BILL NUMBER: AB 1133 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 15, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 26, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Achadjian
FEBRUARY 27, 2015
An act to amend Section 4372 of, and to add and repeal Chapter 4
(commencing with Section 4391) of Part 4 of Division 4 of, the
Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to mental health.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1133, as amended, Achadjian. School-based early mental health
intervention and prevention services support program.
Existing law, the School-based Early Mental Health Intervention
and Prevention Services for Children Act of 1991, authorizes the
Director of Health Care Services, in consultation with the
Superintendent of Public Instruction, to provide matching grants to
local educational agencies to pay the state share of the costs of
providing school-based early mental health intervention and
prevention services to eligible pupils at schoolsites of eligible
pupils, subject to the availability of funding each year. Existing
law defines "eligible pupil" for this purpose as a pupil who attends
a publicly funded elementary school and who is in kindergarten or
grades 1 to 3, inclusive. Existing law also defines "local
educational agency" as a school district or county office of
education or a state special school.
This bill would expand the definition of an eligible pupil to
include a pupil who attends a state preschool program at a publicly
funded elementary school and a pupil who is in transitional
kindergarten, thereby extending the application of the act to those
persons. The bill would also include charter schools in the
definition of local educational agency, thereby extending the
application of the act to those entities. The bill would require the
State Public Health Officer, in consultation with the Superintendent
of Public Schools and the Director of Health Care Services, to
establish a 4-year pilot program, the School-Based Early Mental
Health Intervention and Prevention Services Support Program, to
provide outreach, free regional training, and technical assistance
for local educational agencies in providing mental health services at
schoolsites. The bill would require the State Department of Public
Health to submit specified reports after 2 and 4 years. The bill
would repeal these provisions as of January 1, 2021.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) The State of California has long recognized the mental health
needs of California's children and the value of addressing these
needs by supporting the provision of evidence-based mental health
services in publicly funded preschools and elementary schools, as
evidenced by the creation in 1981 of the Primary Prevention Project,
now named the Primary Intervention Program, and the creation in 1991
of the School-based Early Mental Health Intervention and Prevention
Services for Children Program, known as the Early Mental Health
Initiative (EMHI).
(b) From the 1992-93 fiscal year to the 2011-12 fiscal year, the
State Department of Mental Health awarded funds each year in matching
grants to local education agencies to fund prevention and early
intervention programs, including the Primary Intervention Program,
for students experiencing mild to moderate school adjustment
difficulty through the EMHI. In the 2011-12 fiscal year, the EMHI
received $15 million in state funds.
(c) Authorizing legislation specified that the EMHI would be
deemed successful if at least 75 percent of the children who complete
the program show an improvement in at least one of the following
four areas: learning behaviors, attendance, school adjustment, and
school-related competencies.
(d) The EMHI succeeded in meeting these legislative requirements.
According to the 2010/2011 Early Mental Health Initiative Statewide
Evaluation Report, of the 15,823 students located in 424 elementary
schools across 66 school districts participating in EMHI-funded
services during the 2010-11 school year, 79 percent exhibited
positive social competence and school adjustment behaviors more
frequently after completing services. Furthermore, the magnitude of
the improvements was exceptional in comparison to evaluations of
other programs, especially given the short-term and cost-effective
nature of the intervention.
(e) The 2010/2011 Early Mental Health Initiative Statewide
Evaluation Report described an unmet demand for EMHI-funded services
at participating schoolsites, as only 37 percent of the students that
scored in the mild to moderate school adjustment difficulty range
were served with EMHI-funded services due to program capacity and
funding constraints. Based on demographic considerations, similar
demand would be expected at schools that did not receive EMHI grants.
(f) The Governor's realignment for the 2011-12 fiscal year renamed
the State Department of Mental Health as the State Department of
State Hospitals and limited that department's mission.
(g) The Budget Act of 2012 disbursed Proposition 98 funds, which
had been used to fund the EMHI, directly to local education agencies
in order to provide local schools with enhanced flexibility to manage
their finances and give greater control of local decisions.
(h) It is in the interest of California's children, families,
schools, and communities that the State of California support local
decisions to provide funding for evidence-based services to address
the mental health needs of children in publicly funded preschools and
elementary schools.
(i) Multitiered systems and supports have been developed as model
framework within which to implement these services. Pilot programs in
the Counties of San Bernardino and Alameda are demonstrating that
implementing these services as part of a multitiered system is cost
effective, because the cost of the services is more than fully offset
by the reduction in the need for high-cost nonpublic school
placements.
SEC. 2. Section 4372 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
4372. For the purposes of this part, the following definitions
shall apply:
(a) "Cooperating entity" means any federal, state, or local,
public or private nonprofit agency providing school-based early
mental health intervention and prevention services that agrees to
offer services at a schoolsite through a program assisted under this
part.
(b) "Eligible pupil" means a pupil who attends a preschool program
at a publicly funded elementary school, or who attends a publicly
funded elementary school and who is in kindergarten, transitional
kindergarten, or grades 1 to 3, inclusive.
(c) "Local educational agency" means any school district or county
office of education, state special school, or charter school.
(d) "Department" means the State Department of Public Health.
(e) "Director" means the State Director of Mental Health.
(f) "Supportive service" means a service that will enhance the
mental health and social development of children.
SEC. 3. Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 4391) is added to Part
4 of Division 4 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:
CHAPTER 4. SCHOOL-BASED EARLY MENTAL HEALTH INTERVENTION AND
PREVENTION SERVICES SUPPORT PROGRAM
4391. (a) The State Public Health Officer shall establish a
four-year pilot program, in consultation with the Superintendent of
Public Instruction and the Director of Health Care Services, to
encourage and support local decisions to provide funding for the
eligible support services as provided in this section.
(b) The department shall provide outreach to local education
agencies and county mental health agencies to inform individuals
responsible for local funding decisions of the program established
pursuant to this section.
(c) The department shall provide free regional training on all of
the following:
(1) Eligible support services, which may include any or all of the
following:
(A) Individual and group intervention and prevention services.
(B) Parent involvement through conference or training, or both.
(C) Teacher and staff conferences and training related to meeting
project goals.
(D) Referral to outside resources when eligible pupils require
additional services.
(E) Use of paraprofessional staff, who are trained and supervised
by credentialed school psychologists, school counselors, or school
social workers, to meet with pupils on a short-term weekly basis, in
a one-on-one setting as in the primary intervention program
established pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 4343) of
Part 3.
(F) Any other service or activity that will improve the mental
health of eligible pupils.
(2) The potential for the eligible support services defined in
this section to help fulfill state priorities described by the local
control funding formula and local goals described by local control
and accountability plans.
(3) How educational, mental health, and other funds subject to
local control can be used to finance the eligible support services
defined in this section.
(4) External resources available to support the eligible support
services defined in this section, which may include workshops,
training, conferences, and peer learning networks.
(5) State resources available to support student mental health and
positive learning environments, which may include any of the
following:
(A) Foundational aspects of learning, mental health, toxic stress,
childhood trauma, and adverse childhood experiences.
(B) Inclusive multitiered systems of behavioral and academic
supports, Schoolwide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports,
restorative justice or restorative practices, trauma-informed
practices, social and emotional learning, and bullying prevention.
(d) The department shall provide technical assistance to local
education agencies that provide or seek to provide eligible services
defined in this section. Technical assistance shall include
assistance in any of the following:
(1) Designing programs.
(2) Training program staff in intervention skills.
(3) Conducting local evaluations.
(4) Leveraging educational, mental health, and other funds that
are subject to local control and assisting in budget development.
(e) In providing outreach pursuant to subdivision (b), training
pursuant to subdivision (c), and technical assistance pursuant to
subdivision (d), the department shall select and support schoolsites
as follows:
(1) During the first 18 months of the program, the department
shall support, strengthen, and expand the provision of eligible
services at 30 schoolsites that previously received funding pursuant
to the School-Based Early Mental Health Intervention and Prevention
Services Matching Grant Program (Chapter 2 (commencing with Section
4380)) and have continued to provide eligible support services. In
working with these selected schoolsites, the department shall develop
methods and standards for providing services and practices to new
schoolsites.
(2) During the subsequent 18 months of the program, the department
shall select 30 new schoolsites that are not providing eligible
support services but that demonstrate the willingness and capacity to
participate in the program. The department shall work with these
schoolsites to deliver eligible support services.
(3) In selecting schoolsites and providing support, the department
shall prioritize geographic diversity, program effectiveness,
program efficiency, and long-term program sustainability.
(f) The department shall submit, in compliance with Section 9795
of the Government Code, an interim report to the Legislature at the
end of the second year of the pilot program that details the
department's work to support the schoolsites selected pursuant to
paragraph (1) of subdivision (e) and includes an assessment of the
demand and impact of funding for the School-Based Early Mental Health
Intervention and Prevention Services Matching Grant Program
established pursuant to Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 4390). The
department shall make the report available to the public and shall
post it on the department's Internet Web site.
(g) The department shall develop an evaluation plan to assess the
impact of the pilot program. The department, in compliance with
Section 9795 of the Government Code, shall submit a report to the
Legislature at the end of the four-year period evaluating the impact
of the pilot program and providing recommendations for further
implementation. The department shall make the report available to the
public and shall post it on the department's Internet Web site.
4392. This chapter shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2021, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2021, deletes or extends
that date.