I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3536 

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

teacher and school professional training on awareness of student mental 

health conditions and suicide prevention efforts. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 19, 2013 

Mrs. BEATTY (for herself, Ms. NORTON, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Mr. 

LOEBSACK, and Mr. CARTWRIGHT) 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 support teacher and school professional training on awareness of student mental health conditions 

and suicide prevention efforts. 

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 ‘‘Support Our Students 

5 Act of 2013’’ or the ‘‘S.O.S. Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Approximately 1 in 5 children have a 

2 diagnosable mental illness. 

3 (2) Fifty percent of all lifetime cases of lived 

4 experience of mental illness begin by age 14, and 75 

5 percent by age 24. 

6 (3) Fifty percent of students with a mental ill7 ness, age 14 years and older, drop out of high 

8 school. 

9 (4) One in 10 children and adolescents suffer 

10 from mental illness severe enough to cause some 

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

12 receive specialty mental health services. 

13 (5) For youth between the ages of 10 and 24, 

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

15 estimated 90 percent have a diagnosable mental 

16 health condition. 

17 (6) Annually, approximately 4,600 youth die as 

18 a result of suicide and another 156,000 youth ages 

19 10 to 24 are treated for self-inflicted injuries at 

20 emergency rooms. 

21 (7) The overwhelming majority of individuals 

22 including teens, who attempt suicide, have one or 

23 more psychiatric or mental health conditions. 


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1 (8) Suicide prevention and awareness efforts 

2 are key in combating this often preventable loss of 

3 life. 

4 SEC. 3. TRAINING TEACHERS AND SCHOOL PROFES5 SIONALS IN UNDERSTANDING MENTAL 

6 HEALTH CONDITIONS IN CHILDREN. 

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

8 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

9 (20 U.S.C. 7131 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

10 the following: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 4131. TRAINING TEACHERS AND SCHOOL PROFES12 SIONALS IN UNDERSTANDING MENTAL 

13 HEALTH CONDITIONS IN CHILDREN. 

14 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 

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

16 grants to eligible State educational agencies to en17 able such agencies to award subgrants to eligible 

18 local educational agencies to support an existing, or 

19 develop a new, program that will educate teachers, 

20 school personnel, and specialized instructional sup21 port personnel on mental health conditions in chil22 dren, including the causes, symptoms, and impact on 

23 learning. 

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


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1 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE LOCAL EDUCATIONAL

2 AGENCY.—The term ‘eligible local educational 

3 agency’ means a local educational agency or a 

4 local educational agency in partnership with a 

5 mental health organization, family advocacy or6 ganization, or community nonprofit organiza7 tion. 

8 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE STATE EDUCATIONAL

9 AGENCY.—The term ‘eligible State educational 

10 agency’ means a State educational agency or a 

11 State educational agency in partnership with a 

12 mental health organization, family advocacy or13 ganization, or community nonprofit organiza14 tion. 

15 ‘‘(C) SCHOOL PERSONNEL.—The term 

16 ‘school personnel’ means administrators, admin17 istrative staff, custodial staff, cafeteria staff, 

18 transportation staff, and other school-employed 

19 staff who interact with students. 

20 ‘‘(D) SPECIALIZED INSTRUCTIONAL SUP21 PORT PERSONNEL.—The term ‘specialized in22 structional support personnel’ means school 

23 counselors, school social workers, school psy24 chologists, and other qualified professional per25 sonnel involved in providing assessment, diagVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:52 Nov 21, 2013 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3536.IH H3536

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1 nosis, counseling, educational, therapeutic, and 

2 other necessary services (including related serv3 ices, as defined in section 602 of the Individuals 

4 with Disabilities Education Act) as part of com5 prehensive program to meet student needs. 

6 ‘‘(b) GRANTS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) APPLICATIONS.—An eligible State edu8 cational agency that desires to receive a grant under 

9 this section shall submit an application to the Sec10 retary at such time, in such manner, and accom11 panied by such information as the Secretary may re12 quire. 

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

14 agency that receives a grant under this section shall 

15 use the grant funds to award subgrants to eligible 

16 local educational agencies in accordance with sub17 section (c). 

18 ‘‘(c) SUBGRANTS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible local edu21 cational agency that desires to receive a 

22 subgrant under this section shall submit an ap23 plication to the eligible State educational agen24 cy at such time, in such manner, and accomVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:52 Nov 21, 2013 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3536.IH H3536

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1 panied by such information as the eligible State 

2 educational agency may require. 

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

4 application submitted under subparagraph (A) 

5 shall include a description of how the local edu6 cational agency will utilize school counselors, 

7 school psychologists, school social workers, or 

8 community organizations with expertise in the 

9 lived experience of mental illness and suicide 

10 prevention efforts, in developing and conducting 

11 the training described in paragraph (2). 

12 ‘‘(2) TRAINING.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible local edu14 cational agency that receives a subgrant under 

15 this section shall support an existing training 

16 program developed by either the school or a 

17 community organization with expertise in the 

18 lived experience of mental illness and suicide 

19 prevention, or develop a new program, in which 

20 school counselors, school psychologists, and 

21 school social workers develop and provide train22 ing to teachers, school personnel, and special23 ized instructional support personnel in under24 standing the mental health needs of children. 

25 Such program shall include an annual in-service 


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1 training program to enable such teachers, 

2 school personnel, and specialized instructional 

3 support personnel— 

4 ‘‘(i) to better understand mental 

5 health conditions and the early warning 

6 signs in children and adolescents; 

7 ‘‘(ii) to best communicate with fami8 lies about these concerns; 

9 ‘‘(iii) to identify classroom strategies 

10 for working effectively with children with 

11 mental health conditions; and 

12 ‘‘(iv) to understand school specific in13 formation, including, as appropriate, how 

14 schools are— 

15 ‘‘(I) assisting in linking students 

16 to supports and services; and 

17 ‘‘(II) providing information on 

18 the school’s mental health services 

19 and supports, including school social 

20 work and psychological services, as 

21 well as the school’s referral process 

22 for additional school-linked services 

23 connecting to community mental 

24 health professionals. 


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

2 program described in subparagraph (A) shall 

3 incorporate family and parent perspectives. 

4 ‘‘(C) TRAINING PROGRAM FOR ALL AREAS

5 OF THE STATE AND FOR PERSONNEL SERVING

6 INDIAN CHILDREN.— 

7 ‘‘(i) URBAN AND RURAL AREAS.—In 

8 awarding subgrants under this section, a 

9 State educational agency shall ensure 

10 training programs described under sub11 paragraph (A) are available for teachers, 

12 school personnel, and specialized instruc13 tional support personnel in urban and 

14 rural areas across the State. 

15 ‘‘(ii) INDIAN CHILDREN.—A State 

16 educational agency that receives a grant 

17 under this section shall award subgrants to 

18 eligible local educational agencies described 

19 in section 7112(b)(1) and Indian tribes de20 scribed in section 7112(c). 

21 ‘‘(D) SCHOOL BASED MENTAL HEALTH

22 SERVICES PROVIDERS.—A training program de23 scribed in subparagraph (A) shall include a 

24 school-based mental health service provider and 

25 a community organization with expertise in the 


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1 lived experience of mental illness or suicide pre2 vention, whenever possible, to maximize training 

3 outcomes and facilitate coordinated referrals 

4 when more intensive community services are 

5 needed. 

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

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

8 educational agency may— 

9 ‘‘(A) report to the Secretary on the agen10 cy’s commitment to students with mental illness 

11 and suicide prevention efforts through innova12 tive programs, resource development, and the 

13 development of a mental health curriculum and 

14 activities that focus on raising awareness within 

15 schools of early onset mental health conditions 

16 and linking students with effective mental 

17 health services and supports; 

18 ‘‘(B) describe existing school-community 

19 partnerships that provide effective clinical serv20 ices to students with severe mental health 

21 needs; 

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

23 outcomes, as described in subsection (d), spe24 cifically for students with serious mental health 

25 needs; 


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1 ‘‘(D) describe how the training program 

2 will be effective for teachers, school personnel, 

3 and specialized instructional support personnel 

4 in culturally and linguistically diverse school 

5 communities; and 

6 ‘‘(E) describe any strong links to the com7 munity mental health system and community 

8 mental health providers through interagency 

9 collaboration, including documenting— 

10 ‘‘(i) the extent of the interagency col11 laboration (including the engagement in 

12 joint activities); and 

13 ‘‘(ii) the dates during which the col14 laboration has been in effect and any out15 comes that have been achieved as a result 

16 of this activity. 

17 ‘‘(d) EVALUATIONS AND MEASURES OF OUT18 COMES.— 

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

20 measures of outcomes for eligible local educational 

21 agencies that receive subgrants under this section, in 

22 order to evaluate the effectiveness of programs car23 ried out under the subgrant. 


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

2 described in paragraph (1) shall include, at a min3 imum, provisions to evaluate— 

4 ‘‘(A) the effectiveness of comprehensive 

5 school mental health training and suicide pre6 vention programs established under this section; 

7 ‘‘(B) the effectiveness of formal partner8 ship linkages among child and family serving 

9 institutions, community support systems, and 

10 the educational system, if applicable; 

11 ‘‘(C) the effectiveness of the training pro12 gram in culturally and linguistically diverse 

13 school communities; 

14 ‘‘(D) the improvement in understanding 

15 mental health conditions with the purpose of 

16 providing a safe and supportive learning envi17 ronment among school staff, students, and par18 ents; 

19 ‘‘(E) the improvement in— 

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

21 of more intensive services; 

22 ‘‘(ii) effective communication with 

23 families; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) referral of identified students 

2 with mental health related concerns for an 

3 evaluation for services and supports; 

4 ‘‘(F) the reduction in the number of stu5 dents with mental health conditions and those 

6 identified as children with disabilities under the 

7 emotional disturbance and other health impair8 ment categories of the Individuals with Disabil9 ities Education Act who are suspended and an 

10 increase in the number of such students who 

11 graduate from high school; and 

12 ‘‘(G) the increased successful matriculation 

13 to postsecondary school. 

14 ‘‘(e) DATA COLLECTION COMPONENT.— 

15 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL DATA SUBMISSIONS AND RE16 PORTS.— 

17 ‘‘(A) DATA SUBMISSION.— 

18 ‘‘(i) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN19 CIES.—An eligible local educational agency 

20 that receives a subgrant under this section 

21 shall annually submit to the eligible State 

22 educational agency a report that includes 

23 data to evaluate the success of the pro24 gram carried out by the eligible local edu25 cational agency. Such reports shall utilize 


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1 the measures of outcomes described in sub2 section (d). 

3 ‘‘(ii) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGEN4 CIES.—An eligible State educational agen5 cy that receives a grant under this section 

6 shall annually submit to the Secretary a 

7 report that includes data from the reports 

8 submitted to the agency from eligible local 

9 educational agencies pursuant to clause (i). 

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

11 than 6 months after the date the Secretary re12 ceives reports under subparagraph (A)(ii), the 

13 Secretary shall compile the data in the reports 

14 and conduct a general analysis of the success of 

15 the programs carried out by the local edu16 cational agencies involved with subgrant funds 

17 received under this section. The Secretary shall 

18 prepare a report containing the compilation and 

19 general analysis, and submit the report to the 

20 Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 

21 Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on 

22 Education and the Workforce of the House of 

23 Representatives. 

24 ‘‘(2) EVALUATION AND REPORT.— 


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

2 months after the end of the initial subgrant pe3 riod for eligible local educational agencies under 

4 this section, the Secretary shall conduct an in5 depth evaluation of the success of the programs 

6 carried out by the local educational agencies 

7 with subgrant funds received under this section. 

8 ‘‘(B) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Sec9 retary shall prepare a report containing the in10 depth evaluation, and submit the report to the 

11 Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 

12 Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on 

13 Education and the Workforce of the House of 

14 Representatives. 

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

16 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

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

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

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

20 section 2 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

21 of 1965 is amended by inserting after the item relating 

22 to section 4130 the following: 

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

mental health needs of children.’’. 

Æ 


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