HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3057        FILED ON: 1/20/2023

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1979

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Marjorie C. Decker

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act establishing a child and adolescent behavioral health implementation coordinating council.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3057        FILED ON: 1/20/2023

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1979

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)

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An Act establishing a child and adolescent behavioral health implementation coordinating council.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. Chapter 19 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 23 the following section:-

Section 23A

a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

“Comprehensive school based behavioral health system”, a collaboration between school professionals and community partners to create a positive school climate, foster social and emotional development, and promote mental health and wellbeing, while reducing the prevalence and severity of mental illness by providing a range of behavioral health promotion, prevention and intervention programs and interventions.

“Multi-tiered system of supports”, a framework for providing behavioral health promotion and prevention programs, services and support for the entire student population and providing more acute intervention and support for the students that need them.

b) The department shall, in collaboration with the department of elementary and secondary education and the Behavioral Health Integrated Resources for Children Project within the University of Massachusetts at Boston, establish a child and adolescent behavioral health implementation coordinating council, hereinafter referred to as the “council,” within, but not subject to control of, the Children’s Behavioral Health Research Center. The council shall advise the governor, the general court, the secretary of education and the secretary of health and human services, and provide guidance to districts on the implementation of a statewide comprehensive behavioral health system utilizing a multi-tiered system of supports framework to provide equitable access to behavioral health promotion, prevention, and intervention services and supports in each school district.

(i) The council shall be comprised of 10 members, who shall serve ex officio: the commissioner of mental health or their designee, who shall serve as co-chair; the commissioner of elementary and secondary education or their designee, who shall serve as co-chair; and a representative of the school behavioral health technical assistance center established pursuant to Chapter 6A, Section 16FF.  In addition, 1 representative of each of the following shall be appointed by the co-chairs: school based behavioral health professionals; school administrators; teachers; school nurses; pediatricians; community-based child behavioral health providers; and parents and caregivers of students with behavioral health needs.

The co-chairs shall make an effort to ensure that to the extent possible the council members represent the diversity of children in the commonwealth including race, ethnicity, gender and gender identity, sexual orientation and geographic region.

(ii) The term for nongovernmental members shall be 3 years. Upon the expiration of a term, the co-chairs may appoint the member to an additional term at their discretion, provide further that a governmental member who resigns or is not appointed to a new term may serve until a successor has been appointed;

(iii)  the co-chairs may appoint other state agency staff or community members on a permanent or ad hoc basis as necessary to fulfill the purpose of the council.

(c) Within 6 months of its first meeting, the council shall develop a 3 year statewide plan for rapidly implementing a comprehensive school based behavioral system through a multi-tiered system of supports framework. The plan should put forth goals and benchmarks for key elements of comprehensive school based behavioral system implementation, including workforce expansion and retention, access to training and professional development, use of evidence-based practices and evaluation, and outcome data specifications to include measures for identifying disparities in access for particular subgroups of students. The plan shall also include strategies for cross sector engagement and mechanisms for leveraging and coordinating funding and resources across agencies and sectors. The council shall update the plan every 3 years, or more frequently as needed, to ensure quality, promote use of current best practices, and address issues of access including persistent disparities.

(d) The council shall assist with the development of guidance documents to support schools in operationalizing the comprehensive school based behavioral health statewide plan and to broadly inform school behavioral health policy and practice.

(e)  Annually on or before January 1, the council shall a issue a report of its activities and statewide progress toward implementation of comprehensive school based behavioral health systems and shall make recommendations for addressing barriers to implementation and for addressing persistent disparities in access to to behavioral health services and supports in schools, to the governor, the secretary of health and human services, the secretary of education and the general court, by filing them with the clerks of the senate and the house of representatives, the joint committee on mental health, substance abuse and recovery, the joint committee on education and the senate and the house committees on ways and means.

(f) Meetings of the council shall comply with chapter 30A, except that the council may hold executive sessions. No action of the council shall be taken in an executive session.

(g) The members of the council shall not receive a salary or per diem allowance for serving as members of the council.

SECTION 2: Chapter 71 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 98 the following section:-

Section 99. On or before September 1, 2026, each school district shall implement a comprehensive school based behavioral health system within a multi-tiered system of supports framework. The department shall collaborate with the department of mental health, the school behavioral health technical assistance center established pursuant to Chapter 6A, Section 16FF and the school based behavioral health implementation coordinating council to provide guidance and technical assistance to inform and assist implementation. Districts shall report annually on the status of implementation in a manner and form prescribed by the department of elementary and secondary education.

SECTION 3

Chapter 69 of the Generals Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 1T the following section:-

Section 1U. The department of elementary and secondary education shall provide school districts with a format and metrics and deadline for annually reporting progress toward implementing a comprehensive school based behavioral health system within a multi-tiered system of supports framework. Not later than September 1 of each year, the department shall provide submitted reports and an aggregate summary of the reports to the school based behavioral health implementation coordinating council established in section 23A of chapter 19.