Mental Health Excellence in Schools Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1574 To establish the Mental Health Excellence in Schools Program to increase the recruitment and retention of school-based mental health services providers, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 11, 2023 Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself, Mr. YOUNG, and Mr. CRAMER) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To establish the Mental Health Excellence in Schools 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 Excel- 4 lence in Schools Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 May 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1574.IS S1574 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1574 IS SEC. 2. PROGRAM TO ESTABLISH PUBLIC-PRIVATE CON- 1 TRIBUTIONS TO INCREASE THE AVAILABLE 2 WORKFORCE OF SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL 3 HEALTH SERVICE PROVIDERS. 4 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary shall 5 carry out a program under which eligible graduate institu- 6 tions may enter into an agreement with the Secretary to 7 cover a portion of the cost of attendance of a participating 8 student, which contributions shall be matched by equiva- 9 lent contributions towards such cost of attendance by the 10 Secretary. 11 (b) DESIGNATION OF PROGRAM.—The program 12 under this section shall be known as the ‘‘Mental Health 13 Excellence in Schools Program’’. 14 (c) AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary shall enter into an 15 agreement with each eligible graduate institution seeking 16 to participate in the program under this section. Each 17 agreement shall specify the following: 18 (1) The manner (whether by direct grant, schol- 19 arship, or otherwise) in which the eligible graduate 20 institution will contribute to the cost of attendance 21 of a participating student. 22 (2) The maximum amount of the contribution 23 to be made by the eligible graduate institution with 24 respect to any particular participating student in 25 any given academic year. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 May 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1574.IS S1574 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1574 IS (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) That the eligible graduate institution, in se- 4 lecting participating students to receive assistance 5 under the program, shall prioritize the participating 6 students described in subsection (d)(2). 7 (5) Such other matters as the Secretary and 8 the eligible graduate institution determine appro- 9 priate. 10 (d) OUTREACH.—The Secretary shall— 11 (1) make publicly available and periodically up- 12 date on the internet website of the Department of 13 Education a list of the eligible graduate institutions 14 participating in the program under this section that 15 shall specify, for each such graduate institution, ap- 16 propriate information on the agreement between the 17 Secretary and such eligible graduate institution 18 under subsection (c); and 19 (2) conduct outreach about the program under 20 this section to participating students who, as under- 21 graduates— 22 (A) received a Federal Pell Grant under 23 section 401 of the Higher Education Act of 24 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a); or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 May 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1574.IS S1574 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1574 IS (B) attended an institution listed in section 1 371(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 2 (20 U.S.C. 1067q(a)). 3 (e) MATCHING CONTRIBUTIONS.—The Secretary may 4 provide a contribution of up to 50 percent of the cost of 5 attendance of a participating student if the eligible grad- 6 uate institution at which such student is enrolled enters 7 into an agreement under subsection (c) with the Secretary 8 to match such contribution. 9 (f) MONITORING AND EVALUATION.—As a condition 10 of participation in the program under this section, each 11 eligible graduate institution shall agree to submit an an- 12 nual report to the Secretary describing— 13 (1) the number of students served by the pro- 14 gram; 15 (2) the percentage of tuition cost covered by the 16 program; 17 (3) the number of participating students who 18 were also recipients of a Federal Pell grant; and 19 (4) as applicable, the graduation rates and 20 post-graduate employment of participating students. 21 (g) INTERIM REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after 22 the first contributions are provided under this section, the 23 Secretary shall submit an interim report to Congress 24 based on the annual reports required by subsection (f). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 May 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1574.IS S1574 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 1574 IS (h) INDEPENDENT NATIONAL EVALUATION.— 1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 4 years after 2 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 3 shall provide for the commencement of an inde- 4 pendent national evaluation of the outcomes and ef- 5 fectiveness of the program under this section. 6 (2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 90 7 days after receiving the results of such independent 8 national evaluation, the Secretary shall submit a re- 9 port to Congress containing the findings of the eval- 10 uation and the Secretary’s recommendations for im- 11 provements to the program. 12 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 13 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act— 14 (1) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2024; 15 (2) $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2025; and 16 (3) $50,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 17 2026 through 2028. 18 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 19 In this Act: 20 (1) COST OF ATTENDANCE.—The term ‘‘cost of 21 attendance’’ has the meaning given the term in sec- 22 tion 472 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 23 U.S.C. 1087ll). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 May 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1574.IS S1574 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 1574 IS (2) ELIGIBLE GRADUATE INSTITUTION.—The 1 term ‘‘eligible graduate institution’’ means an insti- 2 tution of higher education that offers a program of 3 study that leads to a graduate degree— 4 (A) in school psychology that is accredited 5 or approved by the National Association of 6 School Psychologists’ Program Accreditation 7 Board or the Commission on Accreditation of 8 the American Psychological Association and 9 that prepares students in such program for the 10 State licensing or certification examination in 11 school psychology at the specialist level; 12 (B) in an accredited school counseling pro- 13 gram that prepares students in such program 14 for the State licensing or certification examina- 15 tion in school counseling; 16 (C) in school social work that is accredited 17 by the Council on Social Work Education and 18 that prepares students in such program for the 19 State licensing or certification examination in 20 school social work; 21 (D) in another school-based mental health 22 field that prepares students in such program 23 for the State licensing or certification examina- 24 tion in such field, if applicable; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 May 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1574.IS S1574 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 1574 IS (E) in any combination of study described 1 in subparagraphs (A) through (D). 2 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 3 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 4 meaning given such term in section 101 of the High- 5 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 6 (4) PARTICIPATING STUDENT.—The term ‘‘par- 7 ticipating student’’ means an individual who is en- 8 rolled in a graduate degree program in a school- 9 based mental health field at a participating eligible 10 graduate institution. 11 (5) SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH FIELD.— 12 The term ‘‘school-based mental health field’’ means 13 each of the following fields: 14 (A) School counseling. 15 (B) School social work. 16 (C) School psychology. 17 (D) Any other field of study that leads to 18 employment as a school-based mental health 19 services provider, as determined by the Sec- 20 retary. 21 (6) SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES 22 PROVIDER.—The term ‘‘school-based mental health 23 services provider’’ has the meaning given the term in 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 May 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1574.IS S1574 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 1574 IS section 4102 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu- 1 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7112). 2 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 3 the Secretary of Education. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 May 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1574.IS S1574 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB