Florida 2025 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H0239 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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3	3	HB 239 2025
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7	7	CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
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10	10	F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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14	14	A bill to be entitled 1
15	15	An act relating to student mental health; amending s. 2
16	16	1006.041, F.S.; requiring minimum ratios of school 3
17	17	psychologists and of certified school counselors, 4
18	18	school social workers, or other licensed mental health 5
19	19	professionals to students in certain grades, 6
20	20	respectively, beginning with a specified school year; 7
21	21	making technical changes; providing an effective date. 8
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23	23	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 10
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25	25	Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section 12
26	26	1006.041, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 13
27	27	1006.041 Mental health assistance program. —Each school 14
28	28	district must implement a school -based mental health assistance 15
29	29	program that includes training classroom teachers and other 16
30	30	school staff in detecting and responding to mental health issues 17
31	31	and connecting children, youth, and families who may experience 18
32	32	behavioral health issues with appropriate services. 19
33	33	(2) A plan required under sub section (1) must be focused 20
34	34	on a multitiered system of supports to deliver evidence -based 21
35	35	mental health care assessment, diagnosis, intervention, 22
36	36	treatment, and recovery services to students with one or more 23
37	37	mental health or co-occurring substance abuse di agnoses and to 24
38	38	students at high risk of such diagnoses. The provision of these 25
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40	40	HB 239 2025
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43	43
44	44	CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
45	45	hb239-00
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47	47	F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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51	51	services must be coordinated with a student's primary mental 26
52	52	health care provider and with other mental health providers 27
53	53	involved in the student's care. At a minimum, the plan m ust 28
54	54	include all of the following components: 29
55	55	(a) Direct employment of school -based mental health 30
56	56	services providers to expand and enhance school -based student 31
57	57	services and to increase reduce the ratio of staff to students 32
58	58	to staff in order to better alig n with nationally recommended 33
59	59	ratio models. The Providers must shall include, but need are not 34
60	60	be limited to, certified school counselors, school 35
61	61	psychologists, school social workers, and other licensed mental 36
62	62	health professionals. However, by the beginnin g of the 2027-2028 37
63	63	school year and each subsequent school year, the ratio of school 38
64	64	psychologists must be at least 1 per 700 full -time students in 39
65	65	grades 9 through 12 and the ratio of certified school 40
66	66	counselors, school social workers, or other licensed me ntal 41
67	67	health professionals must be 1 per 250 full -time students in 42
68	68	grades 9 through 12. The plan must also identify strategies to 43
69	69	increase the amount of time that school -based student services 44
70	70	personnel spend providing direct services to students, which may 45
71	71	include the review and revision of district staffing resource 46
72	72	allocations based on school or student mental health assistance 47
73	73	needs. 48
74	74	Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025. 49
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