Sponsors (30)
The bill allows States to reallocate a small portion of existing behavioral health funds to expand prevention and early intervention—potentially improving youth mental health and data-driven oversight—but risks diverting resources from other services and adding administrative burdens that could undermine measurable benefits if implementation is poor.
Children and adolescents gain earlier access to evidence-based prevention and early intervention services, which can reduce the onset or severity of serious mental illness.
State and local governments can use up to 5% of their annual allotment to fund prevention programs, enabling expansion of local services without requiring new separate appropriations.
Congress and taxpayers receive regular data on which States used the prevention option, the populations served, and program outcomes, improving oversight and supporting evidence-based policy decisions.
State and local governments (and the services they provide) may lose funding for other behavioral health services because up to 5% of existing allotments can be diverted to prevention.
If States poorly target or implement prevention interventions, the redirected funds may not produce measurable reductions in access delays or illness severity despite reducing the pool available for other services.
New implementation and reporting requirements could increase administrative burden on State agencies, diverting staff time and resources away from direct service delivery.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Allows states to use up to 5% of their annual section 1911 allotment for evidence-based behavioral health prevention and early intervention and requires HHS to report outcomes to Congress.
Introduced February 27, 2025 by August Pfluger · Last progress February 27, 2025
Allows states to add descriptions of evidence-based prevention and early intervention strategies to their State behavioral health plans and to spend up to 5% of their annual allotment under section 1911 to support those activities. Requires the HHS Secretary to report to Congress within one year and then every two years on which states used the option, what they did, who was served (including age and demographics), and measured outcomes such as reduced delays in access to care and reduced severity or onset of serious mental illness or serious emotional disturbance.