I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 171 
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to direct 
the Secretary of Education to make grants to States for assistance 
in hiring additional school-based mental health and student service pro-
viders. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 4, 2007 
Ms. LEE (for herself, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. BRADY of Pennsyl-
vania, Ms. MCCOLLUM of Minnesota, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California, 
Mr. CONYERS, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. BERMAN, 
Mr. HONDA, Ms. MATSUI, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE 
JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, and Mr. 
FATTAH) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to make 
grants to States for assistance in hiring additional 
school-based mental health and student service providers. 
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 ‘‘The Student Support 
Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH AND STUDENT 
SERVICE PROVIDERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart 14 of title V of the Ele-
mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
7269 et seq.) is amended— 
(1) by inserting after the subpart heading the 
following: 
‘‘CHAPTER A—SYSTEMS INTEGRATION; 
PROMOTION OF SCHOOL READINESS’’; 
and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘CHAPTER 
B—SCHOOL-BASED 
MENTAL 
HEALTH AND STUDENT SERVICE PRO-
VIDERS 
‘‘SEC. 5545. FINDINGS. 
‘‘Congress finds the following: 
‘‘(1) The Surgeon General of the Public Health 
Service has found that although 1 in 10 children 
and adolescents suffer from mental illness severe 
enough to cause some level of impairment, in any 
given year fewer than 1 in 5 of these children re-
ceives needed treatment. The short- and long-term 
consequences of untreated childhood mental dis-
orders are costly, in both human and fiscal terms. 
‘‘(2) School counselors, school psychologists, 
other qualified psychologists, child and adolescent 
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psychiatrists, and school social workers are needed 
to help these children and to provide a variety of 
crucial support services. 
‘‘(3) Across the United States, there are insuffi-
cient resources for school-based counseling profes-
sionals, and often students do not get the help they 
need. The current national average ratio of students 
to school counselors in elementary and secondary 
schools is 561 to 1. 
‘‘(4) United States schools need more mental 
health professionals, and they need the flexibility to 
hire the professionals that will best serve their stu-
dents. 
‘‘(5) According to the Institute of Medicine of 
the National Academy of Sciences, the maximum 
recommended ratio of— 
‘‘(A) students to school counselors is 250 
to 1; 
‘‘(B) students to school psychologists is 
1,000 to 1; and 
‘‘(C) students to school social workers is 
800 to 1. 
‘‘(6) In some States, 1 school counselor typi-
cally serves over 1,000 students. Ratios for school 
psychologists and school social workers are also ex-
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tremely high. In some schools, there are no school- 
based mental health and student service providers 
available to assist students in times of crisis, or at 
any other time. 
‘‘(7) 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 the Nation’s youth will 
retire. 
‘‘(8) Model programs using school-based mental 
health and student service providers have reduced 
school suspensions, reduced referrals to the prin-
cipal’s office, reduced the use of weapons, force, and 
threats, and increased students’ feelings of safety. 
‘‘SEC. 5546. PURPOSES. 
‘‘The purposes of this chapter are to assist States and 
local educational agencies in hiring additional school-based 
mental health providers, including additional school coun-
selors, school psychologists, other qualified psychologists, 
child and adolescent psychiatrists, and school social work-
ers to achieve each of the following: 
‘‘(1) To reduce the ratios of school-based men-
tal health and student service providers to students 
in elementary and secondary schools in the United 
States to the following minimum ratios rec-
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ommended by the Institute of Medicine of the Na-
tional Academy of Sciences in its 1997 report 
‘Schools and Health: Our Nation’s Investment’: 
‘‘(A) 1 school counselor for every 250 stu-
dents; 
‘‘(B) 1 school psychologist for every 1,000 
students; and 
‘‘(C) 1 school social worker for every 800 
students. 
‘‘(2) To provide school-based mental health and 
student services. 
‘‘(3) To remove emotional, behavioral, and psy-
chosocial barriers to learning so as to enhance stu-
dents classroom preparedness and ability to learn. 
‘‘(4) To support school staff and teachers in 
improving classroom management, conducting be-
havioral 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. 
‘‘(5) To support parental involvement in im-
proving the school behavior and academic success of 
their children. 
‘‘SEC. 5547. DEFINITIONS. 
‘‘In this chapter, the following definitions apply: 
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‘‘(1) CHILD.—The term ‘child’ means an indi-
vidual who is not less than 5 years old and not more 
than 17 years old. 
‘‘(2) 
CHILD
AND
ADOLESCENT
PSYCHIA-
TRIST.—The term ‘child and adolescent psychiatrist’ 
has the meaning given such term in section 5421(e). 
‘‘(3) CHILD IN POVERTY.—The term ‘child in 
poverty’ means a child from a family with an income 
below the poverty line. 
‘‘(4) MENTAL HEALTH AND STUDENT SERVICE 
PROVIDER.—The term ‘mental health and student 
service provider’ means a qualified individual who 
provides mental health and student services, includ-
ing any individual who is a qualified school coun-
selor, a qualified school psychologist or any other 
qualified psychologist, a child or adolescent psychia-
trist, or a qualified school social worker. 
‘‘(5) 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, and 
the coordination of prevention strategies in schools 
or community-based programs. 
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‘‘(6) OTHER QUALIFIED PSYCHOLOGIST.—The 
term ‘other qualified psychologist’ has the meaning 
given such term in section 5421(e). 
‘‘(7) 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. 
‘‘(8) 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) 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. 
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‘‘(9) 
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 a school setting; 
‘‘(B) possesses State licensure or certifi-
cation in school psychology in the State in 
which the individual works; or 
‘‘(C) possesses national certification by the 
National School Psychology Certification Board. 
‘‘(10) SCHOOL
SOCIAL
WORKER.—The term 
‘school social worker’ means an individual who— 
‘‘(A) holds a master’s degree in social work 
from a program accredited by the Council on 
Social Work Education; 
‘‘(B) is licensed or certified by the State in 
which services are provided; or 
‘‘(C) possesses a national credential or na-
tional certification as a school social work spe-
cialist granted by an independent professional 
organization. 
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‘‘(11) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each of 
the several States, the District of Columbia, and the 
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 
‘‘SEC. 5548. SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH AND STU-
DENT SERVICE PROVIDER GRANT PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with this chapter, 
the Secretary shall make grants to eligible States to assist 
local educational agencies in those States in hiring addi-
tional school-based mental health and student service pro-
viders. 
‘‘(b) ALLOCATION
OF
FUNDS.—From the total 
amount appropriated for a fiscal year to carry out this 
chapter, the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(1) make available 1 percent of such amount 
to the Secretary of the Interior (on behalf of the Bu-
reau of Indian Affairs) and the outlying areas for 
activities that carry out the purposes of this chapter; 
and 
‘‘(2) make available in the form of grants to 
each eligible State an amount equal to the sum of— 
‘‘(A) an amount that bears the same rela-
tionship to 50 percent of such total amount as 
the number of children in poverty who reside in 
the State bears to the number of such children 
in all States; and 
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‘‘(B) an amount that bears the same rela-
tionship to 50 percent of such total amount as 
the number of children enrolled in public and 
private nonprofit elementary schools and sec-
ondary schools in the State bears to the number 
of children enrolled in all such schools in all 
States. 
‘‘(c) MINIMUM GRANT.—Notwithstanding subsection 
(b), no grant under this section shall be for an amount 
less than $1,000,000. 
‘‘(d) REALLOCATION.—The Secretary shall reallocate 
to States that have received approval under subsection 
(e)(2) any funds allocated under subsection (b) to a State 
that fails to submit an application that is approved by the 
Secretary. 
‘‘(e) APPLICATION BY STATE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 
grant under this chapter, a State shall submit an 
application to the Secretary at such time, in such 
manner, and containing such information as the Sec-
retary may require. 
‘‘(2) APPROVAL.—The Secretary may not ap-
prove an application under this subsection unless the 
State submitting the application— 
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