Florida Senate - 2025 SB 1310
By Senator Bradley
6-01457A-25 20251310__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the reporting of student mental
3 health outcomes; creating s. 394.4575, F.S.; requiring
4 the Department of Children and Families to annually
5 submit a specified evaluation to the Governor and
6 Legislature by a specified date; providing evaluation
7 requirements; requiring the department to create a
8 survey tool for specified purposes; authorizing the
9 department to include survey results in the
10 evaluation; amending s. 1001.212, F.S.; requiring the
11 coordinator to report specified referrals to the
12 department for reporting and evaluation purposes;
13 deleting an obsolete provision; amending s. 1006.041,
14 F.S.; requiring each school district to provide
15 specified information to the department for reporting
16 and evaluation purposes; revising certain plan
17 requirements to include mobile response teams;
18 removing a provision authorizing a mental health
19 professional to be available to the school district
20 through specified agreements; requiring each school
21 district to submit certain approved plans and reports
22 to the Department of Children and Families rather than
23 the Department of Education; requiring the Department
24 of Children and Families to annually certify receipt
25 of and compliance with certain requirements to the
26 Department of Education by specified dates; amending
27 s. 1006.07, F.S.; requiring each district school
28 board’s mental health coordinator to serve as the
29 Department of Children and Families’ primary point of
30 contact and coordinate with the department to prepare
31 certain evaluations; requiring the coordinator to
32 annually provide certain policies and procedures to
33 the department; revising membership of a threat
34 management team to include specified mental health
35 providers; requiring the team to provide specified
36 information to the department for reporting and
37 evaluation purposes; requiring a threat management
38 coordinator to report certain data to the department;
39 amending s. 1012.584, F.S.; requiring each school
40 district to notify certain school personnel of the
41 availability of specified mental health providers;
42 providing an effective date.
43
44 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
45
46 Section 1. Section 394.4575, Florida Statutes, is created
47 to read:
48 394.4575 Student mental health assistance program
49 evaluation.—
50 (1) On or before December 1 each year, the department shall
51 submit to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the
52 Speaker of the House of Representatives and publish on its
53 website an evaluation of mental health services and supports
54 provided to students pursuant to ss. 1001.212(11), 1006.041, and
55 1012.584(4). The department shall provide an evaluation of
56 expenditure plans and program outcome reports submitted by
57 school districts as required in s. 1006.041, and assess
58 treatment outcomes and the effectiveness of mental health
59 services provided pursuant to s. 1006.041(2)(a) and (b). The
60 department shall also utilize other relevant information
61 collected by the department to evaluate treatment outcomes,
62 system capacity, and performance. School district threat
63 management coordinators and mental health coordinators as
64 described in s. 1006.07 shall provide information and reports to
65 the department for evaluation and inclusion in the report.
66 (2) The department shall create a survey tool for students
67 using mental health services and supports described in this
68 section for the purpose of assessing the patient experience and
69 self-reported treatment outcomes. The results shall be
70 deidentified before being transmitted to the department.
71 Students or their parents or legal guardians may complete the
72 survey. The department may include survey results in the annual
73 evaluation under subsection (1).
74 Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (11) of section
75 1001.212, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
76 1001.212 Office of Safe Schools.—There is created in the
77 Department of Education the Office of Safe Schools. The office
78 is fully accountable to the Commissioner of Education. The
79 office shall serve as a central repository for best practices,
80 training standards, and compliance oversight in all matters
81 regarding school safety and security, including prevention
82 efforts, intervention efforts, and emergency preparedness
83 planning. The office shall:
84 (11) Develop a statewide behavioral threat management
85 operational process, a Florida-specific behavioral threat
86 assessment instrument, and a threat management portal.
87 (a)1. By December 1, 2023, The office shall develop a
88 statewide behavioral threat management operational process to
89 guide school districts, schools, charter school governing
90 boards, and charter schools through the threat management
91 process. The process must be designed to identify, assess,
92 manage, and monitor potential and real threats to schools. This
93 process must include, but is not limited to:
94 a. The establishment and duties of threat management teams.
95 b. Defining behavioral risks and threats.
96 c. The use of the Florida-specific behavioral threat
97 assessment instrument developed pursuant to paragraph (b) to
98 evaluate the behavior of students who may pose a threat to the
99 school, school staff, or other students and to coordinate
100 intervention and services for such students.
101 d. Upon the availability of the threat management portal
102 developed pursuant to paragraph (c), the use, authorized user
103 criteria, and access specifications of the portal.
104 e. Procedures for the implementation of interventions,
105 school support, and community services.
106 f. Guidelines for appropriate law enforcement intervention.
107 g. Procedures for risk management.
108 h. Procedures for disciplinary actions.
109 i. Mechanisms for continued monitoring of potential and
110 real threats.
111 j. Procedures for referrals to mental health services
112 identified by the school district or charter school governing
113 board pursuant to s. 1012.584(4). Referrals to mental health
114 services originating from the behavioral threat process or
115 assessment instrument shall be reported, in the aggregate, by
116 the threat management coordinator, designated in s.
117 1006.07(7)(j), to the Department of Children and Families for
118 reporting and evaluation purposes pursuant to s. 394.4575.
119 k. Procedures and requirements necessary for the creation
120 of a threat assessment report, all corresponding documentation,
121 and any other information required by the Florida-specific
122 behavioral threat assessment instrument under paragraph (b).
123 2. Upon availability, each school district, school, charter
124 school governing board, and charter school must use the
125 statewide behavioral threat management operational process.
126 3. The office shall provide training to all school
127 districts, schools, charter school governing boards, and charter
128 schools on the statewide behavioral threat management
129 operational process.
130 4. The office shall coordinate the ongoing development,
131 implementation, and operation of the statewide behavioral threat
132 management operational process.
133 Section 3. Section 1006.041, Florida Statutes, is amended
134 to read:
135 1006.041 Mental health assistance program.—Each school
136 district must implement a school-based mental health assistance
137 program that includes training classroom teachers and other
138 school staff in detecting and responding to mental health issues
139 and connecting children, youth, and families who may experience
140 behavioral health issues with appropriate services. Each school
141 district must provide information relating to student mental
142 health programs, services, and treatments to the Department of
143 Children and Families for reporting and evaluation purposes
144 pursuant to s. 394.4575.
145 (1) Each school district must develop, and submit to the
146 district school board for approval, a detailed plan outlining
147 the components and planned expenditures of the district’s mental
148 health assistance program. The plan must include all district
149 schools, including charter schools, unless a charter school
150 elects to submit a plan independently from the school district.
151 A charter school plan must comply with all of the provisions of
152 this section and must be approved by the charter school’s
153 governing body and provided to the charter school’s sponsor.
154 (2) A plan required under subsection (1) must be focused on
155 a multitiered system of supports to deliver evidence-based
156 mental health care assessment, diagnosis, intervention,
157 treatment, and recovery services to students with one or more
158 mental health or co-occurring substance abuse diagnoses and to
159 students at high risk of such diagnoses. The provision of these
160 services must be coordinated with a student’s primary mental
161 health care provider and with other mental health providers
162 involved in the student’s care. At a minimum, the plan must
163 include all of the following components:
164 (a) Direct employment of school-based mental health
165 services providers to expand and enhance school-based student
166 services and to reduce the ratio of students to staff in order
167 to better align with nationally recommended ratio models. The
168 providers shall include, but are not limited to, certified
169 school counselors, school psychologists, school social workers,
170 and other licensed mental health professionals. The plan must
171 also identify strategies to increase the amount of time that
172 school-based student services personnel spend providing direct
173 services to students, which may include the review and revision
174 of district staffing resource allocations based on school or
175 student mental health assistance needs.
176 (b) Contracts or interagency agreements with one or more
177 local community behavioral health providers, mobile response
178 teams, or providers of Community Action Team services to provide
179 a behavioral health staff presence and services to students at
180 district schools. Services may include, but are not limited to,
181 mental health screenings and assessments, individual counseling,
182 family counseling, group counseling, psychiatric or
183 psychological services, trauma-informed care, mobile crisis
184 services, and behavior modification. These behavioral health
185 services may be provided on or off the school campus and may be
186 supplemented by telehealth as defined in s. 456.47(1).
187 (c) Policies and procedures, including contracts with
188 service providers, which will ensure that:
189 1. Students referred to a school-based or community-based
190 mental health service provider for mental health screening for
191 the identification of mental health concerns and students at
192 risk for mental health disorders are assessed within 15 days
193 after referral. School-based mental health services must be
194 initiated within 15 days after identification and assessment,
195 and support by community-based mental health service providers
196 for students who are referred for community-based mental health
197 services must be initiated within 30 days after the school or
198 district makes a referral.
199 2. Parents of a student receiving services under this
200 subsection are provided information about other behavioral
201 health services available through the student’s school or local
202 community-based behavioral health services providers. A school
203 may meet this requirement by providing information about and
204 Internet addresses for web-based directories or guides for local
205 behavioral health services.
206 3. Individuals living in a household with a student
207 receiving services under this subsection are provided
208 information about behavioral health services available through
209 other delivery systems or payors for which such individuals may
210 qualify, if such services appear to be needed or enhancements in
211 such individuals’ behavioral health would contribute to the
212 improved well-being of the student.
213 (d) Strategies or programs to reduce the likelihood of at
214 risk students developing social, emotional, or behavioral health
215 problems; depression; anxiety disorders; suicidal tendencies; or
216 substance use disorders.
217 (e) Strategies to improve the early identification of
218 social, emotional, or behavioral problems or substance use
219 disorders; to improve the provision of early intervention
220 services; and to assist students in dealing with trauma and
221 violence.
222 (f) Procedures to assist a mental health services provider
223 or a behavioral health provider as described in paragraph (a) or
224 paragraph (b), respectively, or a school resource officer or
225 school safety officer who has completed mental health crisis
226 intervention training in attempting to verbally de-escalate a
227 student’s crisis situation before initiating an involuntary
228 examination pursuant to s. 394.463. Such procedures must include
229 strategies to de-escalate a crisis situation for a student with
230 a developmental disability as defined in s. 393.063.
231 (g) Policies of the school district which must require that
232 in a student crisis situation, school or law enforcement
233 personnel must make a reasonable attempt to contact a mental
234 health professional as described in paragraph (a) or paragraph
235 (b) who may initiate an involuntary examination pursuant to s.
236 394.463, unless the child poses an imminent danger to themselves
237 or others, before initiating an involuntary examination pursuant
238 to s. 394.463. Such contact may be in person or through
239 telehealth. The mental health professional may be available to
240 the school district either by a contract or interagency
241 agreement with the managing entity, one or more local community
242 based behavioral health providers, or the local mobile response
243 team, or be a direct or contracted school district employee.
244 (3) Each school district shall submit its approved plan,
245 including approved plans of each charter school in the district,
246 to the Department of Children and Families Department of
247 Education by August 1 of each fiscal year. The Department of
248 Children and Families shall certify receipt of and compliance
249 with all of the requirements of this subsection to the
250 Department of Education by September 1 of each fiscal year.
251 (4) Annually by September 30, each school district shall
252 submit to the Department of Children and Families Department of
253 Education a report on its program outcomes and expenditures for
254 the previous fiscal year. The Department of Children and
255 Families shall certify receipt of and compliance with all the
256 requirements of this subsection to the Department of Education
257 by October 1 of each fiscal year. that, At a minimum, the report
258 must include the total number of each of the following:
259 (a) Students who receive screenings or assessments.
260 (b) Students who are referred to school-based or community
261 based providers for services or assistance.
262 (c) Students who receive school-based or community-based
263 interventions, services, or assistance.
264 (d) School-based and community-based mental health
265 providers, including licensure type.
266 (e) Contract-based or interagency agreement-based
267 collaborative efforts or partnerships with community-based
268 mental health programs, agencies, or providers.
269 Section 4. Paragraph (b) of subsection (6) and paragraphs
270 (b), (i), and (j) of subsection (7) of section 1006.07, Florida
271 Statutes, are amended to read:
272 1006.07 District school board duties relating to student
273 discipline and school safety.—The district school board shall
274 provide for the proper accounting for all students, for the
275 attendance and control of students at school, and for proper
276 attention to health, safety, and other matters relating to the
277 welfare of students, including:
278 (6) SAFETY AND SECURITY BEST PRACTICES.—Each district
279 school superintendent shall establish policies and procedures
280 for the prevention of violence on school grounds, including the
281 assessment of and intervention with individuals whose behavior
282 poses a threat to the safety of the school community.
283 (b) Mental health coordinator.—Each district school board
284 shall identify a mental health coordinator for the district. The
285 mental health coordinator shall serve as the district’s and the
286 Department of Children and Families’ primary point of contact
287 regarding the district’s coordination, communication, and
288 implementation of student mental health policies, procedures,
289 responsibilities, and reporting, including:
290 1. Coordinating with the Department of Children and
291 Families and the Office of Safe Schools, established pursuant to
292 s. 1001.212.
293 2. Maintaining records and reports regarding student mental
294 health as it relates to the mental health assistance program
295 under s. 1006.041 and school safety.
296 3. Facilitating the implementation of school district
297 policies relating to the respective duties and responsibilities
298 of the school district, the superintendent, and district school
299 principals.
300 4. Coordinating with the Department of Children and
301 Families to prepare evaluations on student mental health
302 programs, services, and treatments provided pursuant to s.
303 394.4575. The coordinator shall assist the Department of
304 Children and Families in the evaluation of treatment outcomes
305 and the development of a survey tool as described in s.
306 394.4575(2).
307 5.4. Coordinating with the school safety specialist on the
308 staffing and training of threat management teams and
309 facilitating referrals to mental health services, as
310 appropriate, for students and their families.
311 6.5. Coordinating with the school safety specialist on the
312 training and resources for students and school district staff
313 relating to youth mental health awareness and assistance.
314 7.6. Reviewing annually the school district’s policies and
315 procedures related to student mental health for compliance with
316 state law and alignment with current best practices and making
317 recommendations, as needed, for amending such policies and
318 procedures to the superintendent and the district school board.
319 Policies and procedures shall be provided to the Department of
320 Children and Families annually.
321 (7) THREAT MANAGEMENT TEAMS.—Each district school board and
322 charter school governing board shall establish a threat
323 management team at each school whose duties include the
324 coordination of resources and assessment and intervention with
325 students whose behavior may pose a threat to the safety of the
326 school, school staff, or students.
327 (b) A threat management team shall include persons
328 certified under s. 1012.584(4) with expertise in counseling,
329 instruction, school administration, and law enforcement. All
330 members of the threat management team must be involved in the
331 threat assessment and threat management process and final
332 decisionmaking. At least one member of the threat management
333 team must have personal familiarity with the individual who is
334 the subject of the threat assessment. If no member of the threat
335 management team has such familiarity, a member of the
336 instructional personnel or administrative personnel, as those
337 terms are defined in s. 1012.01(2) and (3), who is personally
338 familiar with the individual who is the subject of the threat
339 assessment must consult with the threat management team for the
340 purpose of assessing the threat. The instructional or
341 administrative personnel who provides such consultation may
342 shall not participate in the decisionmaking process.
343 (i) The threat management team shall prepare a threat
344 assessment report required by the Florida-specific behavioral
345 threat assessment instrument developed pursuant to s.
346 1001.212(11). A threat assessment report, all corresponding
347 documentation, and any other information required by the
348 Florida-specific behavioral threat assessment instrument in the
349 threat management portal is an education record. Information
350 relating to treatment referrals and mental health assessments
351 shall be provided to the Department of Children and Families for
352 reporting and evaluation purposes pursuant to s. 394.4575.
353 (j) Each district school board shall establish a threat
354 management coordinator to serve as the primary point of contact
355 regarding the district’s coordination, communication, and
356 implementation of the threat management program and to report
357 quantitative data to the Department of Children and Families and
358 the Office of Safe Schools in accordance with guidance from the
359 office.
360 Section 5. Subsection (4) of section 1012.584, Florida
361 Statutes, is amended to read:
362 1012.584 Continuing education and inservice training for
363 youth mental health awareness and assistance.—
364 (4) Each school district shall notify all school personnel
365 who have received training pursuant to this section of mental
366 health services that are available to students from mental
367 health services providers as described in s. 1006.041(2)(a) and
368 (b) in the school district, and the individual to contact if a
369 student needs services. The term “mental health services”
370 includes, but is not limited to, community mental health
371 services, health care providers, and services provided under ss.
372 1006.04 and 1006.041.
373 Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.