II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3848 

To authorize the Secretary of Education to make grants to fund additional 

school-based mental health providers to help reduce psychological harm, 

and assist with the return to adaptive coping in schools following a 

violent or traumatic crisis, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 16, 2022 

Mr. PETERS (for himself and Ms. STABENOW) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Education to make grants 

to fund additional school-based mental health providers 

to help reduce psychological harm, and assist with the 

return to adaptive coping in schools following a violent 

or traumatic crisis, 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 ‘‘Helping Education 

5 After Loss Act of 2022’’ or the ‘‘HEAL Act of 2022’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) On Tuesday, November 30, 2021, a student 

2 at Oxford High School killed and injured several 

3 students with a handgun loaded with a high-capacity 

4 magazine. 

5 (2) Children exposed to violence, injury, and 

6 other potentially traumatic events are at risk for de7 veloping traumatic stress reactions, including as fol8 lows: 

9 (A) The National Center for PTSD esti10 mates that 28 percent of people who have wit11 nessed a mass shooting develop PTSD and 1/ 

12 3 develop acute stress disorder. 

13 (B) While some survivors only experience 

14 temporary symptoms, others will be sympto15 matic for a much longer period of time and 

16 even develop chronic psychiatric disorders. 

17 (C) Both short-term and long-term impair18 ments can cause severe distress and have pro19 found effects on academic achievement and the 

20 social and emotional growth of impacted stu21 dents. 

22 (3) Youth with access to mental health services 

23 in school-based health centers are 10 times more 

24 likely to seek care for mental health or substance 

25 abuse than youth without access. 


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1 (4) The leading counseling, guidance, and men2 tal health organizations, including the American 

3 School Counselor Association, the National Associa4 tion of School Psychologists, the National Associa5 tion of Social Workers, and the School Social Work 

6 Association of America, recommend that schools 

7 maintain— 

8 (A) a maximum student to school coun9 selor ratio of 250 to 1; 

10 (B) a maximum student to school psychol11 ogist ratio of 500 to 1; and 

12 (C) a maximum student to school social 

13 worker ratio of 250 to 1. 

14 (5) According to the Education Trust, nearly 1 

15 in 5 students do not have access to a counselor in 

16 their school at all, and many of those students have 

17 only limited access to other school support staff, 

18 such as school psychologists or social workers. 

19 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

20 In this Act: 

21 (1) ACUTE CRISIS RESPONSE ACTIVITY.—The 

22 term ‘‘acute crisis response activity’’ means an activ23 ity in response to an acute crisis, including services 

24 to provide immediate trauma intervention, advocacy, 


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1 crisis intervention, death notification, and victim and 

2 survivor assistance. 

3 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti4 ty’’ means a local educational agency that serves a 

5 school that has experienced a violent or traumatic 

6 crisis. 

7 (3) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

8 ‘‘local educational agency’’ means a public board of 

9 education or other public authority legally con10 stituted within a State for either administrative con11 trol or direction of, or to perform a service function 

12 for, public elementary schools or secondary schools 

13 in a city, county, township, school district, or other 

14 political subdivision of a State, or of or for a com15 bination of school districts or counties that is recog16 nized in a State as an administrative agency for its 

17 public elementary schools or secondary schools. 

18 (4) SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH PRO19 VIDER.—The term ‘‘school-based mental health pro20 vider’’ means a State-licensed or State-certified 

21 school counselor, school psychologist, school social 

22 worker, community-based mental health provider or23 ganization, or other State-licensed or State-certified 

24 mental health professional qualified under State law 


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1 to provide mental health services to children and 

2 adolescents. 

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

4 the Secretary of Education. 

5 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ACUTE CRISIS RESPONSE 

6 GRANT PROGRAM. 

7 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 

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

9 non-competitive grants from allotments under para10 graph (2) to eligible entities to fund additional full11 time, part-time, and contractual school-based mental 

12 health providers and acute crisis response activities 

13 in order to help the eligible entity respond to the vio14 lent or traumatic crisis. 

15 (2) ALLOTMENTS.—From amounts appro16 priated under section 6 for a fiscal year, the Sec17 retary shall allot to each eligible entity an amount 

18 that— 

19 (A) is of sufficient size and scope to enable 

20 the eligible entity to respond to the violent or 

21 traumatic crisis; and 

22 (B) is not more than $250,000 for the fis23 cal year. 

24 (b) DURATION.—A grant awarded under this section 

25 shall be for not longer than a 2-year period, and may be 


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1 renewed for an additional 2-year period, at the Secretary’s 

2 discretion. 

3 (c) NOTICE OF ELIGIBILITY.—Not later than 30 days 

4 after the date of a violent or traumatic crisis that affects 

5 a school community, the Secretary shall notify the eligible 

6 entity that serves such school of the availability of grant 

7 awards under this section. 

8 (d) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity that desires to 

9 receive a grant under this section shall submit an applica10 tion to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 

11 containing such information as the Secretary may require. 

12 (e) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity awarded a 

13 grant under this section shall use the grant funds to hire 

14 additional full-time, part-time, and contractual school15 based mental health providers and acute crisis response 

16 activities in order to help the eligible entity respond to the 

17 violent or traumatic crisis. 

18 (f) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Funds made 

19 available under this section shall be used to supplement, 

20 and not supplant, other Federal, State, or private funds 

21 that would otherwise be expended to respond to the violent 

22 or traumatic crisis. 


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1 SEC. 5. STUDY ON THE AFFECTS OF VIOLENT AND TRAU2 MATIC EVENTS IN SCHOOLS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in collaboration 

4 with Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall con5 duct a special resource study of communities that have 

6 experienced a violent or traumatic crisis. 

7 (b) CONTENTS.—In conducting the study under sub8 section (a), the Secretary shall— 

9 (1) evaluate how violent and traumatic events 

10 can affect a student’s mental health, and the poten11 tial risks for developing chronic psychiatric dis12 orders; and 

13 (2) develop evidence-based best practices for a 

14 school to return to learning after the school has been 

15 disrupted due to violent or traumatic crisis, includ16 ing best practices for supporting school staff in such 

17 return. 

18 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

19 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

20 this Act— 

21 (1) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; and 

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

23 succeeding fiscal year. 

Æ 


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