[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3848 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3848
To authorize the Secretary of Education to make grants to fund
additional school-based mental health providers to help reduce
psychological harm, and assist with the return to adaptive coping in
schools following a violent or traumatic crisis, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 16, 2022
Mr. Peters (for himself and Ms. Stabenow) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the Secretary of Education to make grants to fund
additional school-based mental health providers to help reduce
psychological harm, and assist with the return to adaptive coping in
schools following a violent or traumatic crisis, and for other
purposes.
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 ``Helping Education After Loss Act of
2022'' or the ``HEAL Act of 2022''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) On Tuesday, November 30, 2021, a student at Oxford High
School killed and injured several students with a handgun
loaded with a high-capacity magazine.
(2) Children exposed to violence, injury, and other
potentially traumatic events are at risk for developing
traumatic stress reactions, including as follows:
(A) The National Center for PTSD estimates that 28
percent of people who have witnessed a mass shooting
develop PTSD and 1/3 develop acute stress disorder.
(B) While some survivors only experience temporary
symptoms, others will be symptomatic for a much longer
period of time and even develop chronic psychiatric
disorders.
(C) Both short-term and long-term impairments can
cause severe distress and have profound effects on
academic achievement and the social and emotional
growth of impacted students.
(3) Youth with access to mental health services in school-
based health centers are 10 times more likely to seek care for
mental health or substance abuse than youth without access.
(4) The leading counseling, guidance, and mental health
organizations, including the American School Counselor
Association, the National Association of School Psychologists,
the National Association of Social Workers, and the School
Social Work Association of America, recommend that schools
maintain--
(A) a maximum student to school counselor ratio of
250 to 1;
(B) a maximum student to school psychologist ratio
of 500 to 1; and
(C) a maximum student to school social worker ratio
of 250 to 1.
(5) According to the Education Trust, nearly 1 in 5
students do not have access to a counselor in their school at
all, and many of those students have only limited access to
other school support staff, such as school psychologists or
social workers.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Acute crisis response activity.--The term ``acute
crisis response activity'' means an activity in response to an
acute crisis, including services to provide immediate trauma
intervention, advocacy, crisis intervention, death
notification, and victim and survivor assistance.
(2) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means a
local educational agency that serves a school that has
experienced a violent or traumatic crisis.
(3) Local educational agency.--The term ``local educational
agency'' means a public board of education or other public
authority legally constituted within a State for either
administrative control or direction of, or to perform a service
function for, public elementary schools or secondary schools in
a city, county, township, school district, or other political
subdivision of a State, or of or for a combination of school
districts or counties that is recognized in a State as an
administrative agency for its public elementary schools or
secondary schools.
(4) School-based mental health provider.--The term
``school-based mental health provider'' means a State-licensed
or State-certified school counselor, school psychologist,
school social worker, community-based mental health provider
organization, or other State-licensed or State-certified mental
health professional qualified under State law to provide mental
health services to children and adolescents.
(5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Education.
SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ACUTE CRISIS RESPONSE GRANT PROGRAM.
(a) Program Authorized.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary shall award non-competitive
grants from allotments under paragraph (2) to eligible entities
to fund additional full-time, part-time, and contractual
school-based mental health providers and acute crisis response
activities in order to help the eligible entity respond to the
violent or traumatic crisis.
(2) Allotments.--From amounts appropriated under section 6
for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall allot to each eligible
entity an amount that--
(A) is of sufficient size and scope to enable the
eligible entity to respond to the violent or traumatic
crisis; and
(B) is not more than $250,000 for the fiscal year.
(b) Duration.--A grant awarded under this section shall be for not
longer than a 2-year period, and may be renewed for an additional 2-
year period, at the Secretary's discretion.
(c) Notice of Eligibility.--Not later than 30 days after the date
of a violent or traumatic crisis that affects a school community, the
Secretary shall notify the eligible entity that serves such school of
the availability of grant awards under this section.
(d) Application.--An eligible entity that desires to receive a
grant under this section shall submit an application to the Secretary
at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the
Secretary may require.
(e) Use of Funds.--An eligible entity awarded a grant under this
section shall use the grant funds to hire additional full-time, part-
time, and contractual school-based mental health providers and acute
crisis response activities in order to help the eligible entity respond
to the violent or traumatic crisis.
(f) Supplement Not Supplant.--Funds made available under this
section shall be used to supplement, and not supplant, other Federal,
State, or private funds that would otherwise be expended to respond to
the violent or traumatic crisis.
SEC. 5. STUDY ON THE AFFECTS OF VIOLENT AND TRAUMATIC EVENTS IN
SCHOOLS.
(a) In General.--The Secretary, in collaboration with Secretary of
Health and Human Services, shall conduct a special resource study of
communities that have experienced a violent or traumatic crisis.
(b) Contents.--In conducting the study under subsection (a), the
Secretary shall--
(1) evaluate how violent and traumatic events can affect a
student's mental health, and the potential risks for developing
chronic psychiatric disorders; and
(2) develop evidence-based best practices for a school to
return to learning after the school has been disrupted due to
violent or traumatic crisis, including best practices for
supporting school staff in such return.
SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act--
(1) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; and
(2) such sums as may be necessary for each succeeding
fiscal year.
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