Title 42 › Chapter CHAPTER 6A— - PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER III–A— - SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES ADMINISTRATION › Part Part E— - Children With Serious Emotional Disturbances › § 290ff
The federal government must give grants, through the Director of the Center for Mental Health Services, to States, local governments, and Indian tribes so they can provide full community mental health care for children with serious emotional disturbances. Grants can also help find and help children who are at risk. A public entity means a State, a political subdivision of a State, or an Indian tribe or tribal organization. A grant can only go to an entity if the State involved is already a grantee under section 300x. If a service is covered by the State’s Medicaid plan, the grantee must provide it directly or hire an organization that is approved to bill the plan. The Secretary can waive that approval rule for a hired organization if it does not charge or take payments from insurers or government health programs. When choosing grantees, the Secretary must spread money fairly across U.S. regions, consider need, listen to State comments about local or tribal applicants, and favor applicants whose State will help pay the non-Federal share. Grant rules require matching funds: for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grant years the grantee must provide at least $1 for every $3 of Federal money; for the 4th year $1 for $1; and for the 5th and 6th years $2 for every $1. Matches can be cash or fair-valued donations, but not Federal money or services paid or heavily supported by the Federal Government. The Secretary may count only matching money above the grantee’s two-year average before the grant.
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The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
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42 U.S.C. § 290ff
Title 42 — The Public Health and Welfare
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73