AB 1644: School-based early mental health intervention and prevention services.

Existing law, the School-Based Early Mental Health Intervention and Prevention Services for Children Act of 1991 (1991 act), authorizes the Director of Health Care Services, in consultation with the Superintendent of Public Instruction, to provide matching grants to local educational agencies to pay the state share of the costs of providing school-based early mental health intervention and prevention services to eligible pupils at schoolsites of eligible pupils, subject to the availability of funding each year. Existing law defines eligible pupil for this purpose as a pupil who attends a publicly funded elementary school and who is in kindergarten or grades 1 to 3, inclusive. Existing law also defines local educational agency as a school district or county office of education or a state special school.

This bill would rename the 1991 act the Healing from Early Adversity to Level the Impact (HEAL) of Trauma in Schools Act or the HEAL Trauma in Schools Act. The bill would expand the definition of an eligible pupil to include a pupil who attends a preschool program at a contracting agency of the California state preschool program or a local educational agency, and a pupil who is in transitional kindergarten, thereby extending the application of the act to those persons. The bill would also include charter schools in the definition of local educational agency, thereby extending the application of the act to those entities. The bill would increase the percentage of each matching grant that may be used for matching grant evaluation from 10% to 20%. This bill would implement this program only to the extent that the department determines that federal financial participation is not jeopardized, as specified. The bill would require the State Public Health Officer, Director of Health Care Services, in consultation with the Superintendent of Public Schools, the Director of Health Care Services, Instruction, the State Public Heath Officer, and the Attorney General to establish a 4-year program, the HEAL Trauma in Schools Support Program, to provide outreach, free regional training, and technical assistance for local educational agencies in providing mental health services at schoolsites. The bill would require the State Department of Public Health Health Care Services to submit specified reports after 2 and 4 years. The bill would make the implementation of the program contingent upon an appropriation in the annual budget act.

This bill would authorize the department to implement, interpret, or make specific the grant and support programs by means of information notices, plan letters, plan or provider bulletins, or similar instructions, without taking regulatory action, until regulations are adopted and would exempt contracts for the HEAL Trauma in Schools Support Program and administration, or ancillary services in support of the program, from specified statutory and administrative requirements and from approval by the Department of General Services. The bill would repeal these provisions the HEAL Trauma in Schools Support Program as of January 1, 2022.