I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2988 
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to establish 
a grant program to fund additional school social workers and retain 
school social workers already employed in high-need local educational 
agencies. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 8, 2015 
Ms. MOORE (for herself, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Ms. LEE, Mr. GRI-
JALVA, and Mr. POCAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
of 1965 to establish a grant program to fund additional 
school social workers and retain school social workers 
already employed in high-need local educational agencies. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘School Social Workers 
Improving Student Success Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. SCHOOL SOCIAL WORKERS GRANTS. 
Subpart 2 of part D of title V of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965 is amended by adding 
after section 5421 (20 U.S.C. 7245) the following new sec-
tion: 
‘‘SEC. 5422. GRANTS FOR SCHOOL SOCIAL WORKERS. 
‘‘(a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may award 
grants to high-need local educational agencies to en-
able such agencies to retain school social workers 
employed by such agencies or to hire additional 
school social workers. 
‘‘(2) DURATION.—A grant awarded under this 
section shall be awarded for a period not to exceed 
4 years. 
‘‘(3) SUPPLEMENTATION
OF
FUNDS.—Funds 
made available under this section shall be used to 
supplement, and not supplant, other Federal, State, 
or local funds used for hiring and retaining school 
social workers. 
‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.— 
‘‘(1) A local educational agency receiving a 
grant under this section shall use the grant to retain 
school social workers employed by such agencies or 
to hire additional school social workers providing 
services described in subsection (d)(2). 
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‘‘(2) A local educational agency receiving a 
grant under this section may use such grant for any 
of the following purposes: 
‘‘(A) To reimburse school social workers 
for travel expenses incurred during home visits 
and other school-related trips. 
‘‘(B) To reimburse school social workers 
for any additional expenses incurred in ren-
dering the services described in subsection 
(d)(2). 
‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 
grant under this section, a high-need local edu-
cational agency shall submit to the Secretary an ap-
plication at such time, in such manner, and accom-
panied by such information as the Secretary may 
reasonably require. 
‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted 
for a grant under this section shall contain a de-
scription of the duties and responsibilities of school 
social workers providing services to students through 
such grant in accordance with subsection (d). 
‘‘(d) DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF SCHOOL SO-
CIAL WORKER.—Any school social worker providing serv-
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ices to students through a grant funded under this section 
shall— 
‘‘(1) identify the highest-need students (as such 
term is defined by the Secretary) in each school such 
social worker serves and target services provided at 
the school to such students; and 
‘‘(2) provide to students in each school in which 
a school social worker serves, social work services, 
including— 
‘‘(A) counseling and crisis intervention; 
‘‘(B) case management activities to coordi-
nate the delivery of and access to the appro-
priate social work services to highest-need stu-
dents; 
‘‘(C) addressing of social, emotional, and 
mental health needs to ensure better school par-
ticipation and better outcomes; 
‘‘(D) providing assistance to teachers to 
design behavioral interventions; 
‘‘(E) working with students, families, 
schools, and communities to promote attend-
ance and address the causes of poor attendance, 
such as homelessness, lack of transportation, 
illness, phobia, or parents who have negative 
impressions of school; 
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‘‘(F) home visits to meet the family of stu-
dents in need of social work services in the 
home environment; 
‘‘(G) connecting students and families to 
the social welfare, child welfare, and community 
resource systems; and 
‘‘(H) other services the Secretary deter-
mines are necessary to carry out this section. 
‘‘(e) GRANT RENEWAL.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Grants awarded under this 
section may be renewed for additional periods having 
the same duration as the original grant period. 
‘‘(2) CONTINUING ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible 
for renewal under this paragraph of a grant, a high- 
need local educational agency shall submit to the 
Secretary, for each renewal, a report on the progress 
of such recipient in retaining and hiring school social 
workers. Such report shall include— 
‘‘(A) a description of the staffing expan-
sion of school social workers funded through the 
grant received under this section; and 
‘‘(B) a description of the work such social 
workers performed to target high-need popu-
lations (as determined by the Secretary). 
‘‘(f) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide 
technical assistance to high-need local educational 
agencies, including such agencies that do not have 
adequate staff, in applying for grants under this sec-
tion. 
‘‘(2) EXTENSION
OF
APPLICATION
PERIOD.— 
The Secretary shall extend any application period 
for a grant under this section for any high-need local 
educational agency that— 
‘‘(A) submits to the Secretary a written 
notification of the intent to apply for a grant 
under this section before requesting technical 
assistance under paragraph (1); and 
‘‘(B) after submitting the notification 
under subparagraph (A) requests such technical 
assistance. 
‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘high-need local educational 
agency’ has the meaning given such term in section 
2102(3)(A). 
‘‘(2) The term ‘school social worker’ has the 
meaning given such term in section 5421(e). 
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‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
$30,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2016 through 2020.’’. 
Æ 
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