(a)  The governing board of a small school district, which does not employ persons charged with school–community duties of counseling students and parents or guardians in their homes, may contract with any qualified social service agency or organization to secure the services, on a part–time or full–time basis, of qualified social workers as counselors in schools and in the homes of pupils. The State Board of Education shall adopt rules and regulations for the implementation of this section, but such social workers shall not be required to hold credentials or certification documents otherwise required under this code for service in the public schools.

(b)  Social workers authorized to serve under this section, as well as credentialed school social workers in districts other than small school districts, may perform, but are not limited to, the performance of the following service to children, parents, school personnel, and community agencies:

• (1)  Group and individual counseling and casework with parents and children relating to learning and adjustment problems of children, including parent education.
• (2)  Liaison with community resources offering services to schoolchildren and their families.
• (3)  Consultation with parents and others in crisis situations, such as truancy, drug abuse, suicide threats, assaults, and child abuse.
• (4)  Assessment of social and behavioral disabilities affecting learning, including but not limited to case study evaluation, recommendations for remediation or placement, and periodic reevaluation.
• (5)  Participation in and coordination of staff development programs for professional, paraprofessional, and classified school staff and supervision of pupil personnel services workers.
• (6)  Coordination of social service and mental health components of children’s centers and other early childhood development programs in the public schools.
• (7)  Consultation and collaboration with school personnel to promote a school environment responsive to the needs of children and the planning of educational programs which will prepare children to function in a culturally diversified society.

(c)  As used in this section “small school district” means any of the following school districts:

• (1)  A unified school district having an average daily attendance of less than 1,501.
• (2)  A high school district having an average daily attendance of less than 301.
• (3)  An elementary school district having an average daily attendance of less than 901.

The governing board may require a pupil who is expelled from school for reasons relating to controlled substances, as defined in Sections 11054 to 11058, inclusive, of the Health and Safety Code, or alcohol, prior to returning to school to enroll in a county–supported drug rehabilitation program. No pupil shall be required to enroll in a rehabilitation program pursuant to this section without the consent of his or her parent or guardian.

The superintendent shall award grants to a local educational agency or consortium to pay the costs of planning and operating, on behalf of one or more qualifying schools within the local educational agency or consortium, programs that provide support services to pupils and their families at or near the school, as follows: (g) For purposes of this chapter, support services shall include case–managed health, mental health, social, and academic support services benefiting children and their families, and may include, but are not limited to: (3) Substance abuse prevention and treatment services.