I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2571

To improve counseling services for elementary school children.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 30, 1993

Mr. PAYNE of New Jersey (for himself and Mrs. MORELLA) introduced the

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor

A BILL

To improve counseling services for elementary school

children.

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 School

5 Counseling Demonstration Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—

8 (1) elementary school children are being sub9 jected to unprecedented social stresses, including

10 fragmentation of the family, drug and alcohol abuse,

11 child abuse, poverty, and violence. Experts indicate
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1 that intervention at an early age is the most bene2 ficial;

3 (2) an increasing number of elementary school

4 children are exhibiting symptoms of distress, such as

5 substance abuse, emotional disorders, academic

6 underachievement, disruptive behavior, juvenile de7 linquency, and suicide;

8 (3) elementary school counselors, school psy9 chologists and school social workers can contribute

10 to the personal growth, educational development,

11 and emotional well-being of elementary school chil12 dren by providing professional counseling, interven13 tion, and referral services;

14 (4) the average ratio of elementary school coun15 selors to students is one for every one thousand; the

16 average ratio of school psychologists to students is

17 one for every 2500 and the average ratio of school

18 social workers to students is one for every 2500;

19 (5) when there is one counselor to every one

20 thousand students, one school psychologist to every

21 2,500 students, and one school social worker to

22 every 2,500 students, elementary school counseling

23 programs are seldom adequate;

24 (6) the Federal Government can help reduce

25 the risk of academic, social, and emotional problems
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1 among elementary school children by stimulating the

2 development of model elementary school counseling

3 programs; and

4 (7) the Federal Government can help reduce

5 the risk of future unemployment and assist the

6 school to work transition by stimulating the develop7 ment of model elementary school counseling pro8 grams that include comprehensive career develop9 ment.

10 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to enhance

11 the availability and quality of counseling services for ele12 mentary school children by providing grants to local edu13 cational agencies to establish effective and innovative ele14 mentary school counseling programs that can serve as na15 tional models.

16 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

17 There are authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000

18 for fiscal year 1994, and such sums as may be necessary

19 for each of the fiscal years 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998.

20 SEC. 4. APPLICATIONS.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized to

22 make a grant to a local educational agency which submits

23 an application at such time, in such manner, and accom24 panied by such information as the Secretary may reason25 ably require.
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1 (b) NOTIFICATION OF STATE EDUCATIONAL AGEN2 CY.—Before submitting an application to the Secretary,

3 a local educational agency must provide the State edu4 cational agency with an opportunity to review and com5 ment on the program in its application. The comments of

6 the State educational agency shall be appended to the ap7 plication upon submission to the Secretary.

8 (c) CONTENTS.—Each application shall—

9 (1) describe the elementary school population to

10 be targeted by the program, the particular personal,

11 social, emotional, educational, and career develop12 ment needs of such population, and the current

13 school counseling resources available for meeting

14 such needs;

15 (2) describe the activities, services, and training

16 to be provided by the program and the specific ap17 proaches to be used to meet the needs described in

18 paragraph (1);

19 (3) describe the methods to be used to evaluate

20 the outcomes and effectiveness of the program;

21 (4) describe the collaborative efforts to be un22 dertaken with institutions of higher education, busi23 nesses, labor organizations, community groups, so24 cial service agencies, and other public or private en-
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1 tities to enhance the program and promote school2 linked services integration;

3 (5) describe collaborative efforts with institu4 tions of higher education which specifically seek to

5 enhance or improve graduate programs specializing

6 in the preparation of elementary school counselors,

7 school psychologists, and social workers;

8 (6) document that the applicant has the person9 nel qualified to develop, implement, and administer

10 the program;

11 (7) describe how any diverse cultural popu12 lations would be served through the program;

13 (8) assure that the funds made available under

14 this Act for any fiscal year will be used to supple15 ment and, to the extent practicable, increase the

16 level of funds that would otherwise be available from

17 non-Federal sources for the program described in

18 the application, and in no case supplant such funds

19 from non-Federal sources; and

20 (9) assure that the applicant will appoint an ad21 visory board composed of parents, school counselors,

22 school psychologists, school social workers, other

23 pupil services personnel, teachers, school administra24 tors, and community leaders to advise the local edu-
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1 cational agency on the design and implementation of

2 the program.

3 SEC. 5. AWARD OF GRANTS.

4 (a) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—From the sums appro5 priated under section 3 in any fiscal year, the Secretary

6 shall make grants to local educational agencies with ap7 proved applications to initiate or expand school counseling

8 programs for elementary school children.

9 (b) PRIORITY.—In approving applications, the Sec10 retary shall give special consideration to programs that—

11 (1) demonstrate the greatest need for new or

12 additional counseling services among the children in

13 the elementary schools of the applicant;

14 (2) propose the most promising and innovative

15 approaches for initiating or expanding elementary

16 school counseling; and

17 (3) show the greatest potential for replication

18 and dissemination.

19 (c) EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION.—In approving grants

20 under this Act, the Secretary shall ensure an equitable ge21 ographic distribution among the regions of the United

22 States and among urban, suburban, and rural areas.

23 (d) DURATION.—Grants may be awarded for a period

24 not to exceed three years.
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1 (e) MAXIMUM GRANT.—A grant to a local edu2 cational agency may not exceed $400,000 for each fiscal

3 year.

4 SEC. 6. REQUIREMENTS FOR THE USE OF FUNDS.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Funds shall be used to initiate or

6 expand elementary school counseling programs that com7 ply with the requirements in subsection (b).

8 (b) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—Each program as9 sisted under this Act shall—

10 (1) be comprehensive in addressing the per11 sonal, social, emotional, educational, and career de12 velopment needs of all students;

13 (2) use a developmental, preventive approach to

14 counseling;

15 (3) increase the range, availability, quantity,

16 and quality of counseling services in the elementary

17 schools of the local educational agency;

18 (4) ensure a team approach to school counsel19 ing by maintaining a ratio in the elementary schools

20 of the local educational agency that does not exceed

21 one school counselor to two hundred and fifty stu22 dents, one school social worker to 800 students and

23 one school psychologist to 1,000 students;
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1 (5) expand counseling services only through

2 qualified school counselors, school psychologists, and

3 school social workers, as defined in section 8;

4 (6) use innovative approaches to increase chil5 dren’s understanding of peer and family relation6 ships, work and self, decisionmaking, academic and

7 career planning, or to improve social functioning;

8 (7) provide counseling services with the goal of

9 developing a highly skilled workforce through a

10 range of quality educational programs and work-re11 lated experiences that allow students to reach high

12 school graduation equipped to tackle immediately the

13 world of work, or to continue in some form of post14 secondary education or training, or both;

15 (8) provide counseling services that are well-bal16 anced among classroom group and small group coun17 seling, individual counseling, and consultation with

18 parents, teachers, administrators, and other pupil

19 services personnel;

20 (9) include inservice training for school coun21 selors, school social workers, school psychologists,

22 other pupil services personnel, teachers, and instruc23 tional staff;
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1 (10) involve parents of participating students in

2 the design, implementation, and evaluation of a

3 counseling program;

4 (11) involve collaborative efforts with institu5 tions of higher education, businesses, labor organiza6 tions, community groups, social service agencies, or

7 other public or private entities to enhance the pro8 gram and promote school-linked services integration;

9 (12) ensure that school counselors, school psy10 chologists or school social workers paid from funds

11 made available under this Act spend at least 85 per12 cent of their total work time in activities directly re13 lated to the counseling process and not more than

14 15 percent on administrative tasks (associated with

15 the counseling program);

16 (13) provide supervision for professionals who

17 are hired under this Act by supervisors who are

18 counselors, school social workers, and school psy19 chologists as defined in section 8; and

20 (14) evaluate annually the effectiveness and

21 outcomes of the counseling services and activities

22 funded under this Act.

23 SEC. 7. NATIONAL ADMINISTRATION.

24 (a) OFFICE OF PUPIL SERVICES.—The Secretary

25 shall establish an Office of Pupil Services in the Depart-
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1 ment of Education to administer, review, and monitor

2 pupil services programs, including the programs funded

3 under this Act, to assist in carrying out the requirements

4 of this section, and to provide a national focal point for

5 information and technical assistance regarding the coun6 seling, personal, social, emotional, educational, career de7 velopment and psychological needs of elementary and sec8 ondary school children. The Office shall be headed by a

9 Director who shall be an individual of recognized profes10 sional qualifications and experience in the field of pupil

11 services.

12 (b) DATA COLLECTION, RESEARCH, AND EVALUA13 TION.—The Director shall compile the evaluations of the

14 programs under this Act conducted by local educational

15 agencies and shall regularly collect such data as the Sec16 retary finds necessary to develop a profile of the use and

17 impact of funds under this Act. At the end of the grant

18 period, but in no case later than January 30, 1998, the

19 Secretary shall issue a research and evaluation report.

20 (c) DISSEMINATION.—The Secretary shall make the

21 programs funded under this Act available for dissemina22 tion, either through the National Diffusion Network or

23 other appropriate means.

24 (d) LIMIT ON ADMINISTRATION.—Not more than 5

25 percent of the sums made available under section 3 in any
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1 fiscal year may be used to carry out the provisions of this

2 section.

3 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.

4 Except as otherwise provided, for purposes of this

5 Act—

6 (1) the term ‘‘comprehensive’’ means, with re7 spect to counseling services, a program in which—

8 (A) a school counselor, school psychologist,

9 or school social worker uses a range of individ10 ual and group techniques and resources in a

11 planned way to meet the personal, social, emo12 tional, educational, and career development

13 needs of all elementary children in a school; and

14 (B) a school counselor, school psychologist,

15 or school social worker works directly with chil16 dren, families, teachers, and other school or

17 agency personnel to create an optimal positive

18 learning environment and personal growth op19 portunities for all children;

20 (2) the term ‘‘developmental’’ means, with re21 spect to a school counseling program, a systemati22 cally planned program that—

23 (A) provides appropriate school counseling

24 interventions to foster the social, emotional,
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1 physical, moral, and cognitive growth of elemen2 tary school children;

3 (B) provides intervention services to help

4 children cope with family, social, emotional, and

5 academic problems; and

6 (C) supports and enhances the efforts of

7 families, teachers, and other school personnel to

8 provide children maximum opportunity to ac9 quire competence and skill in self-understanding

10 and appreciation, interpersonal interaction, edu11 cational achievement and literacy, and career

12 awareness and personal decisionmaking;

13 (3) the term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director of

14 the Office of Pupil Services in the Department of

15 Education;

16 (4) the term ‘‘elementary school’’ has the mean17 ing given that term in section 1471(8) of the Ele18 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965;

19 (5) the term ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the

20 meaning given such term in section 1471(12) of the

21 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965;

22 (6) the term ‘‘parent’’ has the meaning given

23 such term in section 1471(14) of the Elementary

24 and Secondary Education Act of 1965;
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1 (7) the term ‘‘pupil services personnel’’ has the

2 meaning given such term in section 1471(17) of the

3 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965;

4 (8) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

5 of Education;

6 (9) the term ‘‘State educational agency’’ has

7 the meaning given such term in section 1471(23) of

8 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of

9 1965;

10 (10) the term ‘‘school counselor’’ means an in11 dividual who possesses State licensure or certifi12 cation granted by an independent professional regu13 latory board with documented competence in coun14 seling children and adolescents in a school setting,

15 or, in the absence of State credentialing regulations,

16 possesses national certification in school counseling

17 or a specialty of counseling granted by an independ18 ent professional organization, or holds a minimum of

19 a master’s degree in school counseling from a pro20 gram accredited by the Council for Accreditation of

21 Counseling and Related Educational Programs or

22 the equivalent;

23 (11) the term ‘‘school psychologist’’ means an

24 individual who possesses a minimum of 60 graduate

25 semester hours in school psychology from an accred-
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1 ited institution of higher education and has com2 pleted 1,200 clock hours in a supervised school psy3 chology internship, of which 600 hours must be in

4 the school setting. School psychologists may hold

5 certification or licensure in the State in which they

6 work, or in the absence of State credentialing regu7 lations, possess national certification by the National

8 School Psychology Certification Board;

9 (12) the term ‘‘school social worker’’ means an

10 individual who holds a master’s degree in social

11 work, and is licensed or certified by the State in

12 which services are provided or holds a school social

13 work specialist credential; and

14 (13) the term ‘‘supervisors’’ means school psy15 chologists, school social workers, and school coun16 selors who serve in a supervisory capacity and who

17 have the equivalent number of years of professional

18 experience in their respective disciplines as is re19 quired of teaching experience to meet the super20 visory or administrative credentials in the State in

21 which they practice.

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