§242a. Mental health

(a) Clinical training and instruction and clinical traineeships; stipends and allowances; research projects

In carrying out the purposes of section 241 of this title with respect to mental health-

(1) the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Center for Mental Health Services, is authorized to provide clinical training and instruction and to establish and maintain clinical traineeships (with such stipends and allowances (including travel and subsistence expenses and dependency allowances) for the trainees as the Secretary may deem necessary);

(2) the Surgeon General is authorized to make grants to State or local agencies, laboratories, and other public or nonprofit agencies and institutions, and to individuals for investigations, experiments, demonstrations, studies, and research projects with respect to the development of improved methods of diagnosing mental illness, and of care, treatment, and rehabilitation of the mentally ill, including grants to State agencies responsible for administration of State institutions for care, or care and treatment, of mentally ill persons for developing and establishing improved methods of operation and administration of such institutions.

(b) Effect of treaties and other international agreements on confidentiality

Nothing in the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the Convention on Psychotropic Substances, or other treaties or international agreements shall be construed to limit, modify, or prevent the protection of the confidentiality of patient records or of the names and other identifying characteristics of research subjects as provided by any Federal, State, or local law or regulation.

(c) Grants to public and other nonprofit institutions

The Secretary may provide for training, instruction, and traineeships under subsection (a)(1) of this section through grants to public and other nonprofit institutions. Grants under paragraph (2) of subsection (a) of this section may be made only upon recommendation of the National Advisory Mental Health Council. Such grants may be paid in advance or by way of reimbursement, as may be determined by the Surgeon General; and shall be made on such conditions as the Surgeon General finds necessary.

(d) Obligatory service for traineeships

(1) Any individual who has received a clinical traineeship, in psychology, psychiatry, nursing, marital and family therapy, counseling, or social work, under subsection (a)(1) of this section that was not of a limited duration or experimental nature (as determined by the Secretary) is obligated to serve, in service determined by the Secretary to be appropriate in the light of the individual's training and experience, at the rate of one year for each year (or academic year, whichever the Secretary determines to be appropriate) of the traineeship.

(2) The service required under paragraph (1) shall be performed-

(A) for a public inpatient mental institution providing inpatient care or any entity receiving a grant under the Mental Health Systems Act [42 U.S.C. 9401 et seq.],

(B) in a health professional shortage area (as determined under subpart II of part D of this subchapter),

(C) in any other area or for any other entity designated by the Secretary, or

(D) in a Federal or State correctional facility,

and shall begin within such period after the termination of the traineeship as the Secretary may determine. In developing criteria for determining for which institutions or entities or in which areas, referred to in the preceding sentence, individuals must perform service under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall give preference to institutions, entities, or areas which in his judgment have the greatest need for personnel to perform that service. The Secretary may permit service for or in other institutions, entities, or areas if the Secretary determines that the request for such service is supported by good cause.

(3) Any individual who fails to perform the service required under this subsection within the period prescribed by the Secretary is obligated to repay to the United States an amount equal to three times the cost of the traineeship (including stipends and allowances) plus interest at the maximum legal rate at the time of payment of the traineeship, multiplied, in any case in which the service so required has been performed in part, by the percentage which the length of the service not so performed is of the length of the service so required to be performed.

(4)(A) In the case of any individual any part of whose obligation to perform service under this subsection exists at the same time as any part of the individual's obligation to perform service under section 254m or 254n of this title (because of receipt of a scholarship under subpart II of part D of this subchapter) or the individual's obligation to perform service under section 288 ¹ of this title (because of receipt of a National Research Service Award), or both, the same service may not be used to any extent to meet more than one of those obligations.

(B) In any case to which subparagraph (A) is applicable and in which one of the obligations is to perform service under section 254m or 254n of this title, the obligation to perform service under that section must be met (by performance of the required service or payment of damages) before the obligation to perform service under this subsection or under section 288 ¹ of this title.

(C) In any case to which subparagraph (A) is applicable, if any part of the obligation to perform service under section 288 ¹ of this title exists at the same time as any part of the obligation to perform service under this subsection, the manner and time of meeting each obligation shall be prescribed by the Secretary.

(5) In disseminating application forms to individuals desiring traineeships, the Secretary shall include with such forms a fair summary of the liabilities under this subsection of an individual who receives a traineeship.

(July 1, 1944, ch. 373, title III, §303, as added July 3, 1946, ch. 538, §7(c), 60 Stat. 423 ; amended Aug. 2, 1956, ch. 871, title V, §501, 70 Stat. 929 ; Pub. L. 91–513, title I, §3(a), Oct. 27, 1970, 84 Stat. 1241 ; Pub. L. 93–282, title I, §122(b), May 14, 1974, 88 Stat. 132 ; Pub. L. 93–348, title I, §104(a)(2), July 12, 1974, 88 Stat. 346 ; Pub. L. 95–633, title I, §108(b), Nov. 10, 1978, 92 Stat. 3773 ; Pub. L. 96–398, title VIII, §803(a), Oct. 7, 1980, 94 Stat. 1607 ; Pub. L. 100–177, title II, §202(a), Dec. 1, 1987, 101 Stat. 996 ; Pub. L. 100–607, title I, §163(1)(A), Nov. 4, 1988, 102 Stat. 3062 ; Pub. L. 100–690, title II, §2058(b), Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4214 ; Pub. L. 101–597, title IV, §401(b)[(a)], Nov. 16, 1990, 104 Stat. 3035 ; Pub. L. 102–321, title I, §115(b), July 10, 1992, 106 Stat. 348 ; Pub. L. 102–408, title III, §305, Oct. 13, 1992, 106 Stat. 2084 ; Pub. L. 105–392, title IV, §403, Nov. 13, 1998, 112 Stat. 3588 .)

References in Text

The Mental Health Systems Act, referred to in subsec. (d)(2)(A), is Pub. L. 96–398, Oct. 7, 1980, 96 Stat. 1564 , as amended, which is classified principally to chapter 102 (§9401 et seq.) of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 9401 of this title and Tables.

Codification

Section 288 of this title, referred to in subsec. (d)(4), in the original referred to section 472, meaning section 472 of the Public Health Service Act, which was classified to section 289l–1 of this title. Title IV of the Public Health Service Act was amended generally by section 2 of Pub. L. 99–158, Nov. 20, 1985, 99 Stat. 822 , and provisions formerly contained in section 472 were restated in section 487 of the Public Health Service Act, which is classified to section 288 of this title.

Amendments

1998-Subsec. (d)(1). Pub. L. 105–392 inserted "counseling," after "family therapy,".

1992-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 102–321, §115(b)(1), struck out ", the Surgeon General is authorized" after "health" in introductory provisions.

Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 102–321, §115(b)(2), inserted "the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Center for Mental Health Services, is authorized" after "(1)".

Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 102–321, §115(b)(3), inserted "the Surgeon General is authorized" after "(2)".

Subsec. (d)(2)(D). Pub. L. 102–408 added subpar. (D).

1990-Subsec. (d)(2)(B). Pub. L. 101–597 substituted "health professional shortage area" for "health manpower shortage area".

1988-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 100–607 redesignated concluding provisions which permitted Secretary to authorize persons engaged in research on mental health to protect privacy of individuals who are subject of such research by withholding names of such individuals, and which prohibited compulsion of persons so authorized to identify such individuals in any court or other proceedings, as subsec. (d) of section 241 of this title.

Subsec. (d)(1). Pub. L. 100–690 inserted "marital and family therapy," after "nursing,".

1987-Subsec. (d)(4). Pub. L. 100–177 made technical amendment to references to "section 254m or 254n of this title" in two places and substituted "subpart II of Part D of this subchapter" for "subpart IV of Part C of subchapter V of this chapter" to reflect renumbering of corresponding provisions of original act.

1980-Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 96–398 added subsec. (d).

1978-Subsecs. (b), (c). Pub. L. 95–633 added subsec. (b) and redesignated former subsec. (b) as (c).

1974-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 93–282 substituted "mental health, including research on the use and effect of alcohol and other psychoactive drugs" for "the use and effect of drugs".

Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 93–348, §104(a)(2)(A), inserted "clinical" before "training and instruction" and "traineeships" and substituted "(with such stipends and allowances (including travel and subsistence expenses and dependency allowances) for the trainees as the Secretary may deem necessary)" for ", in accordance with the provisions of section 289c(a) of this title".

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 93–348, §104(a)(2)(B), authorized Secretary to provide for training, instruction, and traineeships under subsection (a)(1) of this section through grants to public and other nonprofit institutions.

1970-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 91–513 inserted provisions authorizing withholding of information concerning identity of persons who are subjects of research on use and effect of drugs.

1956-Subsec. (a). Act Aug. 2, 1956, substituted provisions of par. (1) relating to traineeships in accordance with section 289c(a) of this title and par. (2) relating to grants for research and improved operation of mental institutions for provisions relating to admission of study patients, including patients from St. Elizabeths Hospital, to the National Institute of Mental Health.

Subsec. (b). Act Aug. 2, 1956, substituted provisions relating to recommendation of grants by Council and payment by Surgeon General for provisions relating to mental health training.

Effective Date of 1992 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 102–321 effective Oct. 1, 1992, with provision for programs providing financial assistance, see section 801(c), (d) of Pub. L. 102–321, set out as a note under section 236 of this title.

Effective Date of 1990 Amendment

Section 501 of Pub. L. 101–597 provided that: "This Act and the amendments made by this Act [enacting sections 254f–1, 254o–1, and 254r of this title, amending this section, sections 254d to 254i, 254k, 254l to 254q–1, 254s, 294h, 294n, 294aa, 295g–1, 296m, 1320c–5, 1395l, 1395u, 1395x, 3505d, and 9840 of this title, and section 2123 of Title 10, Armed Forces, and enacting provisions set out as notes under sections 201, 254l–1, and 254o of this title] shall take effect October 1, 1990, or upon the date of the enactment of this Act [Nov. 16, 1990], whichever occurs later."

Effective Date of 1980 Amendment

Section 803(b) of Pub. L. 96–398 provided that: "The amendment made by subsection (a) [amending this section] applies in the case of any academic year (of any traineeship awarded under section 303(a)(1) of the Public Health Service Act [subsec. (a)(1) of this section]) beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 7, 1980] if the award for such academic year is made after such date."

Effective Date of 1978 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 95–633 effective on date Convention on Psychotropic Substances enters into force in the United States, see section 112 of Pub. L. 95–633, set out as an Effective Date note under section 801a of Title 21, Food and Drugs. Convention on Psychotropic Substances entered into force for the United States on July 15, 1980.

Effective Date of 1974 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 93–348 not applicable with respect to commitments made before July 12, 1974, by the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare for research training, see section 104(b) of Pub. L. 93–348, set out as a note under section 241 of this title.

Effective Date of 1956 Amendment

Amendment by act Aug. 2, 1956, effective July 1, 1956, see section 503 of act Aug. 2, 1956.

Transfer of Functions

Office of Surgeon General abolished by section 3 of Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1966, eff. June 25, 1966, 31 F.R. 8855, 80 Stat. 1610, and functions thereof transferred to Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare by section 1 of Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1966, set out as a note under section 202 of this title. Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare redesignated Secretary of Health and Human Services by section 509(b) of Pub. L. 96–88 which is classified to section 3508(b) of Title 20, Education.

Termination of Advisory Committees

Pub. L. 93–641, §6, Jan. 4, 1975, 88 Stat. 2275 , set out as a note under section 217a of this title, provided that an advisory committee established pursuant to the Public Health Service Act shall terminate at such time as may be specifically prescribed by an Act of Congress enacted after Jan. 4, 1975.

Section Referred to in Other Sections

This section is referred to in section 290bb–31 of this title; title 21 section 850.

¹ See Codification note below.