I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 559 

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 

FEBRUARY 2, 2005 

Ms. LEE 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 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. SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH AND STU4 DENT SERVICE PROVIDERS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart 14 of title V of the Ele6 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

7 7269 et seq.) is amended— 
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1 (1) by inserting after the subpart heading the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘CHAPTER A—SYSTEMS INTEGRATION; 

4 PROMOTION OF SCHOOL READINESS’’; 

5 and 

6 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘CHAPTER B—SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL 

8 HEALTH AND STUDENT SERVICE PRO9 VIDERS 

10 ‘‘SEC. 5545. FINDINGS. 

11 ‘‘Congress finds the following: 

12 ‘‘(1) The Surgeon General of the Public Health 

13 Service has found that although 1 in 10 children 

14 and adolescents suffer from mental illness severe 

15 enough to cause some level of impairment, in any 

16 given year fewer than 1 in 5 of these children re17 ceives needed treatment. The short- and long-term 

18 consequences of untreated childhood mental dis19 orders are costly, in both human and fiscal terms. 

20 ‘‘(2) School counselors, school social workers, 

21 and school psychologists are needed to help these 

22 children and to provide a variety of crucial support 

23 services. 

24 ‘‘(3) Across the United States, there are insuffi25 cient resources for school-based counseling profes-
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1 sionals, and often students do not get the help they 

2 need. The current national average ratio of students 

3 to school counselors in elementary and secondary 

4 schools is 561 to 1. 

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

6 health professionals, and they need the flexibility to 

7 hire the professionals that will best serve their stu8 dents. 

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

10 the National Academy of Sciences, the maximum 

11 recommended ratio of— 

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

13 to 1; 

14 ‘‘(B) students to school psychologists is 

15 1,000 to 1; and 

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

17 800 to 1. 

18 ‘‘(6) In some States, 1 school counselor typi19 cally serves over 1,000 students. Ratios for school 

20 psychologists and school social workers are also ex21 tremely high. In some schools, no school-based men22 tal health and student service provider is available to 

23 assist students in times of crisis, or at any other 

24 time. 
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1 ‘‘(7) The number of students is expected to 

2 grow significantly over the next few years. During 

3 this time, many school-based mental health profes4 sionals who currently serve the Nation’s youth will 

5 retire. 

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

7 health and student service providers have reduced 

8 school suspensions, reduced referrals to the prin9 cipal’s office, reduced the use of weapons, force, and 

10 threats, and increased students’ feelings of safety. 

11 ‘‘SEC. 5546. PURPOSES. 

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

13 local educational agencies in hiring additional school-based 

14 mental health providers, including additional school coun15 selors, school psychologists, and school social workers to 

16 achieve each of the following: 

17 ‘‘(1) To reduce the ratios of school-based men18 tal health and student service providers to students 

19 in elementary and secondary schools in the United 

20 States to the following minimum ratios rec21 ommended by the Institute of Medicine of the Na22 tional Academy of Sciences in its 1997 report 

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

24 ‘‘(A) 1 school counselor for every 250 stu25 dents; 
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1 ‘‘(B) 1 school psychologist for every 1,000 

2 students; and 

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

4 students. 

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

6 student services. 

7 ‘‘(3) To remove emotional, behavioral, and psy8 chosocial barriers to learning so as to enhance stu9 dents classroom preparedness and ability to learn. 

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

11 improving classroom management, conducting be12 havioral interventions to improve school discipline, 

13 and developing the awareness and skills to identify 

14 early warning signs of violence and the need for 

15 mental health services. 

16 ‘‘(5) To support parental involvement in im17 proving the school behavior and academic success of 

18 their children. 

19 ‘‘SEC. 5547. DEFINITIONS. 

20 ‘‘In this chapter, the following definitions apply: 

21 ‘‘(1) CHILD.—The term ‘child’ means an indi22 vidual who is not less than 5 years old and not more 

23 than 17 years old. 
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1 ‘‘(2) CHILD IN POVERTY.—The term ‘child in 

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

3 below the poverty line. 

4 ‘‘(3) MENTAL HEALTH AND STUDENT SERVICE

5 PROVIDER.—The term ‘mental health and student 

6 service provider’ means a qualified individual who 

7 provides mental health and student services, includ8 ing any individual who is a qualified school coun9 selor, a qualified school psychologist, or a qualified 

10 school social worker. 

11 ‘‘(4) MENTAL HEALTH AND STUDENT SERV12 ICES.—The term ‘mental health and student serv13 ices’ includes direct, individual, and group services 

14 provided to students, parents, and school personnel 

15 by mental health and student service providers, and 

16 the coordination of prevention strategies in schools 

17 or community-based programs. 

18 ‘‘(5) POVERTY LINE.—The term ‘poverty line’ 

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

20 Management and Budget, and revised annually in 

21 accordance with section 673(2) of the Community 

22 Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2)) appli23 cable to a family of the size involved. 

24 ‘‘(6) SCHOOL COUNSELOR.—The term ‘school 

25 counselor’ means an individual who has documented 
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1 competence in counseling children and adolescents in 

2 a school setting and who— 

3 ‘‘(A) possesses State licensure or certifi4 cation granted by an independent professional 

5 regulatory authority; 

6 ‘‘(B) possesses national certification in 

7 school counseling or a specialty of counseling 

8 granted by an independent professional organi9 zation; or 

10 ‘‘(C) holds a minimum of a master’s de11 gree in school counseling from a program ac12 credited by the Council for Accreditation of 

13 Counseling and Related Educational Programs 

14 or the equivalent. 

15 ‘‘(7) SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGIST.—The term 

16 ‘school psychologist’ means an individual who— 

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

18 semester hours in school psychology from an in19 stitution of higher education and has completed 

20 1,200 clock hours in a supervised school psy21 chology internship, of which 600 hours shall be 

22 in a school setting; 

23 ‘‘(B) possesses State licensure or certifi24 cation in school psychology in the State in 

25 which the individual works; or 
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1 ‘‘(C) possesses national certification by the 

2 National School Psychology Certification Board. 

3 ‘‘(8) SCHOOL SOCIAL WORKER.—The term 

4 ‘school social worker’ means an individual who— 

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

6 from a program accredited by the Council on 

7 Social Work Education; 

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

9 which services are provided; or 

10 ‘‘(C) possesses a national credential or na11 tional certification as a school social work spe12 cialist granted by an independent professional 

13 organization. 

14 ‘‘(9) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each of 

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

16 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 

17 ‘‘SEC. 5548. SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH AND STU18 DENT SERVICE PROVIDER GRANT PROGRAM. 

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

20 the Secretary shall make grants to eligible States to assist 

21 local educational agencies in those States in hiring addi22 tional school-based mental health and student service pro23 viders. 
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1 ‘‘(b) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—From the total 

2 amount appropriated for a fiscal year to carry out this 

3 chapter, the Secretary shall— 

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

5 to the Secretary of the Interior (on behalf of the Bu6 reau of Indian Affairs) and the outlying areas for 

7 activities that carry out the purposes of this chapter; 

8 and 

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

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

11 ‘‘(A) an amount that bears the same rela12 tionship to 50 percent of such total amount as 

13 the number of children in poverty who reside in 

14 the State bears to the number of such children 

15 in all States; and 

16 ‘‘(B) an amount that bears the same rela17 tionship to 50 percent of such total amount as 

18 the number of children enrolled in public and 

19 private nonprofit elementary schools and sec20 ondary schools in the State bears to the number 

21 of children enrolled in all such schools in all 

22 States. 

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

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

25 less than $1,000,000. 
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1 ‘‘(d) REALLOCATION.—The Secretary shall reallocate 

2 to States that have received approval under subsection 

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

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

5 Secretary. 

6 ‘‘(e) APPLICATION BY STATE.— 

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

8 grant under this chapter, a State shall submit an 

9 application to the Secretary at such time, in such 

10 manner, and containing such information as the Sec11 retary may require. 

12 ‘‘(2) APPROVAL.—The Secretary may not ap13 prove an application under this subsection unless the 

14 State submitting the application— 

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

16 considers to be reasonable, under which the 

17 State will make grants, in accordance with the 

18 purposes of this chapter, to local educational 

19 agencies to fund the hiring of additional school 

20 counselors, school psychologists, and school so21 cial workers; and 

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

23 will provide the matching amount required 

24 under subsection (g). 

25 ‘‘(f) USE OF FUNDS BY STATE.— 
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with this 

2 subsection, the total of the amounts made available 

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

4 non-Federal match required under subsection (g) 

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

6 educational agencies to assist such agencies in hiring 

7 additional school-based mental health and student 

8 service providers. 

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

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

11 the assistance made available to it under this chap12 ter for the administrative costs of the State in car13 rying out the State’s responsibilities under this 

14 chapter. 

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

16 grants in accordance with this subsection, the State 

17 shall allocate from the total described in paragraph 

18 (1) to each local educational agency an amount 

19 equal to the sum of— 

20 ‘‘(A) an amount that bears the same rela21 tionship to 50 percent of such total as the num22 ber of children in poverty who reside in the 

23 school district served by the local educational 

24 agency bears to the number of such children 
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1 who reside in all the school districts in the 

2 State; and 

3 ‘‘(B) an amount that bears the same rela4 tionship to 50 percent of such total as the num5 ber of children enrolled in public and private 

6 nonprofit elementary schools and secondary 

7 schools in the school district served by the local 

8 educational agency bears to the number of chil9 dren enrolled in all such schools in the State. 

10 ‘‘(4) MINIMUM GRANT.—Notwithstanding para11 graph (3), no grant made by a State in accordance 

12 with this subsection shall be for an amount less than 

13 $50,000. 

14 ‘‘(5) SOURCE OF DATA.—For purposes of para15 graph (3), the State shall use data from the most 

16 recent fiscal year for which satisfactory data are 

17 available, except that the State may adjust such 

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

19 State demonstrates to the Secretary’s satisfaction 

20 that such adjusted or alternative data more accu21 rately reflect the relative incidence of children who 

22 are living in poverty and who reside in the school 

23 districts in the State. 

24 ‘‘(6) APPLICATION BY LOCAL EDUCATIONAL

25 AGENCIES.—A State may require that, in order to 
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1 be eligible for a grant made by the State in accord2 ance with this subsection, a local educational agency 

3 shall submit an application to the State at such 

4 time, in such manner, and containing such informa5 tion as the State may require. 

6 ‘‘(g) MATCHING FUNDS.— 

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

8 a grant under this section, the Secretary shall re9 quire that a State provide from non-Federal sources 

10 an amount equal to the amount of the grant. 

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

12 to local educational agencies in accordance with this 

13 subsection, a State may require that a local edu14 cational agency match a portion of the amount of 

15 the grant made to the agency. 

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

17 by this subsection may be provided in cash or in 

18 kind, fairly evaluated, and may include facilities, 

19 equipment, or services. 

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

21 made available under this chapter shall be used to supple22 ment, and may not supplant, Federal, State, or local funds 

23 used for employing school-based mental health and stu24 dent service providers. 

25 ‘‘(i) DATA COLLECTION AND REPORT.— 
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For each fiscal year for 

2 which it receives assistance under this chapter, a 

3 State shall collect data describing how the assistance 

4 is used. 

5 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after as6 sistance is made available to a State under this 

7 chapter, the State shall transmit to the Secretary a 

8 report on the data described in paragraph (1), in9 cluding information with respect to each local edu10 cational agency to which the State made a grant 

11 with assistance made available under this chapter— 

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

13 school psychologists, and school social workers 

14 employed by local educational agency; and 

15 ‘‘(B) the ratio of students to school coun16 selors, the ratio of students to school psycholo17 gists, and the ratio of students to school social 

18 workers. 

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

20 portion of the assistance permitted to be used for 

21 administrative costs to carry out its responsibilities 

22 under this subsection. 

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

24 data received under this subsection publicly available 

25 on an annual basis. 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 5549. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

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

3 this chapter $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 

4 through 2008.’’. 

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

6 for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

7 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) is amended by amending the 

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

‘‘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.’’. 

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