National technical assistance center for school social work

(a) 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. (b) Responsibilities of the Center The center established under subsection (a) shall conduct activities for the purpose of— (1) developing and continuing statewide or tribal strategies for improving the effectiveness of the school social work workforce; (2) 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; (3) 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 (4) 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— (A) data collection and dissemination; (B) establishing a school social work workforce development program; (C) documenting the success of school social work methods on a national level; and (D) conducting other activities determined appropriate by the Secretary. (c) Definitions In this section: (1) 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. (2) 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).