Hope Heals Act of 2026

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6940 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6940

  To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to assess how 
   Executive departments address mental health crisis prevention and 
                   awareness, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 6, 2026

 Mrs. Biggs of South Carolina introduced the following bill; which was 
            referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to assess how 
   Executive departments address mental health crisis prevention and 
                   awareness, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Hope Heals Act of 2026''.

SEC. 2. MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS PREVENTION AND AWARENESS.

    (a) Assessment.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human 
        Services (in this section referred to as the ``Secretary'') 
        shall assess--
                    (A) the feasibility of improving coordination 
                between Executive departments that provide direct 
                services to the public, with respect to identifying--
                            (i) any individual experiencing a mental 
                        health crisis; or
                            (ii) any individual that expresses concern 
                        that they may be experiencing such a crisis or 
                        related distress;
                    (B) any opportunity for an Executive department to 
                improve how such department shares information, best 
                practices, and referral mechanisms related to suicide 
                prevention and mental health support with an individual 
                seeking services during a mental health crisis; and
                    (C) for the purpose of increasing awareness of the 
                signs of a mental health crisis, whether an Executive 
                department may implement a program to distribute--
                            (i) a validated screening tool, including 
                        the Patient Health Questionnaire-3 (PHQ-3) or a 
                        comparable tool; and
                            (ii) any commonly used symptom indicator.
            (2) Coordination with other executive departments.--In 
        carrying out the assessment under paragraph (1), the Secretary 
        shall coordinate with the head of any relevant Executive 
        department, which may include--
                    (A) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs;
                    (B) the Secretary of Defense; and
                    (C) the Secretary of Education.
            (3) Consultation with experts.--In carrying out the 
        assessment under paragraph (1), the Secretary may consult 
        with--
                    (A) an independent person with expertise in suicide 
                prevention, public mental health, behavioral health 
                systems, or coordination between Executive departments;
                    (B) an academic institution with demonstrated 
                expertise in mental or behavioral health research, 
                suicide prevention, or public health;
                    (C) a mental health professional; or
                    (D) any such other entity with relevant expertise.
            (4) Report.--
                    (A) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the 
                date on which the Secretary completes the assessment 
                under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall submit to each 
                appropriate congressional committee a report containing 
                the results of such assessment and any recommendations 
                related to such results.
                    (B) Appropriate congressional committee defined.--
                In this paragraph, the term ``appropriate congressional 
                committee'' means--
                            (i) the Committee on Energy and Commerce of 
                        the House of Representatives;
                            (ii) the Committee on Health, Education, 
                        Labor, and Pensions of the Senate; and
                            (iii) any congressional committee with 
                        jurisdiction over the head of an Executive 
                        department that the Secretary coordinates with 
                        under paragraph (2).
    (b) Implementation.--Each Executive department shall, to the extent 
practicable, implement any recommendation contained within the report 
submitted under subsection (a)(4).
    (c) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Executive department.--The term ``Executive 
        department'' means an Executive department listed in section 
        101 of title 5, United States Code.
            (2) Mental health crisis.--The term ``mental health 
        crisis'' means a situation in which an individual--
                    (A) experiences acute psychological distress or 
                behavioral disruption that--
                            (i) places such individual at risk of 
                        harming themself or another individual; or
                            (ii) significantly impairs the ability of 
                        such individual to function in daily life; and
                    (B) requires support, intervention, or referral to 
                services.
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