Sponsor
Bonnie Watson Coleman
Representative · D-NJ
Representative · D-NJ
The bill boosts training and diversity in the behavioral-health workforce to improve culturally competent care for underserved communities while creating modest added federal cost and potential administrative burdens for smaller training providers.
People in underserved and racial-ethnic minority communities (and patients with mental-health or substance-use needs) will gain better access to culturally competent behavioral-health care because the bill expands and funds the Minority Fellowship Program to train and place more minority-background mental‑health professionals and fellows (also benefits students/trainees entering the workforce).
Taxpayers could face higher federal spending or new appropriations related to expanding the program, increasing budgetary costs if offsets are not identified.
Smaller training sites, community nonprofits, and some schools or universities may face new administrative or compliance burdens from program changes or reporting requirements, which could strain their capacity or participation.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Amends the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize and modify the Minority Fellowship Program; exact program and funding details not included in the excerpt.
Official title: To amend title V of the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize the Minority Fellowship Program.
Introduced May 26, 2026 by Bonnie Watson Coleman · Last progress May 26, 2026
Reauthorizes and amends the federal Minority Fellowship Program by inserting new text into the Public Health Service Act provision for that program. The bill sets a short title and directs changes to the statutory language governing the Minority Fellowship Program, but the specific programmatic details, funding levels, timelines, and operative provisions are not included in the excerpt provided.