BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Carol Liu, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 330
AUTHOR: Padilla
AMENDED: April 1, 2013
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: May 1, 2013
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Lynn Lorber
SUBJECT : Health framework: mental health instruction.
SUMMARY
This bill requires the next revision of the Health
curriculum framework to include a distinct category on
mental health instruction.
BACKGROUND
Academic content standards define the knowledge, concepts,
and skills that pupils should acquire at each grade level
(the "what"). Curricular frameworks are the blueprint for
implementing the standards, and include criteria by which
instructional materials are evaluated (the "how").
The processes for reviewing frameworks and adopting
instructional materials have been suspended since July 28,
2009. The State Board of Education (SBE) is specifically
prohibited from reviewing frameworks and adopting
instructional materials until the 2015-16 school year.
(Education Code § 60200.7)
The role of the Instructional Quality Commission is to
recommend curriculum frameworks to the SBE, develop
criteria for evaluating instructional materials, study,
evaluate and recommend to the SBE instructional materials
for adoption, make recommendations to the SBE regarding the
use of frameworks and model curriculum and alignment with
the academic content standards. (EC § 60204)
The Health framework was last adopted in 2003, and was in
the process of being revised when the statutory (and
budgetary) suspension of that process took effect in July
2009. Adoption of the revised Health framework was
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projected for March 2011.
ANALYSIS
This bill requires the next revision of the Health
curriculum framework to include a distinct category on
mental health instruction. Specifically, this bill:
1) Requires the Instructional Quality Commission and the
State Board of Education, during the next revision of
the Health framework, to create a
distinct category on mental health instruction for the
purpose of educating students about all aspects of
mental health.
2) Requires the California Department of Education (CDE)
to convene stakeholders in the mental health and
educational fields to provide input for the
development of the mental health instruction in the
comprehensive health education plans. This bill
requires the CDE to review information and programs
from other state and countries, and to include
stakeholders from:
a) Culturally, racially, and ethnically diverse
communities.
b) All mental health professionals.
c) Teachers.
d) Parents.
e) Those involved in promoting mental wellness.
f) Those living with a mental health challenge
and their families.
3) Defines "mental health instruction" to include:
a) Reasonably designed and
age-appropriate instruction on the overarching
themes and core principles of mental health,
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including defining common mental health
challenges.
b) Promoting mental health wellness, which
includes:
i) Positive development.
ii) Social connectedness and
supportive relationships.
iii) Resiliency, which is the ability
to bounce back despite adversity.
iv) Problem solving skills.
v) Coping skills.
vi) Self-esteem.
vii) A positive school and home
environment in which students feel
comfortable.
c) Ability to identify warning signs
of common mental health problems in order to
promote awareness and early intervention to teach
students to take action before a situation
becomes a crisis. This should include
instruction on:
i) How to appropriately
seek and find assistance from mental health
professionals and services within the school
district and in the community for themselves
or others.
ii) Appropriate evidence-based
research and practices that are proven to
help overcome mental health challenges.
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d) The connection and importance of
mental health to overall health and academic
success as well as to co-occurring conditions,
such as chronic physical conditions and chemical
dependence and substance abuse.
e) Awareness and appreciation about
the prevalence of mental health challenges across
all populations, races, ethnicities, and
socio-economic statuses, include the impact of
culture on the experience and treatment of mental
health challenges.
f) Stigma surrounding mental health
challenges and what can be done to overcome
stigma, increase awareness, and promote
acceptance. This should include, to the extent
possible, classroom presentations of narratives
by peers and other people who have experienced
mental health challenges, and how they coped with
their situations including how they sought help
and acceptance.
4) Authorizes schools to provide mental health
instruction as described by this bill in any grade,
beginning in the 2013-14 school year.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill . According to the author, "Mental
health challenges touch everyone and affect all age
groups, races, ethnicities, and socioeconomic classes.
According to the National Institute of Health, an
estimated one on five children and one in four adults
live with some sort of mental health challenge.
Education is one of the best ways to increase
awareness and treatment, and reduce the stigma
associated with mental health challenges.
California's public education system is one of the
most effective means to provide each child with an
opportunity to acquire knowledge about mental health
issues."
2) Already in the framework ? The health framework
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appears to contain very little information relative to
mental health and does not appear to include
grade-specific expectations. This bill requires the
creation of a distinct category on mental health
within the health framework.
The State Board of Education is prohibited from reviewing
frameworks until Fall 2015 at the earliest. The
Health framework was last adopted in 2003, and was in
the process of being revised when the statutory (and
budgetary) suspension of that process took effect in
July 2009. Adoption of the revised Health framework
was projected for March 2011.
There does not appear to be a specific plan for the
resumption of the process of reviewing and updating
curricular frameworks. Assuming the prior schedule is
resumed as it was upon suspension and frameworks for
history-social science and science are completed
first, the health framework would likely be revisited
in 2018 at the earliest.
3) One approach . This bill adds a distinct category to
the Health framework. Curricular frameworks are used
as the basis for the development of instructional
materials. Adding topics to the curricular frameworks
could mean those areas will be included in
instructional materials. However, the process of
adding topics to the frameworks is lengthy and costly.
Another approach is to add instruction in specific areas to
the course of study. Current law prescribes that the
adopted course of study for grades 1-12 include
specific areas of study. This appears to require
every school to offer courses in every subject listed
yet it is unlikely that every school offers courses in
driver's education, genetic diseases and disorders,
aviation, school gardens, community service, bicycle
safety, or aquatic safety, for example.
4) Technical amendments needed . This bill requires the
Instructional Quality Commission (IQC) and the State
Board of Education (SBE) to include a distinct
category on mental health instruction within the
Health framework during its next revision. The IQC is
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charged with reviewing and revising frameworks, and
recommending revisions to the SBE for adoption. Staff
recommends an amendment to clarify that the IQC is to
develop the mental health instruction and recommend to
the SBE adoption of the updated framework.
This bill requires the California Department of Education
to convene stakeholders in the mental health and
educational fields to provide input for the
development of the mental health instruction in the
comprehensive health education plan. Staff recommends
an amendment to strike reference to comprehensive
health education plans and instead reference the
Health framework (page 3, line 37).
The author would like to make the following technical
amendments:
a) Add Senator Beall as a co-author.
b) On page 2, lines 24-25, strike "so pupils
are knowledgeable" and insert "to educate pupils"
c) Bifurcate section 51900.5(b)(1) into two
subdivisions (page 2, lines 28-35).
d) On page 3, line 3, strike "which is the
ability to bounce back despite adversity"
e) On page 3, line 33, after "communities,"
insert "representatives from"
5) 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.
AB 174 (Bonta) establishes a grant program to fund
activities and services to directly address the mental
health and related needs of students who are impacted
by trauma. AB 174 is pending in the Assembly
Appropriations Committee.
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AB 1367 (Mansoor) adds schools to existing mental health
outreach efforts for the purpose of training in the
identification of students with mental health issues
that may result in a threat to themselves or others to
provide timely intervention. AB 1367 is pending in the
Assembly Health Committee.
AB 549 (Jones-Sawyer) adds as a required component of
school safety plans guidelines for the roles and
responsibilities of mental health and intervention
professionals, school resource officers, and police
officers on the school campus. AB 549 is scheduled to
be heard by the Assembly Education Committee on May 1,
2013.
SB 524 (Lara) requires the Superintendent of Public
Instruction to appoint and staff a 12 member task
force to develop voluntary K-12 curriculum regarding
postsecondary opportunities and financial aid. SB 524
is pending in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
SB 552 (Calderon) authorizes social science instruction in
grades 7-12 to include instruction on violence
awareness. SB 552 is scheduled to be heard by this
Committee on May 1, 2013.
SB 696 (Block) among other things, adds civics learning
objectives to the history-social science framework.
SB 696 is pending in the Senate Appropriations
Committee.
AB 137 (Buchanan) requires the inclusion of strategies to
increase instruction in civics whenever the
history-social science framework is updated. AB 137
is pending in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
AB 391 (Wieckowski) requires the history-social science
framework, when updated, to include financial
literacy, and requires the one-semester instructional
program on consumer economics to be updated to include
instruction in specified areas of financial literacy.
AB 391 is pending in the Assembly Appropriations
Committee.
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AB 424 (Donnelly) requires instruction in the social
sciences to include the development of democracy and
the history of the development of the United States
Constitution and requires specified historical
documents be included in the history-social science
framework. AB 424 failed passage in the Assembly
Education Committee on April 3, 2013, on a 2-5 vote.
AB 700 (Gomez) requires the adopted course of study in
history-social science to include beginning with the
2014-15 school year, a voter education component
providing instruction in how to register and cast
votes in local, state, and federal elections, and how
to use the voter information pamphlet and other
materials to become an informed voter. This bill also
requires the California Department of Education, by
July 1, 2014, to develop and adopt a model curriculum
framework for a voter education component in social
studies classes to be implemented beginning with the
2014-15 school year. AB 700 is scheduled to be heard
by the Assembly Education Committee on May 1, 2013.
6) Prior legislation . AB 739 (Lowenthal, 2011) would
have required the State Board of Education and the
Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials
Commission to include suicide prevention and mental
illness awareness instruction in the health education
curriculum framework for grades 7 and 8. AB 739 was
held on the Assembly Appropriations Committee's
suspense file.
SUPPORT
Association of California School Administrators
California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists
California Association of School Psychologists
California Association of School Social Workers
California Medical Association
California Mental Health Directors Association
California Psychological Association
California School Health Centers Association
Los Angeles Unified School District
Mental Health America of California
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National Alliance on Mental Illness
OPPOSITION
None on file.