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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3773 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 640 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | John J. Marsi and Paul K. Frost |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act Jason Flatt Law to prevent to prevent teen suicide. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:John J. Marsi6th Worcester1/17/2025Paul K. Frost7th Worcester1/17/2025Marcus S. Vaughn9th Norfolk2/11/2025 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3773 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 640 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representatives Marsi of Dudley and Frost of Auburn, a petition (accompanied by bill, |
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| 19 | 19 | | House, No. 640) of John J. Marsi, Paul K. Frost and Marcus S. Vaughn relative to student |
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| 20 | 20 | | suicide prevention. Education. |
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| 21 | 21 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 22 | 22 | | _______________ |
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| 23 | 23 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 25 | 25 | | _______________ |
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| 26 | 26 | | An Act Jason Flatt Law to prevent to prevent teen suicide. |
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| 27 | 27 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 28 | 28 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 29 | 29 | | 1 SECTION 1. Subsection (b), the second time it appears, of section 95 of Chapter 71 of |
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| 30 | 30 | | 2the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby amended be inserting the |
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| 31 | 31 | | 3following:- |
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| 32 | 32 | | 4 (1)Training shall also be required of all students starting in grade six and through |
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| 33 | 33 | | 5grade 12 of each academic year as well as all licensed school personnel |
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| 34 | 34 | | 6 (2)Training may be provided to students within the framework of existing in-service |
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| 35 | 35 | | 7training programs offered by the department to public school personnel |
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| 36 | 36 | | 8 (3)The department, in consultation with the department of public health, the |
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| 37 | 37 | | 9department of mental health, the department of developmental services, education and mental |
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| 38 | 38 | | 10health stakeholders, and suicide prevention stakeholders, shall develop a list of approved training |
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| 39 | 39 | | 11materials to fulfill the requirements of this section. This list shall be evaluated and updated at |
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| 40 | 40 | | 12least once every three years. Approved training materials and instruction shall include training on 2 of 2 |
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| 41 | 41 | | 13how to identify appropriate mental health services both within the school and the larger |
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| 42 | 42 | | 14community, and when and how to refer youth and their families to those services. These |
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| 43 | 43 | | 15materials and instruction are to be given by qualified suicide prevention instructors as |
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| 44 | 44 | | 16determined by the listed entities and groups. |
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| 45 | 45 | | 17 SECTION 2. Said section 95 of said chapter 71, as so appearing, is hereby further |
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| 46 | 46 | | 18amended by inserting after subsection (d) the following:- |
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| 47 | 47 | | 19 (e) Each public school district shall adopt a policy on student suicide prevention. This |
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| 48 | 48 | | 20policy shall, at a minimum, address procedures relating to suicide prevention, intervention and |
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| 49 | 49 | | 21postvention. For the purposes of this chapter, “postvention” shall mean counseling, or other |
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| 50 | 50 | | 22social care given to students after another student's suicide or attempted suicide. “Postvention” |
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| 51 | 51 | | 23shall also include counseling to students that have made a suicide attempt or have reported |
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| 52 | 52 | | 24ideation. This counseling shall consist of regular check-ins. For the purposes of this chapter, |
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| 53 | 53 | | 25“regular” means a frequency as determined by a licensed mental health professional. |
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| 54 | 54 | | 26 (1) To assist school districts in developing policies for student suicide prevention, the |
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| 55 | 55 | | 27department shall develop and maintain a model policy, or adopt an existing policy as a model |
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| 56 | 56 | | 28policy, to serve as a guide for school districts in accordance with this chapter to include, but not |
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| 57 | 57 | | 29be limited to, parental notification procedures, clarification of engagement with student support |
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| 58 | 58 | | 30personnel, and language defining an in-school issue compared to an out-of-school issue. |
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