I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1338 

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 

MARCH 5, 2009 

Ms. LEE of California introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and Labor 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Student Support Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH AND STUDENT 

2 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 psychologists, 

26 other qualified psychologists, child and adolescent 


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1 psychiatrists, and school social workers are needed 

2 to help these children and to provide a variety of 

3 crucial support services. 

4 ‘‘(3) Across the United States, there are insuffi5 cient resources for school-based counseling profes6 sionals, and often students do not get the help they 

7 need. The current national average ratio of students 

8 to school counselors in elementary and secondary 

9 schools is 561 to 1. 

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

11 health professionals, and they need the flexibility to 

12 hire the professionals that will best serve their stu13 dents. 

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

15 the National Academy of Sciences, the maximum 

16 recommended ratio of— 

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

18 to 1; 

19 ‘‘(B) students to school psychologists is 

20 1,000 to 1; and 

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

22 800 to 1. 

23 ‘‘(6) In some States, 1 school counselor typi24 cally serves over 1,000 students. Ratios for school 

25 psychologists and school social workers are also exVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:11 Mar 07, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1338.IH H1338

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1 tremely high. In some schools, there are no school2 based mental health and student service providers 

3 available to assist students in times of crisis, or at 

4 any other time. 

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

6 grow significantly over the next few years. During 

7 this time, many school-based mental health profes8 sionals who currently serve the Nation’s youth will 

9 retire. 

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

11 health and student service providers have reduced 

12 school suspensions, reduced referrals to the prin13 cipal’s office, reduced the use of weapons, force, and 

14 threats, and increased students’ feelings of safety. 

15 ‘‘SEC. 5546. PURPOSES. 

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

17 local educational agencies in hiring additional school-based 

18 mental health providers, including additional school coun19 selors, school psychologists, other qualified psychologists, 

20 child and adolescent psychiatrists, and school social work21 ers to achieve each of the following: 

22 ‘‘(1) To reduce the ratios of school-based men23 tal health and student service providers to students 

24 in elementary and secondary schools in the United 

25 States to the following minimum ratios recVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:11 Mar 07, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1338.IH H1338

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1 ommended by the Institute of Medicine of the Na2 tional Academy of Sciences in its 1997 report 

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

4 ‘‘(A) 1 school counselor for every 250 stu5 dents; 

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

7 students; and 

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

9 students. 

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

11 student services. 

12 ‘‘(3) To remove emotional, behavioral, and psy13 chosocial barriers to learning so as to enhance stu14 dents’ classroom preparedness and ability to learn. 

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

16 improving classroom management, conducting be17 havioral interventions to improve school discipline, 

18 and developing the awareness and skills to identify 

19 early warning signs of violence and the need for 

20 mental health services. 

21 ‘‘(5) To support parental involvement in im22 proving the school behavior and academic success of 

23 their children. 

24 ‘‘SEC. 5547. DEFINITIONS. 

25 ‘‘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 AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHIA5 TRIST.—The term ‘child and adolescent psychiatrist’ 

6 has the meaning given such term in section 5421(e). 

7 ‘‘(3) CHILD IN POVERTY.—The term ‘child in 

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

9 below the poverty line. 

10 ‘‘(4) MENTAL HEALTH AND STUDENT SERVICE

11 PROVIDER.—The term ‘mental health and student 

12 service provider’ means a qualified individual who 

13 provides mental health and student services, includ14 ing any individual who is a qualified school coun15 selor, a qualified school psychologist or any other 

16 qualified psychologist, a child or adolescent psychia17 trist, or a qualified school social worker. 

18 ‘‘(5) MENTAL HEALTH AND STUDENT SERV19 ICES.—The term ‘mental health and student serv20 ices’ includes direct, individual, and group services 

21 provided to students, parents, and school personnel 

22 by mental health and student service providers, and 

23 the coordination of prevention strategies in schools 

24 or community-based programs. 


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1 ‘‘(6) OTHER QUALIFIED PSYCHOLOGIST.—The 

2 term ‘other qualified psychologist’ has the meaning 

3 given such term in section 5421(e). 

4 ‘‘(7) POVERTY LINE.—The term ‘poverty line’ 

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

6 Management and Budget, and revised annually in 

7 accordance with section 673(2) of the Community 

8 Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2)) appli9 cable to a family of the size involved. 

10 ‘‘(8) SCHOOL COUNSELOR.—The term ‘school 

11 counselor’ means an individual who has documented 

12 competence in counseling children and adolescents in 

13 a school setting and who— 

14 ‘‘(A) possesses State licensure or certifi15 cation granted by an independent professional 

16 regulatory authority; 

17 ‘‘(B) possesses national certification in 

18 school counseling or a specialty of counseling 

19 granted by an independent professional organi20 zation; or 

21 ‘‘(C) holds a minimum of a master’s de22 gree in school counseling from a program ac23 credited by the Council for Accreditation of 

24 Counseling and Related Educational Programs 

25 or the equivalent. 


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1 ‘‘(9) SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGIST.—The term 

2 ‘school psychologist’ means an individual who— 

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

4 semester hours in school psychology from an in5 stitution of higher education and has completed 

6 1,200 clock hours in a supervised school psy7 chology internship, of which 600 hours shall be 

8 in a school setting; 

9 ‘‘(B) possesses State licensure or certifi10 cation in school psychology in the State in 

11 which the individual works; or 

12 ‘‘(C) possesses national certification by the 

13 National School Psychology Certification Board. 

14 ‘‘(10) SCHOOL SOCIAL WORKER.—The term 

15 ‘school social worker’ means an individual who— 

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

17 from a program accredited by the Council on 

18 Social Work Education; 

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

20 which services are provided; or 

21 ‘‘(C) possesses a national credential or na22 tional certification as a school social work spe23 cialist granted by an independent professional 

24 organization. 


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1 ‘‘(11) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each of 

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

3 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 

4 ‘‘SEC. 5548. SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH AND STU5 DENT SERVICE PROVIDER GRANT PROGRAM. 

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

7 the Secretary shall make grants to eligible States to assist 

8 local educational agencies in those States in hiring addi9 tional school-based mental health and student service pro10 viders. 

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

12 amount appropriated for a fiscal year to carry out this 

13 chapter, the Secretary shall— 

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

15 to the Secretary of the Interior (on behalf of the Bu16 reau of Indian Affairs) and the outlying areas for 

17 activities that carry out the purposes of this chapter; 

18 and 

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

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

21 ‘‘(A) an amount that bears the same rela22 tionship to 50 percent of such total amount as 

23 the number of children in poverty who reside in 

24 the State bears to the number of such children 

25 in all States; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) an amount that bears the same rela2 tionship to 50 percent of such total amount as 

3 the number of children enrolled in public and 

4 private nonprofit elementary schools and sec5 ondary schools in the State bears to the number 

6 of children enrolled in all such schools in all 

7 States. 

8 ‘‘(c) MINIMUM GRANT.—Notwithstanding subsection 

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

10 less than $1,000,000. 

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

12 to States that have received approval under subsection 

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

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

15 Secretary. 

16 ‘‘(e) APPLICATION BY STATE.— 

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

18 grant under this chapter, a State shall submit an 

19 application to the Secretary at such time, in such 

20 manner, and containing such information as the Sec21 retary may require. 

22 ‘‘(2) APPROVAL.—The Secretary may not ap23 prove an application under this subsection unless the 

24 State submitting the application— 


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

2 considers to be reasonable, under which the 

3 State will make grants, in accordance with the 

4 purposes of this chapter, to local educational 

5 agencies to fund the hiring of additional school 

6 counselors, school psychologists, other qualified 

7 psychologists, child and adolescent psychia8 trists, and school social workers; and 

9 ‘‘(B) provides an assurance that the State 

10 will provide the matching amount required 

11 under subsection (g). 

12 ‘‘(f) USE OF FUNDS BY STATE.— 

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

14 subsection, the total of the amounts made available 

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

16 non-Federal match required under subsection (g) 

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

18 educational agencies to assist such agencies in hiring 

19 additional school-based mental health and student 

20 service providers. 

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

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

23 the assistance made available to it under this chap24 ter for the administrative costs of the State in carVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:11 Mar 07, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1338.IH H1338

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1 rying out the State’s responsibilities under this 

2 chapter. 

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

4 grants in accordance with this subsection, the State 

5 shall allocate from the total described in paragraph 

6 (1) to each local educational agency an amount 

7 equal to the sum of— 

8 ‘‘(A) an amount that bears the same rela9 tionship to 50 percent of such total as the num10 ber of children in poverty who reside in the 

11 school district served by the local educational 

12 agency bears to the number of such children 

13 who reside in all the school districts in the 

14 State; and 

15 ‘‘(B) an amount that bears the same rela16 tionship to 50 percent of such total as the num17 ber of children enrolled in public and private 

18 nonprofit elementary schools and secondary 

19 schools in the school district served by the local 

20 educational agency bears to the number of chil21 dren enrolled in all such schools in the State. 

22 ‘‘(4) MINIMUM GRANT.—Notwithstanding para23 graph (3), no grant made by a State in accordance 

24 with this subsection shall be for an amount less than 

25 $50,000. 


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1 ‘‘(5) SOURCE OF DATA.—For purposes of para2 graph (3), the State shall use data from the most 

3 recent fiscal year for which satisfactory data are 

4 available, except that the State may adjust such 

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

6 State demonstrates to the Secretary’s satisfaction 

7 that such adjusted or alternative data more accu8 rately reflect the relative incidence of children who 

9 are living in poverty and who reside in the school 

10 districts in the State. 

11 ‘‘(6) APPLICATION BY LOCAL EDUCATIONAL

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

13 be eligible for a grant made by the State in accord14 ance with this subsection, a local educational agency 

15 shall submit an application to the State at such 

16 time, in such manner, and containing such informa17 tion as the State may require. 

18 ‘‘(g) MATCHING FUNDS.— 

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

20 a grant under this section, the Secretary shall re21 quire that a State provide from non-Federal sources 

22 an amount equal to the amount of the grant. 

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

24 to local educational agencies in accordance with this 

25 subsection, a State may require that a local eduVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:11 Mar 07, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1338.IH H1338

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1 cational agency match a portion of the amount of 

2 the grant made to the agency. 

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

4 by this subsection may be provided in cash or in 

5 kind, fairly evaluated, and may include facilities, 

6 equipment, or services. 

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

8 made available under this chapter shall be used to supple9 ment, and may not supplant, Federal, State, or local funds 

10 used for employing school-based mental health and stu11 dent service providers. 

12 ‘‘(i) DATA COLLECTION AND REPORT.— 

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

14 which it receives assistance under this chapter, a 

15 State shall collect data describing how the assistance 

16 is used. 

17 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after as18 sistance is made available to a State under this 

19 chapter, the State shall transmit to the Secretary a 

20 report on the data described in paragraph (1), in21 cluding information with respect to each local edu22 cational agency to which the State made a grant 

23 with assistance made available under this chapter— 

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

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1 gists, child and adolescent psychiatrists, and 

2 school social workers employed by local edu3 cational agency; and 

4 ‘‘(B) the ratio of students to school coun5 selors, the ratio of students to school psycholo6 gists or other qualified psychologists, the ratio 

7 of students to child and adolescent psychia8 trists, and the ratio of students to school social 

9 workers. 

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

11 portion of the assistance permitted to be used for 

12 administrative costs to carry out its responsibilities 

13 under this subsection. 

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

15 data received under this subsection publicly available 

16 on an annual basis. 

17 ‘‘SEC. 5549. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

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

19 this chapter $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 

20 through 2018.’’. 

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

22 for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

23 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) is amended by amending the 

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


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‘‘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.’’. 

Æ 


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