Increasing Access to Mental Health in Schools Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1811 To increase the recruitment and retention of school-based mental health services providers by low-income local educational agencies. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 25, 2021 Mr. TESTER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To increase the recruitment and retention of school-based mental health services providers by low-income local edu- cational agencies. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Increasing Access to 4 Mental Health in Schools Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 (1) BEST PRACTICES.—The term ‘‘best prac- 8 tices’’ means a technique or methodology that, 9 through experience and research related to profes- 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:54 Jun 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1811.IS S1811 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1811 IS sional practice in a school-based mental health field, 1 has proven to reliably lead to a desired result. 2 (2) ELIGIBLE GRADUATE INSTITUTION.—The 3 term ‘‘eligible graduate institution’’ means an insti- 4 tution of higher education that offers a program of 5 study that leads to a masters or other graduate de- 6 gree— 7 (A) in school psychology that is accredited 8 or approved by the National Association of 9 School Psychologists’ Program Approval Board 10 (or its successor) or the Commission on Accred- 11 itation of the American Psychological Associa- 12 tion and that prepares students in such pro- 13 gram for the State licensing or certification ex- 14 amination in school psychology; 15 (B) in school counseling that prepares stu- 16 dents in such program for the State licensing or 17 certification examination in school counseling; 18 (C) in school social work that is accredited 19 by the Council on Social Work Education and 20 that prepares students in such program for the 21 State licensing or certification examination in 22 school social work; 23 (D) in another school-based mental health 24 field that prepares students in such program 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:54 Jun 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1811.IS S1811 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1811 IS for the State licensing or certification examina- 1 tion in such field, if applicable; or 2 (E) in any combination of study described 3 in subparagraphs (A) through (D). 4 (3) ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIP.—The term ‘‘eligi- 5 ble partnership’’ means— 6 (A) a partnership between 1 or more low- 7 income local educational agencies and 1 or more 8 eligible graduate institutions; or 9 (B) in any region in which local edu- 10 cational agencies may not have a sufficient ele- 11 mentary school and secondary school student 12 population to support the placement of all par- 13 ticipating graduate students, a partnership be- 14 tween a State educational agency, on behalf of 15 1 or more low-income local educational agen- 16 cies, and 1 or more eligible graduate institu- 17 tions. 18 (4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 19 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 20 meaning given such term in section 102 of the High- 21 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002), but ex- 22 cludes any institution of higher education described 23 in section 102(a)(1)(C) of such Act. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:54 Jun 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1811.IS S1811 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1811 IS (5) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 1 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given 2 the term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec- 3 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 4 (6) LOW-INCOME LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN- 5 CY.—The term ‘‘low-income local educational agen- 6 cy’’ means a local educational agency— 7 (A) for which not less than 20 percent of 8 the students served by such agency are from 9 families with incomes below the poverty line as 10 determined by the Bureau of the Census on the 11 basis of the most recent satisfactory data avail- 12 able; and 13 (B) that, as of the date of application for 14 a grant under this Act, has ratios of school 15 counselors, school social workers, and school 16 psychologists to students served by the agency 17 that are not more than 1 school counselor per 18 275 students, not more than 1 school psycholo- 19 gist per 770 students, and not more than 1 20 school social worker per 250 students. 21 (7) PARTICIPATING ELIGIBLE GRADUATE INSTI- 22 TUTION.—The term ‘‘participating eligible graduate 23 institution’’ means an eligible graduate institution 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:54 Jun 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1811.IS S1811 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1811 IS that is part of an eligible partnership awarded a 1 grant under section 3. 2 (8) PARTICIPATING GRADUATE.—The term 3 ‘‘participating graduate’’ means an individual who— 4 (A) has received a masters or other grad- 5 uate degree in a school-based mental health 6 field from a participating eligible graduate in- 7 stitution and has obtained a State license or 8 credential in the school-based mental health 9 field; and 10 (B) as a graduate student of a school- 11 based mental health field, was placed in a 12 school served by a participating low-income 13 local educational agency to complete required 14 field work, credit hours, internships, or related 15 training as applicable. 16 (9) PARTICIPATING LOW-INCOME LOCAL EDU- 17 CATIONAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘participating low-in- 18 come local educational agency’’ means a low-income 19 local educational agency that is part of an eligible 20 partnership awarded a grant under section 3. 21 (10) SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH 22 FIELD.—The term ‘‘school-based mental health 23 field’’ means each of the following fields: 24 (A) School counseling. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:54 Jun 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1811.IS S1811 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1811 IS (B) School social work. 1 (C) School psychology. 2 (D) Any other field of study that leads to 3 employment as a school-based mental health 4 services provider. 5 (11) SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH SERV- 6 ICES PROVIDER.—The term ‘‘school-based mental 7 health services provider’’ has the meaning given the 8 term in section 4102 of the Elementary and Sec- 9 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7112). 10 (12) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 11 means the Secretary of Education. 12 (13) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 13 ‘‘State educational agency’’ has the meaning given 14 the term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec- 15 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 16 (14) STUDENT SUPPORT PERSONNEL TARGET 17 RATIOS.—The term ‘‘student support personnel tar- 18 get ratios’’ means the ratios of school-based mental 19 health services providers to students recommended 20 to enable such personnel to effectively address the 21 needs of students, including— 22 (A) at least 1 school counselor for every 23 250 students (as recommended by the American 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:54 Jun 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1811.IS S1811 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1811 IS School Counselor Association and American 1 Counseling Association); 2 (B) at least 1 school psychologist for every 3 500–700 students (as recommended by the Na- 4 tional Association of School Psychologists); and 5 (C) at least 1 school social worker for 6 every 250 students (as recommended by the 7 School Social Work Association of America). 8 (15) UNACCOMPANIED YOUTH.—The term ‘‘un- 9 accompanied youth’’ has the meaning given such 10 term in section 725 of the McKinney-Vento Home- 11 less Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11434a). 12 SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF 13 SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES 14 PROVIDERS EMPLOYED BY LOW-INCOME 15 LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES. 16 (a) GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—From amounts 17 made available to carry out this section, the Secretary 18 shall award grants, on a competitive basis and after input 19 from the peer review panel under subsection (d), to eligible 20 partnerships, to enable the eligible partnerships to carry 21 out pipeline programs to increase the number of school- 22 based mental health services providers employed by low- 23 income local educational agencies by carrying out any of 24 the activities described by subsection (f). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:54 Jun 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1811.IS S1811 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1811 IS (b) GRANT PERIOD.—A grant awarded under this 1 section shall be for a 5-year period and may be renewed 2 for additional 5-year periods upon a showing of adequate 3 progress, as determined by the Secretary. 4 (c) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 5 under this section, an eligible graduate institution, on be- 6 half of an eligible partnership, shall submit to the Sec- 7 retary a grant application. The application shall contain 8 such information as the Secretary may require, includ- 9 ing— 10 (1) an assessment of the existing (as of the 11 date of application) ratios of school-based mental 12 health services providers (in the aggregate and 13 disaggregated by profession) to students enrolled in 14 schools in each low-income local educational agency 15 that is part of the eligible partnership; and 16 (2) a detailed description of— 17 (A) a plan to carry out a pipeline program 18 to train, place, and retain school-based mental 19 health services providers in low-income local 20 educational agencies; and 21 (B) the proposed allocation and use of 22 grant funds to carry out activities described in 23 subsection (f). 24 (d) PEER REVIEW PANEL.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:54 Jun 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1811.IS S1811 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1811 IS (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF PANEL.—The Sec- 1 retary shall establish a peer review panel to evaluate 2 applications submitted under subsection (c) and 3 make recommendations to the Secretary regarding 4 such applications. 5 (2) EVALUATION OF APPLICATIONS.—In mak- 6 ing its recommendations, the peer review panel shall 7 take into account the purpose of this Act and the 8 application requirements under subsection (c), in- 9 cluding the quality of the proposed pipeline program 10 described in subsection (c)(2)(A). 11 (3) CONSIDERATION OF PANEL’S RECOMMENDA- 12 TION.— 13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 14 award grants under this section to eligible part- 15 nerships only after taking into consideration the 16 recommendations of the peer review panel pro- 17 vided under this subsection. 18 (B) EXPLANATION.—In any case where 19 the Secretary decides to not follow the rec- 20 ommendations of the peer review panel, the 21 Secretary shall provide a written explanation of 22 the decision to the panel and to the Committee 23 on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:54 Jun 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1811.IS S1811 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1811 IS the Senate and the Committee on Education 1 and Labor of the House of Representatives. 2 (4) MEMBERSHIP OF PANEL.— 3 (A) IN GENERAL.—The peer review panel 4 shall include at a minimum the following mem- 5 bers: 6 (i) One clinical, tenured, or tenure 7 track faculty member at an institution of 8 higher education with a current appoint- 9 ment, as of the time of service on the 10 panel, to teach courses in the subject area 11 of school counselor education. 12 (ii) One clinical, tenured, or tenure 13 track faculty member at an institution of 14 higher education with a current appoint- 15 ment, as of the time of service on the 16 panel, to teach courses in the subject area 17 of school social worker education. 18 (iii) One clinical, tenured, or tenure 19 track faculty member at an institution of 20 higher education with a current appoint- 21 ment, as of the time of service on the 22 panel, to teach courses in the subject area 23 of school psychology education. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:54 Jun 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1811.IS S1811 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1811 IS (iv) One clinical, tenured, or tenure 1 track faculty member at an institution of 2 higher education with a current appoint- 3 ment to teach courses in the subject area 4 of teacher education. 5 (v) One individual with expertise in 6 school counseling who works or has worked 7 in public schools. 8 (vi) One individual with expertise in 9 school social work who works or has 10 worked in public schools. 11 (vii) One individual with expertise in 12 school psychology who works or has 13 worked in public schools. 14 (viii) One administrator who works or 15 has worked for a low-income local edu- 16 cational agency. 17 (ix) One qualified and effective teach- 18 er who has substantial experience working 19 for a low-income local educational agency. 20 (x) One community mental health pro- 21 vider. 22 (B) CLINICAL FACULTY MEMBER.—At 23 least 1 of the members described in subpara- 24 graph (A) shall be a clinical faculty member. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:54 Jun 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1811.IS S1811 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1811 IS (e) AWARD BASIS.—In awarding grants under this 1 section, the Secretary shall— 2 (1) award the first 5 grants to eligible partner- 3 ships from 5 different States; and 4 (2) give priority to eligible partnerships that— 5 (A) propose to use the grant funds to 6 carry out the activities described in paragraphs 7 (1) through (3) of subsection (f) in schools that 8 have higher numbers or percentages of low-in- 9 come students and students not achieving a 10 proficient level of academic achievement, as de- 11 termined by the State, on the annual assess- 12 ments required under section 1111(b) of the El- 13 ementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 14 (20 U.S.C. 6311(b))) in comparison to other 15 schools that are served by the low-income local 16 educational agency that is part of the eligible 17 partnership; 18 (B) include 1 or more low-income local 19 educational agencies that have fewer school- 20 based mental health services providers, in the 21 aggregate or for a particular school-based men- 22 tal health field, per student than other eligible 23 partnerships; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:54 Jun 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm [Text truncated for display. 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