I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2982
To provide grants to States and local educational agencies to recruit, train,
and hire 100,000 school-based resource staff to help students deal with
personal state of mind problems.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
SEPTEMBER 30, 1999
Mrs. MINK of Hawaii (for herself, Mr. CLAY, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. PASTOR, Ms.
WOOLSEY, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. MARTINEZ, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. OWENS, Mr.
SCOTT, Mr. FORD, Mr. STARK, Ms. SANCHEZ, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr.
GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. TIERNEY, and Mr. MENENDEZ) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Edu-
cation and the Workforce
A BILL
To provide grants to States and local educational agencies
to recruit, train, and hire 100,000 school-based resource
staff to help students deal with personal state of mind
problems.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. RESOURCE STAFF FOR STUDENTS.
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—RESOURCE STAFF FOR STUDENTS
‘‘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 have an extremely busy caseload and often
students do no get the help they need. The current
national average ratio of students to counselors in
elementary and secondary schools is 513:1.
‘‘(3) Schools in the United States need more
mental health professionals, and the funds needed to
hire staff to specifically serve students.
‘‘(4) The maximum recommended ratio of stu-
dents-to-counselors is 250:1.
‘‘(5) Existing counselors are severely taxed to
perform duties that are largely administrative in na-
ture, such as scheduling. They are burdened with
many demands regarding placement in colleges,
texting, career guidance, and the like.
‘‘(6) Student populations are expected to grow
significantly over the next few years. School-based
services for students will be in great demand. With
expected large scale retirements, more than 100,000
new dedicated resource staff for students will be
needed to increase student-to-staff service avail-
ability.
‘‘(7) The Federal support for reducing the stu-
dent-to-staff ratio would pay for itself, through re-
duced violence and substance abuse, and through
improvements in students’ academic achievement.
‘‘SEC. 10994. PURPOSE.
‘‘The purpose of this part is to assist States and local
educational agencies recruit, train, and hire 100,000
school-based resource staff to specifically work with
students—
‘‘(1) to reduce the student-to-counseling ratios
nationally, in grades 6–12, to an average of 1 such
staff for every 250 students as recommended in a
report by the Institute of Medicine of the National
Academy of Sciences relating to schools and health,
issued in 1997;
‘‘(2) to help address the mental, emotional, and
developmental needs of public school students; and
‘‘(3) to support other school staff and teachers
in reaching students early before problems arise,
conducting behavioral 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.
‘‘SEC. 10995. STUDENT RESOURCE STAFF PROGRAM.
‘‘(a) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award
grants under this section to establish or expand the num-
ber of resource staff available for students’ needs.
‘‘(1) 
DISTRIBUTION.—In 
awarding 
grants
under this section, the Secretary shall allocate funds
proportionately based on the population that is less
than 18 years of age in the States.
‘‘(2) DURATION.—A grant under this section
shall be awarded for a period not to exceed three
years.
‘‘(b) APPLICATIONS.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Each local educational
agency desiring a grant under this section shall sub-
mit an application to the Secretary at such time, in
such manner, and accompanied by such information
as the Secretary may reasonably require.
‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each application for a grant
under this section shall—
‘‘(A) describe the secondary public school
population to be targeted by the program, the
particular personal, social, emotional, education,
and career development needs of such popu-
lation, and the current school counseling re-
sources available for meeting such needs;