Increasing Access to Mental Health in Schools Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3572 To increase the recruitment and retention of school-based mental health services providers by low-income local educational agencies. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 28, 2021 Ms. CHU (for herself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. PANETTA, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. STRICKLAND, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. PORTER, Ms. NEWMAN, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. KUSTER, and Ms. SCHAKOWSKY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:14 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3572.IH H3572 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3572 IH (1) BEST PRACTICES.—The term ‘‘best prac- 1 tices’’ means a technique or methodology that, 2 through experience and research related to profes- 3 sional practice in a school-based mental health field, 4 has proven to reliably lead to a desired result. 5 (2) ELIGIBLE GRADUATE INSTITUTION.—The 6 term ‘‘eligible graduate institution’’ means an insti- 7 tution of higher education that offers a program of 8 study that leads to a masters or other graduate de- 9 gree— 10 (A) in school psychology that is accredited 11 or approved by the National Association of 12 School Psychologists’ Program Approval Board 13 (or its successor) or the Commission on Accred- 14 itation of the American Psychological Associa- 15 tion and that prepares students in such pro- 16 gram for the State licensing or certification ex- 17 amination in school psychology; 18 (B) in school counseling that prepares stu- 19 dents in such program for the State licensing or 20 certification examination in school counseling; 21 (C) in school social work that is accredited 22 by the Council on Social Work Education and 23 that prepares students in such program for the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:14 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3572.IH H3572 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3572 IH State licensing or certification examination in 1 school social work; 2 (D) in another school-based mental health 3 field that prepares students in such program 4 for the State licensing or certification examina- 5 tion in such field, if applicable; or 6 (E) in any combination of study described 7 in subparagraphs (A) through (D). 8 (3) ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIP.—The term ‘‘eligi- 9 ble partnership’’ means— 10 (A) a partnership between 1 or more low- 11 income local educational agencies and 1 or more 12 eligible graduate institutions; or 13 (B) in any region in which local edu- 14 cational agencies may not have a sufficient ele- 15 mentary school and secondary school student 16 population to support the placement of all par- 17 ticipating graduate students, a partnership be- 18 tween a State educational agency, on behalf of 19 1 or more low-income local educational agen- 20 cies, and 1 or more eligible graduate institu- 21 tions. 22 (4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 23 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 24 meaning given such term in section 102 of the High- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:14 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3572.IH H3572 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3572 IH er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002), but ex- 1 cludes any institution of higher education described 2 in section 102(a)(1)(C) of such Act. 3 (5) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 4 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given 5 the term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec- 6 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 7 (6) LOW-INCOME LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN- 8 CY.—The term ‘‘low-income local educational agen- 9 cy’’ means a local educational agency— 10 (A) for which not less than 20 percent of 11 the students served by such agency are from 12 families with incomes below the poverty line as 13 determined by the Bureau of the Census on the 14 basis of the most recent satisfactory data avail- 15 able; and 16 (B) that, as of the date of application for 17 a grant under this Act, has ratios of school 18 counselors, school social workers, and school 19 psychologists to students served by the agency 20 that are not more than 1 school counselor per 21 275 students, not more than 1 school psycholo- 22 gist per 500 students, and not more than 1 23 school social worker per 250 students. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:14 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3572.IH H3572 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3572 IH (7) PARTICIPATING ELIGIBLE GRADUATE INSTI- 1 TUTION.—The term ‘‘participating eligible graduate 2 institution’’ means an eligible graduate institution 3 that is part of an eligible partnership awarded a 4 grant under section 3. 5 (8) PARTICIPATING GRADUATE.—The term 6 ‘‘participating graduate’’ means an individual who— 7 (A) has received a masters or other grad- 8 uate degree in a school-based mental health 9 field from a participating eligible graduate in- 10 stitution and has obtained a State license or 11 credential in the school-based mental health 12 field; and 13 (B) as a graduate student of a school- 14 based mental health field, was placed in a 15 school served by a participating low-income 16 local educational agency to complete required 17 field work, credit hours, internships, or related 18 training as applicable. 19 (9) PARTICIPATING LOW-INCOME LOCAL EDU- 20 CATIONAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘participating low-in- 21 come local educational agency’’ means a low-income 22 local educational agency that is part of an eligible 23 partnership awarded a grant under section 3. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:14 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3572.IH H3572 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3572 IH (10) SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH 1 FIELD.—The term ‘‘school-based mental health 2 field’’ means each of the following fields: 3 (A) School counseling. 4 (B) School social work. 5 (C) School psychology. 6 (D) Any other field of study that leads to 7 employment as a school-based mental health 8 services provider. 9 (11) SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH SERV- 10 ICES PROVIDER.—The term ‘‘school-based mental 11 health services provider’’ has the meaning given the 12 term in section 4102 of the Elementary and Sec- 13 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7112). 14 (12) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 15 means the Secretary of Education. 16 (13) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 17 ‘‘State educational agency’’ has the meaning given 18 the term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec- 19 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 20 (14) STUDENT SUPPORT PERSONNEL TARGET 21 RATIOS.—The term ‘‘student support personnel tar- 22 get ratios’’ means the ratios of school-based mental 23 health services providers to students recommended 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:14 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3572.IH H3572 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3572 IH to enable such personnel to effectively address the 1 needs of students, including— 2 (A) at least 1 school counselor for every 3 250 students (as recommended by the American 4 School Counselor Association and American 5 Counseling Association); 6 (B) at least 1 school psychologist for every 7 500–700 students (as recommended by the Na- 8 tional Association of School Psychologists); and 9 (C) at least 1 school social worker for 10 every 250 students (as recommended by the 11 School Social Work Association of America). 12 (15) UNACCOMPANIED YOUTH.—The term ‘‘un- 13 accompanied youth’’ has the meaning given such 14 term in section 725 of the McKinney-Vento Home- 15 less Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11434a). 16 SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF 17 SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES 18 PROVIDERS EMPLOYED BY LOW-INCOME 19 LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES. 20 (a) GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—From amounts 21 made available to carry out this section, the Secretary 22 shall award grants, on a competitive basis and after input 23 from the peer review panel under subsection (d), to eligible 24 partnerships, to enable the eligible partnerships to carry 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:14 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3572.IH H3572 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3572 IH out pipeline programs to increase the number of school- 1 based mental health services providers employed by low- 2 income local educational agencies by carrying out any of 3 the activities described by subsection (f). 4 (b) GRANT PERIOD.—A grant awarded under this 5 section shall be for a 5-year period and may be renewed 6 for additional 5-year periods upon a showing of adequate 7 progress, as determined by the Secretary. 8 (c) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 9 under this section, an eligible graduate institution, on be- 10 half of an eligible partnership, shall submit to the Sec- 11 retary a grant application. The application shall contain 12 such information as the Secretary may require, includ- 13 ing— 14 (1) an assessment of the existing (as of the 15 date of application) ratios of school-based mental 16 health services providers (in the aggregate and 17 disaggregated by profession) to students enrolled in 18 schools in each low-income local educational agency 19 that is part of the eligible partnership; and 20 (2) a detailed description of— 21 (A) a plan to carry out a pipeline program 22 to train, place, and retain school-based mental 23 health services providers in low-income local 24 educational agencies; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:14 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3572.IH H3572 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3572 IH (B) the proposed allocation and use of 1 grant funds to carry out activities described in 2 subsection (f). 3 (d) PEER REVIEW PANEL.— 4 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF PANEL.—The Sec- 5 retary shall establish a peer review panel to evaluate 6 applications submitted under subsection (c) and 7 make recommendations to the Secretary regarding 8 such applications. 9 (2) EVALUATION OF APPLICATIONS.—In mak- 10 ing its recommendations, the peer review panel shall 11 take into account the purpose of this Act and the 12 application requirements under subsection (c), in- 13 cluding the quality of the proposed pipeline program 14 described in subsection (c)(2)(A). 15 (3) CONSIDERATION OF PANEL’S RECOMMENDA- 16 TION.— 17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 18 award grants under this section to eligible part- 19 nerships only after taking into consideration the 20 recommendations of the peer review panel pro- 21 vided under this subsection. 22 (B) EXPLANATION.—In any case where 23 the Secretary decides to not follow the rec- 24 ommendations of the peer review panel, the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:14 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3572.IH H3572 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3572 IH Secretary shall provide a written explanation of 1 the decision to the panel and to the Committee 2 on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of 3 the Senate and the Committee on Education 4 and Labor of the House of Representatives. 5 (4) MEMBERSHIP OF PANEL.— 6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The peer review panel 7 shall include at a minimum the following mem- 8 bers: 9 (i) One clinical, tenured, or tenure 10 track faculty member at an institution of 11 higher education with a current appoint- 12 ment, as of the time of service on the 13 panel, to teach courses in the subject area 14 of school counselor education. 15 (ii) One clinical, tenured, or tenure 16 track faculty member at an institution of 17 higher education with a current appoint- 18 ment, as of the time of service on the 19 panel, to teach courses in the subject area 20 of school social worker education. 21 (iii) One clinical, tenured, or tenure 22 track faculty member at an institution of 23 higher education with a current appoint- 24 ment, as of the time of service on the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:14 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3572.IH H3572 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3572 IH panel, to teach courses in the subject area 1 of school psychology education. 2 (iv) One clinical, tenured, or tenure 3 track faculty member at an institution of 4 higher education with a current appoint- 5 ment to teach courses in the subject area 6 of teacher education. 7 (v) One individual with expertise in 8 school counseling who works or has worked 9 in public schools. 10 (vi) One individual with expertise in 11 school social work who works or has 12 worked in public schools. 13 (vii) One individual with expertise in 14 school psychology who works or has 15 worked in public schools. 16 (viii) One administrator who works or 17 has worked for a low-income local edu- 18 cational agency. 19 (ix) One qualified and effective teach- 20 er who has substantial experience working 21 for a low-income local educational agency. 22 (x) One community mental health pro- 23 vider. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:14 Jul 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3572.IH H3572 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3572 IH (B) CLINICAL FACULTY MEMBER.—At 1 least 1 of the members described in subpara- 2 graph (A) shall be a clinical faculty member. 3 (e) AWARD BASIS.—In awarding grants under this 4 section, the Secretary shall— 5 (1) award the first 5 grants to eligible partner- 6 ships from 5 different States; and 7 (2) give priority to eligible partnerships that— 8 (A) propose to use the grant funds to 9 carry out the activities described under para- 10 graphs (1) through (3) of subsection (f) in 11 schools that have higher numbers or percent- 12 ages of low-income students and students not 13 achieving a proficient level of academic achieve- 14 ment, as determined by the State, on the an- 15 nual assessments required under section 16 1111(b) of the Elementary and Secondary Edu- 17 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)) in com- 18 parison to other schools that are served by the 19 low-income local educational agency that is part 20 of the eligible partnership; 21 (B) include 1 or more low-income local 22 educational agencies that have fewer s [Text truncated for display. 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