86R25388 KJE-F
By: Price, Huberty, Coleman, H.B. No. 1335
Thompson of Harris, Bonnen of Galveston
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1335:
By: Price C.S.H.B. No. 1335
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the establishment of school-based behavioral health
centers by public schools and a grant program administered by the
executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission
for the operation of those centers.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 38, Education Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter B-1 to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER B-1. SCHOOL-BASED BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CENTERS
Sec. 38.081. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Behavioral health services" includes mental
health assessments, crisis interventions, counseling, including
substance abuse counseling, and referrals to a continuum of mental
health services.
(2) "Eligible entity" means a community-based
organization that is:
(A) a school district;
(B) an open-enrollment charter school;
(C) a hospital;
(D) a local health department;
(E) a federally qualified health center, as
defined by 42 U.S.C. Section 1396d(l)(2)(B);
(F) a community mental health center, as defined
by 42 U.S.C. Section 1395x(ff)(3)(B);
(G) a local mental health authority;
(H) a licensed mental health care provider whose
sole purpose is providing school-based behavioral health services;
(I) a local Communities In Schools program
described by Subchapter E, Chapter 33; or
(J) any other appropriate nonprofit health care
agency or behavioral health care agency.
(3) "Executive commissioner" means the executive
commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission.
Sec. 38.082. ESTABLISHMENT OF SCHOOL-BASED BEHAVIORAL
HEALTH CENTER. (a) A school district may establish a school-based
behavioral health center to:
(1) provide accessible behavioral health services to
students and their families;
(2) improve the emotional well-being and academic
performance of medically underserved students and their families;
and
(3) integrate behavioral health services in the school
environment.
(b) A school district may combine a school-based behavioral
health center with a school-based health center established under
Subchapter B or any other district program that provides primary
health care services to students.
Sec. 38.083. CENTER REQUIREMENTS. (a) A school-based
behavioral health center must:
(1) be located at or near a school district facility;
(2) be organized with assistance from the community
and relevant health care providers; and
(3) provide behavioral health services during school
hours to students in accordance with:
(A) applicable federal, state, and local laws;
(B) established behavioral health standards; and
(C) community practice.
(b) A school-based behavioral health center may provide
services to the student only with the consent of the student's
parent or guardian.
(c) A school-based behavioral health center must be
administered by an eligible entity.
Sec. 38.084. GRANTS. (a) The executive commissioner shall
administer a program under which grants are awarded to eligible
entities to assist school districts with the costs of operating
school-based behavioral health centers.
(b) To be eligible to receive a grant under this section, an
eligible entity must:
(1) establish or propose to establish a school-based
behavioral health center that meets the requirements under Section
38.083 under an agreement with a school district;
(2) provide sufficient information establishing local
need for the behavioral health services provided by or proposed to
be provided by the center;
(3) provide sufficient evidence that:
(A) the entity's request for a grant under this
section is approved by the school district at which the center is or
will be located;
(B) the center will obtain parental consent
before providing behavioral health services to children;
(C) the center will offer on-site access during
each instructional day;
(D) the center will be integrated into the school
environment and will coordinate behavioral health resources with
district educators and other appropriate support personnel,
including other school-based health care providers; and
(E) the entity will assume all responsibility for
the administration, operation, and oversight of the center;
(4) establish and maintain relationships with health
care providers; and
(5) provide any other information the executive
commissioner determines necessary.
(c) In awarding grants under this section, the executive
commissioner shall give priority to eligible entities that seek
funding for a school-based behavioral health center that meets at
least two of the following criteria:
(1) the center has already been established;
(2) the center will be established at a campus that
does not currently have a school-based behavioral health center;
(3) the center serves or will serve an area in which
there are barriers to students accessing behavioral health
services; or
(4) the center serves or will serve a campus at which
50 percent or more of the students in daily attendance at the campus
are:
(A) uninsured, underinsured, or enrolled in a
public health insurance program; or
(B) educationally disadvantaged.
(d) The executive commissioner shall determine the amount
of each grant awarded under this section. In determining the amount
of a grant, the executive commissioner shall consider:
(1) the financial need of the school district at which
the school-based behavioral health center is or will be located to
operate the center;
(2) other funding provided to the district for the
operation of the center; and
(3) any other factor the executive commissioner
determines relevant.
(e) A grant awarded under this section may be used only for:
(1) the salaries of health care providers who provide
behavioral health services through the school-based behavioral
health center; or
(2) costs related to managing the center's programs.
(f) The executive commissioner, in consultation with the
commissioner, shall adopt rules as necessary to implement this
section, including rules regarding the evaluation and monitoring of
school-based behavioral health centers operated by eligible
entities that receive a grant under this section.
SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2019-2020
school year.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2019.