Home > 106th Congressional Bills > H.R. 2285 (ih) To amend the Reclamation Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of [Introduced in House] ...H.R. 2285 (ih) To amend the Reclamation Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of [Introduced in House] ...
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2284
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to direct
the Secretary of Education to make grants to States for assistance in
hiring additional school-based mental health and student service
providers.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 2, 2003
Ms. Lee (for herself, Mr. Brown of Ohio, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr.
Kucinich, Mr. Kennedy of Rhode Island, Mrs. Jones of Ohio, Mr. George
Miller of California, Mr. Payne, Mr. Gutierrez, Mr. Rodriguez, Mr.
Markey, Ms. Corrine Brown of Florida, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mr.
Frost, Ms. Kaptur, Ms. Woolsey, Mr. Fattah, Mr. Nadler, Mr. McGovern,
Mr. Rush, Ms. Schakowsky, and Mr. Menendez) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the
Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to direct
the Secretary of Education to make grants to States for assistance in
hiring additional school-based mental health and student service
providers.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH AND STUDENT SERVICE PROVIDERS.
(a) In General.--Subpart 14 of title V of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7269 et seq.) is amended--
(1) by inserting after the subpart heading the following:
``CHAPTER A--SYSTEMS INTEGRATION; PROMOTION OF SCHOOL READINESS'';
and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``CHAPTER B--SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH AND STUDENT SERVICE PROVIDERS
``SEC. 5545. FINDINGS.
``Congress finds the following:
``(1) The Surgeon General of the Public Health Service has
found that although 1 in 10 children and adolescents suffer
from mental illness severe enough to cause some level of
impairment, in any given year fewer than 1 in 5 of these
children receives needed treatment. The short- and long-term
consequences of untreated childhood mental disorders are
costly, in both human and fiscal terms.
``(2) School counselors, school social workers, and school
psychologists are needed to help these children and to provide
a variety of crucial support services.
``(3) Across the United States, there are insufficient
resources for school-based counseling professionals, and often
students do not get the help they need. The current national
average ratio of students to school counselors in elementary
and secondary schools is 561 to 1.
``(4) United States schools need more mental health
professionals, and they need the flexibility to hire the
professionals that will best serve their students.
``(5) According to the Institute of Medicine of the
National Academy of Sciences, the maximum recommended ratio
of--
``(A) students to school counselors is 250 to 1;
``(B) students to school psychologists is 1,000 to
1; and
``(C) students to school social workers is 800 to
1.
``(6) In some States, 1 school counselor typically serves
over 1,000 students. Ratios for school psychologists and school
social workers are also extremely high. In some schools, no
school-based mental health and student service provider is
available to assist students in times of crisis, or at any
other time.
``(7) The number of students is expected to grow
significantly over the next few years. During this time, many
school-based mental health professionals who currently serve
the Nation's youth will retire.
``(8) Model programs using school-based mental health and
student service providers have reduced school suspensions,
reduced referrals to the principal's office, reduced the use of
weapons, force, and threats, and increased students' feelings
of safety.
``SEC. 5546. PURPOSES.
``The purposes of this chapter are to assist States and local
educational agencies in hiring additional school-based mental health
providers, including additional school counselors, school
psychologists, and school social workers to achieve each of the
following:
``(1) To reduce the ratios of school-based mental health
and student service providers to students in elementary and
secondary schools in the United States to the following minimum
ratios recommended by the Institute of Medicine of the National
Academy of Sciences in its 1997 report `Schools and Health: Our
Nation's Investment':
``(A) 1 school counselor for every 250 students;
``(B) 1 school psychologist for every 1,000
students; and
``(C) 1 school social worker for every 800
students.
``(2) To provide school-based mental health and student
services.
``(3) To remove emotional, behavioral, and psychosocial
barriers to learning so as to enhance students classroom
preparedness and ability to learn.
``(4) To support school staff and teachers in improving
classroom management, conducting behavioral interventions to
improve school discipline, and developing the awareness and
skills to identify early warning signs of violence and the need
for mental health services.
``(5) To support parental involvement in improving the
school behavior and academic success of their children.
``SEC. 5547. DEFINITIONS.
``In this chapter, the following definitions apply:
``(1) Child.--The term `child' means an individual who is
not less than 5 years old and not more than 17 years old.
``(2) Child in poverty.--The term `child in poverty' means
a child from a family with an income below the poverty line.
``(3) Mental health and student service provider.--The term
`mental health and student service provider' means a qualified
individual who provides mental health and student services,
including any individual who is a qualified school counselor, a
qualified school psychologist, or a qualified school social
worker.
``(4) Mental health and student services.--The term `mental
health and student services' includes direct, individual, and
group services provided to students, parents, and school
personnel by mental health and student service providers, and
the coordination of prevention strategies in schools or
community-based programs.
``(5) Poverty line.--The term `poverty line' means the
poverty line (as defined by the Office of Management and
Budget, and revised annually in accordance with section 673(2)
of the Community Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2))
applicable to a family of the size involved.
``(6) School counselor.--The term `school counselor' means
an individual who has documented competence in counseling
children and adolescents in a school setting and who--
``(A) possesses State licensure or certification
granted by an independent professional regulatory
authority;
``(B) possesses national certification in school
counseling or a specialty of counseling granted by an
independent professional organization; or
``(C) holds a minimum of a master's degree in
school counseling from a program accredited by the
Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related
Educational Programs or the equivalent.
``(7) School psychologist.--The term `school psychologist'
means an individual who--
``(A) possesses a minimum of 60 graduate semester
hours in school psychology from an institution of
higher education and has completed 1,200 clock hours in
a supervised school psychology internship, of which 600
hours shall be in a school setting;
``(B) possesses State licensure or certification in
school psychology in the State in which the individual
works; or
``(C) possesses national certification by the
National School Psychology Certification Board.
``(8) School social worker.--The term `school social
worker' means an individual who--
``(A) holds a master's degree in social work from a
program accredited by the Council on Social Work
Education;
``(B) is licensed or certified by the State in
which services are provided; or
``(C) possesses a national credential or national
certification as a school social work specialist
granted by an independent professional organization.
``(9) State.--The term `State' means each of the several
States, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico.
``SEC. 5548. SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH AND STUDENT SERVICE PROVIDER
GRANT PROGRAM.
``(a) In General.--In accordance with this chapter, the Secretary
shall make grants to eligible States to assist local educational
agencies in those States in hiring additional school-based mental
health and student service providers.
``(b) Allocation of Funds.--From the total amount appropriated for
a fiscal year to carry out this chapter, the Secretary shall--
``(1) make available 1 percent of such amount to the
Secretary of the Interior (on behalf of the Bureau of Indian
Affairs) and the outlying areas for activities that carry out
the purposes of this chapter; and
``(2) make available in the form of grants to each eligible
State an amount equal to the sum of--
``(A) an amount that bears the same relationship to
50 percent of such total amount as the number of
children in poverty who reside in the State bears to
the number of such children in all States; and
``(B) an amount that bears the same relationship to
50 percent of such total amount as the number of
children enrolled in public and private nonprofit
elementary schools and secondary schools in the State
bears to the number of children enrolled in all such
schools in all States.
``(c) Minimum Grant.--Notwithstanding subsection (b), no grant
under this section shall be for an amount less than $1,000,000.
``(d) Reallocation.--The Secretary shall reallocate to States that
have received approval under subsection (e)(2) any funds allocated
under subsection (b) to a State that fails to submit an application
that is approved by the Secretary.
``(e) Application by State.--
``(1) In general.--To be eligible to receive a grant under
this chapter, a State shall submit an application to the
Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such
information as the Secretary may require.
``(2) Approval.--The Secretary may not approve an
application under this subsection unless the State submitting
the application--
``(A) presents a plan, which the Secretary
considers to be reasonable, under which the State will
make grants, in accordance with the purposes of this
chapter, to local educational agencies to fund the
hiring of additional school counselors, school
psychologists, and school social workers; and
``(B) provides an assurance that the State will
provide the matching amount required under subsection
(g).
``(f) Use of Funds by State.--
``(1) In general.--In accordance with this subsection, the
total of the amounts made available to a State under this
section and the amounts of the non-Federal match required under
subsection (g) may only be used by a State to make grants to
local educational agencies to assist such agencies in hiring
additional school-based mental health and student service
providers.
``(2) Administrative costs.--In each fiscal year, a State
may use not more than 5 percent of the assistance made
available to it under this chapter for the administrative costs
of the State in carrying out the State's responsibilities under
this chapter.
``(3) Allocation of funds.--In making grants in accordance
with this subsection, the State shall allocate from the total
described in paragraph (1) to each local educational agency an
amount equal to the sum of--
``(A) an amount that bears the same relationship to
50 percent of such total as the number of children in
poverty who reside in the school district served by the
local educational agency bears to the number of such
children who reside in all the school districts in the
State; and
``(B) an amount that bears the same relationship to
50 percent of such total as the number of children
enrolled in public and private nonprofit elementary
schools and secondary schools in the school district
served by the local educational agency bears to the
number of children enrolled in all such schools in the
State.
``(4) Minimum grant.--Notwithstanding paragraph (3), no
grant made by a State in accordance with this subsection shall
be for an amount less than $50,000.
``(5) Source of data.--For purposes of paragraph (3), the
State shall use data from the most recent fiscal year for which
satisfactory data are available, except that the State may
adjust such data, or use alternative child poverty data, if the
State demonstrates to the Secretary's satisfaction that such
adjusted or alternative data more accurately reflect the
relative incidence of children who are living in poverty and
who reside in the school districts in the State.
``(6) Application by local educational agencies.--A State
may require that, in order to be eligible for a grant made by
the State in accordance with this subsection, a local
educational agency shall submit an application to the State at
such time, in such manner, and containing such information as
the State may require.
``(g) Matching Funds.--
``(1) In general.--As a condition of receiving a grant
under this section, the Secretary shall require that a State
provide from non-Federal sources an amount equal to the amount
of the grant.
``(2) Local contribution.--In making grants to local
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