Bill Text: IL HB3123 | 2015-2016 | 99th General Assembly | Chaptered


Bill Title: Amends the School Code. Provides that school counseling services may include actively supporting students in need of special education services by implementing the academic, personal or social, and college or career development services or interventions as required by a school professional per a student's individualized educational program; participating in or contributing to a student's individualized educational program; or completing a social development history (rather than by facilitating, participating in, or contributing to a student's individualized education plan and completing a social-developmental history). Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-2)

Status: (Passed) 2015-08-05 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 99-0276 [HB3123 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2015-HB3123-Chaptered.html



Public Act 099-0276
HB3123 EnrolledLRB099 09385 NHT 29591 b
AN ACT concerning education.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section
10-22.24b as follows:
(105 ILCS 5/10-22.24b)
Sec. 10-22.24b. School counseling services. School
counseling services in public schools may be provided by school
counselors as defined in Section 10-22.24a of this Code or by
individuals who hold a Professional Educator License with a
school support personnel endorsement in the area of school
counseling under Section 21B-25 of this Code.
School counseling services may include, but are not limited
to:
(1) designing and delivering a comprehensive school
counseling program that promotes student achievement and
wellness;
(2) incorporating the common core language into the
school counselor's work and role;
(3) school counselors working as culturally skilled
professionals who act sensitively to promote social
justice and equity in a pluralistic society;
(4) providing individual and group counseling;
(5) providing a core counseling curriculum that serves
all students and addresses the knowledge and skills
appropriate to their developmental level through a
collaborative model of delivery involving the school
counselor, classroom teachers, and other appropriate
education professionals, and including prevention and
pre-referral activities;
(6) making referrals when necessary to appropriate
offices or outside agencies;
(7) providing college and career development
activities and counseling;
(8) developing individual career plans with students;
(9) assisting all students with a college or
post-secondary education plan;
(10) intentionally addressing the career and college
needs of first generation students;
(11) educating all students on scholarships, financial
aid, and preparation of the Federal Application for Federal
Student Aid;
(12) collaborating with institutions of higher
education and local community colleges so that students
understand post-secondary education options and are ready
to transition successfully;
(13) providing crisis intervention and contributing to
the development of a specific crisis plan within the school
setting in collaboration with multiple stakeholders;
(14) educating students, teachers, and parents on
anxiety, depression, cutting, and suicide issues and
intervening with students who present with these issues;
(15) providing counseling and other resources to
students who are in crisis;
(16) providing resources for those students who do not
have access to mental health services;
(17) addressing bullying and conflict resolution with
all students;
(18) teaching communication skills and helping
students develop positive relationships;
(19) using culturally-sensitive skills in working with
all students to promote wellness;
(20) addressing the needs of undocumented students in
the school, as well as students who are legally in the
United States, but whose parents are undocumented;
(21) contributing to a student's functional behavioral
assessment, as well as assisting in the development of
non-aversive behavioral intervention strategies;
(22) (i) assisting actively supporting students in
need of special education services by implementing the
academic supports and social-emotional and college or
career development counseling services or interventions
per a student's individualized education program (IEP);
(ii) facilitating, participating in, or contributing to a
student's individualized education plan (IEP) and
completing a social-developmental history; or (iii)
providing services to a student with a disability under the
student's IEP or federal Section 504 plan, as recommended
by the student's IEP team or Section 504 plan team and in
compliance with federal and State laws and rules governing
the provision of educational and related services and
school-based accommodations to students with disabilities
and the qualifications of school personnel to provide such
services and accommodations;
(23) assisting in the development of a personal
educational plan with each student;
(24) educating students on dual credit and learning
opportunities on the Internet;
(25) providing information for all students in the
selection of courses that will lead to post-secondary
education opportunities toward a successful career;
(26) interpreting achievement test results and guiding
students in appropriate directions;
(27) counseling with students, families, and teachers,
in compliance with federal and State laws accordance with
the rules and regulations governing the provision of
related services;
(28) providing families with opportunities for
education and counseling as appropriate in relation to the
student's educational assessment;
(29) consulting and collaborating with teachers and
other school personnel regarding behavior management and
intervention plans and inclusion in support of students;
(30) teaming and partnering with staff, parents,
businesses, and community organizations to support student
achievement and social-emotional learning standards for
all students;
(31) developing and implementing school-based
prevention programs, including, but not limited to,
mediation and violence prevention, implementing social and
emotional education programs and services, and
establishing and implementing bullying prevention and
intervention programs;
(32) developing culturally-sensitive assessment
instruments for measuring school counseling prevention and
intervention effectiveness and collecting, analyzing, and
interpreting data;
(33) participating on school and district committees
to advocate for student programs and resources, as well as
establishing a school counseling advisory council that
includes representatives of key stakeholders selected to
review and advise on the implementation of the school
counseling program;
(34) acting as a liaison between the public schools and
community resources and building relationships with
important stakeholders, such as families, administrators,
teachers, and board members;
(35) maintaining organized, clear, and useful records
in a confidential manner consistent with Section 5 of the
Illinois School Student Records Act, the Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act, and the Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act;
(36) presenting an annual agreement to the
administration, including a formal discussion of the
alignment of school and school counseling program missions
and goals and detailing specific school counselor
responsibilities;
(37) identifying and implementing culturally-sensitive
measures of success for student competencies in each of the
3 domains of academic, social and emotional, and college
and career learning based on planned and periodic
assessment of the comprehensive developmental school
counseling program;
(38) collaborating as a team member in Response to
Intervention (RtI) and other school initiatives;
(39) conducting observations and participating in
recommendations or interventions regarding the placement
of children in educational programs or special education
classes;
(40) analyzing data and results of school counseling
program assessments, including curriculum, small-group,
and closing-the-gap results reports, and designing
strategies to continue to improve program effectiveness;
(41) analyzing data and results of school counselor
competency assessments;
(42) following American School Counselor Association
Ethical Standards for School Counselors to demonstrate
high standards of integrity, leadership, and
professionalism;
(43) knowing and embracing common core standards by
using common core language;
(44) practicing as a culturally-skilled school
counselor by infusing the multicultural competencies
within the role of the school counselor, including the
practice of culturally-sensitive attitudes and beliefs,
knowledge, and skills;
(45) infusing the Social-Emotional Standards, as
presented in the State Board of Education standards, across
the curriculum and in the counselor's role in ways that
empower and enable students to achieve academic success
across all grade levels;
(46) providing services only in areas in which the
school counselor has appropriate training or expertise, as
well as only providing counseling or consulting services
within his or her employment to any student in the district
or districts which employ such school counselor, in
accordance with professional ethics;
(47) having adequate training in supervision knowledge
and skills in order to supervise school counseling interns
enrolled in graduate school counselor preparation programs
that meet the standards established by the State Board of
Education;
(48) being involved with State and national
professional associations;
(49) participating, at least once every 2 years, in an
in-service training program for school counselors
conducted by persons with expertise in domestic and sexual
violence and the needs of expectant and parenting youth,
which shall include training concerning (i) communicating
with and listening to youth victims of domestic or sexual
violence and expectant and parenting youth, (ii)
connecting youth victims of domestic or sexual violence and
expectant and parenting youth to appropriate in-school
services and other agencies, programs, and services as
needed, and (iii) implementing the school district's
policies, procedures, and protocols with regard to such
youth, including confidentiality; at a minimum, school
personnel must be trained to understand, provide
information and referrals, and address issues pertaining
to youth who are parents, expectant parents, or victims of
domestic or sexual violence;
(50) participating, at least every 2 years, in an
in-service training program for school counselors
conducted by persons with expertise in anaphylactic
reactions and management;
(51) participating, at least once every 2 years, in an
in-service training on educator ethics, teacher-student
conduct, and school employee-student conduct for all
personnel;
(52) participating, in addition to other topics at
in-service training programs, in training to identify the
warning signs of mental illness and suicidal behavior in
adolescents and teenagers and learning appropriate
intervention and referral techniques;
(53) obtaining training to have a basic knowledge of
matters relating to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
(AIDS), including the nature of the disease, its causes and
effects, the means of detecting it and preventing its
transmission, and the availability of appropriate sources
of counseling and referral and any other information that
may be appropriate considering the age and grade level of
the pupils; the school board shall supervise such training
and the State Board of Education and the Department of
Public Health shall jointly develop standards for such
training; and
(54) participating in mandates from the State Board of
Education for bullying education and social-emotional
literary.
School districts may employ a sufficient number of school
counselors to maintain the national and State recommended
student-counselor ratio of 250 to 1. School districts may have
school counselors spend at least 80% of his or her work time in
direct contact with students.
Nothing in this Section prohibits other qualified
professionals, including other endorsed school support
personnel, from providing the services listed in this Section.
(Source: P.A. 98-918, eff. 8-15-14.)
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