II

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1142

To improve counseling services for elementary school children.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 22, 1993

Mr. HARKIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources

A BILL

To improve counseling services for elementary school

children.

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 ‘‘Elementary School

5 Counseling Demonstration Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—

8 (1) elementary school children are being sub9 jected to unprecedented social stresses, including

10 fragmentation of the family, drug and alcohol abuse,

11 child abuse, poverty, and violence, and experts indi-
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1 cate that intervention at an early age is the most

2 beneficial;

3 (2) an increasing number of elementary school

4 children are exhibiting symptoms of distress, such as

5 substance abuse, emotional disorders, academic

6 underachievement, disruptive behavior, juvenile de7 linquency, and suicide;

8 (3) elementary school counselors, school psy9 chologists and school social workers can contribute

10 to the personal growth, educational development,

11 and emotional well-being of elementary school chil12 dren by providing professional counseling, interven13 tion, and referral services;

14 (4) the average ratio of elementary school coun15 selors to students is 1 to 1,000, the average ratio of

16 school psychologists to students is 1 to 2,500, and

17 the average ratio of school social workers to students

18 is 1 to 2,500;

19 (5) when there is 1 counselor to 1,000 students,

20 1 school psychologist to 2,500 students, and 1 school

21 social worker to 2,500 students, elementary school

22 counseling programs are seldom adequate;

23 (6) the Federal Government can help reduce

24 the risk of academic, social, and emotional problems

25 among elementary school children by stimulating the
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1 development of model elementary school counseling

2 programs; and

3 (7) the Federal Government can help reduce

4 the risk of future unemployment and assist the

5 school to work transition by stimulating the develop6 ment of model elementary school counseling pro7 grams that include comprehensive career develop8 ment.

9 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to en10 hance the availability and quality of counseling services

11 for elementary school children by providing grants to local

12 educational agencies to enable such agencies to establish

13 effective and innovative elementary school counseling pro14 grams that can serve as national models.

15 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

16 There are authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000

17 for each of the fiscal years 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, and

18 1998 to carry out this Act.

19 SEC. 4. PROGRAM AUTHORITY.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts appropriated pur21 suant to the authority of section 3 in any fiscal year, the

22 Secretary shall make grants to local educational agencies

23 having applications approved under section 5 to initiate

24 or expand school counseling programs for elementary

25 school children.
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1 (b) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this Act,

2 the Secretary shall give special consideration to applica3 tions describing programs that—

4 (1) demonstrate the greatest need for new or

5 additional counseling services among the children in

6 the elementary schools served by the applicant;

7 (2) propose the most promising and innovative

8 approaches for initiating or expanding elementary

9 school counseling; and

10 (3) show the greatest potential for replication

11 and dissemination.

12 (c) EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION.—In awarding grants

13 under this Act, the Secretary shall ensure an equitable ge14 ographic distribution among the regions of the United

15 States and among urban, suburban, and rural areas.

16 (d) DURATION.—A grant under this Act shall be

17 awarded for a period not to exceed 3 years.

18 (e) MAXIMUM GRANT.—A grant under this Act shall

19 not exceed $400,000 for any fiscal year.

20 SEC. 5. APPLICATIONS.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each local educational agency de22 siring a grant under this Act shall submit an application

23 to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and accom24 panied by such information as the Secretary may reason25 ably require.
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1 (b) NOTIFICATION OF STATE EDUCATIONAL AGEN2 CY.—Before submitting an application to the Secretary in

3 accordance with subsection (a), a local educational agency

4 shall provide the State educational agency with an oppor5 tunity to review and comment on the program described

6 in such application. The comments of the State edu7 cational agency shall be appended to the application upon

8 submission of the application to the Secretary.

9 (c) CONTENTS.—Each application for a grant under

10 this Act shall—

11 (1) describe the elementary school population to

12 be targeted by the program, the particular personal,

13 social, emotional, educational, and career develop14 ment needs of such population, and the current

15 school counseling resources available for meeting

16 such needs;

17 (2) describe the activities, services, and training

18 to be provided by the program and the specific ap19 proaches to be used to meet the needs described in

20 paragraph (1);

21 (3) describe the methods to be used to evaluate

22 the outcomes and effectiveness of the program;

23 (4) describe the collaborative efforts to be un24 dertaken with institutions of higher education, busi25 nesses, labor organizations, community groups, so-
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1 cial service agencies, and other public or private en2 tities to enhance the program and promote school3 linked services integration;

4 (5) describe collaborative efforts with institu5 tions of higher education which specifically seek to

6 enhance or improve graduate programs specializing

7 in the preparation of elementary school counselors,

8 school psychologists, and school social workers;

9 (6) document that the applicant has the person10 nel qualified to develop, implement, and administer

11 the program;

12 (7) describe how any diverse cultural popu13 lations would be served through the program;

14 (8) assure that the funds made available under

15 this Act for any fiscal year will be used to supple16 ment and, to the extent practicable, increase the

17 level of funds that would otherwise be available from

18 non-Federal sources for the program described in

19 the application, and in no case supplant such funds

20 from non-Federal sources; and

21 (9) assure that the applicant will appoint an ad22 visory board composed of parents, school counselors,

23 school psychologists, school social workers, other

24 pupil services personnel, teachers, school administra25 tors, and community leaders to advise the local edu-
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1 cational agency on the design and implementation of

2 the program.

3 SEC. 6. USE OF FUNDS.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Grant funds under this Act shall

5 be used to initiate or expand elementary school counseling

6 programs that comply with the requirements in subsection

7 (b).

8 (b) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—Each program as9 sisted under this Act shall—

10 (1) be comprehensive in addressing the per11 sonal, social, emotional, educational, and career de12 velopment needs of all students;

13 (2) use a developmental, preventive approach to

14 counseling;

15 (3) increase the range, availability, quantity,

16 and quality of counseling services in the elementary

17 schools of the local educational agency;

18 (4) ensure a team approach to school counsel19 ing by maintaining a ratio in the elementary schools

20 of the local educational agency that does not exceed

21 1 school counselor to 250 students, 1 school social

22 worker to 800 students and 1 school psychologist to

23 1,000 students;
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1 (5) expand counseling services only through

2 qualified school counselors, school psychologists, and

3 school social workers;

4 (6) use innovative approaches to increase chil5 dren’s understanding of peer and family relation6 ships, work and self, decisionmaking, academic and

7 career planning, or to improve social functioning;

8 (7) provide counseling services with the goal of

9 developing a highly skilled workforce through a

10 range of quality educational programs and work-re11 lated experiences that allow students to reach high

12 school graduation equipped to tackle immediately the

13 world of work, or to continue in some form of post14 secondary education or training, or both;

15 (8) provide counseling services that are well-bal16 anced among classroom group and small group coun17 seling, individual counseling, and consultation with

18 parents, teachers, administrators, and other pupil

19 services personnel;

20 (9) include inservice training for school coun21 selors, school social workers, school psychologists,

22 other pupil services personnel, teachers, and instruc23 tional staff;
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1 (10) involve parents of participating students in

2 the design, implementation, and evaluation of a

3 counseling program;

4 (11) involve collaborative efforts with institu5 tions of higher education, businesses, labor organiza6 tions, community groups, social service agencies, or

7 other public or private entities to enhance the pro8 gram and promote school-linked services integration;

9 (12) ensure that school counselors, school psy10 chologists or school social workers paid from funds

11 made available under this Act spend at least 85 per12 cent of their total work time in activities directly re13 lated to the counseling process and not more than

14 15 percent of such time on administrative tasks that

15 are associated with the counseling program;

16 (13) provide supervision for professionals who

17 are hired under this Act by supervisors who are

18 school counselors, school social workers, and school

19 psychologists; and

20 (14) evaluate annually the effectiveness and

21 outcomes of the counseling services and activities as22 sisted under this Act.

23 SEC. 7. NATIONAL ADMINISTRATION.

24 (a) OFFICE OF PUPIL SERVICES.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Department

2 of Education Organization Act (20 U.S.C. 3411 et

3 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following

4 new section:

5 ‘‘OFFICE OF PUPIL SERVICES

6 ‘‘SEC. 216. (a) There shall be in the Department of

7 Education an Office of Pupil Services, to be administered

8 by the Director of Pupil Services. Such Office shall be es9 tablished in accordance with section 405A of the General

10 Education Provisions Act.

11 ‘‘(b) The Director of Pupil Services shall be an indi12 vidual of recognized professional qualifications and experi13 ence in the field of pupil services.’’.

14 (2) AMENDMENT TO THE GENERAL EDUCATION

15 PROVISIONS ACT.—Part A of the General Education

16 Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 1221e et seq.) is amended

17 by inserting after section 405 the following new sec18 tion:

19 ‘‘SEC. 405A. OFFICE OF PUPIL SERVICES.

20 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab21 lish an Office of Pupil Services (hereafter in this section

22 referred to as the ‘Office’).

23 ‘‘(b) FUNCTIONS OF THE OFFICE.—The Office shall

24 be responsible for—

25 ‘‘(1) administering, reviewing, and monitoring

26 pupil services programs, including the programs
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1 funded under the Elementary School Counseling

2 Act; and

3 ‘‘(2) providing a national focal point for infor4 mation and technical assistance regarding the coun5 seling, personal, social, emotional, educational, ca6 reer development and psychological needs of elemen7 tary and secondary school children.’’.

8 (b) DATA COLLECTION AND EVALUATION.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of

10 Pupil Services shall compile the evaluations of the

11 programs assisted under this Act and shall regularly

12 collect such data as the Secretary finds necessary to

13 develop a profile of the use and impact of funds pro14 vided under this Act.

15 (2) REPORT.—The Secretary shall issue a re16 port evaluating the programs assisted pursuant to

17 each grant under this section at the end of each

18 grant period, but in no case later than January 30,

19 1998.

20 (c) DISSEMINATION.—The Secretary shall make the

21 programs assisted under this Act available for dissemina22 tion, either through the National Diffusion Network or

23 other appropriate means.

24 (d) LIMIT ON ADMINISTRATION.—Not more than 5

25 percent of the amounts appropriated pursuant to the au-
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1 thority of section 3 in any fiscal year shall be used to carry

2 out the provisions of this section, including the costs of

3 establishing the Office of Pupil Services.

4 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.

5 For purposes of this Act—

6 (1) the term ‘‘comprehensive’’ means, with re7 spect to counseling services, a program in which—

8 (A) a school counselor, school psychologist,

9 or school social worker uses a range of individ10 ual and group techniques and resources in a

11 planned way to meet the personal, social, emo12 tional, educational, and career development

13 needs of all elementary children in a school; and

14 (B) a school counselor, school psychologist,

15 or school social worker works directly with chil16 dren, families, teachers, and other school or

17 agency personnel to create an optimal positive

18 learning environment and personal growth op19 portunities for all children;

20 (2) the term ‘‘developmental’’ means, with re21 spect to a school counseling program, a systemati22 cally planned program that—

23 (A) provides appropriate school counseling

24 interventions to foster the social, emotional,
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1 physical, moral, and cognitive growth of elemen2 tary school children;

3 (B) provides intervention services to help

4 children cope with family, social, emotional, and

5 academic problems; and

6 (C) supports and enhances the efforts of

7 families, teachers, and other school personnel to

8 provide children maximum opportunity to ac9 quire competence and skill in self-understanding

10 and appreciation, interpersonal interaction, edu11 cational achievement and literacy, and career

12 awareness and personal decisionmaking;

13 (3) the term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director of

14 the Office of Pupil Services in the Department of

15 Education;

16 (4) the term ‘‘elementary school’’ has the mean17 ing given such term in section 1471(8) of the Ele18 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965;

19 (5) the term ‘‘institution of higher education’’

20 has the meaning given such term in section 1201(a)

21 of the Higher Education Act of 1965;

22 (6) the term ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the

23 meaning given such term in section 1471(12) of the

24 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965;
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1 (7) the term ‘‘parent’’ has the meaning given

2 such term in section 1471(14) of the Elementary

3 and Secondary Education Act of 1965;

4 (8) the term ‘‘pupil services personnel’’ has the

5 meaning given such term in section 1471(17) of the

6 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965;

7 (9) the term ‘‘school counselor’’ means an indi8 vidual who has documented competence in counsel9 ing children and adolescents in a school setting and

10 who—

11 (A) possesses State licensure or certifi12 cation granted by an independent professional

13 regulatory authority;

14 (B) in the absence of such State licensure

15 or certification, possesses national certification

16 in school counseling or a specialty of counseling

17 granted by an independent professional organi18 zation; or

19 (C) holds a minimum of a master’s degree

20 in school counseling from a program accredited

21 by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling

22 and Related Educational Programs or the

23 equivalent;

24 (10) the term ‘‘school psychologist’’ means an

25 individual who—
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1 (A) possesses a minimum of 60 graduate

2 semester hours in school psychology from an in3 stitution of higher education and has completed

4 1,200 clock hours in a supervised school psy5 chology internship, of which 600 hours shall be

6 in the school setting; and

7 (B) possess State licensure or certification

8 in the State in which the individual works; or

9 (C) in the absence of such State licensure

10 or certification, possess national certification by

11 the National School Psychology Certification

12 Board;

13 (11) the term ‘‘school social worker’’ means an

14 individual who holds a master’s degree in social

15 work and is licensed or certified by the State in

16 which services are provided or holds a school social

17 work specialist credential;

18 (12) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

19 of Education;

20 (13) the term ‘‘State educational agency’’ has

21 the meaning given such term in section 1471(23) of

22 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of

23 1965; and

24 (14) the term ‘‘supervisor’’ means an individual

25 who has the equivalent number of years of profes-
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1 sional experience in such individual’s respective dis2 cipline as is required of teaching experience for the

3 supervisor or administrative credential in the State

4 of such individual.

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