EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MAT TER ADDED TO EXISTIN G LAW.
[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
*sb0282*
SENATE BILL 282
J1, F1 2lr2076
SB 425/21 – FIN CF 2lr2436
By: Senator Augustine
Introduced and read first time: January 19, 2022
Assigned to: Finance
A BILL ENTITLED
AN ACT concerning 1
Workgroup on Screening Related to Adverse Childhood Experienc es 2
FOR the purpose of establishing the Workgroup on Screening Related to Adverse Childhood 3
Experiences; requiring the Workgroup to take certain actions regarding screenings 4
related to adverse childhood experiences, including updating, improving, and 5
developing screening tools for use by primary care providers, studying actions that 6
primary care providers should take after screening a minor, developing a Youth Risk 7
Behavior Survey template, and making and developing recommendations for 8
improving the Youth Risk Behavior and the Youth Tobacco surveys and the surveys’ 9
data and trends report; and generally relating to the Workgroup on Screening 10
Related to Adverse Childhood Experiences. 11
SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 12
That: 13
(a) There is a Workgroup on Screening Related to Adverse Childhood 14
Experiences. 15
(b) The Workgroup consists of the following members: 16
(1) the State Superintendent of Schools, or the State Superintendent’s 17
designee; 18
(2) the Secretary of Health, or the Secretary’s designee; 19
(3) the Director of the Maryland Department of Health’s Office of 20
Population Health Improvement, or the Director’s designee; 21
(4) the Executive Director of the Maryland State Council on Child Abuse 22
and Neglect, or the Executive Director’s designee; 23
2 SENATE BILL 282
(5) the following members, appointed by the Secretary of Health: 1
(i) one mental health expert; 2
(ii) one managed care plan expert; 3
(iii) one behavioral health expert; 4
(iv) one child welfare expert; 5
(v) one primary care provider who performs physical examinations 6
on children entering school for the first time; 7
(vi) the coordinator and epidemiologist charged with administering 8
Maryland’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey under § 7–420 of the Education Article and the 9
Youth Tobacco Survey, as defined in § 13–1001 of the Health – General Article; 10
(vii) one representative from the Behavioral Health Administration 11
with expertise in adverse childhood experiences and positive childhood experiences; 12
(viii) two members of the research community with expertise in 13
adverse childhood experiences and positive childhood experiences; 14
(ix) one coordinator of a local adverse childhood experiences 15
initiative in the State; 16
(x) one director of a local management board in the State with 17
expertise in adverse childhood experiences and positive childhood experiences; 18
(xi) one director of a county parks and recreation department or a 19
similar department in the State; 20
(xii) one director of children’s services for a county library system in 21
the State; 22
(xiii) one individual with expertise in public health communications 23
and marketing on issues and policies related to children’s well–being; and 24
(xiv) one representative of the State Domestic Violence Coalition; 25
(6) the following members, appointed by the State Superintendent of 26
Schools: 27
(i) one parent of a child in a public primary or secondary school; 28
(ii) in consultation with the Public School Superintendents’ 29
Association of Maryland or the Maryland Association of Elementary School Principals, one 30 SENATE BILL 282 3
local superintendent or principal implementing efforts to have the superintendent’s school 1
system or principal’s school become trauma–informed; 2
(iii) one parent of a public middle school or high school student in the 3
State: 4
1. interested in and knowledgeable about the impact of 5
adverse childhood experiences and positive childhood experiences; and 6
2. active in the student’s local public school; 7
(iv) in consultation with the Maryland Association of School Health 8
Nurses, one school nurse in a local school system in the State with expertise in adverse 9
childhood experiences and positive childhood experiences research; and 10
(v) one local school system coordinator of mental health services or 11
student support services; 12
(7) one representative of the Maryland School Psychologists’ Association, 13
designated by the President of the Association; and 14
(8) one representative of the Maryland Psychological Association, 15
designated by the President of the Association. 16
(c) The Workgroup shall elect the chair of the Workgroup by a majority vote at 17
the first meeting. 18
(d) The Maryland Department of Health shall provide staff for the Workgroup. 19
(e) A member of the Workgroup: 20
(1) may not receive compensation as a member of the Workgroup; but 21
(2) is entitled to reimbursement for expenses under the Standard State 22
Travel Regulations, as provided in the State budget. 23
(f) On or before October 1, 2023, the Workgroup shall: 24
(1) update, improve, and develop screening tools that primary care 25
providers can use in a primary care setting to identify and treat minors who have a mental 26
health disorder that may be caused by or related to an adverse childhood experience; 27
(2) submit the screening tools to the Maryland Department of Health; 28
(3) recommend changes to the physical examination form that the State 29
Department of Education requires of all new students entering a public school, including 30
requiring that a physical examination include an assessment of trauma; 31 4 SENATE BILL 282
(4) study and make recommendations on the actions a primary care 1
provider should take after screening a minor for a mental health disorder that may be 2
caused by or related to an adverse childhood experience and finding that the minor shows 3
signs of trauma; 4
(5) study best practices in Youth Risk Behavior Survey data summaries 5
and trends reports from across the country, including those that report on adverse 6
childhood experiences and positive childhood experiences; 7
(6) develop a Youth Risk Behavior Survey template for a State– and 8
county–level data summary and trends report on adverse childhood experiences and 9
positive childhood experiences to be distributed for use and action by State and local 10
policymakers, adverse childhood experiences and trauma–informed State and local 11
initiatives, and philanthropic, business, faith–based, and community–based organizations, 12
that includes: 13
(i) the prevalence of individual adverse childhood experiences 14
among the population of middle school and high school students in the State, including 15
information disaggregated by gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and county; 16
(ii) the relationship between the number of adverse childhood 17
experiences and the risk behaviors and negative outcomes in the middle school and high 18
school student population in the State, including information disaggregated by gender, 19
race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and county; 20
(iii) the relationship between individual positive childhood 21
experiences and risk behaviors and negative outcomes in the middle school and high school 22
student population in the State, including information disaggregated by gender, race, 23
ethnicity, sexual orientation, and county; 24
(iv) data trends for the immediately preceding 5 years, to the extent 25
data is available, in the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences and positive childhood 26
experiences in the State; 27
(v) the identification and a summary of the best available policies, 28
programs, and practices that prevent adverse childhood experiences and promote positive 29
childhood experiences, as determined by available evidence; 30
(vi) effective public health communications, marketing, and 31
distribution of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey adverse childhood experiences and positive 32
childhood experiences State– and county–level data summary and trends report; and 33
(vii) any other information and factors that the Workgroup 34
determines are important for effective reporting, distribution, and action on the data at the 35
State and local level; 36
SENATE BILL 282 5
(7) make recommendations for improving the Youth Risk Behavior Survey 1
and the Youth Tobacco Survey and the surveys’ data and trends reports, including: 2
(i) whether the surveys should be expanded to reach all students in 3
middle school and high school; 4
(ii) whether the analyses and reporting should be made publicly 5
available at the zip code, census, or school level; and 6
(iii) any other criteria that the Workgroup determines are important 7
to ensuring the prevention and mitigation of adverse childhood experiences and risk 8
behaviors and the promotion of positive childhood experiences; and 9
(8) develop recommendations for unifying and coordinating child– and 10
family–serving agencies to better link youth and families to needed interventions and 11
services. 12
(g) On or before October 1, 2023, the Workgroup shall report its findings and 13
recommendations to the Governor and, in accordance with § 2 –1257 of the State 14
Government Article, the General Assembly. 15
SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect 16
October 1, 2022. It shall remain effective for a period of 2 years and, at the end of September 17
30, 2024, this Act, with no further action required by the General Assembly, shall be 18
abrogated and of no further force and effect. 19