To effectively staff the high-need public elementary schools and secondary schools of the United States with school-based mental health services providers.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 8979 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 8979 To effectively staff the high-need public elementary schools and secondary schools of the United States with school-based mental health services providers. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES May 21, 2026 Mr. Mannion (for himself, Ms. Sanchez, Ms. Underwood, Mr. Lieu, and Mrs. Hayes) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To effectively staff the high-need public elementary schools and secondary schools of the United States with school-based mental health services providers. 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 and Secondary School Counseling Act''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. Congress finds the following: (1) Nearly 1 in 5 children ages 13 through 17 have been diagnosed with a mental, emotional, or behavioral health condition. (2) According to data from the National Center for Health Statistics, in 2021-2023, 20 percent of adolescents in the United States ages 12 to 17 reported symptoms of anxiety in the past 2 weeks and 18 percent reported symptoms of depression in the past 2 weeks. (3) Fifty percent of all lifetime cases of mental illness begin by age 14. More than 50 percent of students with a mental health condition age 14 and older drop out of school, which is the highest school dropout rate of any disability group. (4) Between 50 and 70 percent of youth in the juvenile justice system have a mental illness, compared to 9 to 13 percent of youth who are not in the justice system. (5) Youth with access to mental health services in school- based health centers are 10 times more