School Social Workers Improving Student Success Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1415 To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to provide grants to hire and retain school social workers, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 7, 2023 Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin (for herself and Ms. LEE of California) 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 provide grants to hire and retain school social workers, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘School Social Workers 4 Improving Student Success Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. SCHOOL SOCIAL WORKER GRANTS. 6 (a) PURPOSES.—The purpose of this Act is to assist 7 States and local educational agencies in hiring additional 8 school social workers in order to increase access to mental 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:16 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1415.IH H1415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1415 IH health and other student support services to students in 1 elementary and secondary schools in the United States to 2 the minimum ratios recommended by the National Asso- 3 ciation of Social Workers, the School Social Work Associa- 4 tion of America, and the American Council for School So- 5 cial Work of one school social worker for every 250 stu- 6 dents, and one school social worker for every 50 students 7 when a social worker is providing services to students with 8 intensive needs. 9 (b) ESEA AMENDMENTS.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subpart 4 of part F of title 11 IV of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 12 of 1965 (10 U.S.C. 7271 et seq.) is amended by 13 adding at the end the following new section: 14 ‘‘SEC. 4645. GRANTS FOR SCHOOL SOCIAL WORKERS. 15 ‘‘(a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts appro- 17 priated under subsection (g), the Secretary shall 18 award grants to high-need local educational agencies 19 to enable such agencies to retain school social work- 20 ers employed by such agencies or to hire additional 21 school social workers. 22 ‘‘(2) DURATION.—A grant awarded under this 23 section shall be awarded for a period not to exceed 24 4 years. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:16 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1415.IH H1415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1415 IH ‘‘(3) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—Funds 1 made available under this section shall be used to 2 supplement, and not to supplant, other Federal, 3 State, or local funds used for hiring and retaining 4 school social workers. 5 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.— 6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 7 grant under this section, a high-need local edu- 8 cational agency shall submit to the Secretary an ap- 9 plication at such time, in such manner, and con- 10 taining such information as the Secretary may re- 11 quire. 12 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—An application submitted 13 under paragraph (1) shall include an assurance that 14 each school social worker who receives assistance 15 under the grant will provide the services described in 16 subsection (d), and a description of the specific serv- 17 ices to be provided by such social worker. 18 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—A high-need local educational 19 agency receiving a grant under this section— 20 ‘‘(1) shall use the grant— 21 ‘‘(A) to achieve a ratio of not less than 1 22 school social worker for every 250 students 23 served by the agency, by— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:16 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1415.IH H1415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1415 IH ‘‘(i) retaining school social workers 1 employed by such agency; or 2 ‘‘(ii)(I) employing additional school 3 social workers; or 4 ‘‘(II) hiring contractors to serve as 5 school social workers only in a case in 6 which— 7 ‘‘(aa) the local educational agen- 8 cy demonstrates to the Secretary that 9 the agency— 10 ‘‘(AA) has not been able to 11 employ a sufficient number of 12 school social workers under sub- 13 clause (I) to achieve such ratio 14 despite strong and continuing ef- 15 forts to recruit and employ school 16 social workers; and 17 ‘‘(BB) hiring contractors is 18 the only viable option to ensure 19 students have adequate access to 20 school social work services; and 21 ‘‘(bb) each such contractor meets 22 the requirements of subparagraphs 23 (A) and (B) of subsection (h)(2); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:16 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1415.IH H1415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1415 IH ‘‘(B) to ensure that each school social 1 worker who receives assistance under such 2 grant provides the services described in sub- 3 section (d); and 4 ‘‘(2) may use the grant to reimburse school so- 5 cial workers who receive assistance under such grant 6 for— 7 ‘‘(A) in the case of a school served by the 8 agency in which the majority of students are 9 higher risk students, to hire or retain additional 10 school social workers in accordance with clauses 11 (i) and (ii) of paragraph (1)(A) to achieve a 12 ratio of not less than 1 school social worker for 13 every 50 students; 14 ‘‘(B) travel expenses incurred during home 15 visits and other school-related trips; 16 ‘‘(C) any additional expenses incurred by 17 such social workers in rendering any service de- 18 scribed in subsection (d); and 19 ‘‘(D) the cost of clinical social work super- 20 vision for such social workers. 21 ‘‘(d) RESPONSIBILITIES OF A SCHOOL SOCIAL WORK- 22 ER.—A school social worker who receives assistance under 23 a grant under this section shall provide the following serv- 24 ices: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:16 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1415.IH H1415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1415 IH ‘‘(1) Identifying high-need students in each 1 school that the social worker serves, and targeting 2 services provided at the school to such students. 3 ‘‘(2) Providing students in each school that the 4 school social worker serves, social work services to 5 promote school engagement and improve academic 6 outcomes, including— 7 ‘‘(A) counseling and crisis intervention; 8 ‘‘(B) trauma-informed services; 9 ‘‘(C) evidence-based educational, behav- 10 ioral, and mental health services (such as imple- 11 menting multi-tiered programs and practices, 12 monitoring progress, and evaluating service ef- 13 fectiveness); 14 ‘‘(D) addressing the social and emotional 15 learning needs of students; 16 ‘‘(E) promoting a school climate and cul- 17 ture conducive to student learning and teaching 18 excellence (such as promoting effective school 19 policies and administrative procedures, enhanc- 20 ing the professional capacity of school per- 21 sonnel, and facilitating engagement between 22 student, family, school, and community); 23 ‘‘(F) providing access to school-based and 24 community based resources (such as promoting 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:16 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1415.IH H1415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1415 IH a continuum of services, mobilizing resources 1 and promoting assets, and providing leadership, 2 interdisciplinary collaboration, systems coordi- 3 nation, professional consultation, and con- 4 necting students and families to resource sys- 5 tems); 6 ‘‘(G) working with students, families, 7 schools, and communities to address barriers to 8 educational attainment (such as homelessness 9 and housing insecurity, lack of transportation, 10 food insecurity, equity, social justice issues, ac- 11 cess to quality education, and school, family, 12 and community risk factors); 13 ‘‘(H) providing assistance to schools and 14 teachers to design social-emotional, educational, 15 behavioral, and mental health interventions; 16 ‘‘(I) case management activities to coordi- 17 nate the delivery of and access to the appro- 18 priate social work services to the highest-need 19 students; 20 ‘‘(J) home visits to meet the family of stu- 21 dents in need of social work services in the 22 home environment; 23 ‘‘(K) supervising or coordinating district 24 level school social work services; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:16 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1415.IH H1415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1415 IH ‘‘(L) other services the Secretary deter- 1 mines, in partnership with students, educators, 2 and community member voices are necessary to 3 be carried out by such a social worker. 4 ‘‘(e) GRANT RENEWAL.— 5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A grant awarded under 6 this section may be renewed for additional periods 7 with the same duration as the original grant period. 8 ‘‘(2) CONTINUING ELIGIBILITY APPLICATION.— 9 To be eligible for a renewal under this section a 10 high-need local educational agency shall submit to 11 the Secretary, for each renewal, a report on the 12 progress of such agency in retaining and hiring 13 school social workers to achieve the ratio of not less 14 than 1 school social worker for every 250 students 15 served by the agency, and shall include— 16 ‘‘(A) a description of the staffing expan- 17 sion of school social workers funded through the 18 original grant received under this section; and 19 ‘‘(B) a description of the work conducted 20 by such social workers for higher risk students. 21 ‘‘(f) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide 23 technical assistance to high-need local educational 24 agencies, including such agencies that do not have 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:16 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1415.IH H1415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1415 IH adequate staff, in applying for grants under this sec- 1 tion. 2 ‘‘(2) EXTENSION OF APPLICATION PERIOD.— 3 The Secretary shall extend any application period 4 for a grant under this section for any high-need local 5 educational agency that— 6 ‘‘(A) submits to the Secretary a written 7 notification of the intent to apply for a grant 8 under this section before requesting technical 9 assistance under paragraph (1); and 10 ‘‘(B) after submitting the notification 11 under paragraph (1), requests such technical 12 assistance. 13 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION FOR APPROPRIATIONS.—There 14 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 15 $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028. 16 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 17 ‘‘(1) HIGH-NEED LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN- 18 CY.—The term ‘high-need local educational agency’ 19 has the meaning given the term in section 200 of the 20 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1021). 21 ‘‘(2) SCHOOL SOCIAL WORKER.—The term 22 ‘school social worker’ means an individual who— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:16 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1415.IH H1415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1415 IH ‘‘(A) has a graduate degree in social work 1 from a social work program that is accredited 2 by the Council on Social Work Education; and 3 ‘‘(B) meets all other State and local 4 credentialing requirements for practicing as a 5 social worker in an elementary school or sec- 6 ondary school.’’. 7 (2) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of con- 8 tents in section 2 of the Elementary and Secondary 9 Education Act of 1965 is amended by inserting after 10 the item relating to section 4644 the following: 11 ‘‘Sec. 4645. Grants for school social workers.’’. SEC. 3. NATIONAL TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE CENTER FOR 12 SCHOOL SOCIAL WORK. 13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education, act- 14 ing through the Assistant Secretary, shall establish an 15 evaluation, documentation, dissemination, and technical 16 assistance resource center to provide appropriate informa- 17 tion, training, and technical assistance to States, political 18 subdivisions of States, federally recognized Indian tribes, 19 tribal organizations, institutions of higher education, State 20 and local educational agencies, and individual students 21 and educators with respect to hiring and retaining school 22 social workers at elementary schools and secondary 23 schools served by local educational agencies. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:16 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1415.IH H1415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 1415 IH (b) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE CENTER.—The center 1 established under subsection (a) shall conduct activities 2 for the purpose of— 3 (1) developing and continuing statewide or trib- 4 al strategies for improving the effectiveness of the 5 school social work workforce; 6 (2) studying the costs and effectiveness of 7 school social work programs at institutions of higher 8 education to identify areas of improvement and pro- 9 vide information on relevant issues of importance to 10 State, tribal, and national policymakers; 11 (3) working with Federal agencies and other 12 State, Tribal, and national stakeholders to collect, 13 evaluate, and disseminate data regarding school so- 14 cial work ratios, outcomes and best practices of 15 school-based mental health services, and impact of 16 expanding the number of school social workers with- 17 in elementary schools and secondary schools; 18 (4) establishing partnerships among National, 19 State, Tribal, and local governments, and local edu- 20 cational agencies, institutions of higher education, 21 non-profit organizations, and State and national 22 trade associations for the purposes of— 23 (A) data collection and dissemination; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:16 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1415.IH H1415 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 1415 IH (B) establishing a school social work work- 1 force development program; 2 (C) documenting the success of school so- 3 cial work methods on a national level; and 4 (D) conducting other activities determined 5 appropriate by the Secretary. 6 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 7 (1) ESEA TERMS.—Except as otherwise pro- 8 vided, any term used in this section that is defined 9 in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary 10 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801) shall have 11 the meaning given that term in such section. 12 (2) SCHOOL SOCIAL WORKER.—The term 13 ‘‘school social worker’’ has the meaning given the 14 term in section 4645(h) of the Elementary and Sec- 15 ondary Education Act of 1965, as added by section 16 2(b). 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:16 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1415.IH H1415 kjohnson on DSK [Text truncated for display. 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