I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3430 
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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 3, 2007 
Mrs. NAPOLITANO (for herself, Mr. BACA, Mr. BECERRA, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. 
BERMAN, Ms. BORDALLO, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mrs. CAPPS, 
Mr. CARDOZA, Ms. CARSON, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. CROWLEY, 
Mr. CUELLAR, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. LINCOLN DAVIS of Tennessee, 
Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. FARR, Mr. FIL-
NER, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. 
HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. HONDA, Ms. HOOLEY, Mr. 
ISRAEL, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. JEF-
FERSON, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mr. KAGEN, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. KENNEDY, 
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mrs. LOWEY, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, Ms. 
MATSUI, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. MITCHELL, Mr. TIM MUR-
PHY of Pennsylvania, Mr. MURTHA, Mr. NADLER, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. 
PERLMUTTER, Mr. REYES, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. 
LINDA T. SA´NCHEZ of California, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. 
SIRES, Ms. SOLIS, Mr. STARK, Ms. WATSON, Ms. WATERS, Mr. WAX-
MAN, Mr. WEINER, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. GILCHREST, Ms. MOORE of 
Wisconsin, and Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Com-
merce 
A BILL 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to revise and extend 
projects relating to children and violence to provide ac-
cess to school-based comprehensive mental health pro-
grams. 
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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 ‘‘Mental Health in 
Schools Act of 2007’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) Approximately 1 in 5 children have a 
diagnosable mental disorder. 
(2) Approximately 1 in 10 children have a seri-
ous emotional or behavioral disorder that is severe 
enough to cause substantial impairment in func-
tioning at home, at school, or in the community. It 
is estimated that about 75 percent of children with 
emotional and behavioral disorders do not receive 
specialty mental health services. 
(3) Only half of schools across the United 
States report having formal partnerships with com-
munity mental health providers to deliver mental 
health services. 
(4) If a school is going to respond to the mental 
health needs of its students, it must have access to 
resources that provide family-centered, culturally 
and linguistically appropriate supports and services. 
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(5) Effective school mental health programs re-
flect the collaboration and commitment of families, 
students, educators, and other community partners. 
(6) Many schools have school-employed mental 
health providers supporting student’s social, emo-
tional, and behavioral health needs in schools. The 
most common types of staff providing mental health 
services in schools were school counselors, followed 
by school nurses, school psychologists and school so-
cial workers. Three-quarters of schools had at least 
one school counselor on staff, over two-thirds had a 
school psychologist or school nurse, and 44 percent 
had a school social worker. 
(7) Although it is well recognized that mental 
health directly affects children’s learning and devel-
opment, in a recent study one-third of school dis-
tricts reported decreased funding for school mental 
health services, and at the same time two-thirds of 
school districts reported increased need for such 
services. 
SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 
It is the purpose of this Act to— 
(1) revise, increase funding for, and expand the 
scope of the Safe Schools-Healthy Students program 
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in order to provide access to more comprehensive 
school-based mental health services and supports; 
(2) provide for comprehensive staff development 
for school and community service personnel working 
in the school; and 
(3) provide for comprehensive training for chil-
dren with mental health disorders, for parents, sib-
lings, and other family members of such children, 
and for concerned members of the community. 
SEC. 4. AMENDMENTS TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE 
ACT. 
(a) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.—The second part G 
(relating to services provided through religious organiza-
tions) of title V of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 290kk et seq.) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating such part as part J; and 
(2) by redesignating sections 581 through 584 
as sections 596 through 596C, respectively. 
(b) SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH AND CHIL-
DREN AND VIOLENCE.—Section 581 of the Public Health 
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290hh) is amended to read as fol-
lows: 
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