Mental Health in Schools Excellence Program Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4025 To establish the Mental Health in Schools Excellence Program to increase the recruitment and retention of school-based mental health services providers, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 25, 2019 Mr. FITZPATRICK (for himself and Ms. WILD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To establish the Mental Health in Schools Excellence Pro- gram to increase the recruitment and retention of school- based mental health services providers, 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 ‘‘Mental Health in 4 Schools Excellence Program Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:58 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4025.IH H4025 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4025 IH SEC. 2. PROGRAM TO ESTABLISH PUBLIC-PRIVATE CON- 1 TRIBUTIONS TO INCREASE THE AVAILABLE 2 WORKFORCE OF SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL 3 HEALTH SERVICE PROVIDERS. 4 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary shall 5 carry out a program under which eligible graduate institu- 6 tions may enter into an agreement with the Secretary to 7 cover a portion of the cost of attendance of a participating 8 student, which contributions shall be matched by equiva- 9 lent contributions towards such cost of attendance by the 10 Secretary. 11 (b) DESIGNATION OF PROGRAM.—The program 12 under this section shall be known as the ‘‘Mental Health 13 in Schools Excellence Program’’. 14 (c) AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary shall enter into an 15 agreement with each eligible graduate institution seeking 16 to participate in the program under this section. Each 17 agreement shall specify the following: 18 (1) The manner (whether by direct grant, schol- 19 arship, or otherwise) in which the eligible graduate 20 institution will contribute to the cost of attendance 21 of a participating student. 22 (2) The maximum amount of the contribution 23 to be made by the eligible graduate institution with 24 respect to any particular participating student in 25 any given academic year. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:58 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4025.IH H4025 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4025 IH (3) The maximum number of individuals for 1 whom the eligible graduate institution will make con- 2 tributions in any given academic year. 3 (4) Such other matters as the Secretary and 4 the eligible graduate institution determine appro- 5 priate. 6 (d) OUTREACH.—The Secretary shall— 7 (1) make publicly available and periodically up- 8 date on the internet website of the Department of 9 Education a list of the eligible graduate institutions 10 participating in the program under this section that 11 shall specify, for each such graduate institution, ap- 12 propriate information on the agreement between the 13 Secretary and such college or university under sub- 14 section (c); and 15 (2) conduct outreach to students who are eligi- 16 ble for Federal Pell Grants to inform such students 17 of the program under this section. 18 (e) PARTICIPATING STUDENTS.— 19 (1) REPAYMENT.—A participating student that 20 accepts a contribution under this section shall reim- 21 burse the Department of Education and the eligible 22 graduate school for all contributions made by such 23 entities to such student as if such contributions were 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:58 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4025.IH H4025 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4025 IH a loan under part D of title IV of the Higher Edu- 1 cation Act (20 U.S.C. 1087a) if the student— 2 (A) withdraws or is removed from the 3 graduate degree program for which the student 4 received such contributions; or 5 (B) except as provided in paragraph (2) 6 and subject to paragraph (3), graduates, but is 7 not employed as a school-based mental health 8 services provider in the 5-year period after 9 graduation. 10 (2) EXCEPTION.—For purposes of calculating 11 the 5-year period after graduation under paragraph 12 (1)(C), the Secretary may not count any period of 13 less than 2 years in which the participating stu- 14 dent— 15 (A) takes leave under the Family and Med- 16 ical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2601 et 17 seq.); 18 (B) serves under active duty in the Armed 19 Forces; 20 (C) takes maternity or paternity leave; or 21 (D) any combination of subparagraphs (A) 22 through (C). 23 (3) RATABLE REDUCTION.—A participating 24 student described in paragraph (1)(C) who was em- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:58 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4025.IH H4025 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4025 IH ployed as a school-based mental health services pro- 1 vider for less than 5 years during the 5-year period 2 after graduation shall reimburse the Department of 3 Education and the eligible graduate school the 4 amount that bears the same proportion to all con- 5 tributions made by such entities as the amount of 6 time such participating student was employed as a 7 school-based mental health services provider during 8 such 5-year period bears to such 5-year period. 9 (f) MATCHING CONTRIBUTIONS.—The Secretary may 10 provide a contribution of up to 50 percent of the cost of 11 attendance of a participating student if the eligible grad- 12 uate institution at which such student is enrolled enters 13 into an agreement under subsection (c) with the Secretary 14 to match such contribution. 15 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 16 In this Act: 17 (1) COST OF ATTENDANCE.—The term ‘‘cost of 18 attendance’’ has the meaning given the term in sec- 19 tion 472 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 20 U.S.C. 1087ll). 21 (2) ELIGIBLE GRADUATE INSTITUTION.—The 22 term ‘‘eligible graduate institution’’ means an insti- 23 tution of higher education in that offers a program 24 of study that leads to a graduate degree— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:58 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4025.IH H4025 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 4025 IH (A) in school psychology that is accredited 1 or approved by the National Association of 2 School Psychologists’ Program Accreditation 3 Board or the Commission on Accreditation of 4 the American Psychological Association and 5 that prepares students in such program for the 6 State licensing or certification examination in 7 school psychology at the specialist level; 8 (B) in an accredited school counseling pro- 9 gram that prepares students in such program 10 for the State licensing or certification examina- 11 tion in school counseling; 12 (C) in school social work that is accredited 13 by the Council on Social Work Education and 14 that prepares students in such program for the 15 State licensing or certification examination in 16 school social work; 17 (D) in another school-based mental health 18 field that prepares students in such program 19 for the State licensing or certification examina- 20 tion in such field, if applicable; or 21 (E) in any combination of study described 22 in subparagraphs (A) through (D). 23 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 24 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:58 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4025.IH H4025 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 4025 IH meaning given such term in section 101 of the High- 1 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001), but ex- 2 cludes any institution of higher education described 3 in section 102(a)(1)(C) of such Act. 4 (4) PARTICIPATING STUDENT.—The term ‘‘par- 5 ticipating student’’ means an individual who is en- 6 rolled in a graduate degree in a school-based mental 7 health field from a participating eligible graduate in- 8 stitution. 9 (5) SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH FIELD.— 10 The term ‘‘school-based mental health field’’ means 11 each of the following fields: 12 (A) School counseling. 13 (B) School social work. 14 (C) School psychology. 15 (D) Any other field of study that leads to 16 employment as a school-based mental health 17 services provider, as determined by the Sec- 18 retary. 19 (6) SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES 20 PROVIDER.—The term ‘‘school-based mental health 21 services provider’’ has the meaning given the term in 22 section 4102 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu- 23 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7112). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:58 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4025.IH H4025 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 4025 IH (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 1 the Secretary of Education. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:58 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4025.IH H4025 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS