Sponsors (28)
The bill focuses federal resources on culturally tailored outreach, disaggregated data collection, and short-term research to better target AANHPI behavioral health needs, but the modest funding, privacy risks from highly granular data, and tight timelines mean benefits may be limited or slow to translate into expanded access to care without stronger safeguards and follow-on investments.
AANHPI individuals (including youth and adults with behavioral health needs) will receive culturally and linguistically tailored outreach and education that raises awareness of mental health and substance use symptoms and may increase help-seeking.
Federal agencies and policymakers will get disaggregated AANHPI data and analyses that reveal subgroup disparities and inform targeted services, workforce planning, and resource allocation.
The bill authorizes a national outreach program ($3M/year, FY2026–2030) to sustain culturally tailored outreach activities for up to five years, creating an ongoing federal commitment to AANHPI outreach.
AANHPI individuals and small subgroups face elevated privacy and re-identification risks because collecting and publishing highly disaggregated demographic, geographic, and employer data can make small groups identifiable unless de-identification safeguards are strong.
The authorized funding levels are modest relative to the diversity and scale of AANHPI needs (a $3M/year outreach authorization plus ~$1.5M study grants), which may limit program scale, depth of data collection, and the speed at which meaningful service changes reach communities—while still increasing federal spending for taxpayers.
Increased awareness from outreach may not translate into greater access to clinical treatment for AANHPI people who need care, because awareness campaigns alone do not expand provider capacity, insurance coverage, or service availability.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Requires HHS to create a culturally tailored outreach strategy, complete two systematic reviews (youth behavioral health and workforce), report to Congress, and authorizes modest funding.
Requires the Department of Health and Human Services to design and run a national, culturally and linguistically appropriate outreach and education strategy to reduce behavioral health stigma in Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities, and to produce annual public reports on awareness. Directs HHS to complete two one-year systematic reviews—one on AANHPI youth behavioral health (prevalence, risk factors, suicide/overdose, treatment gaps) and one on the AANHPI behavioral health workforce (counts, barriers, cultural/linguistic capacity)—with public reports and congressional briefings. Authorizes modest dedicated funding to carry out the outreach strategy and each review, and requires disaggregated data collection and coordination across HHS agencies and relevant federal partners. The law focuses on reducing stigma, improving data disaggregation, identifying workforce shortfalls, and producing actionable recommendations for federal and legislative action, with specified reporting timelines and privacy-protected data requirements.
Introduced May 9, 2025 by Judy Chu · Last progress May 9, 2025