HRSA, the Office of Minority Health, the Surgeon General, and Labor receive clearer mandates and funding to collect disaggregated data and identify workforce gaps. Community advocacy organizations gain a formal role in shaping outreach.

Who Bears the Burden and How

HHS and partner agencies must complete studies, design campaigns, consult advocates, collect disaggregated data, and report recommendations to Congress. Schools, community centers, and mental-health partners that participate in workshops, screenings, or first-aid trainings take on coordination work. Workforce and crisis-system data collection may require additional reporting from providers, education programs, and crisis-service operators.

Key Provisions

• Requires HHS and SAMHSA to study effective Latino mental-health outreach before launching a national youth-focused campaign.
• Authorizes $5 million annually from fiscal years 2026 through 2030 for culturally and linguistically competent mental-health awareness and stigma-reduction outreach.
• Directs the campaign to cover symptoms, stigma, trauma-informed screening, treatment, 988 resources, school workshops, partnerships, screenings, and consultations.
• Requires a Latino youth mental-health crisis study covering prevalence, suicide risk, treatment access, 988 awareness, and crisis-service availability.
• Requires a Latino mental-health workforce shortage study covering provider counts, licensure, location, employer type, language capacity, and education-program enrollment.