Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2499 To effectively staff the public elementary schools and secondary schools of the United States with school-based mental health services providers. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 18, 2019 Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mr. BENNET, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. CASEY, Mr. COONS, Mr. JONES, Mr. KING, Mr. WYDEN, and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) in- troduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To effectively staff the public elementary schools and sec- ondary schools of the United States with school-based mental health services providers. 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 ‘‘Elementary and Sec- 4 ondary School Counseling Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) One in 5 children ages 13 through 18 have, 8 or will have, a serious mental illness. 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:58 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2499.IS S2499 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2499 IS (2) 11 percent of youth have a mood disorder, 1 10 percent of youth have a behavior or conduct dis- 2 order, and 8 percent of youth have an anxiety dis- 3 order. 4 (3) 50 percent of all lifetime cases of mental ill- 5 ness begin by age 14. 37 percent of students with 6 a mental health condition age 14 and older drop out 7 of school, which is the highest school dropout rate 8 of any disability group. 9 (4) 70 percent of youth in State and local juve- 10 nile systems have a mental illness. 11 (5) Youth with access to mental health services 12 in school-based health centers are 10 times more 13 likely to seek care for mental health or substance 14 abuse than youth without access. 15 (6) The leading counseling, guidance, and men- 16 tal health organizations, including the American 17 School Counselor Association, the National Associa- 18 tion of School Psychologists, the National Associa- 19 tion of Social Workers, and the School Social Work 20 Association of America, recommend that schools 21 maintain— 22 (A) a maximum student to school coun- 23 selor ratio of 250 to 1; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:58 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2499.IS S2499 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2499 IS (B) a maximum student to school psychol- 1 ogist ratio of 500–700 to 1; and 2 (C) a maximum student to school social 3 worker ratio of 250 to 1. 4 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 5 In this Act: 6 (1) ESEA DEFINITIONS.—The terms ‘‘elemen- 7 tary school’’, ‘‘local educational agency’’, ‘‘secondary 8 school’’, ‘‘State’’, and ‘‘State educational agency’’ 9 have the meanings given the terms in section 8101 10 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 11 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 12 (2) SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES 13 PROVIDER.—The term ‘‘school-based mental health 14 services provider’’ has the meaning given the term in 15 section 4102 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu- 16 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7112). 17 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 18 the Secretary of Education. 19 SEC. 4. GRANTS. 20 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts made 22 available under section 5 for a fiscal year, the Sec- 23 retary shall award grants, in amounts determined 24 under subsection (b), to State educational agencies 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:58 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2499.IS S2499 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2499 IS to enable the State educational agencies to award 1 subgrants to local educational agencies in order to 2 provide school-based mental health services providers 3 at public elementary schools and secondary schools 4 served by the local educational agencies. 5 (2) DURATION.—A grant awarded under this 6 section shall be for a 5-year period and may be re- 7 newed for additional 5-year periods upon a showing 8 of adequate progress, as determined by the Sec- 9 retary. 10 (b) AMOUNTS OF GRANTS.— 11 (1) BASE AMOUNT ALLOTMENT.— 12 (A) BASE AMOUNT.—The Secretary shall 13 use $2,000,000,000 of the amounts made avail- 14 able under section 5 for a fiscal year to provide 15 a base grant for such fiscal year to each State 16 educational agency that submits a complete ap- 17 plication, on a proportional basis based on the 18 number of elementary school and secondary 19 school students in each State, subject to sub- 20 paragraph (C). 21 (B) RATABLE REDUCTION.—If the 22 amounts made available under section 5 are less 23 than $2,000,000,000, the Secretary shall rat- 24 ably reduce the amount provided under sub- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:58 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2499.IS S2499 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2499 IS paragraph (A) to each State, subject to sub- 1 paragraph (C). 2 (C) MANDATORY MINIMUM.—No State 3 shall receive less than $1,000,000 under sub- 4 paragraph (A) for a fiscal year. 5 (2) NEED-BASED ADDITIONAL FUNDING.— 6 (A) IN GENERAL.—In any fiscal year for 7 which the funds made available under section 5 8 are greater than $2,000,000,000, the Secretary 9 shall use such additional funds to provide, on a 10 competitive basis, additional amounts for the 11 grants provided under this section to State edu- 12 cational agencies that agree to meet the match- 13 ing requirement under subparagraph (B). 14 (B) MATCHING REQUIREMENTS.—In order 15 to receive additional funding under this para- 16 graph, a State educational agency shall agree to 17 provide matching funds, in an amount equal to 18 not less than one-half of the additional amount 19 provided under subparagraph (A), toward the 20 costs of the activities carried out under this 21 grant. 22 (C) AWARD BASIS.—The Secretary shall 23 award the additional amounts under subpara- 24 graph (A) based on the need for school-based 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:58 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2499.IS S2499 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 2499 IS mental health services providers in the public 1 elementary schools and secondary schools in the 2 State and the Secretary’s assessment of the ra- 3 tios included in each application under sub- 4 section (c)(3). 5 (3) AMOUNT LIMITATION.—In no case shall the 6 total amount awarded under this subsection exceed 7 the amount needed to meet the recommended max- 8 imum student-to-provider ratios described in sub- 9 section (d)(1)(B) in all public elementary schools 10 and secondary schools in the State. 11 (c) APPLICATION.—A State educational agency desir- 12 ing a grant under this section shall submit an application 13 at such time, in such manner, and containing such infor- 14 mation as the Secretary may require. Each application 15 shall include— 16 (1) a description of how the State educational 17 agency will award subgrants to local educational 18 agencies under subsection (d) consistent with the 19 consideration described in subsection (b)(2)(C); 20 (2) a description of how the State educational 21 agency will disseminate, in a timely manner, infor- 22 mation regarding the subgrants and the application 23 process for such subgrants to eligible local edu- 24 cational agencies; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:58 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2499.IS S2499 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 2499 IS (3) the ratios, as of the date of application, of 1 students to school-based mental health services pro- 2 viders in each public elementary school and sec- 3 ondary school in the State, in the aggregate and 4 disaggregated to include— 5 (A) the ratios of students to school coun- 6 selors, school psychologists, and school social 7 workers; and 8 (B) as applicable, the ratios of students to 9 other school-based mental health services pro- 10 viders not described in subparagraph (A), in the 11 aggregate and disaggregated by type of pro- 12 vider. 13 (d) SUBGRANTS.— 14 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State educational agency 15 receiving a grant under this section shall use grant 16 funds to award subgrants, on a competitive basis, to 17 local educational agencies in the State, to enable the 18 local educational agencies to— 19 (A) employ a school-based mental health 20 services provider at each public elementary 21 school and secondary school served by the local 22 educational agency; and 23 (B) work toward effectively staffing the 24 public elementary schools and secondary schools 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:58 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2499.IS S2499 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 2499 IS of the State with school-based mental health 1 services providers, including by meeting the rec- 2 ommended maximum ratios of— 3 (i) 250 students per school counselor; 4 (ii) 500 to 700 students per school 5 psychologist; and 6 (iii) 250 students per school social 7 worker. 8 (2) APPLICATION.—A local educational agency 9 desiring a subgrant under this subsection shall sub- 10 mit an application to the State educational agency 11 at such time, in such manner, and containing such 12 information as the State educational agency may re- 13 quire. 14 (e) GRANT AND SUBGRANT REQUIREMENTS.— 15 (1) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—Amounts 16 provided under a grant or subgrant under this sec- 17 tion shall supplement, and not supplant, any other 18 funds available to a State educational agency or 19 local educational agency for school-based mental 20 health services. 21 (2) COMBINING FUNDS ALLOWED.—A State 22 educational agency receiving a grant under this sec- 23 tion may combine funds made available under this 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:58 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2499.IS S2499 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 2499 IS section with State or local funds to carry out the ac- 1 tivities described in subsection (d)(1). 2 (f) REPORT.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State educational agency 4 receiving a grant under this section shall annually 5 prepare and submit a report to the Secretary that— 6 (A) evaluates the progress made in achiev- 7 ing the purposes of the grant; 8 (B) includes the most recent student to 9 provider ratios, in the aggregate and 10 disaggregated as provided in subsection (c)(3), 11 for public elementary schools and secondary 12 schools in the State that were assisted under 13 the grant under this section; and 14 (C) describes any other resources needed 15 to meet the required recommended maximum 16 student to school-based mental health services 17 provider ratios. 18 (2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary 19 shall make all reports submitted under paragraph 20 (1) available to the public, including through the 21 website of the Department. 22 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 23 In order to provide school-based mental health serv- 24 ices providers in public elementary schools and secondary 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:58 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2499.IS S2499 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 2499 IS schools in the States, there are authorized to be appro- 1 priated to carry out this section— 2 (1) $5,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2020; and 3 (2) such sums as may be necessary for each 4 succeeding fiscal year. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:58 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2499.IS S2499 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS