Bill Text: CA AB2003 | 2025-2026 | Regular Session | Amended
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Pupil health: suicide prevention.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5)
Status: (Engrossed) 2026-06-03 - Referred to Com. on ED. [AB2003 Detail]
Download: California-2025-AB2003-Amended.html
MAJORITY2/3
Appropriation:
NO
Fiscal Committee:
YES
Local Program:
NO
(1)Data data is reported in a deidentified, aggregate format that protects pupil privacy consistent with state and federal data privacy laws.
Bill Title: Pupil health: suicide prevention.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5)
Status: (Engrossed) 2026-06-03 - Referred to Com. on ED. [AB2003 Detail]
Download: California-2025-AB2003-Amended.html
|
Amended
IN
Assembly
March 26, 2026 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 2003
| Introduced by Assembly Member Berman |
February 17, 2026 |
An act to amend Sections 216 of, and to add Section 216.5 to, the Education Code, relating to pupil health. health, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2003, as amended, Berman.
Pupil health: suicide prevention.
Existing law requires the State Department of Education to identify an evidence-based online training program that a county office of education, school district, state special school, or charter school that serves pupils in grades 7 to 12, inclusive, can use to train school staff and pupils as part of their policy on pupil suicide prevention. Existing law requires the department, subject to an appropriation for these purposes, to provide a grant to a county office of education to acquire a training program identified by the department and disseminate that training program at no cost to specified educational entities, as specified.
This bill would revise and recast these provisions by (1) deleting the requirement to provide the above-described grant, (2) deleting the requirement of the department to identify the above-described evidence-based
online training program, (3) instead requiring the Behavioral Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission to develop an online training program to train school staff, parents, and pupils of county offices of education, school districts, state special schools, and charter schools that serve pupils in kindergarten or in any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, on pupil suicide prevention, as specified. The bill would require those educational entities that elect to conduct suicide risk screenings to report data on these screenings report, on or before June 30, 2027, and June 30 annually thereafter, the number of pupils screened, and which screening instruments were used, for the reporting year, to the department, as provided, and would require the department to compile and post statewide aggregate data on these
screenings on its internet website, as provided.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Digest Key
Vote:Bill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 216 of the Education Code is amended to read:216.
(a) The Behavioral Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission shall, in consultation with the department and the State Department of Public Health, develop an evidence based online training program that is accessible, free of charge, and available statewide to train school staff, pupils, and parents as part of the local educational agency’s policy on pupil suicide prevention adopted pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 215.(b) In developing an online training program pursuant to subdivision (a), the Behavioral Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission
shall ensure all of the following:
(1) The training program is evidence based, trauma informed, and culturally and linguistically competent.
(2) The training program is consistent with the model pupil suicide prevention policy developed by the department pursuant to paragraph (5) of subdivision (a) of Section 215.
(3) The training program addresses the needs of high-risk groups as specified in paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 215.
(4) The training program can track aggregate, statewide usage.
(5) The training program can assess trainee knowledge before and after training is provided in order
to measure training outcomes.
(c) For purposes of this section, “local educational agency” means a county office of education, school district, state special school, or charter school that serves pupils in kindergarten or in any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive.
SEC. 2.
Section 216.5 is added to the Education Code, to read:216.5.
(a) For purposes of this section, “local educational agency” means a county office of education, school district, state special school, or charter school that serves pupils in kindergarten or in any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive.(b) A local educational agency that conducts suicide risk screenings, including as provided under a school-linked behavioral health program or the local educational agency’s policy on pupil suicide prevention adopted pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 215, shall report data on those screenings
report, on or before June 30, 2027, and June 30 annually thereafter, the number of pupils screened, and which screening instruments were used, for the reporting year, to the department.
(c) In collecting and reporting data pursuant to subdivision (b), the local educational agency shall ensure that all of the following
occurs:
(2)Data is consistent with the requirements of the model pupil suicide prevention policy developed by the department pursuant to paragraph (5) of subdivision (a) of Section 215.
(3)Data includes, but is not limited to, the number of screenings conducted and all of the following information for each screening:
(A)The pupil’s age.
(B)The pupil’s grade.
(C)The pupil’s gender.
(D)The pupil’s race.
(E)The pupil’s ethnicity.
(F)The severity level of suicide risk identified.
(G)Whether the pupil is identified as belonging to any high-risk groups, including, but not limited to, high-risk groups as defined in paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 215, or any other high-risk groups identified in the local educational agency’s policy on pupil suicide prevention adopted pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 215, to the extent known and applicable.
(H)Any other relevant data that may support local suicide prevention efforts.
(4)Data is reported to the department on at least an annual basis.
(d) The department shall compile the data reported pursuant to this section and post statewide aggregate data on its internet website to inform policy and program development.
(e) To promote consistency across behavioral health systems statewide, the department shall coordinate data collection efforts made pursuant to this section with the State Department of Health Care Services, including, as appropriate, data collection frameworks established under the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative and the school-linked statewide fee schedule established pursuant to Section 5961.4 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
SEC. 3.
This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the California Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:To ensure that the training required in Section 216 of the Education Code is developed expeditiously for use by local educational agencies as part of their suicide prevention efforts, it is necessary for this act to take effect immediately.
