Findings

Congress finds that— (1) suicide is the second-leading cause of death among children and adolescents, and schools are often the first place warning signs emerge; (2) in 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that, of the high school students nationwide— (A) 40 percent had reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness; (B) 18 percent had experienced major depression; and (C) 10 percent had attempted suicide; and (3) school districts face an urgent need to actively manage mental health crises, yet communities still lack access to clear, comparable evidence on which approaches are proven to reduce suicide attempts and deaths when implemented at scale.