Bill Text: TX HB1386 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Relating to the public health threat presented by youth suicide and the qualification of certain persons serving as marriage and family therapists in school districts.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)
Status: (Passed) 2011-06-17 - Effective immediately [HB1386 Detail]
Download: Texas-2011-HB1386-Enrolled.html
H.B. No. 1386 |
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relating to the public health threat presented by youth suicide and | ||
the qualification of certain persons serving as marriage and family | ||
therapists in school districts. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. This Act is dedicated to every child who has | ||
fallen victim to severe emotional trauma. | ||
SECTION 2. The legislature finds that: | ||
(1) the United States Surgeon General's Report on | ||
Children's Mental Health estimates that one in five children and | ||
adolescents will experience a significant mental health problem | ||
during their school years; | ||
(2) during elementary school years, children are in an | ||
ongoing developmental process where it is crucial that healthy | ||
mental and behavioral development be promoted and that a solid | ||
foundation in social-emotional skills and capacities be built; | ||
(3) adolescence is a period of significant change, | ||
during which youth are faced with a myriad of pressures; | ||
(4) the pressures facing youth during adolescence | ||
include pressures relating to adapting to bodily changes, | ||
succeeding academically, making college and career decisions, | ||
being accepted by peers, including pressure to engage in drugs, | ||
alcohol, and sex, measuring up to expectations of others, and | ||
coping with family and peer conflicts; | ||
(5) increased levels of victimization also lead to | ||
increased levels of depression and anxiety and decreased levels of | ||
self-esteem; | ||
(6) emotional trauma and mental health issues, if left | ||
unaddressed, can lead and have led to life-threatening violence and | ||
suicide; | ||
(7) suicide committed by youth continues to present a | ||
public health threat that endangers the well-being of the youth of | ||
the state; | ||
(8) suicide is the third leading cause of death for | ||
persons who are at least 15 years of age but younger than 25 years of | ||
age and the sixth leading cause of death for persons who are at | ||
least 5 years of age but younger than 15 years of age; and | ||
(9) it is of the utmost importance to keep children and | ||
adolescents mentally healthy and on a course to become mentally | ||
healthy adults. | ||
SECTION 3. Chapter 161, Health and Safety Code, is amended | ||
by adding Subchapter O-1 to read as follows: | ||
SUBCHAPTER O-1. EARLY MENTAL HEALTH INTERVENTION AND PREVENTION OF | ||
YOUTH SUICIDE | ||
Sec. 161.325. EARLY MENTAL HEALTH INTERVENTION AND SUICIDE | ||
PREVENTION. (a) The department, in coordination with the Texas | ||
Education Agency, shall provide and annually update a list of | ||
recommended best practice-based early mental health intervention | ||
and suicide prevention programs for implementation in public | ||
elementary, junior high, middle, and high schools within the | ||
general education setting. Each school district may select from | ||
the list a program or programs appropriate for implementation in | ||
the district. | ||
(b) The programs on the list must include components that | ||
provide for training counselors, teachers, nurses, administrators, | ||
and other staff, as well as law enforcement officers and social | ||
workers who regularly interact with students, to: | ||
(1) recognize students at risk of committing suicide, | ||
including students who are or may be the victims of or who engage in | ||
bullying; | ||
(2) recognize students displaying early warning signs | ||
and a possible need for early mental health intervention, which | ||
warning signs may include declining academic performance, | ||
depression, anxiety, isolation, unexplained changes in sleep or | ||
eating habits, and destructive behavior toward self and others; and | ||
(3) intervene effectively with students described by | ||
Subdivision (1) or (2) by providing notice and referral to a parent | ||
or guardian so appropriate action, such as seeking mental health | ||
services, may be taken by a parent or guardian. | ||
(c) In developing the list of programs, the department and | ||
the Texas Education Agency shall consider: | ||
(1) any existing suicide prevention method developed | ||
by a school district; and | ||
(2) any Internet or online course or program developed | ||
in this state or another state that is based on best practices | ||
recognized by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services | ||
Administration or the Suicide Prevention Resource Center. | ||
(d) The board of trustees of each school district may adopt | ||
a policy concerning early mental health intervention and suicide | ||
prevention that: | ||
(1) establishes a procedure for providing notice of a | ||
recommendation for early mental health intervention regarding a | ||
student to a parent or guardian of the student within a reasonable | ||
amount of time after the identification of early warning signs as | ||
described by Subsection (b)(2); | ||
(2) establishes a procedure for providing notice of a | ||
student identified as at risk of committing suicide to a parent or | ||
guardian of the student within a reasonable amount of time after the | ||
identification of early warning signs as described by Subsection | ||
(b)(2); | ||
(3) establishes that the district may develop a | ||
reporting mechanism and may designate at least one person to act as | ||
a liaison officer in the district for the purposes of identifying | ||
students in need of early mental health intervention or suicide | ||
prevention; and | ||
(4) sets out available counseling alternatives for a | ||
parent or guardian to consider when their child is identified as | ||
possibly being in need of early mental health intervention or | ||
suicide prevention. | ||
(e) The policy must prohibit the use without the prior | ||
consent of a student's parent or guardian of a medical screening of | ||
the student as part of the process of identifying whether the | ||
student is possibly in need of early mental health intervention or | ||
suicide prevention. | ||
(f) The policy and any necessary procedures adopted under | ||
Subsection (d) must be included in: | ||
(1) the annual student handbook; and | ||
(2) the district improvement plan under Section | ||
11.252, Education Code. | ||
(g) The department may accept donations for purposes of this | ||
section from sources without a conflict of interest. The | ||
department may not accept donations for purposes of this section | ||
from an anonymous source. | ||
(h) Not later than January 1, 2013, the department shall | ||
submit a report to the legislature relating to the development of | ||
the list of programs and the implementation in school districts of | ||
selected programs by school districts that choose to implement | ||
programs. This subsection expires September 1, 2013. | ||
(i) Nothing in this section is intended to interfere with | ||
the rights of parents or guardians and the decision-making | ||
regarding the best interest of the child. Policy and procedures | ||
adopted in accordance with this section are intended to notify a | ||
parent or guardian of a need for mental health intervention so that | ||
a parent or guardian may take appropriate action. Nothing in this | ||
section shall be construed as giving school districts the authority | ||
to prescribe medications. Any and all medical decisions are to be | ||
made by a parent or guardian of a student. | ||
SECTION 4. Section 11.252(a), Education Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
(a) Each school district shall have a district improvement | ||
plan that is developed, evaluated, and revised annually, in | ||
accordance with district policy, by the superintendent with the | ||
assistance of the district-level committee established under | ||
Section 11.251. The purpose of the district improvement plan is to | ||
guide district and campus staff in the improvement of student | ||
performance for all student groups in order to attain state | ||
standards in respect to the student achievement indicators adopted | ||
under Section 39.053. The district improvement plan must include | ||
provisions for: | ||
(1) a comprehensive needs assessment addressing | ||
district student performance on the student achievement | ||
indicators, and other appropriate measures of performance, that are | ||
disaggregated by all student groups served by the district, | ||
including categories of ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sex, and | ||
populations served by special programs, including students in | ||
special education programs under Subchapter A, Chapter 29; | ||
(2) measurable district performance objectives for | ||
all appropriate student achievement indicators for all student | ||
populations, including students in special education programs | ||
under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, and other measures of student | ||
performance that may be identified through the comprehensive needs | ||
assessment; | ||
(3) strategies for improvement of student performance | ||
that include: | ||
(A) instructional methods for addressing the | ||
needs of student groups not achieving their full potential; | ||
(B) methods for addressing the needs of students | ||
for special programs, including: | ||
(i) [ |
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in accordance with Subchapter O-1, Chapter 161, Health and Safety | ||
Code, which includes a parental or guardian notification procedure; | ||
(ii) [ |
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(iii) [ |
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(iv) [ |
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(C) dropout reduction; | ||
(D) integration of technology in instructional | ||
and administrative programs; | ||
(E) discipline management; | ||
(F) staff development for professional staff of | ||
the district; | ||
(G) career education to assist students in | ||
developing the knowledge, skills, and competencies necessary for a | ||
broad range of career opportunities; and | ||
(H) accelerated education; | ||
(4) strategies for providing to middle school, junior | ||
high school, and high school students, those students' teachers and | ||
counselors, and those students' parents information about: | ||
(A) higher education admissions and financial | ||
aid opportunities; | ||
(B) the TEXAS grant program and the Teach for | ||
Texas grant program established under Chapter 56; | ||
(C) the need for students to make informed | ||
curriculum choices to be prepared for success beyond high school; | ||
and | ||
(D) sources of information on higher education | ||
admissions and financial aid; | ||
(5) resources needed to implement identified | ||
strategies; | ||
(6) staff responsible for ensuring the accomplishment | ||
of each strategy; | ||
(7) timelines for ongoing monitoring of the | ||
implementation of each improvement strategy; and | ||
(8) formative evaluation criteria for determining | ||
periodically whether strategies are resulting in intended | ||
improvement of student performance. | ||
SECTION 5. Section 21.003(b), Education Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
(b) Except as otherwise provided by this subsection, a [ |
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person may not be employed by a school district as an audiologist, | ||
occupational therapist, physical therapist, physician, nurse, | ||
school psychologist, associate school psychologist, marriage and | ||
family therapist, social worker, or speech language pathologist | ||
unless the person is licensed by the state agency that licenses that | ||
profession and[ |
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those professions for a school district only if the person holds the | ||
appropriate credential from the appropriate state agency. As long | ||
as a person employed by a district before September 1, 2011, to | ||
perform marriage and family therapy, as defined by Section 502.002, | ||
Occupations Code, is employed by the same district, the person is | ||
not required to hold a license as a marriage and family therapist to | ||
perform marriage and family therapy with that district. | ||
SECTION 6. Section 502.004, Occupations Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
Sec. 502.004. APPLICATION OF CHAPTER. This chapter does | ||
not apply to: | ||
(1) the activities, within the scope of a person's | ||
employment, of a person employed to perform marriage and family | ||
therapy by a federal, state, county, or municipal agency or, except | ||
as provided by Section 21.003(b), Education Code, by a public or | ||
private educational institution[ |
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(2) the activities of a student, intern, or trainee in | ||
marriage and family therapy in a recognized course of study in | ||
marriage and family therapy at an accredited institution of higher | ||
education or other training institution, if: | ||
(A) the activities constitute a part of the | ||
course of study; and | ||
(B) the person is called a "marriage and family | ||
therapist intern" or similar title; | ||
(3) the activities and services of a person licensed | ||
to practice another profession, including a physician, attorney, | ||
registered nurse, occupational therapist, psychologist, social | ||
worker, or licensed professional counselor; or | ||
(4) the activities and services of a recognized | ||
religious practitioner, including a pastoral counselor or | ||
Christian Science practitioner recognized by the Church of Christ | ||
Scientist as registered and published in the Christian Science | ||
Journal, if the practitioner practices marriage and family therapy | ||
in a manner consistent with the laws of this state. | ||
SECTION 7. As soon as practicable after the effective date | ||
of this Act, the State Board for Educator Certification shall | ||
propose rules for the administration of Section 21.003(b), | ||
Education Code, as amended by this Act. | ||
SECTION 8. This Act applies beginning with the 2012-2013 | ||
school year. | ||
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives | ||
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as | ||
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this | ||
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this | ||
Act takes effect September 1, 2011. | ||
______________________________ | ______________________________ | |
President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | |
I certify that H.B. No. 1386 was passed by the House on May | ||
13, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 107, Nays 29, 3 present, not | ||
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B. | ||
No. 1386 on May 26, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 111, Nays 32, | ||
1 present, not voting. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Chief Clerk of the House | ||
I certify that H.B. No. 1386 was passed by the Senate, with | ||
amendments, on May 23, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 28, Nays | ||
3. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Secretary of the Senate | ||
APPROVED: __________________ | ||
Date | ||
__________________ | ||
Governor |