II 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2215

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide funds for campus 

mental and behavioral health service centers. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 12, 2004

Mr. REED (for himself, Mr. DEWINE, Mrs. CLINTON, and Mr. SMITH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide 

funds for campus mental and behavioral health service 

centers.

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 ‘‘Campus Care and 

5 Counseling Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) In a recent report, a startling 85 percent of 

9 college counseling centers revealed an increase in the 
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1 number of students they see with psychological prob2 lems. Furthermore, the American College Health As3 sociation found that 61 percent of college students 

4 reported feeling hopeless, 45 percent said they felt 

5 so depressed they could barely function, and 9 per6 cent felt suicidal. 

7 (2) There is clear evidence of an increased inci8 dence of depression among college students. Accord9 ing to a survey described in the Chronicle of Higher 

10 Education (February 1, 2002), depression among 

11 freshmen has nearly doubled (from 8.2 percent to 

12 16.3 percent). Without treatment, researchers re13 cently noted that ‘‘depressed adolescents are at risk 

14 for school failure, social isolation, promiscuity, self 

15 medication with drugs and alcohol, and suicide—now 

16 the third leading cause of death among 10–24 year 

17 olds.’’. 

18 (3) Researchers who conducted the study 

19 ‘‘Changes in Counseling Center Client Problems 

20 Across 13 Years’’ (1989–2001) at Kansas State 

21 University stated that ‘‘students are experiencing 

22 more stress, more anxiety, more depression than 

23 they were a decade ago.’’ (The Chronicle of Higher 

24 Education, February 14, 2003). 
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1 (4) According to the 2001 National Household 

2 Survey on Drug Abuse, 20 percent of full-time un3 dergraduate college students use illicit drugs. 

4 (5) The 2001 National Household Survey on 

5 Drug Abuse also reported that 18.4 percent of 

6 adults aged 18 to 24 are dependent on or abusing 

7 illicit drugs or alcohol. In addition, the study found 

8 that ‘‘serious mental illness is highly correlated with 

9 substance dependence or abuse. Among adults with 

10 serious mental illness in 2001, 20.3 percent were de11 pendent on or abused alcohol or illicit drugs, while 

12 the rate among adults without serious mental illness 

13 was only 6.3 percent.’’. 

14 (6) A 2003 Gallagher’s Survey of Counseling 

15 Center Directors found that 81 percent were con16 cerned about the increasing number of students with 

17 more serious psychological problems, 67 percent re18 ported a need for more psychiatric services, and 63 

19 percent reported problems with growing demand for 

20 services without an appropriate increase in re21 sources. 

22 (7) The International Association of Counseling 

23 Services accreditation standards recommend 1 coun24 selor per 1,000 to 1,500 students. According to the 

25 2003 Gallagher’s Survey of Counseling Center Di-
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1 rectors, the ratio of counselors to students is as high 

2 as 1 counselor per 2,400 students at institutions of 

3 higher education with more than 15,000 students. 

4 SEC. 3. MENTAL AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SERVICES ON 

5 CAMPUS. 

6 Part B of title I of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

7 (20 U.S.C. 1011 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 

8 section 120 the following: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 120A. MENTAL AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SERVICES 

10 ON CAMPUS. 

11 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this section to 

12 increase access to, and enhance the range of, mental and 

13 behavioral health services for students so as to ensure that 

14 college students have the support necessary to successfully 

15 complete their studies. 

16 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—From funds appro17 priated under subsection (j), the Secretary shall award 

18 competitive grants to institutions of higher education to 

19 create or expand mental and behavioral health services to 

20 students at such institutions, to provide such services, and 

21 to develop best practices for the delivery of such services. 

22 Such grants shall, subject to the availability of such appro23 priations, be for a period of 3 years. 

24 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE GRANT RECIPIENTS.—Any institution 

25 of higher education that seeks to provide, or provides, 
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1 mental and behavioral health services to students is eligi2 ble to apply, on behalf of such institution’s treatment pro3 vider, for a grant under this section. Treatment providers 

4 may include entities such as—

5 ‘‘(1) college counseling centers; 

6 ‘‘(2) college and university psychological service 

7 centers; 

8 ‘‘(3) mental health centers; 

9 ‘‘(4) psychology training clinics; 

10 ‘‘(5) institution of higher education supported, 

11 evidence-based, mental health and substance abuse 

12 screening programs; and 

13 ‘‘(6) any other entity that provides mental and 

14 behavioral health services to students at an institu15 tion of higher education. 

16 ‘‘(d) APPLICATIONS.—Each institution of higher edu17 cation seeking to obtain a grant under this section shall 

18 submit an application to the Secretary. Each such applica19 tion shall include— 

20 ‘‘(1) a description of identified mental and be21 havioral health needs of students at the institution 

22 of higher education; 

23 ‘‘(2) a description of currently available Fed24 eral, State, local, private, and institutional resources
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1 to address the needs described in paragraph (1) at 

2 the institution of higher education; 

3 ‘‘(3) an outline of program objectives and an4 ticipated program outcomes, including an expla5 nation of how the treatment provider at the institu6 tion of higher education will coordinate activities 

7 under this section with existing programs and serv8 ices; 

9 ‘‘(4) the anticipated impact of funds provided 

10 under this section in improving the mental and be11 havioral health of students attending the institution 

12 of higher education; 

13 ‘‘(5) outreach strategies, including ways in 

14 which the treatment provider at the institution of 

15 higher education proposes to reach students, pro16 mote access to services, and address the range of 

17 needs of students; 

18 ‘‘(6) a proposed plan for reaching those stu19 dents most in need of services; 

20 ‘‘(7) a plan to evaluate program outcomes and 

21 assess the services provided with funds under this 

22 section; and 

23 ‘‘(8) such additional information as is required 

24 by the Secretary. 

25 ‘‘(e) PEER REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS.—
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1 ‘‘(1) PANEL.—The Secretary shall provide the 

2 applications submitted under this section to a peer 

3 review panel for evaluation. With respect to each ap4 plication, the peer review panel shall recommend the 

5 application for funding or for disapproval. 

6 ‘‘(2) COMPOSITION OF PANEL.—

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The peer review panel 

8 shall be composed of—

9 ‘‘(i) experts who are competent, by 

10 virtue of their training, expertise, or expe11 rience, to evaluate applications for grants 

12 under this section; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) mental and behavioral health 

14 professionals and higher education profes15 sionals. 

16 ‘‘(B) NON-FEDERAL GOVERNMENT EM17 PLOYEES.—A majority of the members of the 

18 peer review panel shall be individuals who are 

19 not employees of the Federal Government. 

20 ‘‘(3) EVALUATION AND PRIORITY.—The peer 

21 review panel shall— 

22 ‘‘(A) evaluate the applicant’s proposal to 

23 improve current and future mental and behav24 ioral health at the institution of higher edu25 cation; and 
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1 ‘‘(B) give priority in recommending appli2 cations for funding to proposals that—

3 ‘‘(i) provide direct service to students, 

4 as described in subsection (f)(1); 

5 ‘‘(ii) improve the mental and behav6 ioral health of students at institutions of 

7 higher education with a counselor to stu8 dent ratio greater than 1 to 1,500; or 

9 ‘‘(iii) will best serve students based on 

10 the projected impact of the proposal on 

11 mental and behavioral health at the insti12 tution of higher education as well as the 

13 level of coordination of other resources to 

14 aid in the improvement of mental and be15 havioral health. 

16 ‘‘(f) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds provided by a grant 

17 under this section may be used for 1 or more of the fol18 lowing activities: 

19 ‘‘(1) Prevention, screening, early intervention, 

20 assessment, treatment, management, and education 

21 of mental and behavioral health problems of stu22 dents enrolled at the institution of higher education. 

23 ‘‘(2) Education of families to increase aware24 ness of potential mental and behavioral health issues 
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1 of students enrolled at the institution of higher edu2 cation. 

3 ‘‘(3) Hiring appropriately trained staff, includ4 ing administrative staff. 

5 ‘‘(4) Strengthening and expanding mental and 

6 behavioral health training opportunities in internship 

7 and residency programs, such as psychology doctoral 

8 and post-doctoral training. 

9 ‘‘(5) Supporting the use of evidence-based and 

10 emerging best practices. 

11 ‘‘(6) Evaluating and disseminating outcomes of 

12 mental and behavioral health services so as to pro13 vide information and training to other mental and 

14 behavioral health entities around the Nation that 

15 serve students enrolled in institutions of higher edu16 cation. 

17 ‘‘(g) ADDITIONAL REQUIRED ELEMENTS.—Each in18 stitution of higher education that receives a grant under 

19 this section shall— 

20 ‘‘(1) provide annual reports to the Secretary de21 scribing the use of funds, the program’s objectives, 

22 and how the objectives were met, including a de23 scription of program outcomes; 
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1 ‘‘(2) perform such additional evaluation as the 

2 Secretary may require, which may include measures 

3 such as—

4 ‘‘(A) increase in range of services provided; 

5 ‘‘(B) increase in the quality of services 

6 provided; 

7 ‘‘(C) increase in access to services; 

8 ‘‘(D) college continuation rates; 

9 ‘‘(E) decrease in college dropout rates; and 

10 ‘‘(F) increase in college graduation rates; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(3) coordinate such institution’s program 

13 under this section with other related efforts on cam14 pus by entities concerned with the mental, health, 

15 and behavioral health needs of students. 

16 ‘‘(h) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Grant funds 

17 provided under this section shall be used to supplement, 

18 and not supplant, Federal and non-Federal funds available 

19 for carrying out the activities described in this section. 

20 ‘‘(i) LIMITATIONS.—

21 ‘‘(1) PERCENTAGE LIMITATIONS.—Not more 

22 than—

23 ‘‘(A) 5 percent of grant funds received 

24 under this section shall be used for administra25 tive costs; and 
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1 ‘‘(B) 20 percent of grant funds received 

2 under this section shall be used for training 

3 costs. 

4 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION ON USE FOR CONSTRUCTION

5 OR RENOVATION.—Grant funds received under this 

6 section shall not be used for construction or renova7 tion of facilities or buildings. 

8 ‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

9 are authorized to be appropriated for grants under this 

10 section $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2005 and such sums 

11 as may be necessary for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal 

12 years.’’.

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