Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “School Social Workers Improving Student Success Act”.
School Social Workers Improving Student Success Act
A BILL
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to provide grants to hire and retain school social workers, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 School Social Worker Grants
Purposes— The purpose of this Act is to assist States and local educational agencies in hiring additional school social workers in order to increase access to mental health and other student support services to students in elementary and secondary schools in the United States to the minimum ratios recommended by the National Association of Social Workers and the School Social Work Association of America of 1 school social worker for every 250 students, and 1 school social worker for every 50 students when a social worker is providing services to students with intensive needs.
ESEA amendments—
In general— Subpart 4 of part F of title IV of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (10 U.S.C. 7271 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
“4645. Grants for school social workers
“(a) Grants authorized
“(1) In general—From the amounts appropriated under subsection (g), the Secretary shall award grants to high-need local educational agencies to enable such agencies to retain school social workers employed by such agencies or to hire additional school social workers.
“(2) Duration—A grant awarded under this section shall be awarded for a period not to exceed 4 years.
“(3) Supplement, not supplant—Funds made available under this section shall be used to supplement, and not to supplant, other Federal, State, or local funds used for hiring and retaining school social workers.
“(b) Application
“(1) In general—To be eligible to receive a grant under this section, a high-need local educational agency shall submit to the Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require.
“(2) Contents—An application submitted under paragraph (1) shall include an assurance that each school social worker who receives assistance under the grant will provide the services described in subsection (d), and a description of the specific services to be provided by such social worker.
“(c) Use of funds—A high-need local educational agency receiving a grant under this section—
“(1) shall use the grant—
“(A) to achieve a ratio of not less than 1 school social worker for every 250 students served by the agency, by—
“(i) retaining school social workers employed by such agency; or
“(ii)
“(I) employing additional school social workers; or
“(II) hiring contractors to serve as school social workers only in a case in which—
“(aa) the local educational agency demonstrates to the Secretary that the agency—
“(AA) has not been able to employ a sufficient number of school social workers under subclause (I) to achieve such ratio despite strong and continuing efforts to recruit and employ school social workers; and
“(BB) hiring contractors is the only viable option to ensure students have adequate access to school social work services; and
“(bb) each such contractor meets the requirements of subparagraphs (A) and (B) of subsection (h)(2); and
“(B) to ensure that each school social worker who receives assistance under such grant provides the services described in subsection (d); and
“(2) may use the grant to reimburse school social workers who receive assistance under such grant for—
“(A) in the case of a school served by the agency in which the majority of students are higher risk students, to hire or retain additional school social workers in accordance with clauses (i) and (ii) of paragraph (1)(A) to achieve a ratio of not less than 1 school social worker for every 50 students;
“(B) travel expenses incurred during home visits and other school-related trips;
“(C) any additional expenses incurred by such social workers in rendering any service described in subsection (d); and
“(D) the cost of clinical social work supervision for such social workers.
“(d) Responsibilities of a school social worker—A school social worker who receives assistance under a grant under this section shall provide the following services:
“(1) Identifying high-need students in each school that the social worker serves, and targeting services provided at the school to such students.
“(2) Providing students in each school that the school social worker serves, social work services to promote school engagement and improve academic outcomes, including—
“(A) counseling and crisis intervention;
“(B) trauma-informed services;
“(C) evidence-based educational, behavioral, and mental health services (such as implementing multi-tiered programs and practices, monitoring progress, and evaluating service effectiveness);
“(D) addressing the social and emotional learning needs of students;
“(E) promoting a school climate and culture conducive to student learning and teaching excellence (such as promoting effective school policies and administrative procedures, enhancing the professional capacity of school personnel, and facilitating engagement between student, family, school, and community);
“(F) providing access to school-based and community based resources (such as promoting a continuum of services, mobilizing resources and promoting assets, and providing leadership, interdisciplinary collaboration, systems coordination, professional consultation, and connecting students and families to resource systems);
“(G) working with students, families, schools, and communities to address barriers to educational attainment (such as homelessness and housing insecurity, lack of transportation, food insecurity, equity, social justice issues, access to quality education, and school, family, and community risk factors);
“(H) providing assistance to schools and teachers to design social-emotional, educational, behavioral, and mental health interventions;
“(I) case management activities to coordinate the delivery of and access to the appropriate social work services to the highest-need students;
“(J) home visits to meet the family of students in need of social work services in the home environment;
“(K) supervising or coordinating district level school social work services; and
“(L) other services the Secretary determines, in partnership with students, educators, and community member voices are necessary to be carried out by such a social worker.
“(e) Grant renewal
“(1) In general—A grant awarded under this section may be renewed for additional periods with the same duration as the original grant period.
“(2) Continuing eligibility application—To be eligible for a renewal under this section a high-need local educational agency shall submit to the Secretary, for each renewal, a report on the progress of such agency in retaining and hiring school social workers to achieve the ratio of not less than 1 school social worker for every 250 students served by the agency, and shall include—
“(A) a description of the staffing expansion of school social workers funded through the original grant received under this section; and
“(B) a description of the work conducted by such social workers for higher risk students.
“(f) Technical assistance
“(1) In general—The Secretary shall provide technical assistance to high-need local educational agencies, including such agencies that do not have adequate staff, in applying for grants under this section.
“(2) Extension of application period—The Secretary shall extend any application period for a grant under this section for any high-need local educational agency that—
“(A) submits to the Secretary a written notification of the intent to apply for a grant under this section before requesting technical assistance under paragraph (1); and
“(B) after submitting the notification under paragraph (1), requests such technical assistance.
“(g) Authorization for appropriations—There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030.
“(h) Definitions—In this section:
“(1) High-need local educational agency—The term high-need local educational agency has the meaning given the term in section 200 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1021).
“(2) School social worker—The term school social worker means an individual who—
“(A) has a graduate degree in social work from a social work program that is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education; and
“(B) meets all other State and local credentialing requirements for practicing as a social worker in an elementary school or secondary school.”
Table of contents— The table of contents in section 2 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 4644 the following:
Sec. 3 National technical assistance center for school social work
In general— The Secretary of Education, acting through the Assistant Secretary, shall establish an evaluation, documentation, dissemination, and technical assistance resource center to provide appropriate information, training, and technical assistance to States, political subdivisions of States, federally recognized Indian tribes, tribal organizations, institutions of higher education, State and local educational agencies, and individual students and educators with respect to hiring and retaining school social workers at elementary schools and secondary schools served by local educational agencies.
Responsibilities of the Center— The center established under subsection (a) shall conduct activities for the purpose of—
developing and continuing statewide or tribal strategies for improving the effectiveness of the school social work workforce;
studying the costs and effectiveness of school social work programs at institutions of higher education to identify areas of improvement and provide information on relevant issues of importance to State, tribal, and national policymakers;
working with Federal agencies and other State, Tribal, and national stakeholders to collect, evaluate, and disseminate data regarding school social work ratios, outcomes and best practices of school-based mental health services, and impact of expanding the number of school social workers within elementary schools and secondary schools; and
establishing partnerships among National, State, Tribal, and local governments, and local educational agencies, institutions of higher education, non-profit organizations, and State and national trade associations for the purposes of—
data collection and dissemination;
establishing a school social work workforce development program;
documenting the success of school social work methods on a national level; and
conducting other activities determined appropriate by the Secretary.
Definitions— In this section:
ESEA terms— Except as otherwise provided, any term used in this section that is defined in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801) shall have the meaning given that term in such section.
School social worker— The term school social worker has the meaning given the term in section 4645(h) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as added by section 2(b).