I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1508

To amend title X of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965

to provide for elementary and secondary school counseling programs.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 4, 2001

Mrs. ROUKEMA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Education and the Workforce

A BILL

To amend title X of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to provide for elementary and secondary school counseling programs.

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 Counseling Improvement Act of 2001’’.

6 SEC. 2. ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL COUN7 SELING PROGRAMS.

8 Section 10102 of title X of the Elementary and Sec9 ondary Education Act of 1965 is amended to read as fol10 lows:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 10102. ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL

2 COUNSELING PROGRAMS.

3 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds as follows:

4 ‘‘(1) The Surgeon General reported in January

5 2001 that 1 in 10 children suffer from mental ill6 nesses severe enough to impair development and

7 fewer than 1 in 5 children get treatment for mental

8 illnesses.

9 ‘‘(2) The Surgeon General reported that the

10 burden of suffering by children with mental health

11 needs and their families has created a health crisis

12 in this country. Growing numbers of children are

13 suffering needlessly because their emotional, behav14 ioral, and developmental needs are not being met by

15 the very institutions and systems that were created

16 to take care of them.

17 ‘‘(3) As a result of the concern about the fail18 ure of the healthcare system to reach children and

19 adolescents with mental illnesses, there is currently

20 great interest in developing new models for the deliv21 ery of mental health and counseling services that

22 can reach underserved groups efficiently.

23 ‘‘(4) Schools are a sensible point of intervention

24 because of their central position in many children’s

25 lives and development, especially when families are

26 unable to assume a leading role.
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1 ‘‘(5) School-based mental health and counseling

2 services allow for the identification of children in

3 need of treatment much earlier in their development.

4 ‘‘(6) Establishing mental health and counseling

5 services in schools provides access to underserved

6 youth with or at risk of emotional or behavioral

7 problems.

8 ‘‘(7) The Surgeon General’s 2000 report on

9 youth violence concludes that effective treatment can

10 divert a significant proportion of delinquent and vio11 lent youths from future violence and crime.

12 ‘‘(8) Mental health and counseling services can

13 play an important role in violence prevention on all

14 levels, including preventing problem behaviors from

15 developing; identifying and serving specific, at-risk

16 populations; and reducing the deleterious effects of

17 violence on victims and witnesses.

18 ‘‘(9) An evaluation of the model program for

19 the elementary school counseling demonstration pro20 gram established pursuant to this section prior to

21 the date of enactment of the Elementary and Sec22 ondary Counseling Improvement Act of 2001 found

23 that the number of referrals to the principal’s office

24 decreased by nearly half, the use of force, weapons,
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1 and threatening of others also decreased, school sus2 pensions were reduced, and students felt safer.

3 ‘‘(10) The report produced by the Institute of

4 Medicine, ‘Schools and Health: Our Nation’s Invest5 ment’, recommended a student-to-school counselor

6 ratio of 250:1, student-to-school psychologist ratio of

7 1000:1, and a student-to-school social worker ratio

8 of 800:1. The United States average student-to9 counselor ratio is 551:1. Ratios for school psycholo10 gists and school social workers also exceed the rec11 ommended levels.

12 ‘‘(b) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may use

14 funds provided under this section to award grants to

15 local educational agencies to enable such agencies to

16 establish or expand elementary and secondary school

17 counseling programs which meet the requirements of

18 subsection (c).

19 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this

20 section, the Secretary shall give special consideration

21 to applications describing programs which—

22 ‘‘(A) demonstrate the greatest need for

23 new or additional counseling services among

24 children in the schools served by the applicant,

25 in part, by providing information on current ra-
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1 tios of students to school counselors, students

2 to school social workers, and students to school

3 psychologists;

4 ‘‘(B) propose the most promising and inno5 vative approaches for initiating or expanding

6 school counseling; and

7 ‘‘(C) show the greatest potential for rep8 lication and dissemination.

9 ‘‘(3) EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION.—In awarding

10 grants under this section, the Secretary shall ensure

11 an equitable geographic distribution among the re12 gions of the United States and among urban, subur13 ban, and rural local educational agencies.

14 ‘‘(4) DURATION.—A grant under this section

15 shall be awarded for a period not to exceed 3 years.

16 ‘‘(5) MAXIMUM GRANT.—A grant awarded

17 under this program shall not exceed $400,000 for

18 any fiscal year.

19 ‘‘(6) SUPPLEMENT.—Assistance made available

20 under this section shall be used to supplement, and

21 may not supplant, other Federal, State, or local

22 funds used for providing school-based counseling and

23 mental health services to students.

24 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS FOR COUNSELING PRO25 GRAMS.—Each program funded under this section shall—
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1 ‘‘(1) be comprehensive in addressing the coun2 seling and educational needs of all students;

3 ‘‘(2) use a developmental, preventive approach

4 to counseling;

5 ‘‘(3) increase the range, availability, quantity,

6 and quality of counseling services in the elementary

7 and secondary schools of the local educational agen8 cy;

9 ‘‘(4) expand counseling services through quali10 fied school counselors, school psychologists, school

11 social workers, and child and adolescent psychia12 trists;

13 ‘‘(5) use innovative approaches to increase chil14 dren’s understanding of peer and family relation15 ships, work and self, decisionmaking, or academic

16 and career planning, or to improve peer interaction;

17 ‘‘(6) provide counseling services in settings that

18 meet the range of needs of students;

19 ‘‘(7) include inservice training, including train20 ing for teachers in appropriate identification and

21 intervention techniques for disciplining and teaching

22 students at risk of violent behavior, by school coun23 selors, school psychologists, school social workers,

24 and child and adolescent psychiatrists;
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1 ‘‘(8) involve parents of participating students in

2 the design, implementation, and evaluation of a

3 counseling program;

4 ‘‘(9) involve community groups, social service

5 agencies, or other public or private entities in col6 laborative efforts to enhance the program;

7 ‘‘(10) evaluate annually the effectiveness and

8 outcomes of the counseling services and activities as9 sisted under this section;

10 ‘‘(11) ensure a team approach to school coun11 seling in the elementary and secondary schools of

12 the local educational agency by working toward ra13 tios recommended by the American School Health

14 Association of one school counselor to 250 students,

15 one school social worker to 800 students, and one

16 school psychologist to 1,000 students; and

17 ‘‘(12) ensure that school counselors, school psy18 chologists, school social workers, or child and adoles19 cent psychiatrists paid from funds made available

20 under this section spend a majority of their time at

21 the school in activities directly related to the coun22 seling process.

23 ‘‘(d) LIMIT ON ADMINISTRATION.—Not more than 3

24 percent of the amounts made available under this section
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1 in any fiscal year may be used for administrative costs

2 to carry out this section.

3 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—

4 ‘‘(1) the term ‘school counselor’ means an indi5 vidual who has documented competence in coun6 seling children and adolescents in a school setting

7 and who—

8 ‘‘(A) possesses State licensure or certifi9 cation granted by an independent professional

10 regulatory authority;

11 ‘‘(B) in the absence of such State licensure

12 or certification, possesses national certification

13 in school counseling or a specialty of counseling

14 granted by an independent professional organi15 zation; or

16 ‘‘(C) holds a minimum of a master’s de17 gree in school counseling from a program ac18 credited by the Council for Accreditation of

19 Counseling and Related Educational Programs

20 or the equivalent;

21 ‘‘(2) the term ‘school psychologist’ means an in22 dividual who—

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

24 semester hours in school psychology from an in25 stitution of higher education and has completed
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1 1,200 clock hours in a supervised school psy2 chology internship, of which 600 hours shall be

3 in the school setting;

4 ‘‘(B) possesses State licensure or certifi5 cation in the State in which the individual

6 works; or

7 ‘‘(C) in the absence of such State licensure

8 or certification, possesses national certification

9 by the National School Psychology Certification

10 Board;

11 ‘‘(3) the term ‘school social worker’ means an

12 individual who—

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

14 from a program accredited by the Council on

15 Social Work Education; and

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

17 which services are provided; or

18 ‘‘(C) in the absence of such State licensure

19 or certification, possesses a national credential

20 or certification as a ‘school social work spe21 cialist’ granted by an independent professional

22 organization; and

23 ‘‘(4) the term ‘child and adolescent psychiatrist’

24 means an individual who—

25 ‘‘(A) possesses State medical licensure; and
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1 ‘‘(B) has completed residency training pro2 grams in general and child and adolescent psy3 chiatry.

4 ‘‘(f) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after assistance

5 is made available under this section, the Secretary shall

6 make publicly available the information from applicants

7 regarding the ratios of students to school counselors, stu8 dents to school social workers, and students to school psy9 chologists.

10 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

11 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

12 $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2002 and such sums as may

13 be necessary for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years.

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