I 

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.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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1 SECTION 1. SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH AND STU2 DENT SERVICE PROVIDERS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart 14 of title V of the Ele4 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

5 7269 et seq.) is amended—

6 (1) by inserting after the subpart heading the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘CHAPTER A—SYSTEMS INTEGRATION; 

9 PROMOTION OF SCHOOL READINESS’’; 

10 and 

11 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘CHAPTER B—SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL 

13 HEALTH AND STUDENT SERVICE PRO14 VIDERS 

15 ‘‘SEC. 5545. FINDINGS. 

16 ‘‘Congress finds the following: 

17 ‘‘(1) The Surgeon General of the Public Health 

18 Service has found that although 1 in 10 children 

19 and adolescents suffer from mental illness severe 

20 enough to cause some level of impairment, in any 

21 given year fewer than 1 in 5 of these children re22 ceives needed treatment. The short- and long-term 

23 consequences of untreated childhood mental dis24 orders are costly, in both human and fiscal terms. 

25 ‘‘(2) School counselors, school social workers, 

26 and school psychologists are needed to help these 
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1 children and to provide a variety of crucial support 

2 services. 

3 ‘‘(3) Across the United States, there are insuffi4 cient resources for school-based counseling profes5 sionals, and often students do not get the help they 

6 need. The current national average ratio of students 

7 to school counselors in elementary and secondary 

8 schools is 561 to 1. 

9 ‘‘(4) United States schools need more mental 

10 health professionals, and they need the flexibility to 

11 hire the professionals that will best serve their stu12 dents. 

13 ‘‘(5) According to the Institute of Medicine of 

14 the National Academy of Sciences, the maximum 

15 recommended ratio of—

16 ‘‘(A) students to school counselors is 250 

17 to 1; 

18 ‘‘(B) students to school psychologists is 

19 1,000 to 1; and 

20 ‘‘(C) students to school social workers is 

21 800 to 1. 

22 ‘‘(6) In some States, 1 school counselor typi23 cally serves over 1,000 students. Ratios for school 

24 psychologists and school social workers are also ex25 tremely high. In some schools, no school-based men-
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1 tal health and student service provider is available to 

2 assist students in times of crisis, or at any other 

3 time. 

4 ‘‘(7) The number of students is expected to 

5 grow significantly over the next few years. During 

6 this time, many school-based mental health profes7 sionals who currently serve the Nation’s youth will 

8 retire. 

9 ‘‘(8) Model programs using school-based mental 

10 health and student service providers have reduced 

11 school suspensions, reduced referrals to the prin12 cipal’s office, reduced the use of weapons, force, and 

13 threats, and increased students’ feelings of safety. 

14 ‘‘SEC. 5546. PURPOSES. 

15 ‘‘The purposes of this chapter are to assist States and 

16 local educational agencies in hiring additional school-based 

17 mental health providers, including additional school coun18 selors, school psychologists, and school social workers to 

19 achieve each of the following: 

20 ‘‘(1) To reduce the ratios of school-based men21 tal health and student service providers to students 

22 in elementary and secondary schools in the United 

23 States to the following minimum ratios rec24 ommended by the Institute of Medicine of the Na-
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1 tional Academy of Sciences in its 1997 report 

2 ‘Schools and Health: Our Nation’s Investment’: 

3 ‘‘(A) 1 school counselor for every 250 stu4 dents; 

5 ‘‘(B) 1 school psychologist for every 1,000 

6 students; and 

7 ‘‘(C) 1 school social worker for every 800 

8 students. 

9 ‘‘(2) To provide school-based mental health and 

10 student services. 

11 ‘‘(3) To remove emotional, behavioral, and psy12 chosocial barriers to learning so as to enhance stu13 dents classroom preparedness and ability to learn. 

14 ‘‘(4) To support school staff and teachers in 

15 improving classroom management, conducting be16 havioral interventions to improve school discipline, 

17 and developing the awareness and skills to identify 

18 early warning signs of violence and the need for 

19 mental health services. 

20 ‘‘(5) To support parental involvement in im21 proving the school behavior and academic success of 

22 their children. 

23 ‘‘SEC. 5547. DEFINITIONS. 

24 ‘‘In this chapter, the following definitions apply:
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1 ‘‘(1) CHILD.—The term ‘child’ means an indi2 vidual who is not less than 5 years old and not more 

3 than 17 years old. 

4 ‘‘(2) CHILD IN POVERTY.—The term ‘child in 

5 poverty’ means a child from a family with an income 

6 below the poverty line.

7 ‘‘(3) MENTAL HEALTH AND STUDENT SERVICE

8 PROVIDER.—The term ‘mental health and student 

9 service provider’ means a qualified individual who 

10 provides mental health and student services, includ11 ing any individual who is a qualified school coun12 selor, a qualified school psychologist, or a qualified 

13 school social worker. 

14 ‘‘(4) MENTAL HEALTH AND STUDENT SERV15 ICES.—The term ‘mental health and student serv16 ices’ includes direct, individual, and group services 

17 provided to students, parents, and school personnel 

18 by mental health and student service providers, and 

19 the coordination of prevention strategies in schools 

20 or community-based programs. 

21 ‘‘(5) POVERTY LINE.—The term ‘poverty line’ 

22 means the poverty line (as defined by the Office of 

23 Management and Budget, and revised annually in 

24 accordance with section 673(2) of the Community 
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1 Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2)) appli2 cable to a family of the size involved. 

3 ‘‘(6) SCHOOL COUNSELOR.—The term ‘school 

4 counselor’ means an individual who has documented 

5 competence in counseling children and adolescents in 

6 a school setting and who—

7 ‘‘(A) possesses State licensure or certifi8 cation granted by an independent professional 

9 regulatory authority; 

10 ‘‘(B) possesses national certification in 

11 school counseling or a specialty of counseling 

12 granted by an independent professional organi13 zation; or 

14 ‘‘(C) holds a minimum of a master’s de15 gree in school counseling from a program ac16 credited by the Council for Accreditation of 

17 Counseling and Related Educational Programs 

18 or the equivalent. 

19 ‘‘(7) SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGIST.—The term 

20 ‘school psychologist’ means an individual who—

21 ‘‘(A) possesses a minimum of 60 graduate 

22 semester hours in school psychology from an in23 stitution of higher education and has completed 

24 1,200 clock hours in a supervised school psy-
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1 chology internship, of which 600 hours shall be 

2 in a school setting; 

3 ‘‘(B) possesses State licensure or certifi4 cation in school psychology in the State in 

5 which the individual works; or 

6 ‘‘(C) possesses national certification by the 

7 National School Psychology Certification Board. 

8 ‘‘(8) SCHOOL SOCIAL WORKER.—The term 

9 ‘school social worker’ means an individual who—

10 ‘‘(A) holds a master’s degree in social work 

11 from a program accredited by the Council on 

12 Social Work Education; 

13 ‘‘(B) is licensed or certified by the State in 

14 which services are provided; or 

15 ‘‘(C) possesses a national credential or na16 tional certification as a school social work spe17 cialist granted by an independent professional 

18 organization. 

19 ‘‘(9) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each of 

20 the several States, the District of Columbia, and the 

21 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 

22 ‘‘SEC. 5548. SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH AND STU23 DENT SERVICE PROVIDER GRANT PROGRAM. 

24 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with this chapter, 

25 the Secretary shall make grants to eligible States to assist 
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1 local educational agencies in those States in hiring addi2 tional school-based mental health and student service pro3 viders. 

4 ‘‘(b) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—From the total 

5 amount appropriated for a fiscal year to carry out this 

6 chapter, the Secretary shall—

7 ‘‘(1) make available 1 percent of such amount 

8 to the Secretary of the Interior (on behalf of the Bu9 reau of Indian Affairs) and the outlying areas for 

10 activities that carry out the purposes of this chapter; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(2) make available in the form of grants to 

13 each eligible State an amount equal to the sum of—

14 ‘‘(A) an amount that bears the same rela15 tionship to 50 percent of such total amount as 

16 the number of children in poverty who reside in 

17 the State bears to the number of such children 

18 in all States; and 

19 ‘‘(B) an amount that bears the same rela20 tionship to 50 percent of such total amount as 

21 the number of children enrolled in public and 

22 private nonprofit elementary schools and sec23 ondary schools in the State bears to the number 

24 of children enrolled in all such schools in all 

25 States. 
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1 ‘‘(c) MINIMUM GRANT.—Notwithstanding subsection 

2 (b), no grant under this section shall be for an amount 

3 less than $1,000,000. 

4 ‘‘(d) REALLOCATION.—The Secretary shall reallocate 

5 to States that have received approval under subsection 

6 (e)(2) any funds allocated under subsection (b) to a State 

7 that fails to submit an application that is approved by the 

8 Secretary. 

9 ‘‘(e) APPLICATION BY STATE.—

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 

11 grant under this chapter, a State shall submit an 

12 application to the Secretary at such time, in such 

13 manner, and containing such information as the Sec14 retary may require. 

15 ‘‘(2) APPROVAL.—The Secretary may not ap16 prove an application under this subsection unless the 

17 State submitting the application—

18 ‘‘(A) presents a plan, which the Secretary 

19 considers to be reasonable, under which the 

20 State will make grants, in accordance with the 

21 purposes of this chapter, to local educational 

22 agencies to fund the hiring of additional school 

23 counselors, school psychologists, and school so24 cial workers; and
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1 ‘‘(B) provides an assurance that the State 

2 will provide the matching amount required 

3 under subsection (g). 

4 ‘‘(f) USE OF FUNDS BY STATE.—

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with this 

6 subsection, the total of the amounts made available 

7 to a State under this section and the amounts of the 

8 non-Federal match required under subsection (g) 

9 may only be used by a State to make grants to local 

10 educational agencies to assist such agencies in hiring 

11 additional school-based mental health and student 

12 service providers. 

13 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—In each fiscal 

14 year, a State may use not more than 5 percent of 

15 the assistance made available to it under this chap16 ter for the administrative costs of the State in car17 rying out the State’s responsibilities under this 

18 chapter. 

19 ‘‘(3) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—In making 

20 grants in accordance with this subsection, the State 

21 shall allocate from the total described in paragraph 

22 (1) to each local educational agency an amount 

23 equal to the sum of—

24 ‘‘(A) an amount that bears the same rela25 tionship to 50 percent of such total as the num-
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1 ber of children in poverty who reside in the 

2 school district served by the local educational 

3 agency bears to the number of such children 

4 who reside in all the school districts in the 

5 State; and 

6 ‘‘(B) an amount that bears the same rela7 tionship to 50 percent of such total as the num8 ber of children enrolled in public and private 

9 nonprofit elementary schools and secondary 

10 schools in the school district served by the local 

11 educational agency bears to the number of chil12 dren enrolled in all such schools in the State. 

13 ‘‘(4) MINIMUM GRANT.—Notwithstanding para14 graph (3), no grant made by a State in accordance 

15 with this subsection shall be for an amount less than 

16 $50,000. 

17 ‘‘(5) SOURCE OF DATA.—For purposes of para18 graph (3), the State shall use data from the most 

19 recent fiscal year for which satisfactory data are 

20 available, except that the State may adjust such 

21 data, or use alternative child poverty data, if the 

22 State demonstrates to the Secretary’s satisfaction 

23 that such adjusted or alternative data more accu24 rately reflect the relative incidence of children who 
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1 are living in poverty and who reside in the school 

2 districts in the State. 

3 ‘‘(6) APPLICATION BY LOCAL EDUCATIONAL

4 AGENCIES.—A State may require that, in order to 

5 be eligible for a grant made by the State in accord6 ance with this subsection, a local educational agency 

7 shall submit an application to the State at such 

8 time, in such manner, and containing such informa9 tion as the State may require. 

10 ‘‘(g) MATCHING FUNDS.—

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—As a condition of receiving 

12 a grant under this section, the Secretary shall re13 quire that a State provide from non-Federal sources 

14 an amount equal to the amount of the grant. 

15 ‘‘(2) LOCAL CONTRIBUTION.—In making grants 

16 to local educational agencies in accordance with this 

17 subsection, a State may require that a local edu18 cational agency match a portion of the amount of 

19 the grant made to the agency. 

20 ‘‘(3) FORM.—The non-Federal share required 

21 by this subsection may be provided in cash or in 

22 kind, fairly evaluated, and may include facilities, 

23 equipment, or services. 

24 ‘‘(h) FUNDS TO BE SUPPLEMENTARY.—Assistance 

25 made available under this chapter shall be used to supple-
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1 ment, and may not supplant, Federal, State, or local funds 

2 used for employing school-based mental health and stu3 dent service providers. 

4 ‘‘(i) DATA COLLECTION AND REPORT.—

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For each fiscal year for 

6 which it receives assistance under this chapter, a 

7 State shall collect data describing how the assistance 

8 is used. 

9 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after as10 sistance is made available to a State under this 

11 chapter, the State shall transmit to the Secretary a 

12 report on the data described in paragraph (1), in13 cluding information with respect to each local edu14 cational agency to which the State made a grant 

15 with assistance made available under this chapter—

16 ‘‘(A) the number of school counselors, 

17 school psychologists, and school social workers 

18 employed by local educational agency; and 

19 ‘‘(B) the ratio of students to school coun20 selors, the ratio of students to school psycholo21 gists, and the ratio of students to school social 

22 workers. 

23 ‘‘(3) SOURCE OF FUNDS.—A State may use a 

24 portion of the assistance permitted to be used for 
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1 administrative costs to carry out its responsibilities 

2 under this subsection. 

3 ‘‘(4) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall make 

4 data received under this subsection publicly available 

5 on an annual basis. 

6 ‘‘SEC. 5549. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

7 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

8 this chapter $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 

9 through 2008.’’. 

10 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of contents 

11 for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

12 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) is amended by amending the 

13 items relating to subpart 14 of title V to read as follows:

‘‘Subpart 14—Grants to Improve the Mental Health of Children 

‘‘CHAPTER A—SYSTEMS INTEGRATION; PROMOTION OF SCHOOL READINESS 

‘‘Sec. 5541. Grants for the integration of schools and mental health systems. 

‘‘Sec. 5542. Promotion of school readiness through early childhood emotional 

and social development. 

‘‘CHAPTER B—SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH AND STUDENT SERVICE 

PROVIDERS 

‘‘Sec. 5545. Findings. 

‘‘Sec. 5546. Purposes. 

‘‘Sec. 5547. Definitions. 

‘‘Sec. 5548. School-based mental health and student service provider grant program. 

‘‘Sec. 5549. Authorization of appropriations.’’.

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