HB 899 2022
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A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to mental health of students; amending 2
s. 394.463, F.S.; revising data the Department of 3
Children and Families is required to analyze when 4
creating its annual report on the initiation of 5
certain involuntary examinations; amending s. 1002.33, 6
F.S.; requiring charter schools to be in compliance 7
with laws relating to reporting involuntary 8
examinations; amending s. 1006.07, F.S.; requiring the 9
Department of Education, by a specified date, to share 10
with the Department of Children and Families data 11
received from school districts relating to involuntary 12
examinations; amending s. 1011.62, F.S.; revising 13
requirements for plans relating to mental health 14
assistance allocations; providing an effective date. 15
16
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 17
18
Section 1. Subsection (4) of section 394.463, Florida 19
Statutes, is amended to read: 20
394.463 Involuntary examination. — 21
(4) DATA ANALYSIS.—Using data collected under paragraph 22
(2)(a) and s. 1006.07(10), the department shall, at a minimum, 23
analyze data on both the initiation of involuntary examinations 24
of children and the initiation of involuntary examinations of 25
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students who are remo ved from a school; identify any patterns or 26
trends and cases in which involuntary examinations are 27
repeatedly initiated on the same child or student; study root 28
causes for such patterns, trends, or repeated involuntary 29
examinations; and make recommendation s to encourage the use of 30
alternatives to eliminate inappropriate initiations of such 31
examinations. The department shall submit a report on its 32
findings and recommendations to the Governor, the President of 33
the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Repre sentatives by 34
November 1 of each odd -numbered year. 35
Section 2. Paragraph (b) of subsection (16) of section 36
1002.33, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 37
1002.33 Charter schools. — 38
(16) EXEMPTION FROM STATUTES. — 39
(b) Additionally, a charter school shall be in compliance 40
with the following statutes: 41
1. Section 286.011, relating to public meetings and 42
records, public inspection, and criminal and civil penalties. 43
2. Chapter 119, relating to public records. 44
3. Section 1003.03, relating to the maxi mum class size, 45
except that the calculation for compliance pursuant to s. 46
1003.03 shall be the average at the school level. 47
4. Section 1012.22(1)(c), relating to compensation and 48
salary schedules. 49
5. Section 1012.33(5), relating to workforce reductions. 50
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6. Section 1012.335, relating to contracts with 51
instructional personnel hired on or after July 1, 2011. 52
7. Section 1012.34, relating to the substantive 53
requirements for performance evaluations for instructional 54
personnel and school administ rators. 55
8. Section 1006.12, relating to safe -school officers. 56
9. Section 1006.07(7), relating to threat assessment 57
teams. 58
10. Section 1006.07(9), relating to School Environmental 59
Safety Incident Reporting. 60
11. Section 1006.07(10), relating to repor ting of 61
involuntary examinations. 62
12. Section 1006.1493, relating to the Florida Safe 63
Schools Assessment Tool. 64
13.12. Section 1006.07(6)(c), relating to adopting an 65
active assailant response plan. 66
14.13. Section 943.082(4)(b), relating to the mobile 67
suspicious activity reporting tool. 68
15.14. Section 1012.584, relating to youth mental health 69
awareness and assistance training. 70
Section 3. Subsection (10) of section 1006.07, Florida 71
Statutes, is amended to read: 72
1006.07 District school board dutie s relating to student 73
discipline and school safety. —The district school board shall 74
provide for the proper accounting for all students, for the 75
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attendance and control of students at school, and for proper 76
attention to health, safety, and other matters rela ting to the 77
welfare of students, including: 78
(10) REPORTING OF INVOLUNTARY EXAMINATIONS. —Each district 79
school board shall adopt a policy to require the district 80
superintendent to annually report to the department the number 81
of involuntary examinations, as defined in s. 394.455, which are 82
initiated at a school, on school transportation, or at a school -83
sponsored activity. By July 1 of each year, the department shall 84
share such data received from school districts during the 85
previous year with the Department of Children and Families. 86
Section 4. Paragraph (b) of subsection (14) of section 87
1011.62, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 88
1011.62 Funds for operation of schools. —If the annual 89
allocation from the Florida Education Finance Program to each 90
district for operation of schools is not determined in the 91
annual appropriations act or the substantive bill implementing 92
the annual appropriations act, it shall be determined as 93
follows: 94
(14) MENTAL HEALTH ASSISTANCE ALLOCATION. —The mental 95
health assistance allocation is created to provide funding to 96
assist school districts in establishing or expanding school -97
based mental health care; train educators and other school staff 98
in detecting and responding to mental health issues; and c onnect 99
children, youth, and families who may experience behavioral 100
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health issues with appropriate services. These funds shall be 101
allocated annually in the General Appropriations Act or other 102
law to each eligible school district. Each school district shall 103
receive a minimum of $100,000, with the remaining balance 104
allocated based on each school district's proportionate share of 105
the state's total unweighted full -time equivalent student 106
enrollment. Charter schools that submit a plan separate from the 107
school district are entitled to a proportionate share of 108
district funding. The allocated funds may not supplant funds 109
that are provided for this purpose from other operating funds 110
and may not be used to increase salaries or provide bonuses. 111
School districts are enco uraged to maximize third -party health 112
insurance benefits and Medicaid claiming for services, where 113
appropriate. 114
(b) The plans required under paragraph (a) must be focused 115
on a multitiered system of supports to deliver evidence -based 116
mental health care as sessment, diagnosis, intervention, 117
treatment, and recovery services to students with one or more 118
mental health or co-occurring substance abuse diagnoses and to 119
students at high risk of such diagnoses. The provision of these 120
services must be coordinated wit h a student's primary mental 121
health care provider and with other mental health providers 122
involved in the student's care. At a minimum, the plans must 123
include the following elements: 124
1. Direct employment of school -based mental health 125
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services providers to expand and enhance school -based student 126
services and to reduce the ratio of students to staff in order 127
to better align with nationally recommended ratio models. These 128
providers include, but are not limited to, certified school 129
counselors, school psycholog ists, school social workers, and 130
other licensed mental health professionals. The plan also must 131
identify strategies to increase the amount of time that school -132
based student services personnel spend providing direct services 133
to students, which may include t he review and revision of 134
district staffing resource allocations based on school or 135
student mental health assistance needs. 136
2. Contracts or interagency agreements with one or more 137
local community behavioral health providers or providers of 138
Community Action Team services to provide a behavioral health 139
staff presence and services at district schools. Services may 140
include, but are not limited to, mental health screenings and 141
assessments, individual counseling, family counseling, group 142
counseling, psychiatric or psychological services, trauma -143
informed care, mobile crisis services, and behavior 144
modification. These behavioral health services may be provided 145
on or off the school campus and may be supplemented by 146
telehealth. 147
3. Policies and procedures, including contracts with 148
service providers, which will ensure that : 149
a. Students referred to a school -based or community-based 150
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mental health service provider for mental health screening for 151
the identification of mental health concerns and students at 152
risk for mental health disorders are assessed within 15 days of 153
referral. School-based mental health services must be initiated 154
within 15 days after identification and assessment, and support 155
by community-based mental health service providers for students 156
who are referred for community-based mental health services must 157
be initiated within 30 days after the school or district makes a 158
referral. 159
b. Parents of a student receiving services under this 160
subsection are provided information about other behavioral 161
health services available through the student's school or local 162
community-based behavioral health services providers. A school 163
may meet this requirement by providing information about and 164
Internet addresses for web -based directories or guides for local 165
behavioral health services. 166
c. Individuals living in a household with a student 167
receiving services under this subsection are provided 168
information about behavioral health services available through 169
other delivery systems or payors for which such individuals may 170
qualify, if such services appear to be needed or enhancements in 171
those individuals' behavioral health would contribute to the 172
improved well-being of the student students who are referred to 173
a school-based or community-based mental health service provider 174
for mental health screening for the identification of mental 175
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health concerns and ensure that the assessment of students at 176
risk for mental health disorders occurs within 15 days of 177
referral. School-based mental health services must be initiated 178
within 15 days after i dentification and assessment, and support 179
by community-based mental health service providers for students 180
who are referred for community -based mental health services must 181
be initiated within 30 days after the school or district makes a 182
referral. 183
4. Strategies or programs to reduce the likelihood of at -184
risk students developing social, emotional, or behavioral health 185
problems, depression, anxiety disorders, suicidal tendencies, or 186
substance use disorders. 187
5. Strategies to improve the early identification of 188
social, emotional, or behavioral problems or substance use 189
disorders, to improve the provision of early intervention 190
services, and to assist students in dealing with trauma and 191
violence. 192
6. Procedures to assist a mental health services provider 193
or a behavioral health provider as described in subparagraph 1. 194
or subparagraph 2., respectively, or a school resource officer 195
or school safety officer who has completed mental health crisis 196
intervention training in attempting to verbally de -escalate a 197
student's crisis situation before initiating an involuntary 198
examination pursuant to s. 394.463. Such procedures must include 199
strategies to de-escalate a crisis situation for a student with 200
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a developmental disability as that term is defined in s. 201
393.063. 202
7. Policies of the school district must require that in a 203
student crisis situation, school or law enforcement personnel 204
must make a reasonable attempt to contact a mental health 205
professional who may initiate an involuntary examination 206
pursuant to s. 394.463, unles s the child poses an imminent 207
danger to themselves or others, before initiating an involuntary 208
examination pursuant to s. 394.463. Such contact may be in 209
person or using telehealth as defined in s. 456.47. The mental 210
health professional may be available to the school district 211
either by contracts or interagency agreements with the managing 212
entity, one or more local community behavioral health providers, 213
or the local mobile response team or be a direct or contracted 214
school district employee. 215
Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022. 216