II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 648 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to support 

teacher and school professional training on awareness of student mental 

health conditions. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 21, 2013 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself and Ms. COLLINS) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 to support teacher and school professional training on awareness of student mental health conditions. 

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 ‘‘Helping Educators 

5 Support All Students Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Approximately 1 in 5 children have a 

9 diagnosable mental illness. 


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1 (2) Fifty percent of all lifetime cases of mental 

2 illness begin by age 14, and 75 percent by age 24. 

3 (3) Fifty percent of students with a mental ill4 ness, age 14 years and older, drop out of high 

5 school. 

6 (4) For youth between the ages of 10 and 24, 

7 suicide is the third leading cause of death, and an 

8 estimated 90 percent have a diagnosable mental 

9 health condition. 

10 (5) One in 10 children and adolescents suffer 

11 from mental illness severe enough to cause some 

12 level of impairment, but only 1 in 5 of such children 

13 receive specialty mental health services. 

14 SEC. 3. TRAINING TEACHERS AND SCHOOL PROFES15 SIONALS IN UNDERSTANDING MENTAL 

16 HEALTH CONDITIONS IN CHILDREN. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart 2 of part A of title IV 

18 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

19 (20 U.S.C. 7131 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

20 the following: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 4131. TRAINING TEACHERS AND SCHOOL PROFES22 SIONALS IN UNDERSTANDING MENTAL 

23 HEALTH CONDITIONS IN CHILDREN. 

24 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 

2 grants to eligible State educational agencies to en3 able such agencies to award subgrants to eligible 

4 local educational agencies to support an existing, or 

5 develop a new, program that will educate teachers, 

6 school personnel, and specialized instructional sup7 port personnel on mental health conditions in chil8 dren, including the causes, symptoms, and impact on 

9 learning. 

10 ‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE LOCAL EDUCATIONAL

12 AGENCY.—The term ‘eligible local educational 

13 agency’ means a local educational agency or a 

14 local educational agency in partnership with a 

15 mental health organization, family advocacy or16 ganization, or community nonprofit organiza17 tion. 

18 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE STATE EDUCATIONAL

19 AGENCY.—The term ‘eligible State educational 

20 agency’ means a State educational agency or a 

21 State educational agency in partnership with a 

22 mental health organization, family advocacy or23 ganization, or community nonprofit organiza24 tion. 


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1 ‘‘(C) SCHOOL PERSONNEL.—The term 

2 ‘school personnel’ means administrators, admin3 istrative staff, custodial staff, cafeteria staff, 

4 transportation staff, and other school-employed 

5 staff who interact with students. 

6 ‘‘(D) SPECIALIZED INSTRUCTIONAL SUP7 PORT PERSONNEL.—The term ‘specialized in8 structional support personnel’ means school 

9 counselors, school social workers, school psy10 chologists, and other qualified professional per11 sonnel involved in providing assessment, diag12 nosis, counseling, educational, therapeutic, and 

13 other necessary services (including related serv14 ices, as defined in section 602 of the Individuals 

15 with Disabilities Education Act) as part of com16 prehensive program to meet student needs. 

17 ‘‘(b) GRANTS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) APPLICATIONS.—An eligible State edu19 cational agency that desires to receive a grant under 

20 this section shall submit an application to the Sec21 retary at such time, in such manner, and accom22 panied by such information as the Secretary may re23 quire. 

24 ‘‘(2) ACTIVITIES.—An eligible State educational 

25 agency that receives a grant under this section shall 


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1 use the grant funds to award subgrants to eligible 

2 local educational agencies in accordance with sub3 section (c). 

4 ‘‘(c) SUBGRANTS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible local edu7 cational agency that desires to receive a 

8 subgrant under this section shall submit an ap9 plication to the eligible State educational agen10 cy at such time, in such manner, and accom11 panied by such information as the eligible State 

12 educational agency may require. 

13 ‘‘(B) DESCRIPTION OF UTILIZATION.—An 

14 application submitted under subparagraph (A) 

15 shall include a description of how the local edu16 cational agency will utilize school counselors, 

17 school psychologists, school social workers, or 

18 community organizations with expertise in the 

19 lived experience of mental illness, in developing 

20 and conducting the training described in para21 graph (2). 

22 ‘‘(2) TRAINING.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible local edu24 cational agency that receives a subgrant under 

25 this section shall support an existing training 


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1 program developed by either the school or a 

2 community organization with expertise in the 

3 lived experience of mental illness, or develop a 

4 new program, in which school counselors, school 

5 psychologists, and school social workers develop 

6 and provide training to teachers, school per7 sonnel, and specialized instructional support 

8 personnel in understanding the mental health 

9 needs of children. Such program shall include 

10 an annual in-service training program to enable 

11 such teachers, school personnel, and specialized 

12 instructional support personnel— 

13 ‘‘(i) to better understand mental 

14 health conditions and the early warning 

15 signs in children and adolescents; 

16 ‘‘(ii) to best communicate with fami17 lies about these concerns; 

18 ‘‘(iii) to identify classroom strategies 

19 for working effectively with children with 

20 mental health conditions; and 

21 ‘‘(iv) to understand school specific in22 formation, including, as appropriate, how 

23 schools are— 

24 ‘‘(I) assisting in linking students 

25 to supports and services; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) providing information on 

2 the school’s mental health services 

3 and supports, including school social 

4 work and psychological services, as 

5 well as the school’s referral process 

6 for additional school-linked services 

7 connecting to community mental 

8 health professionals. 

9 ‘‘(B) FAMILY PERSPECTIVE.—A training 

10 program described in subparagraph (A) shall 

11 incorporate family and parent perspectives. 

12 ‘‘(C) TRAINING PROGRAM FOR ALL AREAS

13 OF THE STATE AND FOR PERSONNEL SERVING

14 INDIAN CHILDREN.— 

15 ‘‘(i) URBAN AND RURAL AREAS.—In 

16 awarding subgrants under this section, a 

17 State educational agency shall ensure 

18 training programs described under sub19 paragraph (A) are available for teachers, 

20 school personnel, and specialized instruc21 tional support personnel in urban and 

22 rural areas across the State. 

23 ‘‘(ii) INDIAN CHILDREN.—A State 

24 educational agency that receives a grant 

25 under this section shall award subgrants to 


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1 eligible local educational agencies described 

2 in section 7112(b)(1) and Indian tribes de3 scribed in section 7112(c). 

4 ‘‘(D) SCHOOL BASED MENTAL HEALTH

5 SERVICES PROVIDERS.—A training program de6 scribed in subparagraph (A) shall include a 

7 school-based mental health service provider and 

8 a community organization with expertise in the 

9 lived experience of mental illness, whenever pos10 sible, to maximize training outcomes and facili11 tate coordinated referrals when more intensive 

12 community services are needed. 

13 ‘‘(3) GUIDELINES.—In carrying out a training 

14 program described in paragraph (2), an eligible local 

15 educational agency may— 

16 ‘‘(A) report to the Secretary on the agen17 cy’s commitment to students with mental illness 

18 through innovative programs, resource develop19 ment, and the development of a mental health 

20 curriculum and activities that focus on raising 

21 awareness within schools of early onset mental 

22 health conditions and linking students with ef23 fective mental health services and supports; 

24 ‘‘(B) describe existing school-community 

25 partnerships that provide effective clinical servVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:30 Mar 27, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S648.IS S648

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1 ices to students with severe mental health 

2 needs; 

3 ‘‘(C) describe how the agency will measure 

4 outcomes, as described in subsection (d), spe5 cifically for students with serious mental health 

6 needs; 

7 ‘‘(D) describe how the training program 

8 will be effective for teachers, school personnel, 

9 and specialized instructional support personnel 

10 in culturally and linguistically diverse school 

11 communities; and 

12 ‘‘(E) describe any strong links to the com13 munity mental health system and community 

14 mental health providers through interagency 

15 collaboration, including documenting— 

16 ‘‘(i) the extent of the interagency col17 laboration (including the engagement in 

18 joint activities); and 

19 ‘‘(ii) the dates during which the col20 laboration has been in effect and any out21 comes that have been achieved as a result 

22 of this activity. 

23 ‘‘(d) EVALUATIONS AND MEASURES OF OUT24 COMES.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop 

2 measures of outcomes for eligible local educational 

3 agencies that receive subgrants under this section, in 

4 order to evaluate the effectiveness of programs car5 ried out under the subgrant. 

6 ‘‘(2) OUTCOMES.—The measures of outcomes 

7 described in paragraph (1) shall include, at a min8 imum, provisions to evaluate— 

9 ‘‘(A) the effectiveness of comprehensive 

10 school mental health training programs estab11 lished under this section; 

12 ‘‘(B) the effectiveness of formal partner13 ship linkages among child and family serving 

14 institutions, community support systems, and 

15 the educational system, if applicable; 

16 ‘‘(C) the effectiveness of the training pro17 gram in culturally and linguistically diverse 

18 school communities; 

19 ‘‘(D) the improvement in understanding 

20 mental health conditions with the purpose of 

21 providing a safe and supportive learning envi22 ronment among school staff, students, and par23 ents; 

24 ‘‘(E) the improvement in— 


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1 ‘‘(i) case-finding of students in need 

2 of more intensive services; 

3 ‘‘(ii) effective communication with 

4 families; and 

5 ‘‘(iii) referral of identified students 

6 with mental health related concerns for an 

7 evaluation for services and supports; 

8 ‘‘(F) the reduction in the number of stu9 dents with mental health conditions and those 

10 identified as children with disabilities under the 

11 emotional disturbance and other health impair12 ment categories of the Individuals with Disabil13 ities Education Act who are suspended and an 

14 increase in the number of such students who 

15 graduate from high school; and 

16 ‘‘(G) the increased successful matriculation 

17 to postsecondary school. 

18 ‘‘(e) DATA COLLECTION COMPONENT.— 

19 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL DATA SUBMISSIONS AND RE20 PORTS.— 

21 ‘‘(A) DATA SUBMISSION.— 

22 ‘‘(i) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN23 CIES.—An eligible local educational agency 

24 that receives a subgrant under this section 

25 shall annually submit to the eligible State 


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1 educational agency a report that includes 

2 data to evaluate the success of the pro3 gram carried out by the eligible local edu4 cational agency. Such reports shall utilize 

5 the measures of outcomes described in sub6 section (d). 

7 ‘‘(ii) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGEN8 CIES.—An eligible State educational agen9 cy that receives a grant under this section 

10 shall annually submit to the Secretary a 

11 report that includes data from the reports 

12 submitted to the agency from eligible local 

13 educational agencies pursuant to clause (i). 

14 ‘‘(B) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later 

15 than 6 months after the date the Secretary re16 ceives reports under subparagraph (A)(ii), the 

17 Secretary shall compile the data in the reports 

18 and conduct a general analysis of the success of 

19 the programs carried out by the local edu20 cational agencies involved with subgrant funds 

21 received under this section. The Secretary shall 

22 prepare a report containing the compilation and 

23 general analysis, and submit the report to the 

24 Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 

25 Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on 


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1 Education and the Workforce of the House of 

2 Representatives. 

3 ‘‘(2) EVALUATION AND REPORT.— 

4 ‘‘(A) EVALUATION.—Not later than 12 

5 months after the end of the initial subgrant pe6 riod for eligible local educational agencies under 

7 this section, the Secretary shall conduct an in8 depth evaluation of the success of the programs 

9 carried out by the local educational agencies 

10 with subgrant funds received under this section. 

11 ‘‘(B) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Sec12 retary shall prepare a report containing the in13 depth evaluation, and submit the report to the 

14 Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 

15 Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on 

16 Education and the Workforce of the House of 

17 Representatives. 

18 ‘‘(f) TERMS AND COST OF THE GRANT.—There are 

19 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

20 such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2014 and 

21 each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years.’’. 

22 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents in 

23 section 2 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

24 of 1965 is amended by inserting after the item relating 

25 to section 4130 the following: 


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‘‘Sec. 4131. Training teachers and school professionals in understanding the 

mental health needs of children.’’. 

Æ 


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