BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1133
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Date of Hearing: April 8, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Patrick O'Donnell, Chair
AB 1133
(Achadjian) - As Amended March 26, 2015
[Note: This bill is doubled referred to the Assembly Health
Committee and will be heard by that Committee as it relates to
issues under its jurisdiction.]
SUBJECT: School-based early mental health intervention and
prevention services support program
SUMMARY: Establishes 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. Specifically, this bill:
1)Makes findings and recommendations relative to the importance
of mental health services for students and to the funding
history of the Early Mental Health Initiative.
2)Requires the State Public Health Officer, in consultation with
the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) and the
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Director of Health Care Services, to establish a four-year
pilot program to encourage and support local decisions to
provide funding for the eligible support services.
3)Requires the Department of Public Health (DPH) to provide
outreach to local education agencies (LEAs) and county mental
health agencies to inform them of the program.
4)Requires the DPH to provide free regional training on eligible
support services, including intervention and prevention
services, parent involvement, teacher and staff conferences
and training, referral to outside resources, and use of
paraprofessional staff, counselors, and social workers.
5)Requires the DPH to also provide free regional training on:
a) the potential for the support services to help fulfill
state priorities described by the local control funding
formula (LCFF) and local control and accountability plans
(LCAPs)
b) how educational, mental health, and other funds subject
to local control can be used to finance the eligible
support services defined in this section
c) external resources available to support the eligible
support services defined in this section, which may include
workshops, training, conferences, and peer learning
networks
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d) state resources available to support student mental
health and positive learning environments, which may
include any of the following
e) foundational aspects of learning, mental health, toxic
stress, childhood trauma, and adverse childhood experiences
f) 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
1)Requires the department to provide technical assistance to
local education agencies that provide or seek to provide
eligible services defined in this section. Technical
assistance includes assistance in designing programs, training
staff, conducting evaluations, and leveraging funds that are
subject to local control.
2)Requires the DPH to select and support schoolsites as follows:
a) Requires, during the first 18 months of the program, the
department to 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 and have continued to provide eligible support
services. Also requires the department, in working with
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selected schoolsites, to develop methods and standards for
providing services and practices to new schoolsites.
b) Requires the department, during the second 18 months of
the program, to select 30 new schoolsites that are not
providing eligible support services but that demonstrate
the willingness and capacity to participate in the program.
Requires the department to work with these schoolsites to
deliver eligible support services.
1)Requires the DPH to prioritize geographic diversity, program
effectiveness, program efficiency, and long-term program
sustainability.
2)Requires the DPH to submit an interim report to the
Legislature at the end of the second year of the pilot
program, and to complete an evaluation at the end of the four
year pilot and submit it to the Legislature.
3)Expands the definition of eligible students to include
students at state preschool programs, students who attend
transitional kindergarten, and students who attend charter
schools.
4)Sunsets the program on January 1, 2021.
EXISTING LAW:
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1)Establishes the School-based Early Mental Health Intervention
and Prevention Services for Children Act of 1991, and
authorizes the Director of Health Care Services, in
consultation with the SPI, to provide matching grants to LEAs
to pay the state share of the costs of providing school-based
early mental health intervention and prevention services to
eligible students, subject to the availability of funding each
year.
2)Defines "eligible pupil" for this purpose as a student 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,
county office of education, or a state special school.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
Need for the bill. The author's office states, "For 20 years,
EMHI Matching Grant Program was a highly successful state
program that provided matching grants to Local Education
Agencies to provide school-based mental health supports to young
pupils experiencing mild to moderate school adjustment
difficulties. Despite its success and the demand for its
services, the program was defunded in 2012, and has lacked
administration since the Department of Mental Health was
eliminated in fiscal year 2011-12.
AB 1133 would create a four-year prevention and early
intervention pilot program to help students from preschool to
3rd grade experiencing school adjustment problems, by 1)
supporting, strengthening, and expanding on early mental health
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services that have continued to produce results despite the
cancellation of Early Mental Health Initiative state matching
grants, and 2) supporting new schools that choose to provide
these services.
AB 1133 would authorize the provision of non-financial supports
to help LEAs maximize the use of funds that are under local
control for EMHI programs. These supports would include outreach
to local decision-makers; free regional trainings on eligible
services, the potential for eligible services to fulfill state
and locally-defined educational priorities, available funding
sources and relevant state and local non-financial resources;
and technical assistance to LEAs that provide or seek to provide
eligible services."
Program history. According to materials provided by the author,
in 1981 the Legislature created the Primary Prevention Project,
now named the Primary Intervention Program, and in 1991 created
the School-based Early Mental Health Intervention and Prevention
Services for Children Program, known as the Early Mental Health
Initiative (EMHI).
From 1992-93 to 2011-12, the Department of Mental Health awarded
funds each year as matching grants to LEAs 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, and
there was significant unmet demand for services. At its peak,
there were 15,823 students receiving EMHI-funded services.
Funding for the program was eliminated in 2012. It is now a
local decision whether to continue this program without state
matching grant support.
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Program outcomes. According to the author, the legislation
authorizing this program set a target of at least 75 percent of
the participating children showing an improvement in at least
one of the following four areas: learning behaviors, attendance,
school adjustment, and school-related competencies. A 2010-11
evaluation showed that 79 percent met that target.
How many programs remain? When state funding for this program
was eliminated, LEAs could continue the program using local
resources. It is not known how many LEAs chose to maintain
their programs. According to the sponsor, an independent
evaluation is planned to answer this and other questions.
State promotion and support of a categorical program in the era
of local control. The Local Control Funding Formula (Chapter
47, Statutes of 2013) eliminated approximately three quarters of
all K-12 categorical programs, and represented a significant
shift away from state control and toward local decision-making.
This bill does not aim to re-create a state program, but instead
to encourage and support LEAs in administering the program if
they determine, through local decision-making, that the program
is a priority for the use of their resources. The Committee may
wish to consider whether state promotion and support of a
program is contrary to the principle of local control, or
whether such support is necessary to assist LEAs in successfully
initiating and maintaining complex programs, such as ones which
require inter-agency collaboration. Significant lessons were
learned in the design and operation of some categorical
programs, and the Committee may further wish to consider the
future role of state leadership in assisting LEAs in effectively
administering programs which they have determined to be local
priorities, even in the absence of targeted state funding.
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Related legislation. AB 1025 (Thurmond), which is pending in
this Committee, would require the CDE to establish a 3-year
pilot program to encourage inclusive practices that integrate
mental health, special education, and school climate
interventions following a multitiered framework, in 3 schools in
10 school districts. AB 580 (O'Donnell), which is pending in
this Committee, requires that teachers and classified staff
receive in-service training on the early identification of
mental health issues, including referral protocols.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Children Now (sponsor)
Time for Kids (sponsor)
Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors
Arcata Elementary School District
Autism Deserves Equal Coverage
California Alliance of Child and Family Services
California Black Health Network
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California Coverage and Health Initiatives
Chico Unified School District
Children Now
Children's Defense Fund, California
Committee for Children
Center for Youth Wellness
Discovery Counseling Center
Early Edge California
Family Voices of California
Half Moon Bay Brewing Company
Oakland Public Education Fund
Rowland Unified School District Family Resource Center
San Leandro Unified School District
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Steinberg Institute
Several individuals
Opposition
California Right to Life Committee
Analysis Prepared by:Tanya Lieberman / ED. / (916) 319-2087