| 1 | 1 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . No. 4655 |
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| 2 | 2 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 3 | 3 | | ________________________________________ |
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| 4 | 4 | | HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, May 23, 2024. |
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| 5 | 5 | | The committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery, to |
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| 6 | 6 | | whom was referred the petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1979) of |
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| 7 | 7 | | Marjorie C. Decker relative to establishing a child and adolescent |
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| 8 | 8 | | behavioral health implementation coordinating council, reports |
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| 9 | 9 | | recommending that the accompanying bill (House, No. 4655) ought to |
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| 10 | 10 | | pass. |
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| 11 | 11 | | For the committee, |
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| 12 | 12 | | ADRIAN C. MADARO. 1 of 5 |
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| 13 | 13 | | FILED ON: 5/15/2024 |
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| 14 | 14 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 4655 |
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| 15 | 15 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 16 | 16 | | _______________ |
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| 17 | 17 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
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| 18 | 18 | | (2023-2024) |
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| 19 | 19 | | _______________ |
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| 20 | 20 | | An Act establishing a child and adolescent behavioral health implementation coordinating |
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| 21 | 21 | | council. |
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| 22 | 22 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 23 | 23 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 24 | 24 | | 1 SECTION 1. Chapter 19 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after |
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| 25 | 25 | | 2section 23 the following section:- |
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| 26 | 26 | | 3 Section 23A. (a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall, unless the |
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| 27 | 27 | | 4context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings: |
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| 28 | 28 | | 5 “Comprehensive school based behavioral health system”, a collaboration between school |
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| 29 | 29 | | 6professionals and community partners to create a positive school climate, foster social and |
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| 30 | 30 | | 7emotional development and promote mental health and wellbeing, while reducing the prevalence |
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| 31 | 31 | | 8and severity of mental illness by providing a range of behavioral health promotion, prevention |
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| 32 | 32 | | 9and intervention programs and interventions. |
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| 33 | 33 | | 10 “Multi-tiered system of supports”, a framework for providing behavioral health |
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| 34 | 34 | | 11promotion and prevention programs, services and support for the entire student population and |
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| 35 | 35 | | 12providing more acute intervention and support for the students that need them. 2 of 5 |
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| 36 | 36 | | 13 (b) The department shall, in collaboration with the department of elementary and |
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| 37 | 37 | | 14secondary education and the Behavioral Health Integrated Resources for Children Project within |
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| 38 | 38 | | 15the University of Massachusetts at Boston, establish a school based behavioral health |
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| 39 | 39 | | 16implementation coordinating council within, but not subject to control of, the Children’s |
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| 40 | 40 | | 17Behavioral Health Research Center established under section 23 of chapter 19. The council shall |
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| 41 | 41 | | 18advise the governor, the general court, the secretary of education and the secretary of health and |
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| 42 | 42 | | 19human services, and provide guidance to districts on the implementation of a statewide |
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| 43 | 43 | | 20comprehensive school based behavioral health system within a multi-tiered system of supports |
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| 44 | 44 | | 21framework to provide equitable access to behavioral health promotion, prevention and |
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| 45 | 45 | | 22intervention services and supports in each school district. |
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| 46 | 46 | | 23 (i) The council shall be composed of the following 11 members: (A) the following 3 |
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| 47 | 47 | | 24members, who shall serve ex officio: the commissioner of mental health or a designee, who shall |
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| 48 | 48 | | 25serve as co-chair, the commissioner of elementary and secondary education or a designee, who |
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| 49 | 49 | | 26shall serve as co-chair and a representative of the technical assistance center established under |
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| 50 | 50 | | 27section 16FF of chapter 6A; and (B) the following 8 members to be appointed by the co-chairs: 1 |
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| 51 | 51 | | 28member representative of school based behavioral health professionals, 1 member representing |
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| 52 | 52 | | 29school administrators, 1 member representing teachers, 1 member a representing school nurses, 1 |
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| 53 | 53 | | 30member representing pediatricians, 1 member representing community-based child behavioral |
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| 54 | 54 | | 31health providers, 1 member representing parents and caregivers of students with behavioral |
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| 55 | 55 | | 32health needs and 1 member representing the student stakeholder advisory committee convened |
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| 56 | 56 | | 33by the office of behavioral health promotion established under section 16DD of said chapter 6A. 3 of 5 |
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| 57 | 57 | | 34 The co-chairs shall make an effort to ensure that to the extent possible the council |
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| 58 | 58 | | 35members represent the diversity of children and adolescents in the commonwealth including |
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| 59 | 59 | | 36race, ethnicity, gender and gender identity, sexual orientation and geographic region. |
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| 60 | 60 | | 37 (ii) The term for members appointed by the co-chairs shall be 3 years. Upon the |
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| 61 | 61 | | 38expiration of a term, the co-chairs may appoint such a member to an additional term at their |
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| 62 | 62 | | 39discretion; provided, however, that such a member who resigns or is not appointed to a new term |
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| 63 | 63 | | 40may serve until a successor has been appointed; and provided further, that if a vacancy exists |
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| 64 | 64 | | 41prior to the expiration of a term, another member shall be appointed to complete the unexpired |
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| 65 | 65 | | 42term. |
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| 66 | 66 | | 43 (iii) The co-chairs may appoint other state agency staff or community members on a |
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| 67 | 67 | | 44permanent or ad hoc basis as necessary to fulfill the purpose of the council. |
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| 68 | 68 | | 45 (c) Within 6 months of its first meeting, the council shall develop a 3 year statewide plan |
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| 69 | 69 | | 46for rapidly implementing a comprehensive school based behavioral health system within a multi- |
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| 70 | 70 | | 47tiered system of supports framework. The plan shall set forth goals and benchmarks for key |
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| 71 | 71 | | 48elements of comprehensive school based behavioral health system implementation, including |
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| 72 | 72 | | 49workforce expansion and retention, access to training and professional development, use of |
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| 73 | 73 | | 50evidence-based practices and evaluation and outcome data specifications to include measures for |
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| 74 | 74 | | 51identifying disparities in access for particular subgroups of students. The plan shall also include, |
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| 75 | 75 | | 52but not be limited to, strategies for cross sector engagement and mechanisms for leveraging and |
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| 76 | 76 | | 53coordinating funding and resources across agencies and sectors. The council shall update the |
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| 77 | 77 | | 54plan every 3 years, or more frequently as needed, to ensure quality, promote use of current best |
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| 78 | 78 | | 55practices and address issues of access, including, but not limited to, persistent disparities. 4 of 5 |
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| 79 | 79 | | 56 (d) The council shall assist with the development of guidance documents to support |
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| 80 | 80 | | 57schools in operationalizing the comprehensive school based behavioral health statewide plan and |
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| 81 | 81 | | 58to broadly inform school behavioral health policy and practice. |
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| 82 | 82 | | 59 (e) Annually on or before January 1, the council shall a issue a report of its activities and |
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| 83 | 83 | | 60statewide progress toward implementation of comprehensive school based behavioral health |
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| 84 | 84 | | 61systems, including but not limited to recommendations for addressing barriers to implementation |
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| 85 | 85 | | 62and for addressing persistent disparities in access to behavioral health services and supports in |
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| 86 | 86 | | 63schools, to be filed with the governor, the children’s behavioral health advisory council, the |
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| 87 | 87 | | 64secretary of health and human services, the secretary of education, the clerks of the senate and |
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| 88 | 88 | | 65the house of representatives, the joint committee on mental health, substance use and recovery, |
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| 89 | 89 | | 66the joint committee on education and the senate and the house committees on ways and means. |
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| 90 | 90 | | 67 (f) Meetings of the council shall comply with chapter 30A, except that the council may |
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| 91 | 91 | | 68hold executive sessions. No action of the council shall be taken in an executive session. |
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| 92 | 92 | | 69 (g) The members of the council shall receive no compensation, but shall be reimbursed |
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| 93 | 93 | | 70for actual and necessary expenses reasonably incurred in the performance of their duties. |
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| 94 | 94 | | 71 SECTION 2. Chapter 69 of the Generals Laws is hereby amended by inserting after |
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| 95 | 95 | | 72section 1T the following section:- |
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| 96 | 96 | | 73 Section 1U. The department shall provide school districts with a format and metrics and a |
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| 97 | 97 | | 74deadline for annually reporting progress toward implementing a comprehensive school based |
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| 98 | 98 | | 75behavioral health system within a multi-tiered system of supports framework. Not later than |
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| 99 | 99 | | 76September 1 of each year, the department shall provide submitted reports and an aggregate 5 of 5 |
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| 100 | 100 | | 77summary of the reports to the school based behavioral health implementation coordinating |
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| 101 | 101 | | 78council established in section 23A of chapter 19. |
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| 102 | 102 | | 79 SECTION 3. Chapter 71 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after |
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| 103 | 103 | | 80section 98 the following section:- |
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| 104 | 104 | | 81 Section 99. On or before September 1, 2026, each school district shall implement a |
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| 105 | 105 | | 82comprehensive school based behavioral health system within a multi-tiered system of supports |
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| 106 | 106 | | 83framework. The department shall collaborate with the department of mental health, the technical |
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| 107 | 107 | | 84assistance center established under section 16FF of chapter 6A and the school based behavioral |
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| 108 | 108 | | 85health implementation coordinating council established under section 23A of chapter 19 to |
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| 109 | 109 | | 86provide guidance and technical assistance to inform and assist implementation. Districts shall |
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| 110 | 110 | | 87report annually on the status of implementation in a manner and form prescribed by the |
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| 111 | 111 | | 88department. |
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