87R5041 BDP-D
By: Powell S.B. No. 980
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention
program for certain public elementary school campuses.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter G, Chapter 38, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 38.3515 to read as follows:
Sec. 38.3515. SUICIDE PREVENTION, INTERVENTION, AND
POSTVENTION PROGRAM. (a) In this section, "postvention" includes
activities that promote healing necessary to reduce the risk of
suicide by a person affected by the suicide of another.
(b) To the extent funds are appropriated to the agency for
that purpose, the agency shall establish a suicide prevention,
intervention, and postvention program for optional implementation
at an elementary school campus of a school district described by
Subsection (c).
(c) A school district may implement the program established
under this section at a campus of the district if the district or
campus has:
(1) experienced suicide loss among elementary school
students enrolled in the district; or
(2) a reasonable concern regarding the risk of suicide
among elementary school students enrolled in the district.
(d) The agency may prioritize school districts described by
Subsection (c)(1).
(e) For each elementary school campus at which the program
is implemented, the agency shall:
(1) conduct:
(A) an eligibility assessment of whether a
district that implements the program meets the criteria provided
under Subsection (c); and
(B) a needs-based assessment to identify
individual needs of each campus in the program;
(2) provide, in coordination with the Health and Human
Services Commission, comprehensive Suicide Safer Early
Intervention and Prevention systems for each campus in the program;
(3) provide recommendations for research-based best
practices for suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention
policies;
(4) develop a method for eligible districts to request
the assistance of public and private community-based mental health
resources;
(5) ensure that informational materials distributed
by an eligible district are age-appropriate and evidence-based; and
(6) at the request of an eligible district, provide
support to the campus in the program, including by:
(A) identifying the individual needs of the
campus through the assessment conducted under Subdivision (1)(B);
(B) implementing research-based best practices
for suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention; and
(C) working with mental health professionals,
school counselors, teachers, nurses, administrators, and other
staff, as well as law enforcement officers and social workers who
regularly interact with students, to prevent suicide among students
enrolled at the campus.
(f) Each school district that implements the program under
this section shall provide written notice to a parent or guardian of
each student enrolled at a campus in the program. The required
written notice must include:
(1) current information on suicide rates;
(2) evidence-based informational materials
identifying strategies to recognize the signs and symptoms of
possible suicidal ideation that are age-appropriate for children
who are three years of age or older;
(3) information about suicide prevention strategies
involving restricting access to the means of suicide; and
(4) a list of available school and community resources
to support students or community members who may be at risk for
suicide.
(g) In developing the program under this section, the
agency, in consultation with the Health and Human Services
Commission, shall make the considerations described by Section
38.351(f).
(h) In addition to the policies and procedures developed by
a school district under Section 38.351(i), a district that
implements the program shall develop practices and procedures
concerning suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention that:
(1) include a procedure for providing notice to a
parent or guardian of a student regarding a recommendation for
early mental health intervention regarding the student within a
reasonable amount of time after the identification of early warning
signs of risk for suicide, including:
(A) declining academic performance;
(B) depression;
(C) anxiety;
(D) isolation;
(E) unexplained changes in sleep or eating
habits; and
(F) destructive behavior toward self and others;
(2) include a procedure for providing notice of a
student identified as at risk of attempting suicide, including a
student who is or may be the victim of or who engages in bullying, to
a parent or guardian of the student within a reasonable amount of
time after the identification of early warning signs, including the
signs listed in Subdivision (1);
(3) designate at least one person to act as a liaison
officer in the district for the purposes of identifying students in
need of suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention;
(4) provide information concerning available
counseling alternatives to parents and guardians of district
students to consider when a student is identified as possibly in
need of suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention; and
(5) include procedures to support the return of a
student to regular school attendance following hospitalization or
residential treatment for a mental health condition or substance
abuse.
(i) The practices and procedures developed under Subsection
(h) must be included in:
(1) the annual student handbook; and
(2) the district improvement plan under Section
11.252.
(j) The agency:
(1) may accept donations for purposes of this section
from sources without a conflict of interest; and
(2) may not accept donations for purposes of this
section from an anonymous source.
(k) Nothing in this section is intended to interfere with
the rights of parents or guardians and the decision-making
regarding the best interest of the child. Practices and procedures
developed in accordance with this section are intended to notify a
parent or guardian of a need for suicide prevention, intervention,
or postvention so that a parent or guardian may take appropriate
action.
(l) Nothing in this section authorizes a school district
employee to recommend prescription medication for a student or to
interfere with medical decisions to be made by the student's parent
or guardian.
(m) The commissioner shall adopt rules to administer this
section.
(n) This section expires September 1, 2025.
SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2021-2022
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, 2021.