National suicide prevention media campaign

(a) National suicide prevention lifeline program Section 520E–3 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290bb–36c) is amended— (1) in subsection (b)— (A) by amending paragraph (4) to read as follows: (4) conducting the national suicide prevention media campaign described in section 520E–5;; (B) by redesignating paragraph (6) as paragraph (7); and (C) by inserting after paragraph (5) the following: (6) improving awareness of the program, including through targeted, age, and culturally appropriate outreach in schools and to the general public more widely through advertisements in highly trafficked areas or shared public spaces such as rail or public transportation stations, on billboards, in stadiums, or other such highly visible areas; and; and (2) by amending subsection (f) to read as follows: (f) Authorization of appropriations There is authorized to be appropriated— (1) to carry out subsection (b)(4), $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030; and (2) to carry out this section, except for subsection (b)(4), $101,621,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2027.. (b) National suicide prevention media campaign The Public Health Service Act is amended by inserting after section 520E–4 (42 U.S.C. 290bb–36d) the following: 520E–5. National suicide prevention media campaign (a) In general (1) National media campaign Not later than the date that is 3 years after the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary, in consultation with the Assistant Secretary and the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (referred to in this section as the Director), shall conduct a national suicide prevention media campaign (referred to in this section as the national media campaign), for purposes of— (A) preventing suicide in the United States; (B) educating families, friends, and communities on how to address suicide and suicidal thoughts, including when to encourage individuals with suicidal risk to seek help; and (C) increasing awareness of suicide prevention resources of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Administration (including the suicide prevention hotline maintained under section 520E–3), any suicide prevention mobile application of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the Administration, and other support resources determined appropriate by the Secretary. (2) Additional consultation In addition to consulting with the Assistant Secretary and the Director under this section, the Secretary shall consult with, as appropriate, the administrator of the suicide prevention hotline maintained under section 520E–3, State, local, Tribal, and territorial health departments, primary health care providers, hospitals with emergency departments, mental and behavioral health services providers, crisis response services providers, first responders, suicide prevention and mental health professionals, patient advocacy groups, survivors of suicide attempts, and representatives of television and social media platforms in planning the national media campaign to be conducted under paragraph (1). (b) Target audiences (1) Tailoring advertisements and other communications In conducting the national media campaign under subsection (a)(1), the Secretary may tailor culturally competent advertisements and other communications of the campaign across all available media for a target audience (such as a particular geographic location or demographic). (2) Targeting certain local areas The Secretary shall, to the maximum extent practicable, use funds made available to carry out this section for media that target certain local areas or populations at disproportionate risk for suicide. (c) Use of funds (1) Required uses (A) In general The Secretary shall, if reasonably feasible with the funds made available to carry out this section, carry out the following, with respect to the national media campaign: (i) Testing and evaluation of advertising. (ii) Evaluation of the effectiveness of the national media campaign. (iii) Operational and management expenses. (iv) The creation of an educational toolkit for television and social media platforms to use in discussing suicide and raising awareness about how to prevent suicide. (B) Specific requirements (i) Testing and evaluation of advertising In testing and evaluating advertising under subparagraph (A)(i), the Secretary shall test all advertisements after use in the national media campaign to evaluate the extent to which such advertisements have been effective in carrying out the purposes of the national media campaign. (ii) Evaluation of effectiveness of national media campaign In evaluating the effectiveness of the national media campaign under subparagraph (A)(ii), the Secretary shall take into account— (I) the number of unique calls that are made to the suicide prevention hotline maintained under section 520E–3 and assess whether there are any State and regional variations with respect to the capacity to answer such calls; (II) the number of unique encounters with suicide prevention and support resources of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Administration and assess engagement with such suicide prevention and support resources; (III) whether the national media campaign has contributed to increased awareness that suicidal individuals should be engaged, rather than ignored; and (IV) such other measures of evaluation as the Secretary determines are appropriate. (2) Optional uses The Secretary may use funds made available to carry out this section for the following, with respect to the national media campaign: (A) Partnerships with professional and civic groups, community-based organizations, including faith-based organizations, and government or Tribal organizations that the Secretary determines have experience in suicide prevention, including the Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (B) Entertainment industry outreach, interactive outreach, media projects and activities, public information, news media outreach, outreach through television programs, and corporate sponsorship and participation. (3) Prohibition None of the funds made available to carry out this section may be obligated or expended for partisan political purposes, or to express advocacy in support of or to defeat any clearly identified candidate, clearly identified ballot initiative, or clearly identified legislative or regulatory proposal. (d) Report to Congress Not later than 18 months after the date on which implementation of the national media campaign has begun, the Secretary, in coordination with the Assistant Secretary and the Director, shall, with respect to the first year of the national media campaign, submit to Congress a report that describes— (1) the strategy of the national media campaign and whether specific objectives of such campaign were accomplished, including whether such campaign impacted the number of calls made to lifeline crisis centers and the capacity of such centers to manage such calls; (2) steps taken to ensure that the national media campaign operates in an effective and efficient manner consistent with the overall strategy and focus of the national media campaign; (3) plans to purchase advertising time and space; (4) policies and practices implemented to ensure that Federal funds are used responsibly to purchase advertising time and space and eliminate the potential for waste, fraud, and abuse; and (5) all contracts entered into with a corporation, a partnership, or an individual working on behalf of the national media campaign..