Peer to Peer Mental Health Support Act
SB 906, the Peer to Peer Mental Health Support Act, would direct the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, in consultation with the Secretary of Education, to operate a pilot program supporting evidence-based mental health peer support activities for students in secondary schools. The program would make competitive awards to eligible states, political subdivisions, territories, and Indian Tribes or Tribal organizations to implement peer support initiatives in one or more secondary schools within their jurisdiction.
The bill allows grant recipients to use funds for activities such as training students, adult supervisors, and other appropriate individuals to improve early identification of mental health and substance use challenges, strengthen response and recovery supports, reduce associated risks, and promote resilience. It requires that peer support activities be overseen by a school-based mental health professional and that student education records be protected under FERPA. The bill also requires the federal government to evaluate the pilot’s effectiveness, including participation rates, trainings provided, mental health outcomes, and how well the program connects students to professional services, and to report the findings to relevant congressional committees. The pilot would sunset on September 30, 2029.
If enacted, the bill would create a temporary federal grant pilot within an existing Department of Health and Human Services program structure, with coordination from the Department of Education. It would not broadly rewrite state education or mental health law, but it would affect participating jurisdictions by establishing federal requirements for program design, oversight, privacy protections, evaluation, and reporting. It also incorporates existing federal education-law protections and references to secondary schools and tribal entities, thereby shaping how school-based mental health peer support programs are administered.
The available context suggests generally favorable, bipartisan interest in the bill. It was introduced by Senator Hickenlooper with Senator Murkowski, indicating cross-party sponsorship, and there is no recorded committee opposition or vote history in the provided materials. The bill’s emphasis on student mental health, evidence-based practices, and evaluation likely contributes to a broadly supportive posture.
No formal opposition, amendments, or recorded vote concerns are included in the provided materials, so specific contention is limited. Potential areas of policy sensitivity inherent in the bill include whether peer-led support in schools is sufficiently evidence-based, how much oversight should be required from school mental health professionals, and how student privacy and data protections will be maintained. Another possible point of discussion is the bill’s reliance on a pilot program and its sunset date, which may raise questions about scale, sustainability, and whether the model should be expanded after evaluation.