To direct the Secretary of Education to carry out a grant program to support the placement of students and licensed professional social workers in public libraries, and for other purposes.

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3006 To direct the Secretary of Education to carry out a grant program to support the placement of students and licensed professional social work- ers in public libraries, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 28, 2023 Ms. GARCIA of Texas (for herself, Ms. LEE of California, and Ms. SCHOLTEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce A BILL To direct the Secretary of Education to carry out a grant program to support the placement of students and li- censed professional social workers in public libraries, 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. GRANTS FOR PLACEMENT OF STUDENTS AND 3 SOCIAL WORKERS IN PUBLIC LIBRARIES. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning not later than one year 5 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 6 Education (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 7 shall carry out a program under which the Secretary 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3006.IH H3006 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3006 IH makes grants, on a competitive basis, to institutions of 1 higher education to support the placement of students and 2 licensed professional social workers in public libraries. 3 (b) APPLICATION.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 5 grant under this section, an institution of higher 6 education shall submit to the Secretary an applica- 7 tion at such time, in such manner, and containing 8 such information as the Secretary may require. As 9 part of such application the institution shall dem- 10 onstrate that— 11 (A) it has established a partnership with 12 each library in which a social worker or intern 13 is expected to be placed pursuant to subsection 14 (d); 15 (B) it has developed a thorough plan, in 16 coordination with each such library, to support 17 such social workers and interns; and 18 (C) each library in which a social worker 19 or intern is expected to be placed pursuant to 20 subsection (d) is in a community with a dem- 21 onstrated need for social work support and 22 services. 23 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In selecting institutions 24 of higher education to receive grants under this sec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3006.IH H3006 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3006 IH tion, the Secretary shall give special consideration to 1 institutions that will use the grant to serve commu- 2 nities that are under resourced or have a high level 3 of need for social workers. 4 (c) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall coordinate 5 with the Institute of Museum and Library Services to de- 6 velop and review grant applications under this section, 7 which shall include the solicitation of feedback from rel- 8 evant stakeholders in the development of such materials. 9 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—An institution of higher edu- 10 cation that receives a grant under this section shall use 11 the grant— 12 (1)(A) to employ one or more licensed profes- 13 sional social workers whom the institution shall seek 14 to place on a full-time basis in public libraries in the 15 geographic region surrounding the institution; or 16 (B) to arrange placements of one or more li- 17 censed professional social workers who are employed 18 by other entities, whom the institution shall seek to 19 place on a full-time basis in public libraries in the 20 geographic region surrounding the institution; and 21 (2) to arrange and fully fund internships and 22 field placements at such libraries for students of the 23 institution who are majoring in social work, includ- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3006.IH H3006 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3006 IH ing students pursuing a bachelor’s or master’s de- 1 gree in social work. 2 (e) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.— 3 (1) DUTIES OF INSTITUTIONS.—An institution 4 of higher education that receives a grant under this 5 section shall— 6 (A) be responsible for the payment and 7 employment-related administration of the social 8 workers placed at public libraries pursuant to 9 subsection (d)(1)(A) and the interns placed at 10 such libraries pursuant to subsection (d)(2); 11 (B) pay a wage of not less than $15 per 12 hour to each intern serving in a public library 13 pursuant to subsection (d)(2); 14 (C) ensure that each such intern— 15 (i) is supervised by a licensed profes- 16 sional social worker (who may be a social 17 worker employed by the institution or a so- 18 cial worker otherwise employed at the pub- 19 lic library at which the intern serves); and 20 (ii) practices within the scope and lim- 21 itations of a social work intern role as set 22 forth by the accreditation standards of the 23 Council on Social Work Education; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3006.IH H3006 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 3006 IH (D) enter into and maintain a partnership 1 with each library at which social workers and 2 interns are placed by the institution to ensure 3 that such social workers and interns are— 4 (i) continuously supported by the li- 5 brary and the institution; and 6 (ii) able to carry out their duties ef- 7 fectively. 8 (2) DUTIES OF SOCIAL WORKERS.— 9 (A) IN GENERAL.—The duties of a social 10 worker placed at the public library pursuant to 11 subsection (d)(1) shall be to provide services 12 and support to the library and library patrons 13 to boost the library’s capacity to address the 14 holistic needs of patrons, including— 15 (i) information or referrals on health, 16 mental health, nutrition, financial well- 17 being and economic mobility, and other so- 18 cial services for which the patron may be 19 eligible; 20 (ii) direct assistance in applying for 21 and accessing such services; 22 (iii) conducting library staff training 23 on relevant topics within the social work- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3006.IH H3006 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 3006 IH ers’ and social work interns’ competence 1 and scope of practice; and 2 (iv) other duties as may be deter- 3 mined by local conditions, the institution, 4 and the participating library. 5 (B) CODE OF ETHICS.—A licensed profes- 6 sional social worker or intern placed at the li- 7 brary pursuant to subsection (d) shall be re- 8 quired to adhere to the social work profession’s 9 code of ethics as set forth by the National Asso- 10 ciation for Social Workers. 11 (C) LIMITATIONS.—A licensed professional 12 social worker or intern placed at a library pur- 13 suant to subsection (d)— 14 (i) shall not be required to report an 15 alien who is not in lawful immigration sta- 16 tus to U.S. Immigration and Customs En- 17 forcement and may provide such alien with 18 appropriate professional services; and 19 (ii) shall not be required to provide di- 20 rect healthcare and mental health services 21 to library patrons, such as the administra- 22 tion of diagnostic medical tests. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3006.IH H3006 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 3006 IH (3) DUTIES OF LIBRARIES.—A library that en- 1 ters into a partnership with an institution of higher 2 education as described in paragraph (1)(D)— 3 (A) shall— 4 (i) provide social workers and interns 5 placed at the library with general support, 6 including access to resources (such as of- 7 fice space, technology, and staff time) to 8 ensure such social workers and interns are 9 able to effectively carry out their respon- 10 sibilities; 11 (ii) provide input regarding the serv- 12 ices and programming offered by such so- 13 cial workers and interns; and 14 (iii) adhere to the American Library 15 Association’s code of ethics; and 16 (B) may designate members of the library 17 staff to serve as a preceptor or library task su- 18 pervisor for such interns. 19 (4) SUPPLEMENTARY GRANTS.—Subject to the 20 availability of appropriations, an institution of high- 21 er education that receives a grant under this section 22 may apply— 23 (A) to the Secretary for a supplementary 24 grant which, if received by such institution, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3006.IH H3006 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 3006 IH shall be used in accordance with the require- 1 ments of this section; or 2 (B) to the Secretary for additional funds 3 to support the maintenance of a program or de- 4 partment established though the program under 5 this section. 6 SEC. 2. NATIONAL TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE CENTER. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary Education, in co- 8 ordination with the Director of the Institute of Museum 9 and Library Services and through the solicitation of feed- 10 back from relevant stakeholders, shall establish an evalua- 11 tion, documentation, dissemination, and technical assist- 12 ance resource center to provide appropriate information, 13 training, and technical assistance to States, political sub- 14 divisions of States, federally recognized Indian Tribes, 15 tribal organizations, institutions of higher education, State 16 and local educational agencies, and individual students 17 and educators with respect to— 18 (1) hiring and retaining social workers in li- 19 braries; and 20 (2) carrying out programs to facilitate the 21 placement of social workers in libraries on a tem- 22 porary or permanent basis. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3006.IH H3006 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 3006 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 social work and library workforce; 6 (2) studying the costs and effectiveness of li- 7 brary 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 social work 14 ratios, outcomes and best practices of services pro- 15 vided, and the impact of expanding the number of 16 social workers within libraries; and 17 (4) establishing partnerships among National, 18 State, Tribal, and local governments, and local edu- 19 cational agencies, institutions of higher education, li- 20 braries, nonprofit organizations, and State and na- 21 tional trade associations for the purposes of— 22 (A) data collection and dissemination; 23 (B) establishing a library social work work- 24 force development program; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3006.IH H3006 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 3006 IH (C) documenting the success of library so- 1 cial work methods on a national level; and 2 (D) conducting other activities as deter- 3 mined appropriate by the Secretary of Edu- 4 cation. 5 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 (1) The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ has the meaning 8 given that term in section 202 of the Museum and 9 Library Services Act (20 U.S.C. 9101). 10 (2) The term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ 11 means an institution of higher education (as defined 12 in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 13 (20 U.S.C. 1001)) acting through a school of social 14 work within the institution that is accredited by the 15 Council on Social Work Education. 16 (3) The term ‘‘library’’ has the meaning given 17 that term in section 213 of the Library Services and 18 Technology Act (20 U.S.C. 9122). 19 (4) The term ‘‘licensed professional social work- 20 er’’ means a social worker who has a master’s or 21 doctoral degree in social work. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 May 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3006.IH H3006 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB