II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1332 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to revise and extend projects relating 

to children and violence to provide access to school-based comprehensive 

mental health programs. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 8, 2007 

Mr. REID (for Mr. KENNEDY) (for himself, Mr. DOMENICI, Mr. DODD, and 

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

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to revise and extend 

projects relating to children and violence to provide access to school-based comprehensive mental health 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 ‘‘Mental Health in 

5 Schools Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) Approximately 1 in 5 children have a 

2 diagnosable mental disorder. 

3 (2) Approximately 1 in 10 children have a seri4 ous emotional or behavioral disorder that is severe 

5 enough to cause substantial impairment in func6 tioning at home, at school, or in the community. It 

7 is estimated that about 75 percent of children with 

8 emotional and behavioral disorders do not receive 

9 specialty mental health services. 

10 (3) Only half of schools across the United 

11 States report having formal partnerships with com12 munity mental health providers to deliver mental 

13 health services. 

14 (4) If a school is going to respond to the mental 

15 health needs of its students, it must have access to 

16 resources that provide family-centered, culturally 

17 and linguistically appropriate supports and services. 

18 (5) Effective school mental health programs re19 flect the collaboration and commitment of families, 

20 students, educators, and other community partners. 

21 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

22 It is the purpose of this Act to— 

23 (1) revise, increase funding for, and expand the 

24 scope of the Safe Schools-Healthy Students program 

25 in order to provide access to more comprehensive 


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1 school-based mental health services and supports; 

2 and 

3 (2) provide for in-service training to all school 

4 personnel in— 

5 (A) the techniques and supports needed to 

6 identify early children with, or at risk of, men7 tal illness; 

8 (B) the use of referral mechanisms that ef9 fectively link such children to treatment inter10 vention services; and 

11 (C) strategies that promote a school-wide 

12 positive environment. 

13 SEC. 4. AMENDMENTS TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE 

14 ACT. 

15 (a) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.—The second part G 

16 (relating to services provided through religious organiza17 tions) of title V of the Public Health Service Act (42 

18 U.S.C. 290kk et seq.) is amended— 

19 (1) by redesignating such part as part J; and 

20 (2) by redesignating sections 581 through 584 

21 as sections 596 through 596C, respectively. 

22 (b) PURPOSE AND AUTHORITY.—Subsection (a) of 

23 section 581 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

24 290hh(a)) is amended to read as follows: 


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

2 with the Secretary of Education and in consultation with 

3 the Attorney General, shall, directly or through grants, 

4 contracts or cooperative agreements awarded to public en5 tities and local education agencies, assist local commu6 nities and schools in applying a public health approach 

7 to mental health services both in schools and in the com8 munity. Such approach should provide comprehensive 

9 services and supports, be linguistically and culturally ap10 propriate, and incorporate strategies of positive behavioral 

11 interventions and supports. A comprehensive school men12 tal health program funded under this section shall assist 

13 children in dealing with violence.’’. 

14 (c) ACTIVITIES.—Section 581(b) of the Public Health 

15 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290hh(b)) is amended— 

16 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘implement 

17 programs’’ and inserting ‘‘implement a comprehen18 sive culturally and linguistically appropriate school 

19 mental health program that incorporates positive be20 havioral interventions and supports’’; 

21 (2) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘child and 

22 adolescent mental health issues and’’ after ‘‘ad23 dress’’; and 

24 (3) by striking paragraph (4) and inserting the 

25 following: 


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1 ‘‘(4) facilitate community partnerships among 

2 families, students, law enforcement agencies, edu3 cation systems, mental health and substance abuse 

4 service systems, family-based mental health service 

5 systems, welfare agencies, healthcare service sys6 tems, and other community-based systems;’’. 

7 (d) REQUIREMENTS.—Subsection (c) of section 581 

8 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290hh(c)) is 

9 amended to read as follows: 

10 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible for a grant, 

12 contract, or cooperative agreement under subsection 

13 (a) an entity shall— 

14 ‘‘(A) be a partnership between a local edu15 cation agency and at least one community pro16 gram or agency that is involved in mental 

17 health; and 

18 ‘‘(B) submit an application, that is en19 dorsed by all members of the partnership, that 

20 makes the assurances described in paragraph 

21 (2). 

22 ‘‘(2) REQUIRED ASSURANCES.—An application 

23 under paragraph (1) shall assure the following: 

24 ‘‘(A) That the applicant will ensure that, 

25 in carrying out activities under this section, the 


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1 local educational agency involved will enter into 

2 a memorandum of understanding— 

3 ‘‘(i) with, at a minimum, public or 

4 private mental health entities, healthcare 

5 entities, law enforcement or juvenile justice 

6 entities, child welfare agencies, family7 based mental health entities, families and 

8 family organizations, and other commu9 nity-based entities; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) that clearly states— 

11 ‘‘(I) the responsibilities of each 

12 partner with respect to the activities 

13 to be carried out; 

14 ‘‘(II) how each such partner will 

15 be accountable for carrying out such 

16 responsibilities; and 

17 ‘‘(III) the amount of non-Federal 

18 funding or in-kind contributions that 

19 each such partner will contribute in 

20 order to sustain the program. 

21 ‘‘(B) That the comprehensive school-based 

22 mental health program carried out under this 

23 section support the flexible use of funds to ad24 dress— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the promotion of the social, emo2 tional, and behavioral health of all students 

3 in an environment that is conducive to 

4 learning; 

5 ‘‘(ii) the reduction in the likelihood of 

6 at risk students developing social, emo7 tional, or behavioral health problems; 

8 ‘‘(iii) the treatment or referral for 

9 treatment of students with existing social, 

10 emotional, or behavioral health problems; 

11 ‘‘(iv) the early identification of social, 

12 emotional, or behavioral problems and the 

13 provision of early intervention services; and 

14 ‘‘(v) the development and implementa15 tion of programs to assist children in deal16 ing with violence. 

17 ‘‘(C) That the comprehensive mental 

18 health program carried out under this section 

19 will provide for culturally and linguistically ap20 propriate in-service training of all school per21 sonnel, including ancillary staff and volunteers, 

22 in— 

23 ‘‘(i) the techniques and support need24 ed to identify early children with, or at risk 

25 of, mental illness; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the use of referral mechanisms 

2 that effectively link such children to treat3 ment intervention services; and 

4 ‘‘(iii) strategies that promote a 

5 schoolwide positive environment, and in6 cludes an on-going training component. 

7 ‘‘(D) That the comprehensive school-based 

8 mental health programs carried out under this 

9 section will demonstrate the measures to be 

10 taken to sustain the program after funding 

11 under this section terminates. 

12 ‘‘(E) That the local education agency part13 nership involved is supported by the State edu14 cational and mental health system to ensure 

15 that the sustainability of the programs is estab16 lished after funding under this section termi17 nates. 

18 ‘‘(F) That the comprehensive school-based 

19 mental health program carried out under this 

20 section is based on evidence-based practices. 

21 ‘‘(G) That the comprehensive school-based 

22 mental health program carried out under this 

23 section is coordinated with early intervening ac24 tivities carried out under the Individuals with 


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1 Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et 

2 seq.). 

3 ‘‘(H) That the comprehensive school-based 

4 mental health program carried out under this 

5 section is culturally and linguistically appro6 priate.’’. 

7 (e) DURATION.—Section 581(e) of the Public Health 

8 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290hh(e)) is amended— 

9 (1) by striking ‘‘may not exceed’’ and inserting 

10 ‘‘shall be’’; and 

11 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘An en12 tity may only receive one award under this section, 

13 except that an entity that is providing services and 

14 supports on a regional basis may receive additional 

15 funding after the expiration of the preceding grant 

16 period.’’. 

17 (f) EVALUATION.—Subsection (f) of section 581 of 

18 the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290kk(f)) is 

19 amended to read as follows: 

20 ‘‘(f) EVALUATION AND MEASURES OF OUTCOMES.— 

21 ‘‘(1) DEVELOPMENT OF PROCESS.—The Ad22 ministrator shall develop a process for evaluating ac23 tivities carried out under this section. Such process 

24 shall include— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the development of guidelines for the 

2 submission of program data by such recipients; 

3 ‘‘(B) the development of measures of out4 comes (in accordance with paragraph (2)) to be 

5 applied by such recipients in evaluating pro6 grams carried out under this section; and 

7 ‘‘(C) the submission of annual reports by 

8 such recipients concerning the effectiveness of 

9 programs carried out under this section. 

10 ‘‘(2) MEASURES OF OUTCOMES.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

12 shall develop measures of outcomes to be ap13 plied by recipients of assistance under this sec14 tion, and the Administrator, in evaluating the 

15 effectiveness of programs carried out under this 

16 section. Such measures shall include student 

17 and family measures as provided for in sub18 paragraph (B) and local educational measures 

19 as provided for under subparagraph (C). 

20 ‘‘(B) STUDENT AND FAMILY MEASURES OF

21 OUTCOMES.—The measures of outcomes devel22 oped under paragraph (1)(B) relating to stu23 dents and families shall, with respect to activi24 ties carried out under a program under this 


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1 section, at a minimum include provisions to 

2 evaluate— 

3 ‘‘(i) whether the program resulted in 

4 an increase in social and emotional com5 petency; 

6 ‘‘(ii) whether the program resulted in 

7 an increase in academic competency; 

8 ‘‘(iii) whether the program resulted in 

9 a reduction in disruptive and aggressive 

10 behaviors; 

11 ‘‘(iv) whether the program resulted in 

12 improved family functioning; 

13 ‘‘(v) whether the program resulted in 

14 a reduction in substance abuse; 

15 ‘‘(vi) whether the program resulted in 

16 a reduction in suspensions, truancy, expul17 sions and violence; 

18 ‘‘(vii) whether the program resulted in 

19 increased graduation rates; and 

20 ‘‘(viii) whether the program resulted 

21 in improved access to care for mental 

22 health disorders. 

23 ‘‘(C) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES.— 

24 The outcome measures developed under para25 graph (1)(B) relating to local educational sysVerDate Aug 31 2005 21:42 May 09, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1332.IS S1332

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1 tems shall, with respect to activities carried out 

2 under a program under this section, at a min3 imum include provisions to evaluate— 

4 ‘‘(i) the effectiveness of comprehensive 

5 school mental health programs established 

6 under this section; 

7 ‘‘(ii) the effectiveness of formal part8 nership linkages among child and family 

9 serving institutions, community support 

10 systems, and the educational system; 

11 ‘‘(iii) the progress made in sustaining 

12 the program once funding under the grant 

13 has expired; and 

14 ‘‘(iv) the effectiveness of training and 

15 professional development programs for all 

16 school personnel that incorporate indica17 tors that measure cultural and linguistic 

18 competencies under the program in a man19 ner that incorporates appropriate cultural 

20 and linguistic training. 

21 ‘‘(3) SUBMISSION OF ANNUAL DATA.—An entity 

22 that receives a grant, contract, or cooperative agree23 ment under this section shall annually submit to the 

24 Administrator a report that include data to evaluate 

25 the success of the program carried out by the entity 


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1 based on whether such program is achieving the pur2 poses of the program. Such reports shall utilize the 

3 measures of outcomes under paragraph (2) in a rea4 sonable manner to demonstrate the progress of the 

5 program in achieving such purposes. 

6 ‘‘(4) EVALUATION BY ADMINISTRATOR.—Based 

7 on the data submitted under paragraph (3), the Ad8 ministrator shall annually submit to Congress a re9 port concerning the results and effectiveness of the 

10 programs carried out with assistance received under 

11 this section.’’. 

12 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS AND

13 AMOUNT OF GRANTS.—Subsection (h) of section 581 of 

14 the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290hh(h)) is 

15 amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(h) AMOUNT OF GRANTS AND AUTHORIZATION OF

17 APPROPRIATIONS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) AMOUNT OF GRANTS.—A grant under this 

19 section shall be in an amount that is not more than 

20 $1,000,000 for each of grant years 2008 through 

21 2012. The Secretary shall determine the amount of 

22 each such grant based on the population of children 

23 between the ages of 0 to 21 of the area to be served 

24 under the grant. 


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1 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

2 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

3 this section, $200,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

4 2008 through 2012.’’. 

5 (h) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Part G of title V 

6 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290hh et 

7 seq.), as amended by this section, is further amended— 

8 (1) by striking the part heading and inserting 

9 the following: 

10 ‘‘PART VII—SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH’’; 

11 and 

12 (2) in section 581, by striking the section head13 ing and inserting the following: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 581. SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH AND CHIL15 DREN AND VIOLENCE.’’. 

Æ 


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