Requires school psychologists and school counselors to complete mental health first aid training.
Impact
The implementation of A4605 is expected to significantly enhance the mental health resources available within schools. By stipulating mental health first aid training for key personnel, the bill seeks to create a more informed and responsive approach to student mental health issues. It not only advocates for initial training during the first year of employment but also emphasizes ongoing education every three years, which ensures that school staff remain updated on the best practices regarding mental health matters.
Summary
Assembly Bill A4605 establishes a mandate for school psychologists and school counselors in New Jersey to complete mental health first aid training. This training aims to equip educational personnel with skills to recognize and address mental health issues among children and adolescents, fostering a more supportive school environment. The bill specifies that the training course will be approved by the Department of Education and will be required to last a minimum of eight hours, covering various essential topics related to mental health and substance use disorders.
Contention
While A4605 has garnered support for its proactive stance on mental health in schools, potential concerns may arise regarding the practicality of the implementation. Critics might question whether current school resources will be sufficient to facilitate comprehensive training and whether the ongoing training requirements could weigh heavily on school budgets. Another point of contention could be the sufficiency of the training content and whether it effectively addresses the diverse mental health challenges faced by children and adolescents today.
Requires State Board of Education to include instruction on mental health first aid training as part of professional development requirement for public school teachers.
Requires State Board of Education to include instruction on mental health first aid training as part of professional development requirement for public school teachers.
Includes licensed school psychologists under the provisions of the general laws governing the regulations of psychologists and expands the licensing of school psychologists for independent practice.
Includes licensed school psychologists under the provisions of the general laws governing the regulations of psychologists and expands the licensing of school psychologists for independent practice.
Includes licensed school psychologists under the provisions of the general laws governing the regulations of psychologists and expands the licensing of school psychologists for independent practice.
Substitute for SB 131 by Committee on Public Health and Welfare - Authorizing the state board of healing arts to issue a sports waiver to practice healing arts professions in this state on a limited basis during certain sporting events, authorizing pharmacy technicians to administer certain vaccines, licensing of professional counselors, social workers, marriage and family therapists, addiction counselors, behavior analysts, psychologists and master's level psychologists, requiring the behavioral sciences regulatory board to process applications within a certain time and establish an expedited application process, establishing license categories for applicants from social work programs in candidacy for accreditation and for temporary reinstatement; extending the license period of temporary licenses, establishing a community-based license for certain licensed professions.
Requiring the behavioral sciences regulatory board to process applications within a certain time, decreasing the years of practice required for reciprocity licensure of certain behavioral sciences professions, extending the license period for temporary licenses, establishing new license categories and decreasing continuing education requirements related to diagnosis and treatment.