BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Carol Liu, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 231
AUTHOR: Correa
AMENDED: March 20, 2013
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: May 1, 2013
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Lynn Lorber
SUBJECT : California Bullying Prevention Hotline.
SUMMARY
This bill requires the California Department of Education
to contract for the administration of California Bullying
Prevention Hotline for the purpose of providing information
about bullying, abuse, safety, and referrals to other
agencies.
BACKGROUND
Current law defines bullying as any severe or pervasive
physical or verbal act or conduct, including communications
made in writing or by means of an electronic act, and
including one or more acts committed by a student or group
of students directed toward one or more students that has
or can be reasonably predicted to have the effect of one or
more of the following:
1) Placing a reasonable student or students in fear of
harm to that student or those students' person or
property.
2) Causing a reasonable student to experience a
substantially detrimental effect on his or her
physical or mental health.
3) Causing a reasonable student to experience substantial
interference with his or her ability to participate in
or benefit from the services, activities, or
privileges provided by a school. (Education Code §
48900)
Various resources are available to schools regarding
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policies, best practices and resources regarding the
prevention of bullying. The website of the California
Department of Education contains links to much of this
information but does not appear to include a hotline for
students. http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/ss/se/bullyingprev.asp
The Student Mental Health Initiative of the Department of
Health Care Services is a grant program for K-12 schools
and institutions of higher education to develop a
comprehensive system of mental health services and
supports.
ANALYSIS
This bill requires the California Department of Education
to contract for the administration of California Bullying
Prevention Hotline for the purpose of providing information
about bullying, abuse, safety, and referrals to other
agencies. Specifically, this bill:
1) Requires the California Bullying Prevention Hotline to
be administered by the California Department of
Education (CDE).
2) Requires the CDE, in consultation with the Student
Mental Health Initiative of the State Department of
Health Care Services and other entities as deemed
appropriate by the CDE, to contract with an entity
that has experience in all of the following areas:
a) Hotline telephone services, which
are nationally accredited and provided on a
regional or statewide basis.
b) Behavioral health services.
c) Crisis prevention and intervention
services.
d) Suicide prevention and
intervention services.
e) Providing services in a
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linguistically and culturally competent manner.
3) Requires the overarching goals and objectives of the
hotline to include communicating with callers and
providing information about all of the following:
a) Assessment of the bullying and
peer abuse reported by callers.
b) Ensuring the safety of
individuals, as related to bullying and peer
abuse.
c) Educating callers about the causes
and prevention of bullying and peer abuse.
d) Referring callers to resources for
addressing bullying and peer abuse.
4) Requires the specific responsibilities, activities,
and services that are to be provided through the
hotline to be determined by the CDE, in collaboration
with the Student Mental Health Initiative and other
entities as deemed appropriate by the CDE. This bill
requires the CDE to also consider appropriate input
and recommendations from students, advocates,
families, community-based organizations, and people
with expertise in
issues related to mental health, peer abuse and bullying,
and cultural and linguistic competence.
5) Requires the California Department of Education (CDE)
to recommend to school districts appropriate
guidelines, best practices, and information that
districts may give to students and families about the
existence, goals, and objectives of the hotline.
6) Requires the CDE to recommend to school districts that
information about the hotline be provided to all
students and families who are involved in any
complaint procedure related to complaints of peer
abuse, bullying, harassment or discrimination.
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7) Requires the CDE to recommend to school districts that
appropriate information about the hotline be included
on the district's website and in any new revisions to
the safety plans of the schools within the district,
as well as in any new materials that are developed
relating to issues of bullying or peer abuse.
8) States legislative intent regarding the establishment
of the hotline to address issues relating to bullying
and peer abuse, with a particular focus on issues that
impact K-12 students and their families, peers and
community.
9) Establishes these provisions as the Michael Joseph
Berry Peer Abuse Prevention and Awareness Act of 2013.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill . According to the author, "Bullying
is a form of mistreatment and victimization that
involves any combination of physical, verbal and/or
psychological abuse. Bullying is a serious problem in
K-12 schools that impacts the academic performance and
the self-esteem of all students. Poor academic
performance and a devastating array of psychological
problems have severe consequences of bullying, on both
the victims and perpetrators. Long-term consequences
of bullying have been linked to an array of disorders
that include criminal behaviors, substance abuse, and
numerous mental health problems."
2) Contract . This bill requires the California
Department of Education (CDE), in consultation with
the Student Mental Health Initiative of the State
Department of Health Care Services and other entities
as deemed appropriate by the CDE, to contract with an
entity that has experience in providing certain
services, including hotline telephone services. This
bill requires the specific responsibilities,
activities, and services that are to be provided
through the hotline to be determined by the CDE, in
collaboration with the Student Mental Health
Initiative and other entities as deemed appropriate by
the CDE.
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Should the California Department of Education (CDE) and
other stakeholders be required to consider contracting
with an entity that has experience not only with
telephone hotlines but also with other modes of
communication, such as text and internet? Should the
CDE and other stakeholders be required to consider
awarding the contract to an entity that can maintain
the California Bullying Prevention Hotline as a
component of an existing hotline service? Should the
CDE be required to contract with an entity that is
based in California or has specific experience in
providing services in California, such as California
2-1-1?
This bill requires the CDE to contract with an entity with
specific experience. This implies but does not
explicitly require the contract to be for the
provision of the California Bullying Prevention
Hotline.
3) Fiscal impact . This bill provides that its operation
in any fiscal year is contingent upon the
certification by the Superintendent of Public
Instruction that sufficient funding is available for
implementation in that fiscal year.
4) Related legislation . SB 596 (Yee) requires the
Superintendent of Public Instruction to establish a
pilot program to assist schools to establish or
enhance school-based mental health services. SB 596
is pending in this Committee.
SB 330 (Padilla) requires the next revision of the Health
curriculum framework to include a distinct category on
mental health instruction.
SB 330 is scheduled to be heard by this Committee on
May 1, 2013.
SUPPORT
American Association of University Women
California Teachers Association
The Luke Robert South Foundation
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OPPOSITION
None on file.