BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 739
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 13, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
AB 739 (Lowenthal & Brownley) - As Amended: April 6, 2011
SUBJECT : Pupil instruction: suicide prevention
SUMMARY : Requires the State Board of Education (SBE) and the
Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials Commission
(Curriculum Commission) to include suicide prevention
instruction and mental illness awareness instruction, as
defined, in the health education framework for pupils in grades
7 to 12, inclusive, during the next revision of that framework.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Specifies that "suicide prevention instruction" includes, but
is not limited to the following:
a) Awareness and knowledge of depression, depression
symptoms, self-destructive behaviors, and risk factors and
warning signs of suicide;
b) Ability to identify school and community resources for
suicide prevention;
c) Knowledge and skills about how to seek help for oneself
or a friend and how to overcome barriers to seeking help;
and
d) Importance of witnesses and bystanders reporting actual
or perceived signs of suicide risk factors or behaviors to
teachers, counselors, administrators, or other school
staff.
2)Specifies that "mental illness awareness instruction"
includes, but is not limited to all of the following:
a) Awareness and knowledge of mental disorders and
illnesses, including, but not limited to, depression,
schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress
disorder, and autism spectrum disorders;
b) Ability to identify school and community resources for
individuals living with a mental illness or mental
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disorder; and,
c) Knowledge and skills about how to seek help for oneself
or a friend and how to overcome barriers to seeking help.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes school districts to use a portion of their
Professional Development Block Grant funding to pay for
suicide prevention training for school teachers and specifies
that the training shall not exceed two hours and may occur
during a regularly scheduled in-service day.
2)Authorizes the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to
encourage each middle school, junior high school, and high
school to provide suicide prevention training to each school
counselor at least one time while employed as a counselor.
3)Establishes the Comprehensive Health Education Act of 1977 to
require the California Department of Education (CDE) to
prepare and distribute to school districts guidelines for the
preparation of comprehensive health education plans, and, in
cooperation with county offices of education that desire to
participate, to assist school districts in developing
comprehensive health education plans and programs, and defines
"comprehensive health education program" for this purpose.
4)Requires the adoption of content standards in the curriculum
area of health education.
5)Requires the Curriculum Commission to recommend curriculum
frameworks to the SBE and develop criteria for evaluating
instructional materials submitted for adoption so that the
materials adopted adequately cover the subjects in the
indicated grade levels.
6)Prohibits the SBE from adopting instructional materials or
follow the procedures for the adoption of instructional
materials until the 2015-16 school year.
7)Requires local governing boards to provide standards-aligned
textbooks or basic instructional materials no later than 24
months after those materials are adopted by the SBE, except
that for the 2008-09 to the 2015-16 fiscal years, inclusive, a
governing board of a school district is not required to
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provide pupils with instructional materials by the specified
period of time following adoption of those materials by the
SBE.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
Purpose of the bill : The author states, "Because suicide is
only one manifestation of a number of interrelated problems of
development and adjustment, developmentally-appropriate mental
health curriculum can provide a vital foundation for awareness
and prevention programs focusing on building resilience,
reducing the number of youth who become at-risk or experience
crisis, and identifying those who are in need of intervention.
While the existing health framework mentions the incorporation
of an examination of depression and suicide, existing law is
silent on the inclusion of mental health and suicide prevention
curriculum."
The American Association of Suicidology finds that in 2007,
suicide ranked as the third leading cause of death for
adolescents and young adults, and according to the Center for
Disease Control (CDC), in 2007:
14.5% of students in grades 9-12 seriously considered suicide
in the previous 12 months (18.7% of females and 10.3% of
males).
6.9% of students reported making at least one suicide attempt
in the previous 12 months (9.3% of females and 4.6% of males).
2.0% of students had made a suicide attempt that resulted in
an injury, poisoning, or an overdose that required medical
attention (2.4% of females and 1.5% of males).
Health education standards and framework : This bill highlights
suicide prevention education and mental health awareness
instruction within the health curriculum framework. The
existing health standards, which were adopted in 2008, include
in grades 9-12, mental, emotional and social health concepts
such as:
1. Analyzing signs of depression, potential suicide, and
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other self-destructive behaviors;
2. Explaining how witnesses and bystanders can help prevent
violence by reporting dangerous situations;
3. Identifying warning signs for suicide;
4. Analyzing the internal and external issues related to
seeking mental health assistance; and other related
concepts.
Similarly, for grades 7-8, the mental, emotional, and social
health standards include: describing signs of depression,
potential suicide and other self-destructive behaviors,
describing common mental health conditions and why seeking
professional help for these conditions is important; and
applying decision-making processes to a variety of situations
that impact mental, emotional and social health. However, the
existing standards lack focus on instruction relative to how the
school community can assist in preventing suicides and the
importance of making students feel comfortable reporting any
risk behaviors. This bill builds upon the existing health
standards to incorporate preventative components into the
framework.
The health curriculum framework was scheduled to be revised this
year to align it to the 2008 health standards but due to the
fiscal situation in the State and resulting budget actions, the
development of curriculum frameworks and adoption of
instructional materials has been suspended until the 2015-16
school year. AB 2 X4 Chapter 2, Statutes of 2009-10, Fourth
Extraordinary Session prohibits the SBE from adopting or
following any of the procedures to adopt instructional
materials, including following the procedures related to
framework development, through the 2012-13 school year. The
recently enacted education budget trailer bill, SB 70 (Budget
Committee) Chapter 7, Statutes of 2011, extends this prohibition
to the 2015-16 school year. The revision and adoption of a
health framework may be several years away given the existing
fiscal challenges of the State.
Given that the health framework may not be revised in the near
future, the author may wish to consider also adding language to
the bill to authorize, not require, school districts to include
suicide prevention and mental illness awareness instruction for
pupils in grades 7-12, as follows:
Commencing with the 2012-13 school year, a school
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district may provide to pupils in any of grades 7 to
12, inclusive, instruction on suicide prevention and
mental illness awareness as defined in Section
51223.5.
The proposal in this bill to include suicide prevention and
mental illness awareness instruction in the health framework
would ensure that in future years, when the moratorium on
framework development is lifted, this content would be reflected
within the curriculum. For purposes of clarity, the bill should
also specify that the content shall also be included in the
instructional materials evaluation criteria. The curriculum
frameworks provide a blueprint for curriculum and instruction by
describing the scope and sequence of the knowledge and skills
all students need to master in a specific subject area, and the
evaluation criteria found within the framework provides guidance
to publishers in the development of instructional materials.
Both the framework and criteria are used to evaluate
kindergarten and grades 1-8, inclusive, (K-8) instructional
materials that are submitted for state adoption and the
curriculum frameworks also provide guidance to teachers in the
delivery of the curriculum. Staff recommends the bill be
amended to also include this instruction in the evaluation
criteria as follows:
On page 2, line 2, after "framework" add "and
evaluation criteria"
On page 2, line 5, after "framework" add "and
evaluation criteria"
Related efforts through the Department of Mental Health: The
Department of Mental Health (DMH) is involved in various efforts
to address suicide prevention and mental health awareness in
schools. For example, DMH has a Mental Health Services Act
(Proposition 63) State Partnership Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) with the CDE for the amount of $613,000 through 2013, to:
1. Increase knowledge and capacity about effective
prevention and early intervention programs, services, and
strategies for local educational agencies (LEAs) and other
partners working with students who experience, or are at
risk of, mental health problems, including suicide risk;
2. Disseminate information to LEAs on existing provisions
that allows school districts to use professional
development block grant funding to provide two hours of
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in-service training for teachers on the prevention of youth
suicide; and,
3. Enhance engagement of the Special Education Local Plan
Areas (SELPA) and Special Education Administrators of
County Offices (SEACO) with their county mental health
partners to establish more programs at the local and county
levels for children, adolescents, and transition-age youth.
Additionally, the Statewide Student Mental Health Initiative is
one of the five Prevention and Early Intervention State Wide
Projects, that is being implemented by the California Mental
Health Services Authority (CalMHSA). On February 28, 2011,
CalMHSA released a request for application to sole source with
CDE and the 11 Region of County Superintendent of Schools to
address student mental health in the schools including suicide
prevention. The CalMHSA Statewide Student Mental Health
Initiative focuses attention on the mental health needs of
students, advancing the collaboration between educational
settings and county services and encouraging concerted action at
all levels as the cornerstones to strengthening student mental
health. While there are some efforts underway to address
suicide prevention and mental health awareness in schools, this
bill formalizes type of instruction within the curriculum.
Arguments in support: The California Catholic Conference
writes, "While adding mandates to the curriculum to our public
schools may not be wise in this time of fiscal restraint, an
exception should be made for this matter of life and death.
Individuals attempt suicide for a variety of reasons- poor
physical or mental health or perceived unbearable conditions.
People commit suicide because they can see no other way to solve
their problem. In our public school settings, we must be more
aware of those at risk and reach out to them in their time of
need because suicide of any one at any age represents a failure
of solidarity in our human community."
Related legislation : AB 1118 (John Perez) Requires school
districts to offer pupils who are enrolled in health classes
during grade 9 or 10 at least 15 minutes of instruction on organ
procurement and tissue donation, as specified. AB 1118 is
pending in this Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
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Association of California School Administrators
California Catholic Conference
National Association of Social Workers
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Marisol Avi�a / ED. / (916) 319-2087