| 1 | 1 | | I |
|---|
| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
|---|
| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
|---|
| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 2741 |
|---|
| 5 | 5 | | To address the behavioral health workforce shortages through support for |
|---|
| 6 | 6 | | peer support specialists, and for other purposes. |
|---|
| 7 | 7 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
|---|
| 8 | 8 | | APRIL8, 2025 |
|---|
| 9 | 9 | | Ms. S |
|---|
| 10 | 10 | | ALINAS(for herself, Ms. DAVIDSof Kansas, Mrs. WATSONCOLEMAN, |
|---|
| 11 | 11 | | Ms. B |
|---|
| 12 | 12 | | ONAMICI, and Mr. DOGGETT) introduced the following bill; which |
|---|
| 13 | 13 | | was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition |
|---|
| 14 | 14 | | to the Committee on Education and Workforce, for a period to be subse- |
|---|
| 15 | 15 | | quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such |
|---|
| 16 | 16 | | provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned |
|---|
| 17 | 17 | | A BILL |
|---|
| 18 | 18 | | To address the behavioral health workforce shortages through |
|---|
| 19 | 19 | | support for peer support specialists, and for other purposes. |
|---|
| 20 | 20 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
|---|
| 21 | 21 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
|---|
| 22 | 22 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
|---|
| 23 | 23 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Providing Empathetic 4 |
|---|
| 24 | 24 | | and Effective Recovery Support Act’’ or the ‘‘PEER Sup-5 |
|---|
| 25 | 25 | | port Act’’. 6 |
|---|
| 26 | 26 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:25 Apr 16, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2741.IH H2741 |
|---|
| 27 | 27 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2 |
|---|
| 28 | 28 | | •HR 2741 IH |
|---|
| 29 | 29 | | SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF PEER SUPPORT SPECIALIST. 1 |
|---|
| 30 | 30 | | (a) I |
|---|
| 31 | 31 | | NGENERAL.—In this Act, the term ‘‘peer sup-2 |
|---|
| 32 | 32 | | port specialist’’ means an individual— 3 |
|---|
| 33 | 33 | | (1)(A) who has lived experience of recovery 4 |
|---|
| 34 | 34 | | from a mental health condition or substance use dis-5 |
|---|
| 35 | 35 | | order and who specializes in supporting individuals 6 |
|---|
| 36 | 36 | | with mental health conditions or substance use dis-7 |
|---|
| 37 | 37 | | orders; or 8 |
|---|
| 38 | 38 | | (B) who has lived experience as a parent or 9 |
|---|
| 39 | 39 | | caregiver of an individual with a mental health con-10 |
|---|
| 40 | 40 | | dition or substance use disorder and who specializes 11 |
|---|
| 41 | 41 | | in supporting families navigating mental health or 12 |
|---|
| 42 | 42 | | substance use service systems; and 13 |
|---|
| 43 | 43 | | (2) who is certified as qualified to furnish peer 14 |
|---|
| 44 | 44 | | support services, as described in subsection (b), 15 |
|---|
| 45 | 45 | | under a process that is determined by the State in 16 |
|---|
| 46 | 46 | | which such individual furnishes such services or de-17 |
|---|
| 47 | 47 | | termined appropriate by the Secretary of Health and 18 |
|---|
| 48 | 48 | | Human Services. 19 |
|---|
| 49 | 49 | | (b) P |
|---|
| 50 | 50 | | EERSUPPORTSERVICES.—The services de-20 |
|---|
| 51 | 51 | | scribed in this subsection shall be consistent with the Na-21 |
|---|
| 52 | 52 | | tional Practice Guidelines for Peer Supporters issued by 22 |
|---|
| 53 | 53 | | the National Association of Peer Supporters (or a suc-23 |
|---|
| 54 | 54 | | cessor publication) and inclusive of the Core Competencies 24 |
|---|
| 55 | 55 | | for Peer Workers in Behavioral Health Services of the 25 |
|---|
| 56 | 56 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:25 Apr 16, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2741.IH H2741 |
|---|
| 57 | 57 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3 |
|---|
| 58 | 58 | | •HR 2741 IH |
|---|
| 59 | 59 | | Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administra-1 |
|---|
| 60 | 60 | | tion. 2 |
|---|
| 61 | 61 | | SEC. 3. RECOGNIZING THE PEER SUPPORT SPECIALIST 3 |
|---|
| 62 | 62 | | PROFESSION. 4 |
|---|
| 63 | 63 | | Not later than January 1, 2026, the Director of the 5 |
|---|
| 64 | 64 | | Office of Management and Budget shall revise the Stand-6 |
|---|
| 65 | 65 | | ard Occupational Classification system to include an occu-7 |
|---|
| 66 | 66 | | pational category for peer support specialists. 8 |
|---|
| 67 | 67 | | SEC. 4. ESTABLISHING THE OFFICE OF RECOVERY. 9 |
|---|
| 68 | 68 | | Part A of title V of the Public Health Service Act 10 |
|---|
| 69 | 69 | | (42 U.S.C. 290aa et seq.) is amended by inserting after 11 |
|---|
| 70 | 70 | | section 501C (42 U.S.C. 290aa–0b) the following: 12 |
|---|
| 71 | 71 | | ‘‘SEC. 501D. OFFICE OF RECOVERY. 13 |
|---|
| 72 | 72 | | ‘‘(a) I |
|---|
| 73 | 73 | | NGENERAL.—There is established, in the Sub-14 |
|---|
| 74 | 74 | | stance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 15 |
|---|
| 75 | 75 | | an Office of Recovery (referred to in this section as the 16 |
|---|
| 76 | 76 | | ‘Office’). 17 |
|---|
| 77 | 77 | | ‘‘(b) D |
|---|
| 78 | 78 | | IRECTOR.—The Office shall be headed by a Di-18 |
|---|
| 79 | 79 | | rector who has demonstrated experience in, and lived expe-19 |
|---|
| 80 | 80 | | rience with, mental health or substance use disorder recov-20 |
|---|
| 81 | 81 | | ery. 21 |
|---|
| 82 | 82 | | ‘‘(c) R |
|---|
| 83 | 83 | | ESPONSIBILITIES.—Through the Office of Re-22 |
|---|
| 84 | 84 | | covery, the responsibilities of the Director shall include— 23 |
|---|
| 85 | 85 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:25 Apr 16, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2741.IH H2741 |
|---|
| 86 | 86 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 4 |
|---|
| 87 | 87 | | •HR 2741 IH |
|---|
| 88 | 88 | | ‘‘(1) providing leadership in the identification of 1 |
|---|
| 89 | 89 | | new and emerging issues related to recovery support 2 |
|---|
| 90 | 90 | | services; 3 |
|---|
| 91 | 91 | | ‘‘(2) supporting technical assistance, data anal-4 |
|---|
| 92 | 92 | | ysis, and evaluation functions in order to assist 5 |
|---|
| 93 | 93 | | States, localities, territories, Indian Tribes, and 6 |
|---|
| 94 | 94 | | Tribal organizations in developing recovery support 7 |
|---|
| 95 | 95 | | services and identifying best practices with the ob-8 |
|---|
| 96 | 96 | | jective of expanding the capacity of, and access to, 9 |
|---|
| 97 | 97 | | recovery support services; 10 |
|---|
| 98 | 98 | | ‘‘(3) providing support for the training, edu-11 |
|---|
| 99 | 99 | | cation, integration, and professionalization of the 12 |
|---|
| 100 | 100 | | peer support specialist workforce; 13 |
|---|
| 101 | 101 | | ‘‘(4) disseminating best practice recommenda-14 |
|---|
| 102 | 102 | | tions with respect to peer support specialist training, 15 |
|---|
| 103 | 103 | | certification, supervision, and practice to States and 16 |
|---|
| 104 | 104 | | other entities that employ peer support specialists; 17 |
|---|
| 105 | 105 | | ‘‘(5) supporting peer support specialists with 18 |
|---|
| 106 | 106 | | ongoing professional development and retention ac-19 |
|---|
| 107 | 107 | | tivities; and 20 |
|---|
| 108 | 108 | | ‘‘(6) developing recommendations on creating 21 |
|---|
| 109 | 109 | | career pathways for peer support specialists. 22 |
|---|
| 110 | 110 | | ‘‘(d) F |
|---|
| 111 | 111 | | UNCTIONS.—Beginning on the date of enact-23 |
|---|
| 112 | 112 | | ment of this section, the functions of the Office shall in-24 |
|---|
| 113 | 113 | | clude the responsibilities described in subsection (c) and 25 |
|---|
| 114 | 114 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:25 Apr 16, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2741.IH H2741 |
|---|
| 115 | 115 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 5 |
|---|
| 116 | 116 | | •HR 2741 IH |
|---|
| 117 | 117 | | the functions of the Office of Recovery of the Substance 1 |
|---|
| 118 | 118 | | Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration on the 2 |
|---|
| 119 | 119 | | day before such date of enactment, including all of its per-3 |
|---|
| 120 | 120 | | sonnel, assets, authorities, obligations, and liabilities, ex-4 |
|---|
| 121 | 121 | | cept as otherwise specified in this section. 5 |
|---|
| 122 | 122 | | ‘‘(e) D |
|---|
| 123 | 123 | | EFINITION OFPEERSUPPORTSPECIALIST.— 6 |
|---|
| 124 | 124 | | In this section, the term ‘peer support specialist’ has the 7 |
|---|
| 125 | 125 | | meaning given such term in section 2 of the Providing 8 |
|---|
| 126 | 126 | | Empathetic and Effective Recovery Support Act’’. 9 |
|---|
| 127 | 127 | | SEC. 5. RESEARCH AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON CRIMINAL 10 |
|---|
| 128 | 128 | | BACKGROUND CHECK PROCESS FOR PEER 11 |
|---|
| 129 | 129 | | SUPPORT SPECIALISTS. 12 |
|---|
| 130 | 130 | | (a) I |
|---|
| 131 | 131 | | NGENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 13 |
|---|
| 132 | 132 | | Human Services (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Sec-14 |
|---|
| 133 | 133 | | retary’’), in coordination with the Attorney General, shall 15 |
|---|
| 134 | 134 | | develop a report on research and recommendations with 16 |
|---|
| 135 | 135 | | respect to criminal background check processes for indi-17 |
|---|
| 136 | 136 | | viduals becoming peer support specialists. 18 |
|---|
| 137 | 137 | | (b) C |
|---|
| 138 | 138 | | ONTENTS.—The report under subsection (a) 19 |
|---|
| 139 | 139 | | shall include— 20 |
|---|
| 140 | 140 | | (1) a summary of evidence-informed literature 21 |
|---|
| 141 | 141 | | on the effectiveness of peer support specialists in im-22 |
|---|
| 142 | 142 | | proving the mental health and the substance use dis-23 |
|---|
| 143 | 143 | | order recovery of other individuals; 24 |
|---|
| 144 | 144 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:25 Apr 16, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2741.IH H2741 |
|---|
| 145 | 145 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 6 |
|---|
| 146 | 146 | | •HR 2741 IH |
|---|
| 147 | 147 | | (2) a survey of each State’s laws (including reg-1 |
|---|
| 148 | 148 | | ulations) that contain criminal background check re-2 |
|---|
| 149 | 149 | | quirements for serving as a peer support specialist, 3 |
|---|
| 150 | 150 | | including— 4 |
|---|
| 151 | 151 | | (A) an analysis of criminal offenses that 5 |
|---|
| 152 | 152 | | are included in State laws (including regula-6 |
|---|
| 153 | 153 | | tions) that prevent individuals from earning a 7 |
|---|
| 154 | 154 | | peer support specialist certification or from 8 |
|---|
| 155 | 155 | | practicing as a peer support specialist; 9 |
|---|
| 156 | 156 | | (B) an analysis of requirements (if any) 10 |
|---|
| 157 | 157 | | under the State plan under title XIX of the So-11 |
|---|
| 158 | 158 | | cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.) or 12 |
|---|
| 159 | 159 | | under a waiver of such plan relating to back-13 |
|---|
| 160 | 160 | | ground checks for providers participating under 14 |
|---|
| 161 | 161 | | such plan or waiver and the extent to which any 15 |
|---|
| 162 | 162 | | such requirements differ from similar require-16 |
|---|
| 163 | 163 | | ments imposed under State law (including regu-17 |
|---|
| 164 | 164 | | lations); 18 |
|---|
| 165 | 165 | | (C) an analysis of requirements (if any) of 19 |
|---|
| 166 | 166 | | any State receiving a grant under part B of 20 |
|---|
| 167 | 167 | | title XIX of the Public Health Service Act (42 21 |
|---|
| 168 | 168 | | U.S.C. 300x et seq.) relating to background 22 |
|---|
| 169 | 169 | | checks for providers participating in a program 23 |
|---|
| 170 | 170 | | under, or otherwise providing services supported 24 |
|---|
| 171 | 171 | | by, such grant; 25 |
|---|
| 172 | 172 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:25 Apr 16, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2741.IH H2741 |
|---|
| 173 | 173 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 7 |
|---|
| 174 | 174 | | •HR 2741 IH |
|---|
| 175 | 175 | | (D) a review of State laws (including regu-1 |
|---|
| 176 | 176 | | lations) that provide exemptions from prohibi-2 |
|---|
| 177 | 177 | | tions regarding certification or practice of peer 3 |
|---|
| 178 | 178 | | support specialists; and 4 |
|---|
| 179 | 179 | | (E) an indication of each State that has 5 |
|---|
| 180 | 180 | | gone through the process of amending or other-6 |
|---|
| 181 | 181 | | wise changing criminal background check laws 7 |
|---|
| 182 | 182 | | (including regulations) for the certification and 8 |
|---|
| 183 | 183 | | practice of peer support specialists; and 9 |
|---|
| 184 | 184 | | (3) recommendations to States on criminal 10 |
|---|
| 185 | 185 | | background check processes that would reduce bar-11 |
|---|
| 186 | 186 | | riers to becoming certified as peer support special-12 |
|---|
| 187 | 187 | | ists. 13 |
|---|
| 188 | 188 | | (c) A |
|---|
| 189 | 189 | | VAILABILITY.—Not later than 1 year after the 14 |
|---|
| 190 | 190 | | date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall— 15 |
|---|
| 191 | 191 | | (1) post the report required under subsection 16 |
|---|
| 192 | 192 | | (a) on the publicly accessible internet website of the 17 |
|---|
| 193 | 193 | | Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Ad-18 |
|---|
| 194 | 194 | | ministration; and 19 |
|---|
| 195 | 195 | | (2) distribute such report to— 20 |
|---|
| 196 | 196 | | (A) State agencies responsible for certifi-21 |
|---|
| 197 | 197 | | cation of peer support specialists; 22 |
|---|
| 198 | 198 | | (B) the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 23 |
|---|
| 199 | 199 | | Services; 24 |
|---|
| 200 | 200 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:25 Apr 16, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2741.IH H2741 |
|---|
| 201 | 201 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 8 |
|---|
| 202 | 202 | | •HR 2741 IH |
|---|
| 203 | 203 | | (C) State agencies responsible for carrying 1 |
|---|
| 204 | 204 | | out a State plan under title XIX of the Social 2 |
|---|
| 205 | 205 | | Security Act or under a waiver of such plan; 3 |
|---|
| 206 | 206 | | and 4 |
|---|
| 207 | 207 | | (D) State agencies responsible for carrying 5 |
|---|
| 208 | 208 | | out a grant under part B of title XIX of the 6 |
|---|
| 209 | 209 | | Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300x et 7 |
|---|
| 210 | 210 | | seq.). 8 |
|---|
| 211 | 211 | | Æ |
|---|
| 212 | 212 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:25 Apr 16, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2741.IH H2741 |
|---|
| 213 | 213 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS |
|---|