Study and report on the Hispanic and Latino mental health workforce shortage

(a) Study (1) In general The Secretary, acting through the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, in coordination with the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Director of the Office of Minority Health, the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service, and the Secretary of Labor, and shall conduct a study on strategies for increasing the mental health professional workforce that identify as Hispanic or Latino. (2) Elements Such study required under paragraph (1) shall address— (A) the total number of licensed clinical and non-clinical mental health providers who identify as Hispanic or Latino; (B) with respect to each such provider, information regarding the current license type, geographic location of practice, and type of employer (such as a hospital, federally-qualified health center (as defined in section 1861(aa)(4) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(aa)(4)))), elementary school or secondary school (as such terms are defined in section 8101 of the of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801), or private practice); (C) information regarding the languages spoken among providers, including the level of proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing such languages; and (D) the current enrollment of Hispanic and Latino individuals in mental health professional education programs. (b) Report Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives, and make publicly available, a report on the findings of the study conducted under subsection (a). Such report shall— (1) assess Hispanic and Latino clinical and non-clinical mental health providers’ knowledge and awareness of the barriers to quality mental health care services faced by Hispanic and Latino individuals; (2) include recommendations for actions to be taken by the Secretary to increase the number of Hispanic and Latino clinical and non-clinical mental health professionals; (3) include recommendations to improve enrollment in mental health professional education programs among Hispanic and Latino individuals; and (4) include such other recommendations as the Secretary determines appropriate. (c) Data Any data included in the study or report under this section shall be disaggregated by race, ethnicity, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, geographic region, disability status, and other relevant factors, in a manner that protects personal privacy and that is consistent with applicable Federal and State privacy law. (d) Definition In this section, the term clinical and non-clinical mental health provider means any individual licensed to provide mental health or substance use disorder services, including in the professions of social work, psychology, psychiatry, marriage and family therapy, mental health counseling, substance use disorder counseling, peer support, primary care, pediatrics, nursing, and other fields as determined by the Secretary. (e) Authorization of appropriations For purposes of carrying out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2026.