II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3356 

To effectively staff the high-need public elementary schools and secondary 

schools of the United States with school-based mental health services 

providers. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 9, 2021 

Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mr. BENNET, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, 

Mr. BROWN, Mr. CASEY, Mr. COONS, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. DURBIN, 

Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. KING, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. PADILLA, Ms. ROSEN, 

Mrs. SHAHEEN, Ms. SMITH, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To effectively staff the high-need public elementary schools 

and secondary schools of the United States with schoolbased mental health services 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 ‘‘Elementary and Sec5 ondary School Counseling Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) One in 5 children ages 13 through 18 has, 

2 or will have, a serious mental illness. 

3 (2) 11 percent of youth have a mood disorder, 

4 10 percent of youth have a behavior or conduct dis5 order, and 8 percent of youth have an anxiety dis6 order. 

7 (3) 50 percent of all lifetime cases of mental ill8 ness begin by age 14. 37 percent of students with 

9 a mental health condition age 14 and older drop out 

10 of school, which is the highest school dropout rate 

11 of any disability group. 

12 (4) 70 percent of youth in State and local juve13 nile systems have a mental illness. 

14 (5) Youth with access to mental health services 

15 in school-based health centers are 10 times more 

16 likely to seek care for mental health or substance 

17 abuse than youth without access. 

18 (6) The leading counseling, guidance, and men19 tal health organizations, including the American 

20 School Counselor Association, the National Associa21 tion of School Psychologists, the National Associa22 tion of Social Workers, and the School Social Work 

23 Association of America, recommend that schools 

24 maintain— 


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1 (A) a maximum student to school coun2 selor ratio of 250 to 1; 

3 (B) a maximum student to school psychol4 ogist ratio of 500 to 1; and 

5 (C) a maximum student to school social 

6 worker ratio of 250 to 1. 

7 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 

9 (1) ESEA DEFINITIONS.—The terms ‘‘elemen10 tary school’’, ‘‘local educational agency’’, ‘‘secondary 

11 school’’, ‘‘State’’, and ‘‘State educational agency’’ 

12 have the meanings given the terms in section 8101 

13 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

14 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

15 (2) HIGH-NEED SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘high-need 

16 school’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

17 2211(b) of the Elementary and Secondary Edu18 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6631(b)). 

19 (3) SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES

20 PROVIDER.—The term ‘‘school-based mental health 

21 services provider’’ includes a State-licensed or State 

22 certified school counselor, school psychologist, school 

23 social worker, community-based mental health pro24 vider organization, or other State licensed or cer25 tified mental health professional qualified under 


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1 State law to provide mental health services to chil2 dren and adolescents. 

3 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

4 the Secretary of Education. 

5 SEC. 4. GRANTS AND SUBGRANTS. 

6 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 

8 formula grants, from allotments made under sub9 section (b), to State educational agencies to enable 

10 the State educational agencies to award subgrants to 

11 local educational agencies in order to increase access 

12 to school-based mental health services providers at 

13 high-need schools served by the local educational 

14 agencies. 

15 (2) DURATION.—A grant awarded under this 

16 section shall be for a 5-year period and may be re17 newed for additional 5-year periods upon a showing 

18 of adequate progress on meeting the goals of the 

19 grant, as determined by the Secretary. 

20 (b) FORMULA GRANTS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.— 

22 (A) FORMULA.—From the total amount 

23 made available under section 5 for a fiscal year, 

24 the Secretary shall allot to each such State that 

25 submits a complete application an amount that 


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1 bears the same relationship to such total 

2 amount as the amount received under part A of 

3 title I of the Elementary and Secondary Edu4 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.) by 

5 such State for such fiscal year bears to the 

6 amount received under such part for such fiscal 

7 year by all States. 

8 (B) SMALL STATE MINIMUM.—No State 

9 receiving an allotment under this paragraph 

10 shall receive less than one-half of 1 percent of 

11 the total amount allotted under this paragraph. 

12 (2) MATCHING REQUIREMENTS.—In order to 

13 receive an allotment under this paragraph, a State 

14 shall agree to provide matching funds, in an amount 

15 equal to 20 percent of the amount of the allotment, 

16 toward the costs of the activities carried out under 

17 the grant. 

18 (c) APPLICATION.—A State educational agency desir19 ing a grant under this section shall submit an application 

20 at such time, in such manner, and containing such infor21 mation as the Secretary may require. Each application 

22 shall include, at a minimum— 

23 (1) a description of how the State educational 

24 agency will award subgrants to local educational 

25 agencies under subsection (d); 


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1 (2) a description of how the State educational 

2 agency will disseminate, in a timely manner, infor3 mation regarding the subgrants and the application 

4 process for such subgrants to local educational agen5 cies; and 

6 (3) the ratios, as of the date of application, of 

7 students to school-based mental health services pro8 viders in each public elementary school and sec9 ondary school in the State, in the aggregate and 

10 disaggregated to include— 

11 (A) the ratios of students to school coun12 selors, school psychologists, and school social 

13 workers; and 

14 (B) as applicable, the ratios of students to 

15 other school-based mental health services pro16 viders not described in subparagraph (A), in the 

17 aggregate and disaggregated by type of pro18 vider. 

19 (d) SUBGRANTS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State educational agency 

21 receiving a grant under this section shall use grant 

22 funds to award subgrants, on a competitive basis, to 

23 local educational agencies in the State, to enable the 

24 local educational agencies to— 


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1 (A) employ school-based mental health 

2 services providers or contract with community 

3 mental health centers to work at high-need 

4 schools served by the local educational agency; 

5 and 

6 (B) work toward effectively staffing the 

7 high-need schools of the State with school-based 

8 mental health services providers, including by 

9 meeting the recommended maximum ratios of— 

10 (i) 250 students per school counselor; 

11 (ii) 500 students per school psycholo12 gist; and 

13 (iii) 250 students per school social 

14 worker. 

15 (2) PRIORITY.—In awarding subgrants under 

16 this subsection, the State shall give priority to local 

17 educational agencies that serve a significant number 

18 of high-need schools. 

19 (3) APPLICATION.—A local educational agency 

20 desiring a subgrant under this subsection shall sub21 mit an application to the State educational agency 

22 at such time, in such manner, and containing such 

23 information as the State educational agency may re24 quire, including information on how the local edu25 cational agency will prioritize assisting high-need 


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1 schools with the largest numbers or percentages of 

2 students from low-income families. 

3 (e) GRANT AND SUBGRANT REQUIREMENTS.— 

4 (1) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—Amounts 

5 provided under a grant or subgrant under this sec6 tion shall supplement, and not supplant, any other 

7 funds available to a State educational agency or 

8 local educational agency for school-based mental 

9 health services. 

10 (2) COMBINING FUNDS ALLOWED.—A State 

11 educational agency receiving a grant under this sec12 tion may combine funds made available under this 

13 section with State or local funds to carry out the ac14 tivities described in subsection (d)(1). 

15 (f) REPORTS.— 

16 (1) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.—A local 

17 educational agency that receives a subgrant under 

18 this section shall submit a report to the State on the 

19 activities carried out with the subgrant funds. 

20 (2) STATE.—A State educational agency receiv21 ing a grant under this section shall annually prepare 

22 and submit a report to the Secretary that— 

23 (A) evaluates the progress made in achiev24 ing the purposes of the grant; 


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1 (B) includes the most recent student to 

2 provider ratios, in the aggregate and 

3 disaggregated as provided in subsection (c)(3), 

4 for public elementary schools and secondary 

5 schools in the State that were assisted under 

6 the grant under this section; and 

7 (C) describes any other resources needed 

8 to meet the required recommended maximum 

9 student to school-based mental health services 

10 provider ratios. 

11 (3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary 

12 shall make all reports submitted under this sub13 section available to the public, including through the 

14 website of the Department. 

15 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

16 In order to provide school-based mental health serv17 ices providers in high-need schools in the States, there are 

18 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act— 

19 (1) $5,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; and 

20 (2) such sums as may be necessary for each 

21 succeeding fiscal year. 

Æ 


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