I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7489 

To increase the recruitment and retention of school-based mental health 

services providers by low-income local educational agencies. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 29, 2024 

Ms. CHU (for herself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Ms. BROWN, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. DEAN of Pennsylvania, Mr. SOTO, Mr. COURTNEY, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. LYNCH, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. KILDEE, 

Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Ms. TOKUDA, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. BACON, Mr. 

PAYNE, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. MCCLELLAN, Ms. CRAIG, 

Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Mr. TRONE, Mrs. 

HAYES, Ms. STRICKLAND, Mrs. RAMIREZ, Mr. THANEDAR, and Ms. LEE

of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To increase the recruitment and retention of school-based 

mental health services providers by low-income local educational agencies. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Increasing Access to 

5 Mental Health in Schools Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) BEST PRACTICES.—The term ‘‘best prac4 tices’’ means a technique or methodology that, 

5 through experience and research related to profes6 sional practice in a school-based mental health field, 

7 has proven to reliably lead to a desired result. 

8 (2) ELIGIBLE GRADUATE INSTITUTION.—The 

9 term ‘‘eligible graduate institution’’ means an insti10 tution of higher education that offers a program of 

11 study that leads to a masters or other graduate de12 gree— 

13 (A) in school psychology that is accredited 

14 or approved by the National Association of 

15 School Psychologists’ Program Approval Board 

16 (or its successor) or the Commission on Accred17 itation of the American Psychological Associa18 tion and that prepares students in such pro19 gram for the State licensing or certification ex20 amination in school psychology; 

21 (B) in school counseling that prepares stu22 dents in such program for the State licensing or 

23 certification examination in school counseling; 

24 (C) in school social work that is accredited 

25 by the Council on Social Work Education and 

26 that prepares students in such program for the 


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1 State licensing or certification examination in 

2 school social work; 

3 (D) in another school-based mental health 

4 field that prepares students in such program 

5 for the State licensing or certification examina6 tion in such field, if applicable; or 

7 (E) in any combination of study described 

8 in subparagraphs (A) through (D). 

9 (3) ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIP.—The term ‘‘eligi10 ble partnership’’ means— 

11 (A) a partnership between 1 or more low12 income local educational agencies and 1 or more 

13 eligible graduate institutions; or 

14 (B) in any region in which local edu15 cational agencies may not have a sufficient ele16 mentary school and secondary school student 

17 population to support the placement of all par18 ticipating graduate students, a partnership be19 tween a State educational agency, on behalf of 

20 1 or more low-income local educational agen21 cies, and 1 or more eligible graduate institu22 tions. 

23 (4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

24 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

25 meaning given such term in section 102 of the HighVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:23 Mar 26, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7489.IH H7489

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1 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002), but ex2 cludes any institution of higher education described 

3 in section 102(a)(1)(C) of such Act. 

4 (5) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘local edu6 cational agency’’ means a public board of edu7 cation or other public authority legally con8 stituted within a State for either administrative 

9 control or direction of, or to perform a service 

10 function for, public elementary schools or sec11 ondary schools in a city, county, township, 

12 school district, or other political subdivision of 

13 a State, or of or for a combination of school 

14 districts or counties that is recognized in a 

15 State as an administrative agency for its public 

16 elementary schools or secondary schools. 

17 (B) ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROL AND DI18 RECTION.—The term includes any other public 

19 institution or agency having administrative con20 trol and direction of a public elementary school 

21 or secondary school. 

22 (C) BUREAU OF INDIAN EDUCATION

23 SCHOOLS.—The term includes an elementary 

24 school or secondary school funded by the Bu25 reau of Indian Education but only to the extent 


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1 that including the school makes the school eligi2 ble for programs for which specific eligibility is 

3 not provided to the school in another provision 

4 of law and the school does not have a student 

5 population that is smaller than the student pop6 ulation of the local educational agency receiving 

7 assistance under this Act with the smallest stu8 dent population, except that the school shall not 

9 be subject to the jurisdiction of any State edu10 cational agency other than the Bureau of In11 dian Education. 

12 (D) EDUCATIONAL SERVICE AGENCIES.— 

13 The term includes educational service agencies 

14 and consortia of those agencies. 

15 (E) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The 

16 term includes the State educational agency in a 

17 State in which the State educational agency is 

18 the sole educational agency for all public 

19 schools. 

20 (6) LOW-INCOME LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN21 CY.—The term ‘‘low-income local educational agen22 cy’’ means a local educational agency— 

23 (A) for which not less than 20 percent of 

24 the students served by such agency are from 

25 families with incomes below the poverty line as 


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1 determined by the Bureau of the Census on the 

2 basis of the most recent satisfactory data avail3 able; and 

4 (B) that, as of the date of application for 

5 a grant under this Act, has ratios of school 

6 counselors, school social workers, and school 

7 psychologists to students served by the agency 

8 that are not more than 1 school counselor per 

9 275 students, not more than 1 school psycholo10 gist per 500 students, and not more than 1 

11 school social worker per 250 students. 

12 (7) PARTICIPATING ELIGIBLE GRADUATE INSTI13 TUTION.—The term ‘‘participating eligible graduate 

14 institution’’ means an eligible graduate institution 

15 that is part of an eligible partnership awarded a 

16 grant under section 3. 

17 (8) PARTICIPATING GRADUATE.—The term 

18 ‘‘participating graduate’’ means an individual who— 

19 (A) has received a masters or other grad20 uate degree in a school-based mental health 

21 field from a participating eligible graduate in22 stitution and has obtained a State license or 

23 credential in the school-based mental health 

24 field; and 


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1 (B) as a graduate student of a school2 based mental health field, was placed in a 

3 school served by a participating low-income 

4 local educational agency to complete required 

5 field work, credit hours, internships, or related 

6 training as applicable. 

7 (9) PARTICIPATING LOW-INCOME LOCAL EDU8 CATIONAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘participating low-in9 come local educational agency’’ means a low-income 

10 local educational agency that is part of an eligible 

11 partnership awarded a grant under section 3. 

12 (10) SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH

13 FIELD.—The term ‘‘school-based mental health 

14 field’’ means each of the following fields: 

15 (A) School counseling. 

16 (B) School social work. 

17 (C) School psychology. 

18 (D) Any other field of study that leads to 

19 employment as a school-based mental health 

20 services provider. 

21 (11) SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH SERV22 ICES PROVIDER.—The term ‘‘school-based mental 

23 health services provider’’ has the meaning given the 

24 term in section 4102 of the Elementary and Sec25 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7112). 


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1 (12) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

2 means the Secretary of Education. 

3 (13) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

4 ‘‘State educational agency’’ has the meaning given 

5 the term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec6 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

7 (14) STUDENT SUPPORT PERSONNEL TARGET

8 RATIOS.—The term ‘‘student support personnel tar9 get ratios’’ means the ratios of school-based mental 

10 health services providers to students recommended 

11 to enable such personnel to effectively address the 

12 needs of students, including— 

13 (A) at least 1 school counselor for every 

14 250 students (as recommended by the American 

15 School Counselor Association and American 

16 Counseling Association); 

17 (B) at least 1 school psychologist for every 

18 500 students (as recommended by the National 

19 Association of School Psychologists); and 

20 (C) at least 1 school social worker for 

21 every 250 students (as recommended by the 

22 School Social Work Association of America). 

23 (15) UNACCOMPANIED YOUTH.—The term ‘‘un24 accompanied youth’’ has the meaning given such 


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1 term in section 725 of the McKinney-Vento Home2 less Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11434a). 

3 SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF 

4 SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES 

5 PROVIDERS EMPLOYED BY LOW-INCOME 

6 LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES. 

7 (a) GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—From amounts 

8 made available to carry out this section, the Secretary 

9 shall award grants, on a competitive basis and after input 

10 from the peer review panel under subsection (d), to eligible 

11 partnerships, to enable the eligible partnerships to carry 

12 out pipeline programs to increase the number of school13 based mental health services providers employed by low14 income local educational agencies by carrying out any of 

15 the activities described by subsection (f). 

16 (b) GRANT PERIOD.—A grant awarded under this 

17 section shall be for a 5-year period and may be renewed 

18 for additional 5-year periods upon a showing of adequate 

19 progress, as determined by the Secretary. 

20 (c) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

21 under this section, an eligible graduate institution, on be22 half of an eligible partnership, shall submit to the Sec23 retary a grant application. The application shall contain 

24 such information as the Secretary may require, includ25 ing— 


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1 (1) an assessment of the existing (as of the 

2 date of application) ratios of school-based mental 

3 health services providers (in the aggregate and 

4 disaggregated by profession) to students enrolled in 

5 schools in each low-income local educational agency 

6 that is part of the eligible partnership; and 

7 (2) a detailed description of— 

8 (A) a plan to carry out a pipeline program 

9 to train, place, and retain school-based mental 

10 health services providers in low-income local 

11 educational agencies; and 

12 (B) the proposed allocation and use of 

13 grant funds to carry out activities described in 

14 subsection (f). 

15 (d) PEER REVIEW PANEL.— 

16 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF PANEL.—The Sec17 retary shall establish a peer review panel to evaluate 

18 applications submitted under subsection (c) and 

19 make recommendations to the Secretary regarding 

20 such applications. 

21 (2) EVALUATION OF APPLICATIONS.—In mak22 ing its recommendations, the peer review panel shall 

23 take into account the purpose of this Act and the 

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1 cluding the quality of the proposed pipeline program 

2 described in subsection (c)(2)(A). 

3 (3) CONSIDERATION OF PANEL’S RECOMMENDA4 TION.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 

6 award grants under this section to eligible part7 nerships only after taking into consideration the 

8 recommendations of the peer review panel pro9 vided under this subsection. 

10 (B) EXPLANATION.—In any case where 

11 the Secretary decides to not follow the rec12 ommendations of the peer review panel, the 

13 Secretary shall provide a written explanation of 

14 the decision to the panel and to the Committee 

15 on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of 

16 the Senate and the Committee on Education 

17 and the Workforce of the House of Representa18 tives. 

19 (4) MEMBERSHIP OF PANEL.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The peer review panel 

21 shall include at a minimum the following mem22 bers: 

23 (i) One clinical, tenured, or tenure 

24 track faculty member at an institution of 

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1 ment, as of the time of service on the 

2 panel, to teach courses in the subject area 

3 of school counselor education. 

4 (ii) One clinical, tenured, or tenure 

5 track faculty member at an institution of 

6 higher education with a current appoint7 ment, as of the time of service on the 

8 panel, to teach courses in the subject area 

9 of school social worker education. 

10 (iii) One clinical, tenured, or tenure 

11 track faculty member at an institution of 

12 higher education with a current appoint13 ment, as of the time of service on the 

14 panel, to teach courses in the subject area 

15 of school psychology education. 

16 (iv) One clinical, tenured, or tenure 

17 track faculty member at an institution of 

18 higher education with a current appoint19 ment to teach courses in the subject area 

20 of teacher education. 

21 (v) One individual with expertise in 

22 school counseling who works or has worked 

23 in public schools. 


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1 (vi) One individual with expertise in 

2 school social work who works or has 

3 worked in public schools. 

4 (vii) One individual with expertise in 

5 school psychology who works or has 

6 worked in public schools. 

7 (viii) One administrator who works or 

8 has worked for a low-income local edu9 cational agency. 

10 (ix) One qualified and effective teach11 er who has substantial experience working 

12 for a low-income local educational agency. 

13 (x) One community mental health pro14 vider. 

15 (B) CLINICAL FACULTY MEMBER.—At 

16 least 1 of the members described in subpara17 graph (A) shall be a clinical faculty member. 

18 (e) AWARD BASIS.—In awarding grants under this 

19 section, the Secretary shall— 

20 (1) award the first 5 grants to eligible partner21 ships from 5 different States; and 

22 (2) give priority to eligible partnerships that— 

23 (A) propose to use the grant funds to 

24 carry out the activities described under para25 graphs (1) through (3) of subsection (f) in 


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1 schools that have higher numbers or percent2 ages of low-income students and students not 

3 achieving a proficient level of academic achieve4 ment, as determined by the State, on the an5 nual assessments required under section 

6 1111(b) of the Elementary and Secondary Edu7 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)) in com8 parison to other schools that are served by the 

9 low-income local educational agency that is part 

10 of the eligible partnership; 

11 (B) include 1 or more low-income local 

12 educational agencies that have fewer school13 based mental health services providers, in the 

14 aggregate or for a particular school-based men15 tal health field, per student than other eligible 

16 partnerships; 

17 (C) include 1 or more eligible graduate in18 stitutions that offer the greatest number of 

19 graduate programs in the greatest number of 

20 different school-based mental health fields; and 

21 (D) propose to collaborate with other insti22 tutions of higher education with similar pro23 grams, including sharing facilities, faculty mem24 bers, and administrative costs. 


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1 (f) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.—Grant funds awarded 

2 under this section may be used— 

3 (1) to pay the administrative costs (including 

4 supplies, office and classroom space, supervision, 

5 mentoring, and transportation stipends as necessary 

6 and appropriate) related to— 

7 (A) having graduate students of programs 

8 in school-based mental health fields placed in 

9 schools served by participating low-income local 

10 educational agencies to complete required field 

11 work, credit hours, internships, or related train12 ing as applicable for the degree, license, or cre13 dential program of each such student; and 

14 (B) offering required graduate coursework 

15 for students of a graduate program in a school16 based mental health services field on the site of 

17 a participating low-income local educational 

18 agency; 

19 (2) for not more than the first 3 years after a 

20 participating graduate receives a masters or other 

21 graduate degree from a program in a school-based 

22 mental health field, or obtains a State license or cre23 dential in a school-based mental health field, to hire 

24 and pay all or part of the salary of the participating 

25 graduates working as a school-based mental health 


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1 services provider in a school served by a partici2 pating low-income local educational agency; 

3 (3) to increase the number of school-based men4 tal health services providers per student in schools 

5 served by participating low-income local educational 

6 agencies, in order to work toward the student sup7 port personnel target ratios; 

8 (4) to recruit, hire, and retain culturally or lin9 guistically under-represented graduate students of 

10 programs in school-based mental health fields for 

11 placement in schools served by participating low-in12 come educational agencies; 

13 (5) to recruit, hire, and pay faculty as nec14 essary to increase the capacity of a participating eli15 gible graduate institution to train graduate students 

16 in school-based mental health fields; 

17 (6) to develop coursework that will— 

18 (A) encourage a commitment by graduate 

19 students in school-based mental health fields to 

20 work for low-income local educational agencies; 

21 (B) give participating graduates the knowl22 edge and skill sets necessary to meet the needs 

23 of— 

24 (i) students and families served by 

25 low-income local educational agencies; and 


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1 (ii) teachers, administrators, and 

2 other staff who work for low-income local 

3 educational agencies; 

4 (C) enable participating graduates to meet 

5 the unique needs of students at risk of negative 

6 educational outcomes, including students who— 

7 (i) are English language learners; 

8 (ii) have a parent or caregiver who is 

9 a migrant worker; 

10 (iii) have a parent or caregiver who is 

11 a member of the Armed Forces, including 

12 the National Guard, who has been de13 ployed or returned from deployment; 

14 (iv) are homeless, including unaccom15 panied youth; 

16 (v) have come into contact with the 

17 juvenile justice system or adult criminal 

18 justice system, including students currently 

19 or previously held in juvenile detention fa20 cilities or adult jails and students currently 

21 or previously held in juvenile correctional 

22 facilities or adult prisons; 

23 (vi) have been identified as eligible for 

24 services under the Individuals with Disabil25 ities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et 


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1 seq.) or the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 

2 U.S.C. 701 et seq.); 

3 (vii) have been a victim to or wit4 nessed domestic violence or violence in 

5 their community; 

6 (viii) have been exposed to substance 

7 misuse at home or in the community; or 

8 (ix) are foster care youth, youth aging 

9 out of foster care, or former foster youth; 

10 and 

11 (D) utilize best practices determined by the 

12 American School Counselor Association, Na13 tional Association of Social Workers, School So14 cial Work Association of America, and National 

15 Association of School Psychologists and other 

16 relevant organizations; 

17 (7) to provide tuition credits to graduate stu18 dents participating in the pipeline program; and 

19 (8) for similar activities to fulfill the purpose of 

20 this Act, as the Secretary determines appropriate. 

21 (g) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Funds made 

22 available under this section shall be used to supplement, 

23 not supplant, other Federal, State, or local funds available 

24 for the activities described in subsection (f). 

25 (h) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible partnership 

2 that receives a grant under this section shall prepare 

3 and submit to the Secretary an annual report on the 

4 progress of the eligible partnership in carrying out 

5 the grant. Such report shall include a description 

6 of— 

7 (A) actual service delivery provided 

8 through the grant funds, including— 

9 (i) characteristics of the participating 

10 eligible graduate institution, including de11 scriptive information on the educational 

12 model used and the actual academic pro13 gram performance; 

14 (ii) characteristics of graduate stu15 dents participating in the pipeline program 

16 supported under the grant, including— 

17 (I) performance on any examina18 tions required by the State for 

19 credentialing or licensing; 

20 (II) demographic characteristics; 

21 and 

22 (III) graduate student retention 

23 rates; 

24 (iii) characteristics of students of the 

25 participating low-income local educational 


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1 agency, including performance on any tests 

2 required by the State educational agency, 

3 demographic characteristics, and pro4 motion, persistence, and graduation rates, 

5 as appropriate; 

6 (iv) an estimate of the annual imple7 mentation costs of the pipeline program; 

8 and 

9 (v) the numbers of students, schools, 

10 and graduate students participating in the 

11 pipeline program; 

12 (B) outcomes that are consistent with the 

13 purpose of the grant program under this Act, 

14 including— 

15 (i) internship and post-graduation 

16 placement of the participating graduate 

17 students; 

18 (ii) graduation and professional career 

19 readiness indicators; and 

20 (iii) characteristics of the partici21 pating low-income local educational agency, 

22 including changes in the hiring and reten23 tion of qualified and effective teachers and 

24 school-based mental health services pro25 viders; 


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1 (C) the instruction, materials, and activi2 ties being funded under the grant; and 

3 (D) the effectiveness of any training and 

4 ongoing professional development provided— 

5 (i) to students and faculty in the ap6 propriate departments or schools of the 

7 participating eligible graduate institution; 

8 (ii) to the faculty, administration, and 

9 staff of the participating low-income local 

10 educational agency; and 

11 (iii) to the broader community of pro12 viders of social, emotional, behavioral, and 

13 related support to students and to those 

14 individuals who train such providers. 

15 (2) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall publish 

16 the annual reports submitted under paragraph (1) 

17 on the website of the Department of Education. 

18 (i) EVALUATIONS.— 

19 (1) INTERIM EVALUATIONS.—The Secretary 

20 may conduct interim evaluations to determine 

21 whether each eligible partnership receiving a grant 

22 under this section is making adequate progress as 

23 the Secretary considers appropriate. The contents of 

24 the annual report submitted to the Secretary under 

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1 termine whether an eligible partnership receiving a 

2 grant is demonstrating adequate progress. 

3 (2) FINAL EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall 

4 conduct a final evaluation to— 

5 (A) determine the effectiveness of the 

6 grant program in carrying out the purpose of 

7 this Act; and 

8 (B) compare the relative effectiveness of 

9 each of the various activities described by sub10 section (f) for which grant funds may be used. 

11 (j) REPORT.—Not earlier than 5 years nor later than 

12 6 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec13 retary shall submit to Congress a report containing— 

14 (1) the findings of the evaluation conducted 

15 under subsection (i)(2); and 

16 (2) such recommendations as the Secretary con17 siders appropriate. 

18 (k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

20 appropriated to the Secretary to carry out the pro21 gram under this section, $200,000,000 for fiscal 

22 year 2022 and for each succeeding fiscal year. 

23 (2) RESERVATION FOR EVALUATION.—From 

24 the total amount appropriated to carry out this sec25 tion each fiscal year, the Secretary shall reserve not 


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1 more than 3 percent for evaluations under sub2 section (i). 

3 SEC. 4. STUDENT LOAN REPAYMENT FOR SCHOOL-BASED 

4 MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES PROVIDERS. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Secretary 

6 shall establish and carry out a program to provide repay7 ment of student loans made, insured, or guaranteed under 

8 parts B, D, and E of title IV of the Higher Education 

9 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1071 et seq., 1087a et seq., and 

10 1087aa et seq.) to individuals who are employed by low11 income local educational agencies as school-based mental 

12 health services providers. 

13 (b) AGREEMENT.—In carrying out subsection (a), the 

14 Secretary shall enter into agreements with individuals to 

15 make payments in accordance with this section on the 

16 principal of, and interest on, any eligible loan and the indi17 viduals agree to complete a 5-year period of consecutive 

18 employment by a low-income local educational agency as 

19 a school-based mental health services provider and facili20 tate verification of such employment annually by the Sec21 retary. 

22 (c) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—In order to be eligible 

23 under this section, an individual shall— 

24 (1) be a recent graduate of an institution of 

25 higher education or a mid-career professional newly 


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1 embarking on a career as a school-based mental 

2 health provider; and 

3 (2) submit an application to the Secretary at 

4 such time, in such manner, and containing such in5 formation as the Secretary may require. 

6 (d) ELIGIBLE LOANS.—The loans eligible for repay7 ment under this section include the following: 

8 (1) Any Federal Family Education Loan under 

9 part B of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 

10 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1071 et seq.). 

11 (2) Any Federal Direct Stafford Loan, Federal 

12 Direct PLUS Loan, or Federal Direct Unsubsidized 

13 Stafford Loan, or Federal Direct Consolidation 

14 Loan (as such terms are used in section 455 of the 

15 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087e)). 

16 (3) Any Federal Perkins Loan under part E of 

17 title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

18 U.S.C. 1087aa et seq.). 

19 (4) Any other Federal loan made, insured, or 

20 guaranteed under part B, D, or E of title IV of the 

21 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1071 et 

22 seq., 1087a et seq., and 1087aa et seq.). 

23 (e) PAYMENTS.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall pay— 


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1 (A) for each of the first 4 consecutive 

2 school years of employment as a school-based 

3 mental health services provider by a low-income 

local educational agency completed, 1 4 ⁄5 of the 

5 principal of, and interest on, each eligible loan 

6 of the individual which is outstanding on the 

7 date the individual began such employment; and 

8 (B) for the 5th consecutive year of such 

9 employment completed, the remainder of such 

10 principal and interest. 

11 (2) MAXIMUM AGGREGATE.—The total amount 

12 of payments under this section to any individual 

13 shall not exceed $200,000 in the aggregate. 

14 (3) LIMITATION.—The failure by an individual 

15 to complete the full period of employment obligated 

16 pursuant to an agreement under subsection (b), 

17 taken alone, shall not constitute a breach of the 

18 agreement, so long as the individual completed in 

19 good faith any year or years of employment for 

20 which payments were made to the individual under 

21 paragraph (1). An individual who fails to complete 

22 the full period of employment obligated pursuant to 

23 an agreement under subsection (b) shall not be 

24 asked or required to pay back a payment received 

25 under such paragraph solely due to such failure. 


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1 (f) ADDITIONAL ELIGIBILITY PROVISIONS.— 

2 (1) CONTINUED ELIGIBILITY.—Any individual 

3 who is employed by a local educational agency that 

4 meets the requirements of section 2(6) in the 1st 

5 year of the 5-year period of consecutive employment 

6 required under this section, but in a subsequent year 

7 fails to meet such requirements, may continue em8 ployment by such local educational agency and shall 

9 be eligible for loan repayment under this section. 

10 (2) DOUBLE BENEFITS.—A borrower may, for 

11 the same employment, receive a benefit under both 

12 this section and the public service loan forgiveness 

13 program under section 455(m) of the Higher Edu14 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(m)). Each year 

15 of receipt of a benefit under this section shall be 

16 considered 12 months of payments for the purposes 

17 of such public service loan forgiveness program. 

18 (3) RECONSIDERATION.—In any case where the 

19 Secretary has determined that a recipient of assist20 ance under this section has failed or refused to com21 ply with the employment obligation in the agreement 

22 under subsection (b), the recipient may request that 

23 the Secretary reconsider such initial determination 

24 and may submit additional information to dem25 onstrate satisfaction of the employment obligation. 


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1 Upon receipt of such a request, the Secretary shall 

2 reconsider the determination in accordance with this 

3 paragraph not later than 90 days after the date that 

4 such request was received. 

5 (g) DIRECTORY.—The Secretary shall maintain a di6 rectory that lists the local educational agencies that meet 

7 the requirements of section 2(6). 

8 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

9 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such 

10 sums as may be necessary to carry out the program under 

11 this section. 

12 SEC. 5. FUTURE DESIGNATION STUDY. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct a 

14 study to identify a formula for future designation of re15 gions with a shortage of school-based mental health serv16 ices providers to use in implementing grant programs and 

17 other programs such as the programs established under 

18 this Act or for other purposes related to any such designa19 tion. 

20 (b) BASIS OF FORMULA.—The formula described in 

21 subsection (a) shall be based on the latest available data 

22 regarding an area served by a low-income local educational 

23 agency on— 

24 (1) the number of residents under the age of 18 

25 in such area; 


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1 (2) the percentage of the population of such 

2 area with incomes below the poverty line; 

3 (3) the percentage of residents age 18 or older 

4 in such area who have earned secondary school di5 plomas; 

6 (4) the percentage of students in such area who 

7 are identified as eligible for special education serv8 ices; 

9 (5) the youth crime rate in such area; 

10 (6) the current number of full-time-equivalent 

11 and active school-based mental health services pro12 viders employed by the low-income local educational 

13 agency in such area, in the aggregate and 

14 disaggregated by profession; 

15 (7) the number of students in such area in mili16 tary families with parents in the Armed Forces (in17 cluding the National Guard and Reserves) who have 

18 been alerted for deployment, are currently deployed, 

19 or have returned from a deployment in the previous 

20 school year; and 

21 (8) such other criteria as the Secretary con22 siders appropriate. 

23 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

24 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to 


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1 Congress a report containing the findings of the study 

2 conducted under subsection (a). 

Æ 


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