Bill Text: NY A09750 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requires the commissioner of education, in conjunction with the commissioner of health and the commissioner of mental health, to develop model mental health screenings for students and associated guidelines to assist school mental health screeners to perform mental health screening services to identify concerns in students' mental health.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 8-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-04-03 - referred to education [A09750 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A09750-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          9750

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                      April 3, 2024
                                       ___________

        Introduced by M. of A. E. BROWN -- read once and referred to the Commit-
          tee on Education

        AN  ACT to amend the education law, in relation to requiring the commis-
          sioner to develop model mental  health  screenings  for  students  and
          associated  guidelines  to  assist  school  mental health screeners to
          perform mental health screening services

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 912-c
     2  to read as follows:
     3    § 912-c. Student mental health screening.  1.  For  purposes  of  this
     4  section,  "school  mental  health screener" shall mean a school psychol-
     5  ogist, school social worker, or a health professional or other  employee
     6  of  a  school  as deemed appropriate by the commissioner, in conjunction
     7  with the commissioner of health and the commissioner of  mental  health,
     8  to perform a mental health screening pursuant to this section.
     9    2.  The  commissioner,  in conjunction with the commissioner of health
    10  and the commissioner of mental health, shall develop model mental health
    11  screenings and associated guidelines  to  assist  school  mental  health
    12  screeners  to  perform  mental  health  screening  services  to identify
    13  current or emerging concerns in students' mental health. The  guidelines
    14  shall  include varying mental health screening models that correspond to
    15  the differing levels of trained or licensed health professionals  avail-
    16  able in school districts across the state.
    17    3. Model mental health screenings shall be designed to screen individ-
    18  uals  for  depression,  anxiety, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress
    19  disorder (PTSD), early  psychosis,  or  potential  addiction  disorders.
    20  Models  may differ in their ability to detect each listed mental illness
    21  in correspondence with the commissioners' recommendations regarding  the
    22  appropriate levels of training or licensed professionals required.
    23    4. The guidelines shall include, but shall not be limited to:
    24    a. recommendations for the frequency of such mental health screenings;
    25    b.  instruction  for the confidential maintenance of health records in
    26  compliance with the appropriate federal and state  laws,  including  the

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD11568-03-4
        A. 9750                             2

     1  Family  Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Health Insur-
     2  ance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA);
     3    c.  the  appropriate  level  of  training or licensed professionals to
     4  perform each model mental health screening variation;
     5    d. information regarding how to report screening results to the appro-
     6  priate agencies;
     7    e. recommendations for incorporating  such  mental  health  screenings
     8  into health examinations performed by other health professionals;
     9    f.  signs  and  symptoms  of  mental illnesses that are most prevalent
    10  among the student population in New York; and
    11    g. resources to provide to those  students  who  may  need  access  to
    12  further  mental  health  treatment  at the conclusion of a screening, as
    13  decided by the health official administering such screening.
    14    5. The commissioner shall make the model mental health screenings  and
    15  associated  guidelines,  and  any  other materials developed pursuant to
    16  this section available to the public on the department's website and  to
    17  appropriate  school district officials upon request at no charge.  Noth-
    18  ing in this section shall be construed  as  to  require  any  school  or
    19  school district to use any such model mental health screenings or guide-
    20  lines  developed  pursuant  to  this  section, nor shall this section be
    21  construed as to require any school or school district to perform  mental
    22  health screenings.
    23    §  2. This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a
    24  law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any
    25  rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act  on  its
    26  effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such
    27  effective date.