Florida Senate - 2019                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. CS for SB 7030
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì662486IÎ662486                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  04/12/2019           .                                
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       The Committee on Appropriations (Passidomo) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment to Amendment (313546) (with directory and
    2  title amendments)
    3  
    4         Between lines 906 and 907
    5  insert:
    6         (16) MENTAL HEALTH ASSISTANCE ALLOCATION.—The mental health
    7  assistance allocation is created to provide funding to assist
    8  school districts in establishing or expanding school-based
    9  mental health care and mental health programs that increase
   10  awareness of mental health issues among children and school-age
   11  youth; train educators and other school staff in detecting and
   12  responding to mental health issues; and connect children, youth,
   13  and families who may experience behavioral health issues with
   14  appropriate services. These funds shall be allocated annually in
   15  the General Appropriations Act or other law to each eligible
   16  school district. Each school district shall receive a minimum of
   17  $100,000, with the remaining balance allocated based on each
   18  school district’s proportionate share of the state’s total
   19  unweighted full-time equivalent student enrollment. Eligible
   20  Charter schools that submit a plan separate from the school
   21  district are entitled to a proportionate share of district
   22  funding. At least 90 percent of a district’s allocation must be
   23  expended on the elements specified in subparagraphs (b)1. and 2.
   24  The allocated funds may not supplant funds that are provided for
   25  this purpose from other operating funds and may not be used to
   26  increase salaries or provide bonuses. School districts are
   27  encouraged to maximize third-party third party health insurance
   28  benefits and Medicaid claiming for services, where appropriate.
   29         (a) Before the distribution of the allocation:
   30         1. The school district must develop and submit a detailed
   31  plan outlining the local program and planned expenditures to the
   32  district school board for approval. This plan must include all
   33  district schools, including charter schools, unless a charter
   34  school elects to submit a plan independently from the school
   35  district pursuant to subparagraph 2.
   36         2. A charter school may must develop and submit a detailed
   37  plan outlining the local program and planned expenditures to its
   38  governing body for approval. After the plan is approved by the
   39  governing body, it must be provided to the charter school’s
   40  sponsor.
   41         (b) The plans required under paragraph (a) must be focused
   42  on a multi-tiered system of supports to deliver delivering
   43  evidence-based mental health care assessment, diagnosis,
   44  intervention, treatment, and recovery services to students with
   45  one or more mental health or co-occurring substance abuse
   46  diagnoses and to students at high risk of such diagnoses. The
   47  provision of these services must be coordinated with a student’s
   48  primary mental health care provider and with other mental health
   49  providers involved in the student’s care. At a minimum, the
   50  plans must treatment to children and include the following
   51  elements:
   52         1. Direct employment of school-based mental health services
   53  providers to expand and enhance school-based student services
   54  and to reduce the ratio of students to staff in order to better
   55  align with nationally recommended ratio models. These providers
   56  include, but are not limited to, school counselors, school
   57  health staff, school psychologists, school social workers, and
   58  other licensed mental health professionals. The plan also must
   59  identify strategies to increase the amount of time that school
   60  based student services personnel spend providing direct services
   61  to students, which may include the review and revision of
   62  district staffing resource allocations based on school or
   63  student mental health assistance needs Provision of mental
   64  health assessment, diagnosis, intervention, treatment, and
   65  recovery services to students with one or more mental health or
   66  co-occurring substance abuse diagnoses and students at high risk
   67  of such diagnoses.
   68         2. Contracts or interagency agreements with one or more
   69  nationally accredited local community behavioral health
   70  providers or providers of Community Action Team services to
   71  provide a behavioral health staff presence and services at
   72  district schools. Services may include, but are not limited to,
   73  mental health screenings and assessments, individual counseling,
   74  family counseling, group counseling, psychiatric or
   75  psychological services, trauma-informed care, mobile crisis
   76  services, and behavior modification. These behavioral health
   77  services may be provided on or off the school campus and may be
   78  supplemented by telehealth Coordination of such services with a
   79  student’s primary care provider and with other mental health
   80  providers involved in the student’s care.
   81         3. Policies and procedures, including contracts with
   82  service providers, which will ensure that students who are
   83  referred to a school-based or community-based mental health
   84  service provider for mental health screening for the
   85  identification of mental health concerns and ensure that the
   86  assessment of students at risk for mental health disorders
   87  occurs within 15 days of referral. School-based mental health
   88  services must be initiated within 15 days after identification
   89  and assessment, and support by community-based mental health
   90  service providers for students who are referred for community
   91  based mental health services must be initiated within 30 days
   92  after the school or district makes a referral Direct employment
   93  such service providers, or a contract-based collaborative effort
   94  or partnership with one or more local community mental health
   95  programs, agencies, or providers.
   96         4.Programs to assist students in dealing with anxiety,
   97  depression, bullying, trauma, and violence.
   98         5. Strategies or programs to reduce the likelihood of at
   99  risk students developing social, emotional, or behavioral health
  100  problems, suicidal tendencies, or substance use disorders.
  101         6. Strategies to improve the early identification of
  102  social, emotional, or behavioral problems or substance use
  103  disorders and to improve the provision of early intervention
  104  services.
  105         7.Information and data on the following:
  106         a. The number and types of school-based student services
  107  personnel employed from the funds provided through the
  108  allocation;
  109         b. The number of students who received school-based mental
  110  health interventions during the prior school year; and
  111         c. The number of students referred to community-based
  112  mental health care providers for services during the prior
  113  school year.
  114         (c) School districts shall submit approved plans, including
  115  approved plans of each charter school in the district, to the
  116  commissioner by August 1 of each fiscal year.
  117         (d) Beginning September 30, 2019, and annually by September
  118  30 thereafter, each school district shall submit to the
  119  Department of Education a report on its program outcomes and
  120  expenditures for the previous fiscal year that, at a minimum,
  121  must include the number of each of the following:
  122         1. Students who receive screenings or assessments.
  123         2. Students who are referred for services or assistance.
  124         3. Students who receive services or assistance.
  125         4. Direct employment service providers employed by each
  126  school district.
  127         5. Contract-based collaborative efforts or partnerships
  128  with community mental health programs, agencies, or providers.
  129  
  130  ====== D I R E C T O R Y  C L A U S E  A M E N D M E N T ======
  131  And the directory clause is amended as follows:
  132         Delete lines 845 - 848
  133  and insert:
  134         Section 14. Effective July 1, 2019, paragraph (b) of
  135  subsection (6), subsection (15), as amended by this act, and
  136  subsection (16) of section 1011.62, Florida Statutes, are
  137  amended to read:
  138  
  139  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  140  And the title is amended as follows:
  141         Between lines 1091 and 1092
  142  insert:
  143         expanding the purpose of the mental health assistance
  144         allocation; providing that charter schools that take a
  145         specified action are entitled to a proportionate share
  146         of certain funding; deleting a requirement that
  147         restricted to certain elements how a specified
  148         percentage of a district’s mental health assistance
  149         allocation could be expended; revising requirements
  150         for a plan required to be developed by school
  151         districts before distribution of such allocation;
  152         requiring that the plans include charter schools,
  153         except in certain circumstances; authorizing, rather
  154         than requiring, charter schools to develop and submit
  155         a specified plan; revising requirements for school
  156         districts’ and charter schools’ plans; deleting a
  157         requirement for school districts to submit a specified
  158         report to the department;