II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3927 

To establish the Mental Health Excellence in Schools Program to increase 

the recruitment and retention of school-based mental health services 

providers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 24, 2022 

Mr. PETERS (for Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. PETERS, and 

Mr. CRAMER)) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To establish the Mental Health Excellence in Schools Program to increase the recruitment and retention of schoolbased mental health services providers, and for other 

purposes. 

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 ‘‘Mental Health Excel5 lence in Schools Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROGRAM TO ESTABLISH PUBLIC-PRIVATE CON2 TRIBUTIONS TO INCREASE THE AVAILABLE 

3 WORKFORCE OF SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL 

4 HEALTH SERVICE PROVIDERS. 

5 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary shall 

6 carry out a program under which eligible graduate institu7 tions may enter into an agreement with the Secretary to 

8 cover a portion of the cost of attendance of a participating 

9 student, which contributions shall be matched by equiva10 lent contributions towards such cost of attendance by the 

11 Secretary. 

12 (b) DESIGNATION OF PROGRAM.—The program 

13 under this section shall be known as the ‘‘Mental Health 

14 Excellence in Schools Program’’. 

15 (c) AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary shall enter into an 

16 agreement with each eligible graduate institution seeking 

17 to participate in the program under this section. Each 

18 agreement shall specify the following: 

19 (1) The manner (whether by direct grant, schol20 arship, or otherwise) in which the eligible graduate 

21 institution will contribute to the cost of attendance 

22 of a participating student. 

23 (2) The maximum amount of the contribution 

24 to be made by the eligible graduate institution with 

25 respect to any particular participating student in 

26 any given academic year. 


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1 (3) The maximum number of individuals for 

2 whom the eligible graduate institution will make con3 tributions in any given academic year. 

4 (4) That the eligible graduate institution, in se5 lecting participating students to receive assistance 

6 under the program, shall prioritize the participating 

7 students described in subsection (d)(2). 

8 (5) Such other matters as the Secretary and 

9 the eligible graduate institution determine appro10 priate. 

11 (d) OUTREACH.—The Secretary shall— 

12 (1) make publicly available and periodically up13 date on the internet website of the Department of 

14 Education a list of the eligible graduate institutions 

15 participating in the program under this section that 

16 shall specify, for each such graduate institution, ap17 propriate information on the agreement between the 

18 Secretary and such eligible graduate institution 

19 under subsection (c); and 

20 (2) conduct outreach about the program under 

21 this section to participating students who, as under22 graduates— 

23 (A) received a Federal Pell Grant under 

24 section 401 of the Higher Education Act of 

25 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a); or 


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1 (B) attended an institution listed in section 

2 371(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

3 (20 U.S.C. 1067q(a)). 

4 (e) MATCHING CONTRIBUTIONS.—The Secretary may 

5 provide a contribution of up to 50 percent of the cost of 

6 attendance of a participating student if the eligible grad7 uate institution at which such student is enrolled enters 

8 into an agreement under subsection (c) with the Secretary 

9 to match such contribution. 

10 (f) MONITORING AND EVALUATION.—As a condition 

11 of participation in the program under this section, each 

12 eligible graduate institution shall agree to submit an an13 nual report to the Secretary describing— 

14 (1) the number of students served by the pro15 gram; 

16 (2) the percentage of tuition cost covered by the 

17 program; 

18 (3) the number of participating students who 

19 were also recipients of a Federal Pell grant; and 

20 (4) as applicable, the graduation rates and 

21 post-graduate employment of participating students. 

22 (g) INTERIM REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after 

23 the first contributions are provided under this section, the 

24 Secretary shall submit an interim report to Congress 

25 based on the annual reports required by subsection (f). 


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1 (h) INDEPENDENT NATIONAL EVALUATION.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 4 years after 

3 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

4 shall provide for the commencement of an inde5 pendent national evaluation of the outcomes and ef6 fectiveness of the program under this section. 

7 (2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 90 

8 days after receiving the results of such independent 

9 national evaluation, the Secretary shall submit a re10 port to Congress containing the findings of the eval11 uation and the Secretary’s recommendations for im12 provements to the program. 

13 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

14 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act— 

15 (1) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2023; 

16 (2) $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2024; and 

17 (3) $50,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 

18 2025 through 2027. 

19 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

20 In this Act: 

21 (1) COST OF ATTENDANCE.—The term ‘‘cost of 

22 attendance’’ has the meaning given the term in sec23 tion 472 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

24 U.S.C. 1087ll). 


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1 (2) ELIGIBLE GRADUATE INSTITUTION.—The 

2 term ‘‘eligible graduate institution’’ means an insti3 tution of higher education that offers a program of 

4 study that leads to a graduate degree— 

5 (A) in school psychology that is accredited 

6 or approved by the National Association of 

7 School Psychologists’ Program Accreditation 

8 Board or the Commission on Accreditation of 

9 the American Psychological Association and 

10 that prepares students in such program for the 

11 State licensing or certification examination in 

12 school psychology at the specialist level; 

13 (B) in an accredited school counseling pro14 gram that prepares students in such program 

15 for the State licensing or certification examina16 tion in school counseling; 

17 (C) in school social work that is accredited 

18 by the Council on Social Work Education and 

19 that prepares students in such program for the 

20 State licensing or certification examination in 

21 school social work; 

22 (D) in another school-based mental health 

23 field that prepares students in such program 

24 for the State licensing or certification examina25 tion in such field, if applicable; or 


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1 (E) in any combination of study described 

2 in subparagraphs (A) through (D). 

3 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

4 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

5 meaning given such term in section 101 of the High6 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

7 (4) PARTICIPATING STUDENT.—The term ‘‘par8 ticipating student’’ means an individual who is en9 rolled in a graduate degree program in a school10 based mental health field at a participating eligible 

11 graduate institution. 

12 (5) SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH FIELD.— 

13 The term ‘‘school-based mental health field’’ means 

14 each of the following fields: 

15 (A) School counseling. 

16 (B) School social work. 

17 (C) School psychology. 

18 (D) Any other field of study that leads to 

19 employment as a school-based mental health 

20 services provider, as determined by the Sec21 retary. 

22 (6) SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES

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

24 services provider’’ has the meaning given the term in 


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1 section 4102 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu2 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7112). 

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

4 the Secretary of Education. 

Æ 


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