BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 174
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 1, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 174 (Bonta) - As Amended: April 17, 2013
Policy Committee: HealthVote:13-5
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Department of Public Health (DPH) to
establish a grant program within the Public School Health Center
Support Program (PSHCSP), to the extent funding is made
available, to provide resources for activities and services that
directly address the mental health and related needs of students
impacted by trauma, as defined. Specifically, this bill:
1)Permits grant funds to be used for specified activities and
services, including counseling, outreach and education, risk
screening, triage, and referral to campus-based services,
crisis response coordination, and oversight, coordination, and
evaluation of grant services.
2)Identifies categories of individuals who may provide
counseling under the grant program and who are required to
provide or oversee other grant program activities. These
categories are: a) a licensed mental health professional, as
specified; b) a credentialed school social worker; and c) an
unlicensed mental health professional registered by either the
Board of Behavioral Sciences or the Board of Psychology, with
supervision as specified.
3)Requires grants to be awarded to eligible applicants,
including local education agencies, nonprofit organizations,
community health centers, and county mental health
departments.
4)Requires grant applications to comply with specified
requirements and identifies priorities for awarding a grant.
5)Requires a grantee to commit to an annual report, as
AB 174
Page 2
specified, a memorandum of understanding (MOU), as specified,
between the school, school district, and other entities
providing grant-funded services in an effort to develop a
strong collaborative partnership (CP), and imposes various
requirements on the CP.
6)Makes its implementation contingent on public or private
funding, as specified.
FISCAL EFFECT
Initial and ongoing costs of $200,000 to $1 million or more for
DPH to establish and administer the grant program. Actual costs
are unknown because the bill does not address the funding level
of the overall grant program, the size of individual grants or
the number of grants to be awarded.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . The author points to the short-term and long-term
consequences of trauma and the lack of current law focused
explicitly on preventing and addressing students'
trauma-related needs through school-based services. This bill
has numerous supporters, including the California Medical
Center, Children Now, and co-sponsors California School Health
Centers Association and California PanEthnic Health Network,
who argue school-based mental health services work and can
reduce both depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
2)Prior Legislation . AB 2560 (Ridley-Thomas), Chapter 334,
Statutes of 2006, requires the Department of Health Services
now DPH, to establish the PSHCSP.
SB 564 (Ridley-Thomas), Chapter 381, Statutes of 2008, defines
school health centers (SHCs) and requires DPH, to the extent
funds are appropriated for implementation, to establish a
grant program to provide technical assistance and funding for
the expansion, renovation, and retrofitting of existing SHCs
and the development of new SHCs, as specified.
Funding has not been appropriated for either the overarching
PSHCP or the SB 564 grant program.
AB 174
Page 3
Analysis Prepared by : Debra Roth / APPR. / (916) 319-2081