[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2571 Introduced in House (IH)]
103d CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2571
To improve counseling services for elementary school children.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 30, 1993
Mr. Payne of New Jersey (for himself and Mrs. Morella) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and
Labor
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To improve counseling services for elementary school children.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Elementary School Counseling
Demonstration Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) Findings.--The Congress finds that--
(1) elementary school children are being subjected to
unprecedented social stresses, including fragmentation of the
family, drug and alcohol abuse, child abuse, poverty, and
violence. Experts indicate that intervention at an early age is
the most beneficial;
(2) an increasing number of elementary school children are
exhibiting symptoms of distress, such as substance abuse,
emotional disorders, academic underachievement, disruptive
behavior, juvenile delinquency, and suicide;
(3) elementary school counselors, school psychologists and
school social workers can contribute to the personal growth,
educational development, and emotional well-being of elementary
school children by providing professional counseling,
intervention, and referral services;
(4) the average ratio of elementary school counselors to
students is one for every one thousand; the average ratio of
school psychologists to students is one for every 2500 and the
average ratio of school social workers to students is one for
every 2500;
(5) when there is one counselor to every one thousand
students, one school psychologist to every 2,500 students, and
one school social worker to every 2,500 students, elementary
school counseling programs are seldom adequate;
(6) the Federal Government can help reduce the risk of
academic, social, and emotional problems among elementary
school children by stimulating the development of model
elementary school counseling programs; and
(7) the Federal Government can help reduce the risk of
future unemployment and assist the school to work transition by
stimulating the development of model elementary school
counseling programs that include comprehensive career
development.
(b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to enhance the
availability and quality of counseling services for elementary school
children by providing grants to local educational agencies to establish
effective and innovative elementary school counseling programs that can
serve as national models.
SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 for fiscal year
1994, and such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years
1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998.
SEC. 4. APPLICATIONS.
(a) In General.--The Secretary is authorized to make a grant to a
local educational agency which submits an application at such time, in
such manner, and accompanied by such information as the Secretary may
reasonably require.
(b) Notification of State Educational Agency.--Before submitting an
application to the Secretary, a local educational agency must provide
the State educational agency with an opportunity to review and comment
on the program in its application. The comments of the State
educational agency shall be appended to the application upon submission
to the Secretary.
(c) Contents.--Each application shall--
(1) describe the elementary school population to be
targeted by the program, the particular personal, social,
emotional, educational, and career development needs of such
population, and the current school counseling resources
available for meeting such needs;
(2) describe the activities, services, and training to be
provided by the program and the specific approaches to be used
to meet the needs described in paragraph (1);
(3) describe the methods to be used to evaluate the
outcomes and effectiveness of the program;
(4) describe the collaborative efforts to be undertaken
with institutions of higher education, businesses, labor
organizations, community groups, social service agencies, and
other public or private entities to enhance the program and
promote school-linked services integration;
(5) describe collaborative efforts with institutions of
higher education which specifically seek to enhance or improve
graduate programs specializing in the preparation of elementary
school counselors, school psychologists, and social workers;
(6) document that the applicant has the personnel qualified
to develop, implement, and administer the program;
(7) describe how any diverse cultural populations would be
served through the program;
(8) assure that the funds made available under this Act for
any fiscal year will be used to supplement and, to the extent
practicable, increase the level of funds that would otherwise
be available from non-Federal sources for the program described
in the application, and in no case supplant such funds from
non-Federal sources; and
(9) assure that the applicant will appoint an advisory
board composed of parents, school counselors, school
psychologists, school social workers, other pupil services
personnel, teachers, school administrators, and community
leaders to advise the local educational agency on the design
and implementation of the program.
SEC. 5. AWARD OF GRANTS.
(a) General Authority.--From the sums appropriated under section 3
in any fiscal year, the Secretary shall make grants to local
educational agencies with approved applications to initiate or expand
school counseling programs for elementary school children.
(b) Priority.--In approving applications, the Secretary shall give
special consideration to programs that--
(1) demonstrate the greatest need for new or additional
counseling services among the children in the elementary
schools of the applicant;
(2) propose the most promising and innovative approaches
for initiating or expanding elementary school counseling; and
(3) show the greatest potential for replication and
dissemination.
(c) Equitable Distribution.--In approving grants under this Act,
the Secretary shall ensure an equitable geographic distribution among
the regions of the United States and among urban, suburban, and rural
areas.
(d) Duration.--Grants may be awarded for a period not to exceed
three years.
(e) Maximum Grant.--A grant to a local educational agency may not
exceed $400,000 for each fiscal year.
SEC. 6. REQUIREMENTS FOR THE USE OF FUNDS.
(a) In General.--Funds shall be used to initiate or expand
elementary school counseling programs that comply with the requirements
in subsection (b).
(b) Program Requirements.--Each program assisted under this Act
shall--
(1) be comprehensive in addressing the personal, social,
emotional, educational, and career development needs of all
students;
(2) use a developmental, preventive approach to counseling;
(3) increase the range, availability, quantity, and quality
of counseling services in the elementary schools of the local
educational agency;
(4) ensure a team approach to school counseling by
maintaining a ratio in the elementary schools of the local
educational agency that does not exceed one school counselor to
two hundred and fifty students, one school social worker to 800
students and one school psychologist to 1,000 students;
(5) expand counseling services only through qualified
school counselors, school psychologists, and school social
workers, as defined in section 8;
(6) use innovative approaches to increase children's
understanding of peer and family relationships, work and self,
decisionmaking, academic and career planning, or to improve
social functioning;
(7) provide counseling services with the goal of developing
a highly skilled workforce through a range of quality
educational programs and work-related experiences that allow
students to reach high school graduation equipped to tackle
immediately the world of work, or to continue in some form of
postsecondary education or training, or both;
(8) provide counseling services that are well-balanced
among classroom group and small group counseling, individual
counseling, and consultation with parents, teachers,
administrators, and other pupil services personnel;
(9) include inservice training for school counselors,
school social workers, school psychologists, other pupil
services personnel, teachers, and instructional staff;
(10) involve parents of participating students in the
design, implementation, and evaluation of a counseling program;
(11) involve collaborative efforts with institutions of
higher education, businesses, labor organizations, community
groups, social service agencies, or other public or private
entities to enhance the program and promote school-linked
services integration;
(12) ensure that school counselors, school psychologists or
school social workers paid from funds made available under this
Act spend at least 85 percent of their total work time in
activities directly related to the counseling process and not
more than 15 percent on administrative tasks (associated with
the counseling program);
(13) provide supervision for professionals who are hired
under this Act by supervisors who are counselors, school social
workers, and school psychologists as defined in section 8; and
(14) evaluate annually the effectiveness and outcomes of
the counseling services and activities funded under this Act.
SEC. 7. NATIONAL ADMINISTRATION.
(a) Office of Pupil Services.--The Secretary shall establish an
Office of Pupil Services in the Department of Education to administer,
review, and monitor pupil services programs, including the programs
funded under this Act, to assist in carrying out the requirements of
this section, and to provide a national focal point for information and
technical assistance regarding the counseling, personal, social,
emotional, educational, career development and psychological needs of
elementary and secondary school children. The Office shall be headed by
a Director who shall be an individual of recognized professional
qualifications and experience in the field of pupil services.
(b) Data Collection, Research, and Evaluation.--The Director shall
compile the evaluations of the programs under this Act conducted by
local educational agencies and shall regularly collect such data as the
Secretary finds necessary to develop a profile of the use and impact of
funds under this Act. At the end of the grant period, but in no case
later than January 30, 1998, the Secretary shall issue a research and
evaluation report.
(c) Dissemination.--The Secretary shall make the programs funded
under this Act available for dissemination, either through the National
Diffusion Network or other appropriate means.
(d) Limit on Administration.--Not more than 5 percent of the sums
made available under section 3 in any fiscal year may be used to carry
out the provisions of this section.
SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.
Except as otherwise provided, for purposes of this Act--
(1) the term ``comprehensive'' means, with respect to
counseling services, a program in which--
(A) a school counselor, school psychologist, or
school social worker uses a range of individual and
group techniques and resources in a planned way to meet
the personal, social, emotional, educational, and
career development needs of all elementary children in
a school; and
(B) a school counselor, school psychologist, or
school social worker works directly with children,
families, teachers, and other school or agency
personnel to create an optimal positive learning
environment and personal growth opportunities for all
children;
(2) the term ``developmental'' means, with respect to a
school counseling program, a systematically planned program
that--
(A) provides appropriate school counseling
interventions to foster the social, emotional,
physical, moral, and cognitive growth of elementary
school children;
(B) provides intervention services to help children
cope with family, social, emotional, and academic
problems; and
(C) supports and enhances the efforts of families,
teachers, and other school personnel to provide
children maximum opportunity to acquire competence and
skill in self-understanding and appreciation,
interpersonal interaction, educational achievement and
literacy, and career awareness and personal
decisionmaking;
(3) the term ``Director'' means the Director of the Office
of Pupil Services in the Department of Education;
(4) the term ``elementary school'' has the meaning given
that term in section 1471(8) of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965;
(5) the term ``local educational agency'' has the meaning
given such term in section 1471(12) of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965;
(6) the term ``parent'' has the meaning given such term in
section 1471(14) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
of 1965;
(7) the term ``pupil services personnel'' has the meaning
given such term in section 1471(17) of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965;
(8) the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of
Education;
(9) the term ``State educational agency'' has the meaning
given such term in section 1471(23) of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965;
(10) the term ``school counselor'' means an individual who
possesses State licensure or certification granted by an
independent professional regulatory board with documented
competence in counseling children and adolescents in a school
setting, or, in the absence of State credentialing regulations,
possesses national certification in school counseling or a
specialty of counseling granted by an independent professional
organization, or holds a minimum of a master's degree in school
counseling from a program accredited by the Council for
Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs or
the equivalent;
(11) the term ``school psychologist'' means an individual
who possesses a minimum of 60 graduate semester hours in school
psychology from an accredited institution of higher education
and has completed 1,200 clock hours in a supervised school
psychology internship, of which 600 hours must be in the school
setting. School psychologists may hold certification or
licensure in the State in which they work, or in the absence of
State credentialing regulations, possess national certification
by the National School Psychology Certification Board;
(12) the term ``school social worker'' means an individual
who holds a master's degree in social work, and is licensed or
certified by the State in which services are provided or holds
a school social work specialist credential; and
(13) the term ``supervisors'' means school psychologists,
school social workers, and school counselors who serve in a
supervisory capacity and who have the equivalent number of
years of professional experience in their respective
disciplines as is required of teaching experience to meet the
supervisory or administrative credentials in the State in which
they practice.
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