I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2988 

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

a grant program to fund additional school social workers and retain 

school social workers already employed in high-need local educational 

agencies. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 8, 2015 

Ms. MOORE (for herself, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Ms. LEE, Mr. GRIJALVA, and Mr. POCAN) 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 establish a grant program to fund additional 

school social workers and retain school social workers 

already employed in high-need 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 ‘‘School Social Workers 

5 Improving Student Success Act’’. 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 2988 IH

1 SEC. 2. SCHOOL SOCIAL WORKERS GRANTS. 

2 Subpart 2 of part D of title V of the Elementary and 

3 Secondary Education Act of 1965 is amended by adding 

4 after section 5421 (20 U.S.C. 7245) the following new sec5 tion: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 5422. GRANTS FOR SCHOOL SOCIAL WORKERS. 

7 ‘‘(a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may award 

9 grants to high-need local educational agencies to en10 able such agencies to retain school social workers 

11 employed by such agencies or to hire additional 

12 school social workers. 

13 ‘‘(2) DURATION.—A grant awarded under this 

14 section shall be awarded for a period not to exceed 

15 4 years. 

16 ‘‘(3) SUPPLEMENTATION OF FUNDS.—Funds 

17 made available under this section shall be used to 

18 supplement, and not supplant, other Federal, State, 

19 or local funds used for hiring and retaining school 

20 social workers. 

21 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) A local educational agency receiving a 

23 grant under this section shall use the grant to retain 

24 school social workers employed by such agencies or 

25 to hire additional school social workers providing 

26 services described in subsection (d)(2). 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 2988 IH

1 ‘‘(2) A local educational agency receiving a 

2 grant under this section may use such grant for any 

3 of the following purposes: 

4 ‘‘(A) To reimburse school social workers 

5 for travel expenses incurred during home visits 

6 and other school-related trips. 

7 ‘‘(B) To reimburse school social workers 

8 for any additional expenses incurred in ren9 dering the services described in subsection 

10 (d)(2). 

11 ‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.— 

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

13 grant under this section, a high-need local edu14 cational agency shall submit to the Secretary an ap15 plication at such time, in such manner, and accom16 panied by such information as the Secretary may 

17 reasonably require. 

18 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted 

19 for a grant under this section shall contain a de20 scription of the duties and responsibilities of school 

21 social workers providing services to students through 

22 such grant in accordance with subsection (d). 

23 ‘‘(d) DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF SCHOOL SO24 CIAL WORKER.—Any school social worker providing servVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:07 Jul 10, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2988.IH H2988

asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 2988 IH

1 ices to students through a grant funded under this section 

2 shall— 

3 ‘‘(1) identify the highest-need students (as such 

4 term is defined by the Secretary) in each school such 

5 social worker serves and target services provided at 

6 the school to such students; and 

7 ‘‘(2) provide to students in each school in which 

8 a school social worker serves, social work services, 

9 including— 

10 ‘‘(A) counseling and crisis intervention; 

11 ‘‘(B) case management activities to coordi12 nate the delivery of and access to the appro13 priate social work services to highest-need stu14 dents; 

15 ‘‘(C) addressing of social, emotional, and 

16 mental health needs to ensure better school par17 ticipation and better outcomes; 

18 ‘‘(D) providing assistance to teachers to 

19 design behavioral interventions; 

20 ‘‘(E) working with students, families, 

21 schools, and communities to promote attend22 ance and address the causes of poor attendance, 

23 such as homelessness, lack of transportation, 

24 illness, phobia, or parents who have negative 

25 impressions of school; 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 2988 IH

1 ‘‘(F) home visits to meet the family of stu2 dents in need of social work services in the 

3 home environment; 

4 ‘‘(G) connecting students and families to 

5 the social welfare, child welfare, and community 

6 resource systems; and 

7 ‘‘(H) other services the Secretary deter8 mines are necessary to carry out this section. 

9 ‘‘(e) GRANT RENEWAL.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Grants awarded under this 

11 section may be renewed for additional periods having 

12 the same duration as the original grant period. 

13 ‘‘(2) CONTINUING ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible 

14 for renewal under this paragraph of a grant, a high15 need local educational agency shall submit to the 

16 Secretary, for each renewal, a report on the progress 

17 of such recipient in retaining and hiring school social 

18 workers. Such report shall include— 

19 ‘‘(A) a description of the staffing expan20 sion of school social workers funded through the 

21 grant received under this section; and 

22 ‘‘(B) a description of the work such social 

23 workers performed to target high-need popu24 lations (as determined by the Secretary). 

25 ‘‘(f) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 2988 IH

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

2 technical assistance to high-need local educational 

3 agencies, including such agencies that do not have 

4 adequate staff, in applying for grants under this sec5 tion. 

6 ‘‘(2) EXTENSION OF APPLICATION PERIOD.— 

7 The Secretary shall extend any application period 

8 for a grant under this section for any high-need local 

9 educational agency that— 

10 ‘‘(A) submits to the Secretary a written 

11 notification of the intent to apply for a grant 

12 under this section before requesting technical 

13 assistance under paragraph (1); and 

14 ‘‘(B) after submitting the notification 

15 under subparagraph (A) requests such technical 

16 assistance. 

17 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

18 ‘‘(1) The term ‘high-need local educational 

19 agency’ has the meaning given such term in section 

20 2102(3)(A). 

21 ‘‘(2) The term ‘school social worker’ has the 

22 meaning given such term in section 5421(e). 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 2988 IH

1 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

3 $30,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2016 through 2020.’’. 

Æ 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS