I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2283
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
JUNE 21, 2001
Ms. LEE (for herself, Mr. BALDACCI, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. BISHOP, Mr.
BLAGOJEVICH, Mr. BONIOR, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. BROWN of Ohio,
Ms. CARSON of Indiana, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mrs. CLAYTON, Mr. CON-
YERS, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. DELAURO, Mr.
EVANS, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. FILNER, Mr. FRANK, Mr. FROST, Mr. GUTIER-
REZ, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. HILLIARD, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr.
HONDA, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mrs.
JONES of Ohio, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. MCGOV-
ERN, Ms. MCKINNEY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr.
GEORGE MILLER of California, Mrs. MORELLA, Mr. NADLER, Ms. NOR-
TON, Mr. OWENS, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. RANGEL, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr.
RUSH, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. STARK, Mr. THOMPSON of
Mississippi, Mr. TOWNS, Ms. WATERS, and Mr. WEXLER) 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 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. SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH AND STU-
DENT SERVICE PROVIDERS.
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 M—SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH AND
STUDENT SERVICE PROVIDERS
‘‘SEC. 10999P. 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 social workers,
and school psychologists 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-
tremely high. In some schools, no school-based men-
tal health and student service provider is 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. 10999Q. PURPOSES.
‘‘The purposes of this part are to assist States and
local educational agencies in hiring additional school-based
mental health providers, including additional school coun-
selors, school psychologists, and school social workers 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-
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. 10999R. DEFINITIONS.
‘‘In this part, the following definitions apply:
‘‘(1) CHILD.—The term ‘child’ means an indi-
vidual who is not less than 5 years old and not more
than 17 years old.
‘‘(C) possesses national certification by the
National School Psychology Certification Board.
‘‘(8) 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.
‘‘(9) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each of
the several States, the District of Columbia, and the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
‘‘SEC. 10999S. SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH AND STU-
DENT SERVICE PROVIDER GRANT PROGRAM.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with this part, 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
part, 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 part;
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
‘‘(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 part, a State shall submit an appli-
cation to the Secretary at such time, in such man-
ner, 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—
‘‘(A) presents a plan, which the Secretary
considers to be reasonable, under which the
State will make grants, in accordance with the
purposes of this part, to local educational agen-
cies to fund the hiring of additional school
counselors, school psychologists, and school so-
cial workers; and
‘‘(B) provides an assurance that the State
will provide the matching amount required
under subsection (g).
‘‘(f) USE OF FUNDS BY STATE.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—In accordance with this
subsection, the total of the amounts made available
to a State under this section and the amounts of the
non-Federal match required under subsection (g)
may only be used by a State to make grants to local
educational agencies to assist such agencies in hiring
additional school-based mental health and student
service providers.
‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—In each fiscal
year, a State may use not more than 5 percent of
the assistance made available to it under this part
for the administrative costs of the State in carrying
out the State’s responsibilities under this part.
‘‘(3) ALLOCATION
OF
FUNDS.—In making
grants in accordance with this subsection, the State
shall allocate from the total described in paragraph
(1) to each local educational agency an amount
equal to the sum of—
‘‘(A) an amount that bears the same rela-
tionship to 50 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 50 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.
‘‘(4) MINIMUM GRANT.—Notwithstanding para-
graph (3), no grant made by a State in accordance
with this subsection shall be for an amount less than
$50,000.
‘‘(5) SOURCE OF DATA.—For purposes of para-
graph (3), 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 alternative child poverty data, if the
State demonstrates to the Secretary’s satisfaction
that such adjusted or alternative data more accu-
rately reflect the relative incidence of children who
are living in poverty and who reside in the school
districts in the State.
‘‘(6) APPLICATION
BY
LOCAL
EDUCATIONAL
AGENCIES.—A State may require that, in order to
be eligible for a grant made by the State in accord-
ance with this subsection, a local educational agency
shall submit an application to the State at such
time, in such manner, and containing such informa-
tion as the State may require.
‘‘(g) MATCHING FUNDS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—As a condition of receiving
a grant under this section, the Secretary shall re-
quire that a State provide from non-Federal sources
an amount equal to the amount of the grant.
‘‘(2) LOCAL CONTRIBUTION.—In making grants
to local educational agencies in accordance with this
subsection, a State may require that a local edu-
cational agency match a portion of the amount of
the grant made to the agency.
‘‘(3) FORM.—The non-Federal share required
by this subsection may be provided in cash or in
kind, fairly evaluated, and may include facilities,
equipment, or services.
‘‘(h) FUNDS TO BE SUPPLEMENTARY.—Assistance
made available under this part shall be used to supple-
ment, and may not supplant, Federal, State, or local funds
used for employing school-based mental health and stu-
dent service providers.
‘‘(i) DATA COLLECTION AND REPORT.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—For each fiscal year for
which it receives assistance under this part, a State
shall collect data describing how the assistance is
used.
‘‘(2) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after as-
sistance is made available to a State under this part,
the State shall transmit to the Secretary a report on
the data described in paragraph (1), including infor-
mation with respect to each local educational agency
to which the State made a grant with assistance
made available under this part—
‘‘(A) the number of school counselors,
school psychologists, and school social workers
employed by local educational agency; and
‘‘(B) the ratio of students to school coun-
selors, the ratio of students to school psycholo-
gists, and the ratio of students to school social
workers.
‘‘(3) SOURCE OF FUNDS.—A State may use a
portion of the assistance permitted to be used for
administrative costs to carry out its responsibilities
under this subsection.
‘‘(4) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall make
data received under this subsection publicly available
on an annual basis.
‘‘SEC. 10999T. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out
this part $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2002
through 2006.’’.
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