I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2567
To recruit, hire, and train additional school-based mental health personnel.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 20, 1999
Ms. LEE (for herself, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. THOMPSON of Mis-
sissippi, Mr. FROST, Mr. FILNER, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. OBERSTAR,
Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr.
MCGOVERN, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. OWENS, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of
Texas, Ms. WATERS, Ms. CARSON, Ms. KILPATRICK, Ms. MCKINNEY, Ms.
EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, and Mr.
GREEN of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Education and the Workforce
A BILL
To recruit, hire, and train additional school-based mental
health personnel.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. MENTAL HEALTH AND STUDENT SERVICE PRO-
VIDERS.
Title X of the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8001 et seq.) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following:
‘‘PART L—MENTAL HEALTH AND STUDENT
SERVICE PROVIDERS
‘‘SEC. 10993. FINDINGS.
‘‘Congress finds the following:
‘‘(1) Although 7,500,000 children under the age
of 18 require mental health services, fewer than 1 in
5 of these children receive the services.
‘‘(2) Across the United States, counseling pro-
fessionals are stretched thin, and often students do
not get the help the students need. The current na-
tional average ratio of students to counselors in ele-
mentary and secondary schools is 513:1.
‘‘(3) United States schools need more mental
health professionals, and the flexibility to hire the
professionals that will best serve their students.
‘‘(4) The maximum recommended ratio of—
‘‘(A) students to counselors is 250:1;
‘‘(B) students to psychologists is 1,000:1;
and
‘‘(C) students to social workers is 800:1.
‘‘(5) In States like California or Minnesota, 1
counselor typically serves more than 1,000 students.
In some schools, no counselor is available to assist
students in times of crisis, or at any other time. In
Colorado, the average student-to-counselor ratio is
645:1.
‘‘(6) The number of students is expected to
grow significantly over the next few years. During
this time, many school-based mental health profes-
sionals who currently serve our Nation’s youth will
retire. Not counting these retirements, over 100,000
new school counselors will be needed to decrease the
student-to-counselor ratio to 250:1 by the year
2005.
‘‘(7) The Federal support for reducing the stu-
dent-to-counselor ratio would pay for itself, through
reduced incidences of death, violence, and substance
abuse, and through improvements in students’ aca-
demic achievement, graduation rates, college attend-
ance, and employment.
‘‘SEC. 10993A. PURPOSE.
‘‘The purpose of this part is to help States and local
educational agencies recruit, train, and hire 141,000 addi-
tional school-based mental health personnel, including
100,000 additional counselors, 21,000 additional school
psychologists, and 20,000 additional school social workers
over a 5-year period—
‘‘(1) to reduce the student-to-counselor ratios
nationally, in elementary and secondary schools, to
an average of—
‘‘(A) 1 school counselor for every 250 stu-
dents
‘‘(B) 1 school psychologist for every 1,000
students; and
‘‘(C) 1 social worker for every 800 stu-
dents;
as recommended in a report by the Institute of Med-
icine of the National Academy of Sciences relating
to schools and health, issued in 1997;
‘‘(2) to help adequately address the mental,
emotional, and developmental needs of elementary
and secondary school students;
‘‘(3) to remove the emotional, behavioral, and
psycho-social barriers to learning so as to enhance
the classroom preparedness and ability to learn of
students;
‘‘(4) to support school staff and teachers in im-
proving classroom management, conducting behav-
ioral interventions to improve school discipline, and
developing the awareness and skills to identify early
warning signs of violence and the need for mental
health services; and
‘‘(5) to support parents in improving the school
behavior and academic success of their children.
‘‘SEC. 10993B. DEFINITIONS.
‘‘In this part:
‘‘(1) MENTAL HEALTH AND STUDENT SERVICE
PROVIDER.—The term ‘mental health and student
service provider’ includes a qualified school coun-
selor, school psychologist, or school social worker.
‘‘(2) MENTAL
HEALTH
AND
STUDENT
SERV-
ICES.—The term ‘mental health and student serv-
ices’ includes direct, individual, and group services
provided to students, parents, and school personnel
by mental health and student service providers, or
the coordination of prevention strategies in schools
or community-based programs.
‘‘(3) POVERTY LINE.—The term ‘‘poverty line’’
means the poverty line (as defined by the Office of
Management and Budget, and revised annually in
accordance with section 673(2) of the Community
Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2)) appli-
cable to a family of the size involved.
‘‘(4) SCHOOL COUNSELOR.—The term ‘school
counselor’ means an individual who has documented
competence in counseling children and adolescents in
a school setting and who—
‘‘(A) possesses State licensure or certifi-
cation granted by an independent professional
regulatory authority;
‘‘(B) in the absence of such State licensure
or certification, possesses national certification
in school counseling or a specialty of counseling
granted by an independent professional organi-
zation; or
‘‘(C) holds a minimum of a master’s de-
gree in school counseling from a program ac-
credited by the Council for Accreditation of
Counseling and Related Educational Programs
or the equivalent.
‘‘(5) 
SCHOOL
PSYCHOLOGIST.—The 
term
‘school psychologist’ means an individual who—
‘‘(A) possesses a minimum of 60 graduate
semester hours in school psychology from an in-
stitution of higher education and has completed
1,200 clock hours in a supervised school psy-
chology internship, of which 600 hours shall be
in the school setting;
‘‘(B) possesses State licensure or certifi-
cation in the State in which the individual
works; or
‘‘(C) in the absence of such State licensure
or certification, possesses national certification
by the National School Psychology Certification
Board.
‘‘(6) SCHOOL
SOCIAL
WORKER.—The term
‘school social worker’ means an individual who holds
a master’s degree in social work and is licensed or
certified by the State in which services are provided
or holds a school social work specialist credential.
‘‘(7) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each of
the several States of the United States, the District
of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
‘‘SEC. 10993C. ALLOTMENTS TO STATES.
‘‘(a) ALLOTMENTS.—From the amount appropriated
under section 10993H for a fiscal year, the Secretary—
‘‘(1) shall make a total of 1 percent available to
the Secretary of the Interior (on behalf of the Bu-
reau of Indian Affairs) and the outlying areas for
activities that achieve the purposes of this part; and
‘‘(2) shall allot to each eligible State the same
percentage of the remaining funds as the percentage
the State received of funds allocated to States for
the previous fiscal year under part A of title I, ex-
cept that such allotments shall be ratably decreased
as necessary.
‘‘(b) STATE-LEVEL EXPENSES.—Each State may use
not more than 1⁄2 of 1 percent of the amount the State
receives under this part, or $50,000, whichever is greater,
for a fiscal year, for the administrative costs of the State
educational agency in carrying out this part.
‘‘SEC. 10993D. STATE APPLICATIONS.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive an allot-
ment under section 10993C, a State shall submit an appli-
cation to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and
containing such information as the Secretary may require,
including an assurance that the State will provide the
State share of the cost described in section 10993G.
‘‘(b) APPROVAL.—In approving the applications, the
Secretary shall, to the extent practicable, approve applica-
tions to fund, in the aggregate, 100,000 additional coun-
selors, 21,000 additional school psychologists, and 20,000
additional school social workers.
‘‘SEC. 10993E. ALLOCATIONS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL
AGENCIES.
‘‘(a) WITHIN STATE DISTRIBUTION.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—After using funds in ac-
cordance with section 10993C(b), each State that re-
ceives an allotment under section 10993C shall allo-
cate to eligible local educational agencies in the
State the total of—
‘‘(A) the amount of the allotted funds that
remain; and
‘‘(B) the State share of the cost described
in section 10993G for the local educational
agencies.
‘‘(2) ALLOCATION.—From the total described in
paragraph (1), the State shall allocate to each local
educational agency an amount equal to the sum of—
‘‘(A) an amount that bears the same rela-
tionship to 80 percent of such total as the num-
ber of children in poverty who reside in the
school district served by the local educational
agency bears to the number of such children
who reside in all the school districts in the
State; and
‘‘(B) an amount that bears the same rela-
tionship to 20 percent of such total as the num-
ber of children enrolled in public and private
nonprofit elementary schools and secondary
schools in the school district served by the local
educational agency bears to the number of chil-
dren enrolled in all such schools in the State.
‘‘(3) DATA.—For purposes of paragraph (2),
the State shall use data from the most recent fiscal
year for which satisfactory data are available, except
that the State may adjust such data, or use alter-
native child poverty data, to carry out paragraph (2)
if the State demonstrates to the Secretary’s satisfac-
tion that such adjusted or alternative data more ac-
curately reflect the relative incidence of children who
are living in poverty and who reside in the school
districts in the State.
‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
‘‘(1) CHILD.—The term ‘child’ means an indi-
vidual who is not less than 5 and not more than 17.
‘‘(2) CHILD IN POVERTY.—The term ‘child in
poverty’ means a child from a family with an income
below the poverty line.
‘‘SEC. 10993F. LOCAL APPLICATIONS.
‘‘To be eligible to receive an allocation under section
10993E, a local educational agency shall submit an appli-
cation to the State at such time, in such manner, and con-
taining such information as the State may require, includ-
ing an assurance that the agency will provide the local
share of the cost described in section 10993G.
‘‘SEC. 10993G. USE OF FUNDS.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A local educational agency that
receives an allocation under section 10993E shall use the
funds made available through the allocation to pay for the
local share of the cost of recruiting, hiring, and training
mental health and student service providers to provide
mental health and student services, to students in elemen-
tary schools and secondary schools, for a 1-year period.
‘‘(b) FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL SHARES.—
‘‘(1) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of
the cost shall be 331⁄3 percent.
‘‘(2) STATE SHARE.—The State share of the
cost shall be 331⁄3 percent.
‘‘(3) LOCAL
SHARE.—The local share of the
cost shall be 331⁄3 percent.
‘‘(4) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non-Federal
share of the cost may be provided in cash or in kind,
fairly evaluated, including plant, equipment or serv-
ices.
‘‘SEC. 10993H. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
‘‘To carry out this part, there are authorized to be
appropriated $340,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2000
through 2004.’’.
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