Sec. 201. Interagency Serious Mental Illness Coordinating Committee
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Title V of the Public Health Service Act, as amended by section 101, is further amended by inserting after section 501 of such Act the following: The Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders (in this section referred to as the Assistant Secretary ) shall establish a committee, to be known as the Interagency Serious Mental Illness Coordinating Committee (in this section referred to as the Committee ), to assist the Assistant Secretary in carrying out the Assistant Secretary’s duties.
The Committee, in coordination with the Assistant Secretary, shall— develop and annually update a summary of advances in serious mental illness research related to causes, prevention, treatment, early screening, diagnosis or rule out, intervention, and access to services and supports for individuals with serious mental illness; monitor Federal activities with respect to serious mental illness; make recommendations to the Assistant Secretary regarding any appropriate changes to such activities, including recommendations with respect to the strategic plan developed under paragraph (5); make recommendations to the Assistant Secretary regarding public participation in decisions relating to serious mental illness; develop and update every 5 years a strategic plan for the conduct and support of programs and services to assist individuals with serious mental illness, including— a summary of the advances in serious mental illness research developed under paragraph (1); a list of the Federal programs and activities identified under paragraph (2); an analysis of the efficiency, effectiveness, quality, coordination, and cost-effectiveness of Federal programs and activities relating to the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, or rehabilitation of serious mental illness, including an accounting of the costs of such programs and activities with administrative costs disaggregated from the costs of services and care; and a plan with recommendations— for the coordination and improvement of Federal programs and activities related to serious mental illness, including budgetary requirements; for improving outcomes for individuals with a serious mental illness including appropriate benchmarks to measure progress on achieving improvements; for the mental health workforce; to disseminate relevant information developed by the coordinating committee to the public, health care providers, social service providers, public health officials, courts, law enforcement, and other relevant groups; to identify research needs, including longitudinal studies of pediatric populations; and for vulnerable and underserved populations, including pediatric populations, geriatric populations, and racial, ethnic, sexual, and gender minorities; and submit to the Congress such strategic plan and any updates to such plan.
The Committee shall be composed of— the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders (or the Assistant Secretary’s designee), who shall serve as the Chair of the Committee; the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health (or the Director’s designee); the Attorney General of the United States (or the Attorney General’s designee); the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (or the Director’s designee); the Director of the National Institutes of Health (or the Director’s designee); the Director of the Indian Health Service; a member of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness; the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service (or the Administrator’s designee); the Secretary of Defense (or the Secretary’s designee); the Secretary of Education (or the Secretary’s designee); the Secretary of Labor (or the Secretary’s designee); the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (or the Secretary’s designee); the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (or the Commissioner’s designee); and the additional members appointed under paragraph (2).
Not fewer than 20 members of the Committee, or 1/3 of the total membership of the Committee, whichever is greater, shall be composed of non-Federal public members to be appointed by the Assistant Secretary, of which— at least five such members shall be an individual in recovery from a diagnosis of serious mental illness who has benefited from medical treatment under the care of a licensed mental health professional; at least three such members shall be a parent or legal guardian of an individual with a history of serious mental illness, including at least one of whom is the parent or legal guardian of a child who has either attempted suicide or is incarcerated for a crime committed while experiencing a serious mental illness or serious emotional disturbance; at least one such member shall be a representative of a leading research, advocacy, and service organization for individuals with serious mental illness; at least one such member shall be— a licensed psychiatrist with experience treating serious mental illness; or a licensed clinical psychologist with experience treating serious mental illness; at least one member shall be a licensed mental health counselor or psychotherapist; at least one member shall be a licensed clinical social worker; at least one member shall be a licensed psychiatric nurse or nurse practitioner; at least one member shall be a mental health professional with a significant focus in his or her practice working with children and adolescents; at least one member shall be a mental health professional who spends a significant concentration of his or her professional time or leadership practicing community mental health; at least one member shall be a mental health professional with substantial experience working with mentally ill individuals who have a history of violence or suicide; at least one such member shall be a State certified mental health peer specialist; at least one member shall be a judge with experience adjudicating cases related to criminal justice and serious mental illness; at least one member shall be a law enforcement officer with extensive experience in interfacing with psychiatric and psychological disorders or individuals in mental health crisis; and at least one member shall be a corrections officer with extensive experience in interfacing with psychiatric and psychological disorders or individuals in mental health crisis.
Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, and every 3 years thereafter, the Committee shall submit a report to the Congress— evaluating the impact of projects addressing priority mental health needs of regional and national significance under sections 501, 509, 516, and 520A including measurement of public health outcomes such as— reduced rates of suicide, suicide attempts, substance abuse, overdose, overdose deaths, emergency hospitalizations, emergency room boarding, incarceration, crime, arrest, victimization, homelessness, and joblessness; increased rates of employment and enrollment in educational and vocational programs; and such other criteria as may be determined by the Assistant Secretary; formulating recommendations for the coordination and improvement of Federal programs and activities that affect individuals with serious mental illness; identifying any such programs and activities that are duplicative; and summarizing all recommendations made, activities carried out, and results achieved pursuant to the workforce development strategy under section 501.
The following provisions shall apply with respect to the Committee: The Assistant Secretary shall provide such administrative support to the Committee as may be necessary for the Committee to carry out its responsibilities. Members of the Committee appointed under subsection (c)(2) shall serve for a term of 4 years, and may be reappointed for one or more additional 4-year terms. Any member appointed to fill a vacancy for an unexpired term shall be appointed for the remainder of such term.
A member may serve after the expiration of the member’s term until a successor has taken office. The Committee shall meet at the call of the chair or upon the request of the Assistant Secretary. The Committee shall meet not fewer than 2 times each year. All meetings of the Committee shall be public and shall include appropriate time periods for questions and presentations by the public. In carrying out its functions, the Committee may establish subcommittees and convene workshops and conferences.
Such subcommittees shall be composed of Committee members and may hold such meetings as are necessary to enable the subcommittees to carry out their duties. There is authorized to be appropriated $1,000,000 to carry out the staffing functions under subsection (e)(1) for each of fiscal years 2017 through 2021. .