Amended in Assembly March 26, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1133

Introduced by Assembly Member Achadjian

February 27, 2015

An act to amend Section begin delete 4380 end delete begin insert 4372 end insert of begin insert , and to add and repeal Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 4391) of Part 4 of Division 4 of, end insert the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to mental health.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1133, as amended, Achadjian. School-based early mental health begin delete intervention. end delete begin insert intervention and prevention services support program. end insert

Existing law begin insert , the School-based Early Mental Health Intervention and Prevention Services for Children Act of 1991, end insert 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. begin insert 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. end insert

This bill would begin delete make technical, nonsubstantive changes to those provisions. end delete begin insert expand the definition of an eligible pupil to include a pupil who attends a state preschool program at a publicly funded elementary school 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 require the State Public Health Officer, in consultation with the Superintendent of Public Schools and the Director of Health Care Services, to establish a 4-year pilot program, the School-Based Early Mental Health Intervention and Prevention Services 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 to submit specified reports after 2 and 4 years. The bill would repeal these provisions as of January 1, 2021. end insert

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert . State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

begin insert

begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

end insert begin insert

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

end insert begin insert

(a) The State of California has long recognized the mental health
needs of California’s children and the value of addressing these
needs by supporting the provision of evidence-based mental health
services in publicly funded preschools and elementary schools, as
evidenced by the creation in 1981 of the Primary Prevention
Project, now named the Primary Intervention Program, and the
creation in 1991 of the School-based Early Mental Health
Intervention and Prevention Services for Children Program, known
as the Early Mental Health Initiative (EMHI).

end insert begin insert

(b) From the 1992-93 fiscal year to the 2011-12 fiscal year,
the State Department of Mental Health awarded funds each year
in matching grants to local education agencies to fund prevention
and early intervention programs, including the Primary
Intervention Program, for students experiencing mild to moderate
school adjustment difficulty through the EMHI. In the 2011-12
fiscal year, the EMHI received $15 million in state funds.

end insert begin insert

(c) Authorizing legislation specified that the EMHI would be
deemed successful if at least 75 percent of the children who
complete the program show an improvement in at least one of the
following four areas: learning behaviors, attendance, school
adjustment, and school-related competencies.

end insert begin insert

(d) The EMHI succeeded in meeting these legislative
requirements. According to the 2010/2011 Early Mental Health
Initiative Statewide Evaluation Report, of the 15,823 students
located in 424 elementary schools across 66 school districts
participating in EMHI-funded services during the 2010-11 school
year, 79 percent exhibited positive social competence and school
adjustment behaviors more frequently after completing services.
Furthermore, the magnitude of the improvements was exceptional
in comparison to evaluations of other programs, especially given
the short-term and cost-effective nature of the intervention.

end insert begin insert

(e) The 2010/2011 Early Mental Health Initiative Statewide
Evaluation Report described an unmet demand for EMHI-funded
services at participating schoolsites, as only 37 percent of the
students that scored in the mild to moderate school adjustment
difficulty range were served with EMHI-funded services due to
program capacity and funding constraints. Based on demographic
considerations, similar demand would be expected at schools that
did not receive EMHI grants.

end insert begin insert

(f) The Governor’s realignment for the 2011-12 fiscal year
renamed the State Department of Mental Health as the State
Department of State Hospitals and limited that department’s
mission.

end insert begin insert

(g) The Budget Act of 2012 disbursed Proposition 98 funds,
which had been used to fund the EMHI, directly to local education
agencies in order to provide local schools with enhanced flexibility
to manage their finances and give greater control of local
decisions.

end insert begin insert

(h) It is in the interest of California’s children, families, schools,
and communities that the State of California support local
decisions to provide funding for evidence-based services to address
the mental health needs of children in publicly funded preschools
and elementary schools.

end insert

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 4372 of the end insert begin insert Welfare and Institutions Code end insert begin insert is
amended to read: end insert

4372.  

For the purposes of this part, the following definitions
shall apply:

(a) “Cooperating entity” means any federal, state, or local, public
or private nonprofit agency providing school-based early mental
health intervention and prevention services that agrees to offer
services at a schoolsite through a program assisted under this part.

(b) “Eligible pupil” means a pupil who attends a begin insert end insert begin insert preschool
program at a publicly funded elementary school, or who attends
a end insert publicly funded elementary school and who is in kindergarten begin insert ,
transitional kindergarten, end insert or grades 1 to 3, inclusive.

(c) “Local educational agency” means any school district or
county office of education, begin delete or end delete state special school begin insert , or charter
school end insert .

begin insert

(d) “Department” means the State Department of Public Health.

end insert begin delete

(d)

end delete

begin insert (e) end insert  “Director” means the State Director of Mental Health.

begin delete

(e)

end delete

begin insert (f) end insert  “Supportive service” means a service that will enhance the
mental health and social development of children.

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 3. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 4391) is added
to Part 4 of Division 4 of the end insert begin insert Welfare and Institutions Code end insert begin insert , to
read: end insert

begin insert

 

Chapter   begin insert 4. end insert School-Based Early Mental Health
Intervention and Prevention Services Support Program

 

begin insert 4391. end insert   

(a) The State Public Health Officer shall establish a
four-year pilot program, in consultation with the Superintendent
of Public Instruction and the Director of Health Care Services, to
encourage and support local decisions to provide funding for the
eligible support services as provided in this section.

(b) The department shall provide outreach to local education
agencies and county mental health agencies to inform individuals
responsible for local funding decisions of the program established
pursuant to this section.

(c) The department shall provide free regional training on all
of the following:

(1) Eligible support services, which may include any or all of
the following:

(A) Individual and group intervention and prevention services.

(B) Parent involvement through conference or training, or both.

(C) Teacher and staff conferences and training related to
meeting project goals.

(D) Referral to outside resources when eligible pupils require
additional services.

(E) Use of paraprofessional staff, who are trained and
supervised by credentialed school psychologists, school counselors,
or school social workers, to meet with pupils on a short-term
weekly basis, in a one-on-one setting as in the primary intervention
program established pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with
Section 4343) of Part 3.

(F) Any other service or activity that will improve the mental
health of eligible pupils.

(2) The potential for the eligible support services defined in this
section to help fulfill state priorities described by the local control
funding formula and local goals described by local control and
accountability plans.

(3) How educational, mental health, and other funds subject to
local control can be used to finance the eligible support services
defined in this section.

(4) External resources available to support the eligible support
services defined in this section, which may include workshops,
training, conferences, and peer learning networks.

(5) State resources available to support student mental health
and positive learning environments, which may include any of the
following:

(A) Foundational aspects of learning, mental health, toxic stress,
childhood trauma, and adverse childhood experiences.

(B) Inclusive multitiered systems of behavioral and academic
supports, Schoolwide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports,
restorative justice or restorative practices, trauma-informed
practices, social and emotional learning, and bullying prevention.

(d) The department shall provide technical assistance to local
education agencies that provide or seek to provide eligible services
defined in this section. Technical assistance shall include
assistance in any of the following:

(1) Designing programs.

(2) Training program staff in intervention skills.

(3) Conducting local evaluations.

(4) Leveraging educational, mental health, and other funds that
are subject to local control and assisting in budget development.

(e) In providing outreach pursuant to subdivision (b), training
pursuant to subdivision (c), and technical assistance pursuant to
subdivision (d), the department shall select and support schoolsites
as follows:

(1) During the first 18 months of the program, the department
shall support, strengthen, and expand the provision of eligible
services at 30 schoolsites that previously received funding pursuant
to the School-Based Early Mental Health Intervention and
Prevention Services Matching Grant Program (Chapter 2
(commencing with Section 4380)) and have continued to provide
eligible support services. In working with these selected schoolsites,
the department shall develop methods and standards for providing
services and practices to new schoolsites.

(2) During the subsequent 18 months of the program, the
department shall select 30 new schoolsites that are not providing
eligible support services but that demonstrate the willingness and
capacity to participate in the program. The department shall work
with these schoolsites to deliver eligible support services.

(3) In selecting schoolsites and providing support, the
department shall prioritize geographic diversity, program
effectiveness, program efficiency, and long-term program
sustainability.

(f) The department shall submit, in compliance with Section
9795 of the Government Code, an interim report to the Legislature
at the end of the second year of the pilot program that details the
department’s work to support the schoolsites selected pursuant to
paragraph (1) of subdivision (e) and includes an assessment of
the demand and impact of funding for the School-Based Early
Mental Health Intervention and Prevention Services Matching
Grant Program established pursuant to Chapter 3 (commencing
with Section 4390). The department shall make the report available
to the public and shall post it on the department’s Internet Web
site.

(g) The department shall develop an evaluation plan to assess
the impact of the pilot program. The department, in compliance
with Section 9795 of the Government Code, shall submit a report
to the Legislature at the end of the four-year period evaluating the
impact of the pilot program and providing recommendations for
further implementation. The department shall make the report
available to the public and shall post it on the department’s
Internet Web site.

begin insert 4392. end insert   

This chapter shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2021, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
that is enacted before January 1, 2021, deletes or extends that
date.

end insert

begin delete

SECTION 1.  

Section 4380 of the Welfare and Institutions Code
is amended to read:

4380.  

Subject to the availability of funding each year, the
Legislature authorizes the director, in consultation with the
Superintendent of Public Instruction, to award matching grants to
local educational agencies to pay the state share of the costs of
providing programs that provide school-based early mental health
intervention and prevention services to eligible pupils at schoolsites
of eligible pupils, as follows:

(a) The director shall award matching grants pursuant to this
chapter to local educational agencies throughout the state.

(b) Matching grants awarded under this part shall be awarded
for a period of not more than three years. No single schoolsite shall
be awarded more than one grant, except for a schoolsite that
received a grant prior to July 1, 1992.

(c) The director shall pay to each local educational agency that
has an application approved pursuant to requirements of this part
the state share of the cost of the activities described in the
application.

(d) Commencing July 1, 1993, the state share of matching grants
shall be a maximum of 50 percent in each of the three years.

(e) Commencing July 1, 1993, the local share of matching grants
shall be at least 50 percent, from a combination of school district
and cooperating entity funds.

(f) The local share of the matching grant may be in cash or
payment in-kind.

(g) Priority shall be given to those applicants that demonstrate
the following:

(1) The local educational agency will serve the greatest number
of eligible pupils from low-income families.

(2) The local educational agency will provide a strong parental
involvement component.

(3) The local educational agency will provide supportive services
with one or more cooperating entities.

(4) The local educational agency will provide services at a low
cost per child served in the project.

(5) The local educational agency will provide programs and
services that are based on adoption or modification, or both, of
existing programs that have been shown to be effective. No more
than 20 percent of the grants awarded by the director may be
utilized for new models.

(6) The local educational agency will provide services to
children who are in out-of-home placement or who are at risk of
being in out-of-home placement.

(h) Eligible supportive services may include the following:

(1) Individual and group intervention and prevention services.

(2) Parent involvement through conferences or training, or both.

(3) Teacher and staff conferences and training related to meeting
project goals.

(4) Referral to outside resources when eligible pupils require
additional services.

(5) Use of paraprofessional staff, who are trained and supervised
by credentialed school psychologists, school counselors, or school
social workers, to meet with pupils on a short-term weekly basis,
in a one-on-one setting as in the primary intervention program
established pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 4343)
of Part 3. A minimum of 80 percent of the grants awarded by the
director shall include the basic components of the primary
intervention program.

(6) Any other service or activity that will improve the mental
health of eligible pupils.

Prior to participation by an eligible pupil in either individual or
group services, consent of a parent or guardian shall be obtained.

(i) Each local educational agency seeking a grant under this
chapter shall submit an application to the director at the time, in
a manner, and accompanied by any information the director may
reasonably require.

(j) Each matching grant application submitted shall include all
of the following:

(1) Documentation of need for the school-based early mental
health intervention and prevention services.

(2) A description of the school-based early mental health
intervention and prevention services expected to be provided at
the schoolsite.

(3) A statement of program goals.

(4) A list of cooperating entities that will participate in the
provision of services. A letter from each cooperating entity
confirming its participation in the provision of services shall be
included with the list. At least one letter shall be from a cooperating
entity confirming that it will agree to screen referrals of low-income
children the program has determined may be in need of mental
health treatment services and that, if the cooperating entity
determines that the child is in need of those services and if the
cooperating entity determines that according to its priority process
the child is eligible to be served by it, the cooperating entity will
agree to provide those mental health treatment services.

(5) A detailed budget and budget narrative.

(6) A description of the proposed plan for parent involvement
in the program.

(7) A description of the population anticipated to be served,
including number of pupils to be served and socioeconomic
indicators of sites to receive funds.

(8) A description of the matching funds from a combination of
local education agencies and cooperating entities.

(9) A plan describing how the proposed school-based early
mental health intervention and prevention services program will
be continued after the matching grant has expired.

(10) Assurance that grants would supplement and not supplant
existing local resources provided for early mental health
intervention and prevention services.

(11) A description of an evaluation plan that includes
quantitative and qualitative measures of school and pupil
characteristics, and a comparison of children’s adjustment to
school.

(k) Matching grants awarded pursuant to this article may be
used for salaries of staff responsible for implementing the
school-based early mental health intervention and prevention
services program, equipment and supplies, training, and insurance.

(l) Salaries of administrative staff and other administrative costs
associated with providing services shall be limited to 5 percent of
the state share of assistance provided under this section.

(m) No more than 10 percent of each matching grant awarded
pursuant to this article may be used for matching grant evaluation.

(n) (1) No more than 10 percent of the moneys allocated to the
director pursuant to this chapter may be utilized for program
administration and evaluation.

(2) Program administration shall include both state staff and
field staff who are familiar with and have successfully implemented
school-based early mental health intervention and prevention
services. Field staff may be contracted with by local school districts
or community mental health programs. Field staff shall provide
support in the timely and effective implementation of school-based
early mental health intervention and prevention services. Reviews
of each project shall be conducted at least once during the first
year of funding.

(o) Subject to the approval of the director, at the end of the fiscal
year, a school district may apply unexpended funds to the budget
for the subsequent funding year.

(p) Contracts for the program and administration, or ancillary
services in support of the program, shall be exempt from the
requirements of the Public Contract Code and the State
Administrative Manual, and from approval by the Department of
General Services.

end delete