§ 294e–1 — Mental And Behavioral Health Education And Training Grants

(a) The Secretary may award grants to eligible institutions to support the recruitment of students for, and education and clinical experience of the students in— (1) accredited institutions of higher education or accredited professional training programs that are establishing or expanding internships or other field placement programs in mental health in psychiatry, psychology, school psychology, behavioral pediatrics, psychiatric nursing (which may include master’s and doctoral level programs), social work, school social work, substance use disorder prevention and treatment, marriage and family therapy, occupational therapy (which may include master’s and doctoral level programs), school counseling, or professional counseling, including such programs with a focus on child and adolescent mental health, trauma, and transitional-age youth; (2) accredited doctoral, internship, and post-doctoral residency programs of health service psychology (including clinical psychology, counseling, and school psychology) for the development and implementation of interdisciplinary training of psychology graduate students for providing behavioral health services, including trauma-informed care and substance use disorder prevention and treatment services, as well as the development of faculty in health service psychology; (3) accredited master’s and doctoral degree programs of social work for the development and implementation of interdisciplinary training of social work graduate students for providing behavioral health services, including trauma-informed care and substance use disorder prevention and treatment services, and the development of faculty in social work; and (4) State-licensed mental health nonprofit and for-profit organizations to enable such organizations to pay for programs for preservice or in-service training in a behavioral health-related paraprofessional field with preference for preservice or in-service training of paraprofessional child and adolescent mental health workers, including training to increase skills and capacity to meet the needs of children and adolescents who have experienced trauma. (b) To be eligible for a grant under this section, an institution shall demonstrate— (1) an ability to recruit and place the students described in subsection (a) in areas with a high need and high demand population; (2) participation in the institutions’ programs of individuals and groups from different racial, ethnic, cultural, geographic, religious, linguistic, and class backgrounds, and different genders and sexual orientations; (3) knowledge and understanding of the concerns of the individuals and groups described in paragraph (2), especially individuals with mental disorder symptoms or diagnoses, particularly children and adolescents, and transitional-age youth; (4) any internship or other field placement program assisted under the grant will prioritize cultural and linguistic competency; and (5) the institution will provide to the Secretary such data, assurances, and information as the Secretary may require. (c) For grants awarded under paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection (a), at least 4 of the grant recipients shall be historically black colleges or universities or other minority-serving institutions. (d) In selecting grant recipients under this section, the Secretary shall give priority to— (1) programs that have demonstrated the ability to train psychology, psychiatry, and social work professionals to work in integrated care settings for purposes of recipients under paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subsection (a); and (2) programs for paraprofessionals that emphasize the role of the family and the lived experience of the consumer and family-paraprofessional partnerships for purposes of recipients under subsection (a)(4). (e) Not later than 4 years after December 13, 2016, the Secretary shall include in the biennial report submitted to Congress under section 290aa(m) of this title an assessment on the effectiveness of the grants under this section in— (1) providing graduate students support for experiential training (internship or field placement); (2) recruiting students interested in behavioral health practice; (3) recruiting students in accordance with subsection (b)(1); (4) developing and implementing interprofessional training and integration within primary care; (5) developing and implementing accredited field placements and internships; and (6) collecting data on the number of students trained in behavioral health care and the number of available accredited internships and field placements. (f) For each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030, there are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $50,000,000, to be allocated as follows: (1) For grants described in subsection (a)(1), $15,000,000. (2) For grants described in subsection (a)(2), $15,000,000. (3) For grants described in subsection (a)(3), $10,000,000. (4) For grants described in subsection (a)(4), $10,000,000.