88R20383 EAS-D
By: Price, Thompson of Harris, Guillen, H.B. No. 2059
Lujan, Jetton, et al.
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to mental health first aid training provided by local
mental health authorities and local behavioral health authorities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 1001.201, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 1001.201. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Child-care facility" has the meaning assigned by
Section 42.002, Human Resources Code.
(2) "Educator" means a person who is required to hold a
certificate issued under Subchapter B, Chapter 21, Education Code.
(3) "First responder" has the meaning assigned by
Section 421.095, Government Code.
(4) "Institution of higher education" has the meaning
assigned by Section 61.003, Education Code.
(5) "Local behavioral health authority" means an
authority designated by the commission under Section 533.0356.
(6) [(2)] "Local mental health authority" has the
meaning assigned by Section 531.002.
(7) "Open-enrollment charter school" and "private
school" have the meanings assigned by Section 5.001, Education
Code.
(8) [(3)] "Regional education service center" means a
regional education service center established under Chapter 8,
Education Code.
(9) [(4)] "School district employee" means a person
employed by a school district who regularly interacts with students
through the course of the person's duties, including an educator, a
secretary, a school bus driver, or a cafeteria worker.
(10) [(5)] "School resource officer" has the meaning
assigned by Section 1701.601, Occupations Code.
[(6) "University employee" means a person employed by
a public or private institution of higher education who regularly
interacts with students enrolled at the university through the
course of the person's duties.]
SECTION 2. Section 1001.202, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 1001.202. GRANTS FOR TRAINING OF MENTAL HEALTH FIRST
AID TRAINERS. (a) To the extent money is [funds are] appropriated
to the commission [department] for that purpose, the commission
[department] shall make grants to local mental health authorities
or local behavioral health authorities to contract with persons
approved by the commission [department] to train employees or
contractors of the authorities as mental health first aid trainers.
(b) The commission [department] shall make each grant to a
local mental health authority or local behavioral health authority
under this section in the [an] amount the commission determines
necessary to cover the costs of training [equal to $1,000 times the
number of] employees or contractors of the authority whose training
as mental health first aid trainers will be paid by the grant.
(d) The executive commissioner shall adopt rules to
establish the requirements for a person to be approved by the
commission [department] to train employees or contractors of a
local mental health authority or local behavioral health authority
as mental health first aid trainers. The rules must ensure that a
person who is approved by the commission [department] is qualified
to provide training in:
(1) the potential risk factors and warning signs for
various mental illnesses, including depression, anxiety, trauma,
psychosis, eating disorders, substance use [abuse] disorders, and
self-injury;
(2) the prevalence of various mental illnesses in the
United States and the need to reduce the stigma associated with
mental illness;
(3) an action plan for use by the employees or
contractors that involves the use of skills, resources, and
knowledge to assess a situation and develop and implement an
appropriate intervention to help an individual experiencing a
mental health crisis obtain appropriate professional care; and
(4) the evidence-based professional, peer, social,
and self-help resources available to help individuals with mental
illness.
(e) Two or more local mental health authorities or local
behavioral health authorities may collaborate and share resources
to provide training for employees or contractors of the authorities
under this section.
SECTION 3. Section 1001.203, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 1001.203. GRANTS FOR TRAINING CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS
[UNIVERSITY EMPLOYEES, SCHOOL DISTRICT EMPLOYEES, AND SCHOOL
RESOURCE OFFICERS] IN MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID. (a) To the extent
money is [funds are] appropriated [to the department] for the
[that] purpose, the commission [department] shall make grants to
local mental health authorities or local behavioral health
authorities to provide at no cost an approved mental health first
aid training program[,] administered by mental health first aid
trainers[, at no cost] to the following individuals at the
discretion of the authorities:
(1) [university employees,] school district
employees[,] and school resource officers;
(2) employees of:
(A) an institution of higher education;
(B) an open-enrollment charter school; or
(C) a private school;
(3) employees and contractors of a child-care
facility;
(4) youth;
(5) individuals with direct and recurring contact with
students;
(6) first responders;
(7) military service members, veterans, or immediate
family members of military service members or veterans;
(8) judges and attorneys, as applicable based on the
practice of law of the judge or attorney; or
(9) contractors of an institution of higher education,
an open-enrollment charter school, a private school, or a school
district.
(c) The commission [department] shall grant [$100] to a
local mental health authority or local behavioral health authority
the amount the commission determines necessary to cover the costs
of training each individual described by Subsection (a) [for each
university employee, school district employee, or school resource
officer] who successfully completes a mental health first aid
training program provided by the authority under this section.
(d) A mental health first aid training program provided by a
local mental health authority or local behavioral health authority
under this section must:
(1) be conducted by a person trained as a mental health
first aid trainer;
(2) provide participants with the skills necessary to
help an individual experiencing a mental health crisis until the
individual is able to obtain appropriate professional care; and
(3) include:
(A) instruction in a five-step strategy for
helping an individual experiencing a mental health crisis,
including assessing risk, listening respectfully to and supporting
the individual, and identifying professional help and other
supports for the individual;
(B) an introduction to the risk factors and
warning signs for mental illness and substance use [abuse]
problems;
(C) experiential activities to increase
participants' understanding of the impact of mental illness on
individuals and families; and
(D) a presentation of evidence-supported
treatment and self-help strategies.
(e) A local mental health authority or local behavioral
health authority may contract with a regional education service
center to provide under this section a mental health first aid
training program to [university employees,] school district
employees and contractors, [and] school resource officers,
open-enrollment charter school employees and contractors, private
school employees and contractors, and employees and contractors of
an institution of higher education [under this section].
(f) Two or more local mental health authorities or local
behavioral health authorities may collaborate and share resources
to develop and operate a mental health first aid training program
under this section.
SECTION 4. Section 1001.204, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 1001.204. PLANS FOR MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID TRAINING
PROGRAMS. (a) Not later than July 1 of each even-numbered [state
fiscal] year for which a local mental health authority or local
behavioral health authority will seek a grant from the commission
[department] under Section 1001.203, the authority shall submit to
the commission [department] a plan demonstrating the manner in
which grants made to the authority under that section will be used:
(1) to train individuals in mental health first aid
throughout the authority's local service area to maximize the
number of children who have direct contact with an individual who
has successfully completed a mental health first aid training
program provided by the authority;
(2) to meet the greatest needs of the authority's local
service area, as identified by the authority; and
(3) to complement existing resources and not duplicate
established mental health first aid training efforts.
(b) The commission [department] may not make a grant to a
local mental health authority or local behavioral health authority
under Section 1001.203 unless the commission [department] has
evaluated a plan submitted by the authority under this section.
SECTION 5. Section 1001.205, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 1001.205. REPORTS. (a) Not later than September 30 of
each year, a local mental health authority or local behavioral
health authority shall provide to the commission [department] the
number of:
(1) employees and contractors of the authority who
were trained as mental health first aid trainers under Section
1001.202 during the preceding fiscal year, the number of trainers
who left the program for any reason during the preceding fiscal
year, and the number of active trainers;
(2) [university employees,] school district
employees[,] and contractors, school resource officers,
open-enrollment charter school employees and contractors, private
school employees and contractors, and employees and contractors of
an institution of higher education who completed a mental health
first aid training program offered by the authority under Section
1001.203 during the preceding fiscal year categorized by:
(A) local mental health authority or local
behavioral health authority region;
(B) [, university or] school district,
open-enrollment charter school, private school, and institution of
higher education, as applicable; [,] and
(C) category of personnel;
(3) child-care facility employees and contractors,
youth, individuals with direct and recurring contact with students,
first responders, judges, and attorneys [individuals who are not
university employees, school district employees, or school
resource officers] who completed a mental health first aid training
program offered by the authority during the preceding fiscal year
categorized by local mental health authority or local behavioral
health authority region; and
(4) military service members, veterans, and immediate
family members of military service members and veterans who
completed the veterans module or standard version of a mental
health first aid training program offered by the authority during
the preceding fiscal year categorized by local mental health
authority or local behavioral health authority region and the
training program completed.
(b) Not later than December 1 of each year, the commission
[department] shall compile the information submitted by local
mental health authorities or local behavioral health authorities as
required by Subsection (a) and submit a report to the legislature
containing:
(1) the number of authority employees and contractors
trained as mental health first aid trainers during the preceding
fiscal year, the number of trainers who left the program for any
reason during the preceding fiscal year, and the number of active
trainers;
(2) the number of [university employees,] school
district employees[,] and contractors, school resource officers,
open-enrollment charter school employees and contractors, private
school employees and contractors, and employees and contractors of
an institution of higher education who completed a mental health
first aid training program provided by an authority during the
preceding fiscal year categorized by:
(A) local mental health authority region or local
behavioral health authority region;
(B) [, university or] school district,
open-enrollment charter school, private school, and institution of
higher education, as applicable; [,] and
(C) category of personnel;
(3) the number of child-care facility employees and
contractors, youth, individuals with direct and recurring contact
with students, first responders, judges, and attorneys
[individuals who are not university employees, school district
employees, or school resource officers] who completed a mental
health first aid training program provided by an authority during
the preceding fiscal year categorized by local mental health
authority or local behavioral health authority region;
(4) the number of military service members, veterans,
and immediate family members of military service members and
veterans who completed the veterans module or standard version of a
mental health first aid training program provided by an authority
during the preceding fiscal year categorized by local mental health
authority or local behavioral health authority region and the
training program completed; and
(5) a detailed accounting of expenditures of money
appropriated for the purpose of implementing this subchapter.
(c) The commission [department] shall develop and provide
to local mental health authorities and local behavioral health
authorities a form to be used for the reporting of information
required under Subsection (a), including the reporting of each
category of personnel described by that subsection.
SECTION 6. Section 1001.206, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 1001.206. LIABILITY. A person who has completed a
mental health first aid training program offered by a local mental
health authority or local behavioral health authority under this
subchapter and who in good faith attempts to assist an individual
experiencing a mental health crisis is not liable in civil damages
for an act performed in attempting to assist the individual unless
the act is wilfully or wantonly negligent.
SECTION 7. The following sections of the Health and Safety
Code are repealed:
(1) Section 1001.2015; and
(2) Section 1001.2031.
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.