Supporting Trauma-Informed Education Practices Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4835 To provide grants to improve trauma support services and mental health care for children and youth in educational settings, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 23, 2019 Mrs. HAYES (for herself and Ms. WILD) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To provide grants to improve trauma support services and mental health care for children and youth in educational settings, 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 ‘‘Supporting Trauma- 4 Informed Education Practices Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. GRANTS TO IMPROVE TRAUMA SUPPORT SERVICES 6 AND MENTAL HEALTH CARE FOR CHILDREN 7 AND YOUTH IN EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS. 8 (a) GRANTS, CONTRACTS, AND COOPERATIVE 9 AGREEMENTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary, in coordina- 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:28 Oct 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4835.IH H4835 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4835 IH tion with the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and 1 Substance Use, is authorized to award grants to, or enter 2 into contracts or cooperative agreements with, State edu- 3 cational agencies, local educational agencies, Indian Tribes 4 (as defined in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination 5 and Education Assistance Act) or their tribal educational 6 agencies, a school operated by the Bureau of Indian Edu- 7 cation, a Regional Corporation, or a Native Hawaiian edu- 8 cational organization, for the purpose of increasing stu- 9 dent access to evidence-based trauma support services and 10 mental health care by developing innovative initiatives, ac- 11 tivities, or programs to link local school systems with local 12 trauma-informed support and mental health systems, in- 13 cluding those under the Indian Health Service. 14 (b) DURATION.—With respect to a grant, contract, 15 or cooperative agreement awarded or entered into under 16 this section, the period during which payments under such 17 grant, contract, or agreement are made to the recipient 18 may not exceed 4 years. 19 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—An entity that receives a grant, 20 contract, or cooperative agreement under this section shall 21 use amounts made available through such grant, contract, 22 or cooperative agreement for evidence-based activities, 23 which shall include any of the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:28 Oct 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4835.IH H4835 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4835 IH (1) Collaborative efforts between school-based 1 service systems and trauma-informed support and 2 mental health service systems to provide, develop, or 3 improve prevention, screening, referral, and treat- 4 ment and support services to students, such as pro- 5 viding trauma screenings to identify students in 6 need of specialized support. 7 (2) To implement schoolwide positive behavioral 8 interventions and supports, or other trauma-in- 9 formed models of support. 10 (3) To provide professional development to 11 teachers, teacher assistants, school leaders, special- 12 ized instructional support personnel, and mental 13 health professionals that— 14 (A) fosters safe and stable learning envi- 15 ronments that prevent and mitigate the effects 16 of trauma, including through social and emo- 17 tional learning; 18 (B) improves school capacity to identify, 19 refer, and provide services to students in need 20 of trauma support or behavioral health services; 21 or 22 (C) reflects the best practices for trauma- 23 informed identification, referral, and support 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:28 Oct 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4835.IH H4835 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4835 IH developed by the Interagency Task Force on 1 Trauma-Informed Care. 2 (4) Services at a full-service community school 3 that focuses on trauma-informed supports, which 4 may include a full-time site coordinator, or other ac- 5 tivities consistent with section 4625 of the Elemen- 6 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 7 U.S.C. 7275). 8 (5) Engaging families and communities in ef- 9 forts to increase awareness of child and youth trau- 10 ma, which may include sharing best practices with 11 law enforcement regarding trauma-informed care 12 and working with mental health professionals to pro- 13 vide interventions, as well as longer term coordi- 14 nated care within the community for children and 15 youth who have experienced trauma and their fami- 16 lies. 17 (6) To provide technical assistance to school 18 systems and mental health agencies. 19 (7) To evaluate the effectiveness of the program 20 carried out under this section in increasing student 21 access to evidence-based trauma support services 22 and mental health care. 23 (8) To establish partnerships with or provide 24 subgrants to Head Start agencies (including Early 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:28 Oct 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4835.IH H4835 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4835 IH Head Start agencies), public and private preschool 1 programs, child care programs (including home- 2 based providers), or other entities described in sub- 3 section (a), to include such entities described in this 4 paragraph in the evidence-based trauma initiatives, 5 activities, support services, and mental health sys- 6 tems established under this section in order to pro- 7 vide, develop, or improve prevention, screening, re- 8 ferral, and treatment and support services to young 9 children and their families. 10 (d) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a grant, 11 contract, or cooperative agreement under this section, an 12 entity described in subsection (a) shall submit an applica- 13 tion to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 14 containing such information as the Secretary may reason- 15 ably require, which shall include the following: 16 (1) A description of the innovative initiatives, 17 activities, or programs to be funded under the grant, 18 contract, or cooperative agreement, including how 19 such program will increase access to evidence-based 20 trauma support services and mental health care for 21 students, and, as applicable, the families of such stu- 22 dents. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:28 Oct 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4835.IH H4835 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4835 IH (2) A description of how the program will pro- 1 vide linguistically appropriate and culturally com- 2 petent services. 3 (3) A description of how the program will sup- 4 port students and the school in improving the school 5 climate in order to support an environment condu- 6 cive to learning. 7 (4) An assurance that— 8 (A) persons providing services under the 9 grant, contract, or cooperative agreement are 10 adequately trained to provide such services; and 11 (B) teachers, school leaders, administra- 12 tors, specialized instructional support personnel, 13 representatives of local Indian Tribes or tribal 14 organizations as appropriate, other school per- 15 sonnel, and parents or guardians of students 16 participating in services under this section will 17 be engaged and involved in the design and im- 18 plementation of the services. 19 (5) A description of how the applicant will sup- 20 port and integrate existing school-based services 21 with the program in order to provide mental health 22 services for students, as appropriate. 23 (6) A description of the entities in the commu- 24 nity with which the applicant will partner or to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:28 Oct 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4835.IH H4835 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4835 IH which the applicant will provide subgrants in accord- 1 ance with subsection (c)(8). 2 (e) INTERAGENCY AGREEMENTS.— 3 (1) LOCAL INTERAGENCY AGREEMENTS.—To 4 ensure the provision of the services described in sub- 5 section (c), a recipient of a grant, contract, or coop- 6 erative agreement under this section, or their des- 7 ignee, shall establish a local interagency agreement 8 among local educational agencies, agencies respon- 9 sible for early childhood education programs, Head 10 Start agencies (including Early Head Start agen- 11 cies), juvenile justice authorities, mental health 12 agencies, child welfare agencies, and other relevant 13 agencies, authorities, or entities in the community 14 that will be involved in the provision of such serv- 15 ices. 16 (2) CONTENTS.—In ensuring the provision of 17 the services described in subsection (c), the local 18 interagency agreement shall specify with respect to 19 each agency, authority, or entity that is a party to 20 such agreement— 21 (A) the financial responsibility for the serv- 22 ices; 23 (B) the conditions and terms of responsi- 24 bility for the services, including quality, ac- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:28 Oct 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4835.IH H4835 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 4835 IH countability, and coordination of the services; 1 and 2 (C) the conditions and terms of reimburse- 3 ment among such agencies, authorities, or enti- 4 ties, including procedures for dispute resolution. 5 (f) EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall reserve not 6 more than 3 percent of the funds made available under 7 subsection (l) for each fiscal year to— 8 (1) conduct a rigorous, independent evaluation 9 of the activities funded under this section; and 10 (2) disseminate and promote the utilization of 11 evidence-based practices regarding trauma support 12 services and mental health care. 13 (g) DISTRIBUTION OF AWARDS.—The Secretary shall 14 ensure that grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements 15 awarded or entered into under this section are equitably 16 distributed among the geographical regions of the United 17 States and among tribal, urban, suburban, and rural pop- 18 ulations. 19 (h) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec- 20 tion shall be construed— 21 (1) to prohibit an entity involved with a pro- 22 gram carried out under this section from reporting 23 a crime that is committed by a student to appro- 24 priate authorities; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4835.IH H4835 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 4835 IH (2) to prevent Federal, State, and tribal law en- 1 forcement and judicial authorities from exercising 2 their responsibilities with regard to the application 3 of Federal, tribal, and State law to crimes com- 4 mitted by a student. 5 (i) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—Any services 6 provided through programs carried out under this section 7 shall supplement, and not supplant, existing mental health 8 services, including any special education and related serv- 9 ices provided under the Individuals with Disabilities Edu- 10 cation Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.). 11 (j) CONSULTATION WITH INDIAN TRIBES.—In car- 12 rying out subsection (a), the Secretary shall, in a timely 13 manner, meaningfully consult with Indian Tribes and their 14 representatives to ensure notice of eligibility. 15 (k) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 16 (1) ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘elemen- 17 tary school’’ has the meaning given such term in 18 section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu- 19 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 20 (2) EVIDENCE-BASED.—The term ‘‘evidence- 21 based’’ has the meaning given such term in section 22 8101(21)(A)(i) of the Elementary and Secondary 23 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801(21)(A)(i)). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4835.IH H4835 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 4835 IH (3) NATIVE HAWAIIAN EDUCATIONAL ORGANI- 1 ZATION.—The term ‘‘Native Hawaiian educational 2 organization’’ has the meaning given such term in 3 section 6207 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu- 4 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7517). 5 (4) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 6 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given 7 such term in section 8101 of the Elementary and 8 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 9 (5) REGIONAL CORPORATION.—The term ‘‘Re- 10 gional Corporation’’ has the meaning given the term 11 in section 3 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement 12 Act (43 U.S.C. 1602). 13 (6) SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘school’’ means a pub- 14 lic elementary school or public secondary school. 15 (7) SCHOOL LEADER.—The term ‘‘school lead- 16 er’’ has the meaning given such term in section 17 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 18 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 19 (8) SECONDARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘sec- 20 ondary school’’ has the meaning given such term in 21 section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu- 22 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 23 (9) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 24 the Secretary of Education. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4835.IH H4835 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 4835 IH (10) SPECIALIZED INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT 1 PERSONNEL.—The term ‘‘specialized instructional 2 support personnel’’ has the meaning given such term 3 in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary 4 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 5 (11) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 6 ‘‘State educational agency’’ has the meaning given 7 such term in section 8101 of the Elementary and 8 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 9 (l) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 10 authorized to be appropriated, and there shall be appro- 11 priated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise 12 appropriated, to carry out this section, $50,000,000 for 13 each of fiscal years 2019 through 2023. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Nov 13, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4835.IH H4835 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS