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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 303
February Session, 2020
LCO No. 2111
Referred to Committee on HIGHER EDUCATION AND
EMPLOYMENT ADVANCEMENT
Introduced by:
(HED)
AN ACT IMPLEMENTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE TASK
FORCE REGARDING THE PREVENTION AND TREAT MENT OF
MENTAL ILLNESS AT INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2020) (a) As used in this section and 1
sections 2 to 5, inclusive, of this act: 2
(1) "Services" or "mental health services" means counseling, therapy, 3
rehabilitation, crisis intervention or emergency services for the 4
screening, diagnosis or treatment of mental illness; and 5
(2) "Programs" or "mental health programming" means education, 6
outreach, research or training initiatives aimed at students for the 7
prevention of mental illness, including, but not limited to, poster and 8
flyer campaigns, electronic communications, films, guest speakers, 9
conferences or other campus events. 10
(b) Not later than January 1, 2021, each institution of higher education 11
shall establish a campus mental health coalition responsible for and with 12 Raised Bill No. 303
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representatives from each of its campuses. The campus mental health 13
coalition shall consist of individuals appointed by the president of each 14
institution of higher education who are reflective of the demographics 15
of the student body at such institution, including, but not limited to, at 16
least one member from such institution's (1) administration, (2) 17
counseling services office, if any, (3) health services office, if any, (4) 18
senior and mid-level staff, (5) student body, (6) residential life office, if 19
any, (7) faculty, and (8) any other individuals designated by the 20
president. 21
(c) Each institution of higher education shall ensure that every 22
member of the campus mental health coalition is educated in (1) the 23
services and programs offered at each campus by such institution to 24
address student mental illness, (2) the role and function of the campus 25
mental health coalition at such institution, and (3) responses to student 26
mental illness that are sensitive to students of diverse race, cultural 27
backgrounds, sexual orientation or gender identity or status as a veteran 28
or service member of the armed forces of the United States. 29
(d) Each campus mental health coalition shall (1) conduct an 30
evaluation every four years of the effectiveness of the services and 31
programs offered by the institution of higher education to address 32
student mental illness in accordance with section 2 of this act, (2) review 33
the results of such evaluation and develop a plan to address any 34
weaknesses in the services and programs offered by the institution, and 35
(3) review and recommend improvements for (A) institutional polices 36
regarding student mental health, (B) the variety of mental health 37
services available to students at the institution, including on-campus 38
services, telehealth services provided in accordance with section 19a-906 39
of the general statutes or services offered through community-based 40
mental health care providers or emergency mobile psychiatric service 41
providers in accordance with any memorandum of understanding 42
entered into pursuant to section 3 of this act, (C) the quality of mental 43
health services available to students, including recommendations for 44
obtaining accreditation from the International Accreditation of 45
Counseling Services or another nationally or regionally recognized 46 Raised Bill No. 303
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accrediting body for mental health services, and (D) the crisis 47
intervention and management plan established pursuant to section 4 of 48
this act. 49
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2020) (a) Not later than January 1, 2021, 50
and every four years thereafter, the executive director of the Office of 51
Higher Education and the Commissioner of Mental Health and 52
Addiction Services, in consultation with an epidemiologist or other 53
specialist with expertise in the study of mental health, shall develop and 54
update (1) an assessment tool for use by each institution of higher 55
education in evaluating the effectiveness of the services and programs 56
offered at each of the institution's campuses to address student mental 57
illness, (2) guidelines for the implementation of the assessment tool, 58
including a timeline for completion, and (3) training workshops for the 59
campus mental health coalitions established pursuant to section 1 of this 60
act regarding best practices for the use and completion of the assessment 61
tool. 62
(b) Not later than October 1, 2021, and every four years thereafter, 63
each campus mental health coalition established at each institution of 64
higher education pursuant to section 1 of this act shall (1) conduct an 65
evaluation of the effectiveness of the services and programs offered at 66
each campus by such institution to address student mental illness using 67
the assessment tool developed pursuant to subsection (a) of this section 68
in accordance with the guidelines and training provided by the 69
executive director of the Office of Higher Education and the 70
Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction Services, and (2) submit 71
the result of the assessment tool to the Office of Higher Education. 72
(c) Not later than thirty days after the receipt of the results of the 73
assessment tool from each campus mental health coalition, the executive 74
director of the Office of Higher Education shall post such results on the 75
Internet web site of said office and submit a report, in accordance with 76
the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes, to the joint 77
standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of 78
matters relating to higher education on such results from each 79 Raised Bill No. 303
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institution of higher education. 80
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2020) Not later than January 1, 2021, 81
each institution of higher education, in consultation with the 82
Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, shall enter into 83
and maintain a memorandum of understanding with at least one 84
community-based mental health care provider or emergency mobile 85
psychiatric service provider for the purpose of providing students 86
access to mental health services on or off campus and assistance to 87
institutions in developing mental health programming. 88
Sec. 4. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2020) (a) Not later than January 1, 2021, 89
and annually thereafter, each institution of higher education shall 90
establish and update a crisis intervention and management plan for each 91
campus of such institution. Such plan shall include, but not be limited 92
to, (1) a detailed description of the campus-wide response to a mental 93
health crisis, (2) a review of each campus to identify any areas of danger 94
to a person experiencing a mental health crisis, including buildings with 95
roof access or areas used for storing chemicals, medicines or weapons, 96
and (3) protocols to ensure campus safety and maintain restricted access 97
to areas of danger identified on campus. 98
(b) Not later than January 1, 2021, and as necessary thereafter, the 99
governing board of each institution of higher education shall adopt and 100
update a policy regarding student mental health. Such policy shall 101
include, but not be limited to, (1) the types of mental health services and 102
programs provided to students each academic year, and (2) the 103
availability of and eligibility requirements for mental health leave 104
available to students. 105
(c) Not later than February 1, 2021, and not more than thirty days 106
after the adoption of an updated policy, the governing board of each 107
institution of higher education shall submit, in accordance with the 108
provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes, to the joint standing 109
committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 110
relating to higher education the policy adopted pursuant to subsection 111 Raised Bill No. 303
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(b) of this section. 112
Sec. 5. (Effective July 1, 2020) Not later than January 1, 2021, the Board 113
of Regents for Higher Education shall employ a grant writer to identify 114
and apply for available grant funding to implement or improve services 115
and programs offered by the regional community-technical colleges to 116
address student mental illness. 117
Sec. 6. Section 1 of special act 19-14 is repealed and the following is 118
substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 119
(a) There is established a task force to study the policies and 120
procedures adopted by each institution of higher education regarding 121
the prevention and treatment of mental illness in students and to 122
recommend a state-wide policy regarding mental health services 123
available to students at institutions of higher education. For each 124
institution of higher education in the state, such study shall include, but 125
need not be limited to, an examination of (1) the manner in which the 126
institution informs students of the availability of mental health services, 127
(2) the manner in which the mental health services are delivered to 128
students, including whether mental health services are available online, 129
through individual counseling sessions or group discussions and a 130
listing of the types of mental health care providers available to students, 131
(3) the rate at which the mental health services are utilized in 132
comparison to the total student body, (4) the level of engagement the 133
institution has with community or nonprofit organizations that provide 134
mental health treatment and services, (5) the solicitation and review of 135
voluntary recommendations of students and alumni that received 136
mental health services while enrolled at the institution, (6) the manner 137
in which the institution facilitates the return of students that take a leave 138
of absence due to mental illness, (7) the training provided to faculty and 139
staff to identify students experiencing mental illness, [and] (8) [an 140
analysis of] the rate at which different types of mental health services 141
are sought by students, including, but not limited to, the rate at which 142
services for substance use disorder, depression or anxiety are sought, (9) 143
the policies adopted or updated by the governing board of each 144 Raised Bill No. 303
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institution pursuant to section 4 of this act, and (10) feedback from the 145
executive director of the Office of Higher Education and each campus 146
mental health coalition established pursuant to section 1 of this act on 147
the assessment tool and results received from its implementation 148
pursuant to section 2 of this act. No personally identifying information 149
shall be included on any information the task force requests or analyzes 150
for the purposes of the study. 151
(b) The task force shall consist of the following members: 152
(1) Two appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives, 153
one of whom shall be a representative of a community or nonprofit 154
provider of mental health treatment or services; 155
(2) Two appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate, one of 156
whom shall be a mental health care provider; 157
(3) One appointed by the majority leader of the House of 158
Representatives; 159
(4) One appointed by the majority leader of the Senate; 160
(5) One appointed by the minority leader of the House of 161
Representatives; 162
(6) One appointed by the minority leader of the Senate; 163
(7) The president of the Board of Regents for Higher Education, or the 164
president's designee; and 165
(8) The Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction Services, or 166
the commissioner's designee. 167
(c) Any member of the task force appointed under subdivision (1), 168
(2), (3), (4), (5) or (6) of subsection (b) of this section may be a member 169
of the General Assembly. 170
(d) All appointments to the task force shall be made not later than 171
thirty days after the effective date of this section. Any vacancy shall be 172 Raised Bill No. 303
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filled by the appointing authority. 173
(e) The speaker of the House of Representatives and the president pro 174
tempore of the Senate shall select the chairpersons of the task force from 175
among the members of the task force. Such chairpersons shall schedule 176
the first meeting of the task force, which shall be held not later than sixty 177
days after the effective date of this section. 178
(f) The administrative staff of the joint standing committees of the 179
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to higher 180
education and employment advancement and public health shall serve 181
as administrative staff of the task force. 182
(g) Not later than January 1, 2020, and annually thereafter until 183
January 1, 2022, the task force shall submit a report on its findings and 184
recommendations to the joint standing committees of the General 185
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to higher education 186
and employment advancement and public health, in accordance with 187
the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes. The task force 188
shall terminate on the date that it submits [such] its last report or 189
January 1, [2020] 2022, whichever is later. 190
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2020 New section
Sec. 2 July 1, 2020 New section
Sec. 3 July 1, 2020 New section
Sec. 4 July 1, 2020 New section
Sec. 5 July 1, 2020 New section
Sec. 6 from passage SA 19-14, Sec. 1
Statement of Purpose:
To implement the recommendations of the task force regarding the
prevention and treatment of mental illness at institutions of higher
education.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.] Raised Bill No. 303
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