Sponsored by:
Assemblyman ANTHONY S. VERRELLI
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
Assemblyman LOUIS D. GREENWALD
District 6 (Burlington and Camden)
Assemblywoman SHANIQUE SPEIGHT
District 29 (Essex)
Assemblywoman PAMELA R. LAMPITT
District 6 (Burlington and Camden)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblyman Benson, Assemblywoman Murphy, Assemblyman Caputo, Assemblywomen Mosquera and Jasey
SYNOPSIS
Requires DCF to give priority to certain school districts with student mental health counseling centers in awarding grants under School Based Youth Services Program.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act prioritizing certain school districts under the School Based Youth Services Program and supplementing chapter 5B of Title 30 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. In awarding grants under the School Based Youth Services Program, the Office of School-Linked Services within the Division of Family and Community Partnerships of the Department of Children and Families shall give priority to applicant school districts that operate or host, or demonstrate a plan to operate or host, a center or other entity that focuses on providing individual, family, and group clinical mental health counseling services to students. The center or other entity shall be:
(1) separate from, but integrated into, a school within the applicant school district;
(2) open for students to visit clinical mental health professionals during, before, and after school hours; and
(3) staffed by clinical mental health professionals, who are school district employees and provide mental health counseling services to students either in-person or remotely through the use of telehealth or telemedicine services, as applicable.
b. Of the applicant school districts that operate or host, or demonstrate a plan to operate or host, a center or other entity in accordance with subsection a. of this section, the Office of School-Linked Services shall consider the following factors in determining further priority in awarding grants under the School Based Youth Services Program:
(1) whether the school district is designated as a “high-need” school district, as determined by the Commissioner of Children and Families;
(2) the existence of a partnership between the center or other entity and community mental health providers and other community resources;
(3) whether the school district has developed a plan for mental health professionals working in its center or other entity to develop curricula to train students and staff on identifying the signs of mental health conditions and addressing risk factors that may impact student mental health; and
(4) whether the center or other entity created by the school district has clinical mental health professional staff who specialize in a variety of mental health areas, or demonstrates a plan to retain the services of clinical mental health professionals in a variety of mental health areas.
2. This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the School Based Youth Services Program (SBYSP) to give priority to certain school districts in awarding grants under the program. The Department of Children and Families’ Office of School-Linked Services within the Division of Family and Community Partnerships currently administers the SBYSP. The program is located within host schools and coordinates with existing resources in the community. SBYSP services include: mental health counseling; employment counseling; substance abuse education/prevention; preventive health awareness including pregnancy prevention; primary medical linkages; learning support; healthy youth development; recreation; and information/referral.
Under the bill, priority for SBYSP grants will first be given to applicant school districts that operate or host a center or other entity that focuses on providing individual, family, and group clinical mental health counseling services to students. The center or other entity will be: separate from, but integrated into, a school within the applicant school district; open for students to visit clinical mental health professionals before, during, and after regular school hours; and staffed by clinical mental health professionals, who are employees of the school district and provide mental health counseling services to students either in-person or remotely through the use of telehealth or telemedicine services.
Of those school districts that operate or host, or plan to operate or host, a mental health counseling center, the Office of School-Linked Services will consider certain factors enumerated in the bill in determining further priority in awarding grants under the School Based Youth Services Program. Those factors include: whether the school district is designated as a “high-need” school district, as determined by the Commissioner of the Department of Children and Families; the existence of a partnership between the center and community mental health providers and other community resources; whether the school district has developed a plan for mental health professionals working in its center to develop curricula to train students and staff on identifying the signs of mental health conditions and addressing risk factors that may impact student mental health; and whether the center or other entity created by the school district has, or demonstrates a plan to have, clinical mental health professional staff who specialize in a variety of mental health areas.