BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 1025
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|Author: |Thurmond |
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|Version: |June 2, 2015 Hearing |
| |Date: July 8, 2015 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Lynn Lorber |
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Subject: Pupil health: multitiered and integrated
interventions pilot program
NOTE: This bill has been referred to the Committee on
Education and the Committee on Health. A "do pass" motion
should include referral to the Committee on Health.
SUMMARY
This bill requires the California Department of Education to
establish a three-year pilot program in school districts to
encourage inclusive practices that integrate mental health,
special education, and school climate interventions following a
multi-tiered framework.
BACKGROUND
The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act provides
that students with exceptional needs identified as having
"emotional disturbance" may be eligible to receive mental health
services. Mental health services are considered "related
services" and include counseling, psychological services, parent
counseling and training, and residential placement, among
others. (United States Code, Title 20, § 1400, et seq. and Code
of Federation Regulations, Title 34, § 300.34)
AB 114 (Committee on Budget, Chapter 43, Statutes of 2011)
shifted responsibility for mental health services for students
from counties to local educational agencies (LEAs). Any and all
services identified in a student's individualized education
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program (IEP) must be provided, whether directly by LEA
employees or through contract with outside providers such as
county mental health agencies. LEAs are required to ensure
services are provided to students regardless of who provides or
pays for those services. (Education Code § 56139)
AB 104 (Committee on Budget, Ch. 13, 2015) among other things,
appropriates $10 million to the Superintendent of Public
Instruction to provide technical assistance and develop
statewide resources to assist local educational agencies to
establish and align systems of learning and behavioral supports.
Multi-tiered interventions
Many schools voluntarily follow models of tiered interventions
to address student needs prior to imposing discipline or making
referrals to special education. Models include Schoolwide
Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports, Response to
Intervention and Positive Environments, Network of Trainers.
Typically, the base tier is a schoolwide approach involving
instruction, school climate, etc. The middle tier is targeted
to students who did not respond to the schoolwide efforts and
involved more intense interventions such as tutoring. The top
tier focuses on a smaller group of students who continue to need
support and may include very intense and frequent services such
as counseling.
The Student Success Team, formerly Student Study Team, is a
positive schoolwide early identification and intervention
process. Working as a team, the student, parent, teacher and
school administrator identify the student's strengths and assets
upon which an improvement plan can be designed. As a regular
school process, the team intervenes with school and community
support and an improvement plan that all team members agree to
follow. Follow-up meetings are planned to provide a continuous
casework management strategy to ensure the needs of students are
met.
Positive behavior interventions and supports
Existing law:
1)Encourages schools, as comprehensive school safety plans are
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reviewed and updated, to include in school safety plans clear
guidelines for the roles and responsibilities of mental health
professionals, community intervention professionals, school
counselors, school resource officers, and police officers on
school campus, if the school district uses these people. The
guidelines may include primary strategies to create and
maintain a positive school climate, promote school safety, and
increase pupil achievement, and prioritize mental health and
intervention services, restorative and transformative justice
programs, and positive behavior interventions and support.
(Education Code § 32282.1)
2)Provides that corrective action other than out-of-school
suspension includes study teams, guidance teams, resource
panel teams, or other intervention-related teams that assess
the behavior, and develop and implement individualized plans
to address the behavior in partnership with the pupil and his
or her parents.
(EC § 48900.5)
3)Requires that the individualized education team for each student
with exceptional needs consider the use of positive behavioral
interventions and supports for students whose behavior impedes
his or her learning. (EC § 56341.1)
ANALYSIS
This bill requires the California Department of Education (CDE)
to establish a three-year pilot program in school districts to
encourage inclusive practices that integrate mental health,
special education, and school climate interventions following a
multi-tiered framework. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the CDE to establish a three-year pilot program in three
schools in each of five school districts that submit
applications providing estimates for the amount of funding
being requested for startup and evaluation of the program and
specifying their intended models.
2)Requires the CDE to establish the pilot program as part of the
plan to provide technical assistance and disseminate statewide
resources that encourage and assist local educational agencies
in establishing and aligning schoolwide, data-driven systems
of learning and behavioral supports.
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3)Prohibits the selection of participating schools from including
those that received a federal Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration's "Now is The Time" grant.
4)Requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to select
schools that meet both of the following criteria:
a) At least 60% of the student body is eligible for
free and reduced-price meals.
b) The application details a model approach that
targets the behavioral, emotional, and academic needs of
students with multi-tiered and integrated mental health,
special education, and school climate interventions.
5)Requires an applicant school's model to include all of the
following:
a) Formalized collaboration with local mental health
agencies to provide school-based mental health services
that are integrated within a multi-tiered system of
support.
b) Leverage of school and community resources to
offer comprehensive multi-tiered interventions on a
sustainable basis.
c) An initial school climate assessment that
includes information from multiple stakeholders, including
school staff, students, and families, that is used to
inform the selection of strategies and interventions that
reflect the culture and goals of the school.
d) A coordination of services team that considers
referrals for services, oversees schoolwide efforts, and
uses data-informed processes to identify struggling
students who require early interventions.
e) Whole school strategies that address school
climate and universal student well-being, such as positive
behavioral interventions and supports or the Olweus
Bullying Prevention Program, as well as comprehensive
professional development opportunities, that build the
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capacity of the entire school community to recognize and
respond to the unique social-emotional, behavioral, and
academic needs of students.
f) Targeted interventions for students with
identified social-emotional, behavioral, and academic
needs, such as a therapeutic group interventions,
functional behavioral analysis and plan development, and
targeted skills groups.
g) Intensive services, such as wraparound,
behavioral intervention, or one-on-one support, that can
reduce the need for a student's referral to special
education or placement in more restrictive, isolated
settings.
h) Specific strategies and practices that ensure
parent engagement with the school and provide parents with
access to resources that support their children's
educational success.
6)Requires the California Department of Education (CDE), in
accordance with an appropriation in the Budget Act or another
statute, to provide startup and evaluation funds to each
participating school in the following amounts:
a) $250,000 in year one.
b) $200,000 in year two.
c) $150,000 in year three.
7)Requires the State Department of Health Care Services, the Mental
Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission, and
the CDE to develop a comprehensive evaluation plan to assess
the impact of the pilot program and disseminate best
practices.
8)Requires outcomes and indicators to be reported by participating
schools to include those already being collected by schools,
as well as designated measures of student well-being, academic
achievement, and school engagement and attendance.
9)Requires the CDE to submit a report to the Legislature at the end
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of the three-year period evaluating the success of the program
and making further recommendations. This bill requires the
CDE to make the report available to the public and to post it
on CDE's website.
10)Requires the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability
Commission to revise its guidelines and regulations for
Prevention and Early Intervention Programs of the Mental
Health Services Act to require the prevention and early
intervention programs in K-12 schools to be designed to
support the implementation or expansion of model programs in
accordance with the criteria set forth in this bill.
11)Sunsets the provisions of this bill on January 1, 2020.
STAFF COMMENTS
1)Need for the bill. According to the author, "Too often, students
in disadvantaged communities face relational and environmental
stressors that when left unaddressed, hinder their ability to
achieve their full potential. Unfortunately, the needs of
students facing such challenges often go unrecognized or are
misunderstood. Unaddressed student needs frequently result in
more profound behavioral and academic challenges that can
necessitate costly, restrictive interventions including
entering into the juvenile justice system. The fragmentation
of our education and mental health systems only makes the
situation worse. The school setting presents an important
opportunity to identify and respond to the comprehensive needs
of youth, reducing barriers to access as well as the stigma
that is often associated with seeking help."
2)Author's amendments. The author wishes to amend this bill as
follows:
a) Requires the designated county office of education
(pursuant to recently enacted Budget language, contained in
AB 104; see Comment #3) to establish the pilot program,
rather than requiring the California Department of
Education (CDE) to establish the pilot program.
b) Reduce the number of pilot programs, from three to two,
schools in each of the five school districts that apply to
participate.
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c) Delete the criteria that applicant schools have a student
body where at least 60% of students are eligible for free
and reduced-price meals.
d) Requires applications to provide evidence of a plan to
serve students using a combination of school funds and
mental health funds.
e) Modifies the required components of an applicant school's
model approach to:
i) Delete reference to formalized collaboration with local
mental health agencies.
ii) Add reference to partnerships with the county and
demonstrations of access to adequate funding to serve
Medi-Cal eligible students who are not receiving special
education or related services.
f) Delete the requirement that the State Department of Health
Care Services, the Mental Health Services Oversight and
Accountability Commission, and the CDE to develop a
comprehensive evaluation plan to assess the impact of the
pilot program and disseminate best practices.
3)Consistent with the Budget? AB 104 (Committee on Budget, Ch. 13,
2015) among other things, appropriates $10 million to the
Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to provide
technical assistance and develop statewide resources to assist
local educational agencies to establish and align systems of
learning and behavioral supports. AB 104 requires the SPI to
designate a county office of education to:
a) Identify existing, and develop new, resources and
professional development activities relative to
multi-tiered, evidence-based, data-driven systems of
support in academics and behavior.
b) Collect and disseminate best practices.
c) Develop train-the-trainer models and online training
modules.
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d) Offer regional conferences and workshops.
e) Provide technical assistance.
f) Develop a network of educators to provide coaching and
training.
g) Provide stipends for school personnel to attend training.
h) Develop evaluation tools to measure the effectiveness of
strategies.
i) Provide competitive startup grants.
j) Provide demonstration grants.
The language in AB 104 appears to largely reflect
recommendations of the Special Education Task Force and
components of SB 463 (Hancock, 2015) and this bill.
The author believes this bill is consistent with AB 104 and
provides additional specificity for the use of the $10 million
appropriated in the Budget, via AB 104. The Special Education
Local Plan Area (SELPA) Administrators, who are opposed to
this bill, believe the language in AB 104 is based upon the
recommendations of the Special Education Task Force and that
this bill is inconsistent with AB 104. Opponents note the
language in AB 104 and the Task Force recommendations have a
statewide impact and are broader in scope than the pilot
program proposed by this bill (covers many types of
multi-tiered systems, in addition to positive behavioral
interventions and supports). The author believes that this
bill supports AB 104 and the Task Force's recommendations, and
maintains that initially focusing on pilot programs and
evaluating their success is the most effective way to
demonstrate how to best blend mental health and education
systems, as well as to provide best practices for scaling
statewide.
As proposed to be amended, this bill establishes pilot
programs in a total of 10 schools. This bill establishes
grant amounts that total $600,000 per school over a three-year
period. This bill proposes to utilize $6 million of the $10
million that was allocated in the Budget pursuant to AB 104.
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This Committee was not involved in the development of the
language and associated appropriation in AB 104, and therefore
does not have sufficient information to understand whether the
intent of the language in AB 104 is to adhere to a statewide
approach or whether there were intentions to follow-up with
legislation providing additional specificity for the program.
4)Regulations. This bill requires the Mental Health Services
Oversight and Accountability Commission (established by the
Mental Health Services Act, Proposition 63) to revise its
guidelines and regulations for Prevention and Early
Intervention Programs of the Mental Health Services Act to
require the prevention and early intervention programs in K-12
schools to be designed to support the implementation or
expansion of model programs in accordance with the criteria
set forth in this bill. This would result in a change in
funding structures that would enable local educational
agencies to receive funding for the Early and Periodic
Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment services (see AB 1018,
Cooper, 2015).
5)Which school districts are eligible? This bill establishes
criteria that must be met by an applicant school district,
such as having a partnership with local mental health
agencies, and requires the establishment of a three-year pilot
program in three schools in each of five school districts that
submit applications. It is not clear how many school
districts will meet all the criteria for eligibility for
funding; there are at
least two existing pilot projects (Bay Area and San
Bernardino) that appear to currently meet the requirements
established by this bill.
6)Existing resources. The California Department of Education's
(CDE) website includes an implementation and technical
assistance guide for response to intervention, and information
on multi-tiered systems of support.
http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/pn/im/documents/memo-ilsb-plsd-oct13it
em02.doc The Positive Environments, Network of Trainers is a
positive behavior initiative that disseminates through its
website information and resources regarding the use of
proactive positive strategies. http://www.pent.ca.gov/ .
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7)Fiscal impact. As proposed to be amended, this bill establishes
pilot programs in a total of 10 schools, and grant amounts
that total $600,000 per school over a three-year period. This
bill proposes to utilize $6 million of the $10 million that
was allocated pursuant to AB 104. (Committee on Budget, Ch.
13, 2015)
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, this bill, as
is currently in print, would impose unknown General Fund
administrative costs to CDE, likely in excess of $400,000.
Administrative workload associated with this new program
include application development, administering grant awards,
coordinating with the Department of Health Care Services to
develop a comprehensive evaluation plan to assess the benefits
of the program, disseminating best practices, data collection
and reporting requirements.
8)Related and prior legislation.
RELATED LEGISLATION
SB 463 (Hancock, 2015) requires the CDE, to the extent that funding
is available in the Budget Act of 2015, to designate a county
office of education to be the fiduciary agent for the Safe and
Supportive Schools Train the Trainer Program. SB 463 is
pending in the Assembly Education Committee.
AB 1133 (Achadjian, 2015) requires the State Public Health Officer
to establish a four-year pilot program to, among other things,
provide free regional training and technical assistance in
support services that include intervention and prevention
services, use of trained staff to meet with students on a
short-term weekly basis in a one-on-one setting, the potential
for support services to help fulfill state priorities
described by the local control funding formula and local goals
described by local control and accountability plans, and state
resources available to support student mental health and
positive learning environments. AB 1133 was held in the
Assembly Appropriations Committee.
AB 580 (O'Donnell, 2015) requires the CDE to develop model
referral protocols for voluntary use by schools to address the
appropriate and timely referral by school staff of students
with mental health concerns. AB 580 is pending in the Senate
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Appropriations Committee.
AB 1018 (Cooper, 2015) requires the CDE and the Department of
Health Care Services to convene a task force to examine the
delivery of mental health services through the Early and
Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment services. AB
1018 is pending in the Senate Health Committee.
SB 527 (Liu, 2015) establishes the Safe Neighborhoods and
Schools Fund Grant Program, using Proposition 47 funds to
reward school districts that have demonstrated a commitment
to, and developed a comprehensive plan for, utilizing
research-based strategies to increase attendance rates, to
reduce school removals of all types and referrals to police,
to address trauma, mental health needs and other social and
emotional factors that impact pupil outcomes, to address and
to remedy school push-out and dropout rates, coordinate pupil
support programs with community and other public agencies at
schoolsites and across the school district, and create a
strong and supportive school culture that identifies and
addresses the needs of pupils, including victims of crime,
abuse, and neglect. SB 527 is scheduled to be heard by this
Committee on July 15.
PRIOR LEGISLATION
SB 1396 (Hancock, 2014) required the California Department of
Education (CDE), to the extent one-time funding is available
in the 2014-15 Budget Act, to designate funds to a county
office of education to establish professional development
activities to support the development and expansion of
multi-tiered intervention and support programs, including but
not limited to, schoolwide positive behavior intervention and
support. SB 1396 was held on the Assembly Appropriations
Committee's suspense file.
SB 596 (Yee, 2014) required the CDE to establish a three-year
pilot program to encourage inclusive practices that integrate
mental health, special education, and school climate
interventions following a multi-tiered framework. SB 596 was
held in the Assembly.
SUPPORT
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American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
Association of California School Administrators
Association of Regional Center Agencies
California Alliance of Child and Family Services
California Council of Community Mental Health Agencies
California State PTA
Children Now
Common Sense Kids Action
Disability Rights California
Mental Health America of California
National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter
OPPOSITION
California Right to Life Committee
Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA) Administrators of
California
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