Amended in Assembly April 15, 2015

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 4372 of, and to add and repeal Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 4391) of Part 4 of Division 4 of, the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to mental health.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

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

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

This bill would 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.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

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

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(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).

(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.

(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.

(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.

(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.

(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.

(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.

(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.

begin insert

(i) Multitiered systems and supports have been developed as
model framework within which to implement these services. Pilot
programs in the Counties of San Bernardino and Alameda are
demonstrating that implementing these services as part of a
multitiered system is cost effective, because the cost of the services
is more than fully offset by the reduction in the need for high-cost
nonpublic school placements.

end insert

SEC. 2.  

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

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 preschool
program at a publicly funded elementary school, or who attends
a publicly funded elementary school and who is in kindergarten,
transitional kindergarten, or grades 1 to 3, inclusive.

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

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

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

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

SEC. 3.  

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

 

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

 

4391.  

(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.

4392.  

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.