I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2375 

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 

MAY 15, 2015 

Ms. LEE (for herself, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Mr. LIPINSKI, Ms. 

CLARKE of New York, Mr. NEAL, Ms. NORTON, Mr. COHEN, Mr. 

O’ROURKE, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. HIGGINS, 

Mr. HASTINGS, 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 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’’. 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 2375 IH

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 ‘‘The 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 3 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 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 2375 IH

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 471 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 leading counseling, guid15 ance, and mental health organizations, including the 

16 American School Counselor Association, the Na17 tional Association of Social Psychologists, the Na18 tional Association of Social Workers, and the School 

19 Social Work Association of America, the maximum 

20 recommended ratio of— 

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

22 to 1; 

23 ‘‘(B) students to school psychologists is 

24 1,000 to 1; and 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 2375 IH

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

2 250 to 1. 

3 ‘‘(6) In some States, 1 school counselor typi4 cally serves over 1,000 students. Ratios for school 

5 psychologists and school social workers are also ex6 tremely high. In some schools, there are no school7 based mental health and student service providers 

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

9 any other time. 

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

11 grow significantly over the next few years. During 

12 this time, many school-based mental health profes13 sionals who currently serve the Nation’s youth will 

14 retire. 

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

16 health and student service providers have reduced 

17 school suspensions, reduced referrals to the prin18 cipal’s office, reduced the use of weapons, force, and 

19 threats, and increased students’ feelings of safety. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 5546. PURPOSES. 

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

22 local educational agencies in hiring additional school-based 

23 mental health providers, including additional school coun24 selors, school psychologists, other qualified psychologists, 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 2375 IH

1 child and adolescent psychiatrists, and school social work2 ers to achieve each of the following: 

3 ‘‘(1) To reduce the ratios of school-based men4 tal health and student service providers to students 

5 in elementary and secondary schools in the United 

6 States to the following minimum ratios rec7 ommended by the leading counseling, guidance, and 

8 mental health organizations, including the American 

9 School Counselor Association, the National Associa10 tion of Social Psychologists, the National Associa11 tion of Social Workers, and the School Social Work 

12 Association of America: 

13 ‘‘(A) One school counselor for every 250 

14 students. 

15 ‘‘(B) One school psychologist for every 

16 1,000 students. 

17 ‘‘(C) One school social worker for every 

18 250 students. 

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

20 student services. 

21 ‘‘(3) To remove emotional, behavioral, and psy22 chosocial barriers to learning so as to enhance stu23 dents’ classroom preparedness and ability to learn. 

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

25 improving classroom management, conducting beVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:11 May 22, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2375.IH H2375

asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 2375 IH

1 havioral interventions to improve school discipline, 

2 and developing the awareness and skills to identify 

3 early warning signs of violence and the need for 

4 mental health services. 

5 ‘‘(5) To support parental involvement in im6 proving the school behavior and academic success of 

7 their children. 

8 ‘‘SEC. 5547. DEFINITIONS. 

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

10 ‘‘(1) CHILD.—The term ‘child’ means an indi11 vidual who is not less than 5 years old and not more 

12 than 17 years old. 

13 ‘‘(2) CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHIA14 TRIST.—The term ‘child and adolescent psychiatrist’ 

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

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

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

18 below the poverty line. 

19 ‘‘(4) MENTAL HEALTH AND STUDENT SERVICE

20 PROVIDER.—The term ‘mental health and student 

21 service provider’ means a qualified individual who 

22 provides mental health and student services, includ23 ing any individual who is a qualified school coun24 selor, a qualified school psychologist or any other 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 2375 IH

1 qualified psychologist, a child or adolescent psychia2 trist, or a qualified school social worker. 

3 ‘‘(5) MENTAL HEALTH AND STUDENT SERV4 ICES.—The term ‘mental health and student serv5 ices’ includes direct, individual, and group services 

6 provided to students, parents, and school personnel 

7 by mental health and student service providers, and 

8 the coordination of prevention strategies in schools 

9 or community-based programs. 

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

11 term ‘other qualified psychologist’ has the meaning 

12 given such term in section 5421(e). 

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

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

15 Management and Budget, and revised annually in 

16 accordance with section 673(2) of the Community 

17 Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2))) ap18 plicable to a family of the size involved. 

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

20 counselor’ means an individual who has documented 

21 competence in counseling children and adolescents in 

22 a school setting and who— 

23 ‘‘(A) possesses State licensure or certifi24 cation granted by an independent professional 

25 regulatory authority; 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 2375 IH

1 ‘‘(B) possesses national certification in 

2 school counseling or a specialty of counseling 

3 granted by an independent professional organi4 zation; or 

5 ‘‘(C) holds a minimum of a master’s de6 gree in school counseling from a program ac7 credited by the Council for Accreditation of 

8 Counseling and Related Educational Programs 

9 or the equivalent. 

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

11 ‘school psychologist’ means an individual who— 

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

13 semester hours in school psychology from an in14 stitution of higher education and has completed 

15 1,200 clock hours in a supervised school psy16 chology internship, of which 600 hours shall be 

17 in a school setting; 

18 ‘‘(B) possesses State licensure or certifi19 cation in school psychology in the State in 

20 which the individual works; or 

21 ‘‘(C) possesses national certification by the 

22 National School Psychology Certification Board. 

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

24 ‘school social worker’ means an individual who— 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 2375 IH

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

2 from a program accredited by the Council on 

3 Social Work Education; 

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

5 which services are provided; or 

6 ‘‘(C) possesses a national credential or na7 tional certification as a school social work spe8 cialist granted by an independent professional 

9 organization. 

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

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

12 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 

13 ‘‘SEC. 5548. SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH AND STU14 DENT SERVICE PROVIDER GRANT PROGRAM. 

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

16 the Secretary shall make grants to eligible States to assist 

17 local educational agencies in those States in hiring addi18 tional school-based mental health and student service pro19 viders. 

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

21 amount appropriated for a fiscal year to carry out this 

22 chapter, the Secretary shall— 

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

24 to the Secretary of the Interior (on behalf of the Bu25 reau of Indian Affairs) and the outlying areas for 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 2375 IH

1 activities that carry out the purposes of this chapter; 

2 and 

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

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

5 ‘‘(A) an amount that bears the same rela6 tionship to 50 percent of such total amount as 

7 the number of children in poverty who reside in 

8 the State bears to the number of such children 

9 in all States; and 

10 ‘‘(B) an amount that bears the same rela11 tionship to 50 percent of such total amount as 

12 the number of children enrolled in public and 

13 private nonprofit elementary schools and sec14 ondary schools in the State bears to the number 

15 of children enrolled in all such schools in all 

16 States. 

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

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

19 less than $1,000,000. 

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

21 to States that have received approval under subsection 

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

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

24 Secretary. 

25 ‘‘(e) APPLICATION BY STATE.— 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
11 

•HR 2375 IH

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

2 grant under this chapter, a State shall submit an 

3 application to the Secretary at such time, in such 

4 manner, and containing such information as the Sec5 retary may require. 

6 ‘‘(2) APPROVAL.—The Secretary may not ap7 prove an application under this subsection unless the 

8 State submitting the application— 

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

10 considers to be reasonable, under which the 

11 State will make grants, in accordance with the 

12 purposes of this chapter, to local educational 

13 agencies to fund the hiring of additional school 

14 counselors, school psychologists, other qualified 

15 psychologists, child and adolescent psychia16 trists, and school social workers; and 

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

18 will provide the matching amount required 

19 under subsection (g). 

20 ‘‘(f) USE OF FUNDS BY STATE.— 

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

22 subsection, the total of the amounts made available 

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

24 non-Federal match required under subsection (g) 

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


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
12 

•HR 2375 IH

1 educational agencies to assist such agencies in hiring 

2 additional school-based mental health and student 

3 service providers. 

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

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

6 the assistance made available to it under this chap7 ter for the administrative costs of the State in car8 rying out the State’s responsibilities under this 

9 chapter. 

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

11 grants in accordance with this subsection, the State 

12 shall allocate from the total described in paragraph 

13 (1) to each local educational agency an amount 

14 equal to the sum of— 

15 ‘‘(A) an amount that bears the same rela16 tionship to 50 percent of such total as the num17 ber of children in poverty who reside in the 

18 school district served by the local educational 

19 agency bears to the number of such children 

20 who reside in all the school districts in the 

21 State; and 

22 ‘‘(B) an amount that bears the same rela23 tionship to 50 percent of such total as the num24 ber of children enrolled in public and private 

25 nonprofit elementary schools and secondary 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
13 

•HR 2375 IH

1 schools in the school district served by the local 

2 educational agency bears to the number of chil3 dren enrolled in all such schools in the State. 

4 ‘‘(4) MINIMUM GRANT.—Notwithstanding para5 graph (3), no grant made by a State in accordance 

6 with this subsection shall be for an amount less than 

7 $50,000. 

8 ‘‘(5) SOURCE OF DATA.—For purposes of para9 graph (3), the State shall use data from the most 

10 recent fiscal year for which satisfactory data are 

11 available, except that the State may adjust such 

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

13 State demonstrates to the Secretary’s satisfaction 

14 that such adjusted or alternative data more accu15 rately reflect the relative incidence of children who 

16 are living in poverty and who reside in the school 

17 districts in the State. 

18 ‘‘(6) APPLICATION BY LOCAL EDUCATIONAL

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

20 be eligible for a grant made by the State in accord21 ance with this subsection, a local educational agency 

22 shall submit an application to the State at such 

23 time, in such manner, and containing such informa24 tion as the State may require. 

25 ‘‘(g) MATCHING FUNDS.— 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
14 

•HR 2375 IH

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

2 a grant under this section, the Secretary shall re3 quire that a State provide from non-Federal sources 

4 an amount equal to the amount of the grant. 

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

6 to local educational agencies in accordance with this 

7 subsection, a State may require that a local edu8 cational agency match a portion of the amount of 

9 the grant made to the agency. 

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

11 by this subsection may be provided in cash or in 

12 kind, fairly evaluated, and may include facilities, 

13 equipment, or services. 

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

15 made available under this chapter shall be used to supple16 ment, and may not supplant, Federal, State, or local funds 

17 used for employing school-based mental health and stu18 dent service providers. 

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

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

21 which it receives assistance under this chapter, a 

22 State shall collect data describing how the assistance 

23 is used. 

24 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after as25 sistance is made available to a State under this 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
15 

•HR 2375 IH

1 chapter, the State shall transmit to the Secretary a 

2 report on the data described in paragraph (1), in3 cluding information with respect to each local edu4 cational agency to which the State made a grant 

5 with assistance made available under this chapter— 

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

7 school psychologists, other qualified psycholo8 gists, child and adolescent psychiatrists, and 

9 school social workers employed by local edu10 cational agency; and 

11 ‘‘(B) the ratio of students to school coun12 selors, the ratio of students to school psycholo13 gists or other qualified psychologists, the ratio 

14 of students to child and adolescent psychia15 trists, and the ratio of students to school social 

16 workers. 

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

18 portion of the assistance permitted to be used for 

19 administrative costs to carry out its responsibilities 

20 under this subsection. 

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

22 data received under this subsection publicly available 

23 on an annual basis. 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
16 

•HR 2375 IH

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 2016 

4 through 2024.’’. 

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.’’. 

Æ 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS