Florida School Discipline Laws & Regulations: School-based Behavioral Health Programs

Florida School Discipline Laws & Regulations: School-based Behavioral Health Programs

Category: Prevention, Behavioral Interventions, and Supports
Subcategory: School-based Behavioral Health Programs
State: Florida

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Florida

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LAWS

381.0057. Funding for school health services.

(3) Any school district, school, or laboratory school which desires to receive state funding under the provisions of this section shall submit a proposal to the joint committee established in subsection (2). The proposal shall state the goals of the program, provide specific plans for reducing teenage pregnancy, and describe all of the health services to be available to students with funds provided pursuant to this section, including a combination of initiatives such as health education, counseling, extracurricular, and self-esteem components. School health services shall not promote elective termination of pregnancy as a part of counseling services. Only those program proposals which have been developed jointly by county health departments and local school districts or schools, and which have community and parental support, shall be eligible for funding. Funding shall be available specifically for implementation of one of the following programs:

(b) Student support services team program.–The program shall include a multidisciplinary team composed of a psychologist, social worker, and nurse whose responsibilities are to provide basic support services and to assist, in the school setting, children who exhibit mild to severely complex health, behavioral, or learning problems affecting their school performance. Support services shall include, but not be limited to: evaluation and treatment for minor illnesses and injuries, referral and followup for serious illnesses and emergencies, onsite care and consultation, referral to a physician, and followup care for pregnancy or chronic diseases and disorders as well as emotional or mental problems. Services also shall include referral care for drug and alcohol abuse and sexually transmitted diseases, sports and employment physicals, immunizations, and in addition, effective preventive services aimed at delaying early sexual involvement and aimed at pregnancy, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, sexually transmitted diseases, and destructive lifestyle conditions, such as alcohol and drug abuse. Moneys for this program shall be used to fund three teams, each consisting of one half-time psychologist, one full-time nurse, and one full-time social worker. Each team shall provide student support services to an elementary school, middle school, and high school that are a part of one feeder school system and shall coordinate all activities with the school administrator and certified school counselor at each school. A program that places all three teams in middle schools or high schools may also be proposed.

394.66. Legislative intent with respect to substance abuse and mental health services.

It is the intent of the Legislature to:

(6) Ensure that all activities of the Department of Children and Families and the Agency for Health Care Administration, and their respective contract providers, involved in the delivery of substance abuse and mental health treatment and prevention services are coordinated and integrated with other local systems and groups, public and private, such as juvenile justice, criminal justice, child protection, and public health organizations; school districts; and local groups or organizations that focus on services to older adults.

394.75. State and district substance abuse and mental health plans.

(4) The district plan shall:

(i) Provide for the integration of substance abuse and mental health services with the other departmental programs and with the criminal justice, juvenile justice, child protection, school, and health care systems within the district.

1006.04. Educational multiagency services for students with severe emotional disturbance.

(1)(a) The multiagency network for students with emotional and behavioral disabilities works with education, mental health, child welfare, and juvenile justice professionals, along with other agencies and families, to provide children with mental illness or emotional and behavioral problems and their families with access to the services and supports they need to succeed. District school boards should provide educational programs, and state departments and agencies administering children's mental health funds should provide mental health treatment and residential services when needed, as part of the multiagency network .

(b) The purpose of the multiagency network is to:

1. Enable students with severe emotional disturbance to learn appropriate behaviors, reduce dependency, and fully participate in all aspects of school and community living.

2. Develop individual programs for students with severe emotional disturbance, including necessary educational, residential, and mental health treatment services.

3. Provide programs and services as close as possible to the student's home in the least restrictive manner consistent with the student's needs.

4. Integrate a wide range of services necessary to support students with severe emotional disturbance and their families.

1. Support and represent the needs of students in each school district in joint planning with fiscal agents of children's mental health funds, including the expansion of school-based mental health services, transition services, and integrated education and treatment programs.

2. Improve coordination of services for children with or at risk of emotional or behavioral disabilities and their families by assisting multiagency collaborative initiatives to identify critical issues and barriers of mutual concern and develop local response systems that increase home and school connections and family engagement.

3. Increase parent and youth involvement and development with local systems of care.

4. Facilitate student and family access to effective services and programs for students with and at risk of emotional or behavioral disabilities that include necessary educational, residential, and mental health treatment services, enabling these students to learn appropriate behaviors, reduce dependency, and fully participate in all aspects of school and community living.

5. Participate in the planning process for promoting a coordinated system of care for children and adolescents pursuant to s. 394.4955.

(2) The department may award grants to district school boards for statewide planning and development of the multiagency network for students with severe emotional disturbance. The educational services shall be provided in a manner consistent with the requirements of ss. 402.22 and 1003.57.

(3) State departments and agencies may use appropriate funds for the multiagency network for students with severe emotional disturbance.

1006.041. Mental health assistance program.

Each school district must implement a school-based mental health assistance program that includes training classroom teachers and other school staff in detecting and responding to mental health issues and connecting children, youth, and families who may experience behavioral health issues with appropriate services.

(1) Each school district must develop, and submit to the district school board for approval, a detailed plan outlining the components and planned expenditures of the district’s mental health assistance program. The plan must include all district schools, including charter schools, unless a charter school elects to submit a plan independently from the school district. A charter school plan must comply with all of the provisions of this section and must be approved by the charter school’s governing body and provided to the charter school’s sponsor.

(2) A plan required under subsection (1) must be focused on a multitiered system of supports to deliver evidence-based mental health care assessment, diagnosis, intervention, treatment, and recovery services to students with one or more mental health or co-occurring substance abuse diagnoses and to students at high risk of such diagnoses. The provision of these services must be coordinated with a student’s primary mental health care provider and with other mental health providers involved in the student’s care. At a minimum, the plan must include all of the following components:

(a) Direct employment of school-based mental health services providers to expand and enhance school-based student services and to reduce the ratio of students to staff in order to better align with nationally recommended ratio models. The providers shall include, but are not limited to, certified school counselors, school psychologists, school social workers, and other licensed mental health professionals. The plan must also identify strategies to increase the amount of time that school-based student services personnel spend providing direct services to students, which may include the review and revision of district staffing resource allocations based on school or student mental health assistance needs.

(b) Contracts or interagency agreements with one or more local community behavioral health providers or providers of Community Action Team services to provide a behavioral health staff presence and services at district schools. Services may include, but are not limited to, mental health screenings and assessments, individual counseling, family counseling, group counseling, psychiatric or psychological services, trauma-informed care, mobile crisis services, and behavior modification. These behavioral health services may be provided on or off the school campus and may be supplemented by telehealth as defined in s. 456.47(1).

1. Students referred to a school-based or community-based mental health service provider for mental health screening for the identification of mental health concerns and students at risk for mental health disorders are assessed within 15 days after referral. School-based mental health services must be initiated within 15 days after identification and assessment, and support by community-based mental health service providers for students who are referred for community-based mental health services must be initiated within 30 days after the school or district makes a referral.

2. Parents of a student receiving services under this subsection are provided information about other behavioral health services available through the student’s school or local community-based behavioral health services providers. A school may meet this requirement by providing information about and Internet addresses for web-based directories or guides for local behavioral health services.

3. Individuals living in a household with a student receiving services under this subsection are provided information about behavioral health services available through other delivery systems or payors for which such individuals may qualify, if such services appear to be needed or enhancements in such individuals’ behavioral health would contribute to the improved well-being of the student.

(d) Strategies or programs to reduce the likelihood of at-risk students developing social, emotional, or behavioral health problems; depression; anxiety disorders; suicidal tendencies; or substance use disorders.

(e) Strategies to improve the early identification of social, emotional, or behavioral problems or substance use disorders; to improve the provision of early intervention services; and to assist students in dealing with trauma and violence.

(f) Procedures to assist a mental health services provider or a behavioral health provider as described in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b), respectively, or a school resource officer or school safety officer who has completed mental health crisis intervention training in attempting to verbally de-escalate a student’s crisis situation before initiating an involuntary examination pursuant to s. 394.463. Such procedures must include strategies to de-escalate a crisis situation for a student with a developmental disability as defined in s. 393.063.

(g) Policies of the school district which must require that in a student crisis situation, school or law enforcement personnel must make a reasonable attempt to contact a mental health professional who may initiate an involuntary examination pursuant to s. 394.463, unless the child poses an imminent danger to themselves or others, before initiating an involuntary examination pursuant to s. 394.463. Such contact may be in person or through telehealth. The mental health professional may be available to the school district either by a contract or interagency agreement with the managing entity, one or more local community-based behavioral health providers, or the local mobile response team, or be a direct or contracted school district employee.

(3) Each school district shall submit its approved plan, including approved plans of each charter school in the district, to the Department of Education by August 1 of each fiscal year.

(4) Annually by September 30, each school district shall submit to the Department of Education a report on its program outcomes and expenditures for the previous fiscal year that, at a minimum, must include the total number of each of the following:

(a) Students who receive screenings or assessments.

(b) Students who are referred to school-based or community-based providers for services or assistance.

(d) School-based and community-based mental health providers, including licensure type.

(e) Contract-based or interagency agreement-based collaborative efforts or partnerships with community-based mental health programs, agencies, or providers.

1006.07. District school board duties relating to student discipline and school safety.

The district school board shall provide for the proper accounting for all students, for the attendance and control of students at school, and for proper attention to health, safety, and other matters relating to the welfare of students, including:

(1) Control of students.

(b)3. The district school superintendent of the receiving school district may recommend to the district school board that the final order of expulsion be waived and the student be admitted to the school district, or that the final order of expulsion be honored and the student not be admitted to the school district. If the student is admitted by the district school board, with or without the recommendation of the district school superintendent, the student may be placed in an appropriate educational program and referred to mental health services identified by the school district pursuant to s. 1012.584(4), when appropriate, at the direction of the district school board. [...]

(2)(k) Policies to be followed for the assignment of violent or disruptive students to an alternative educational program or referral of such students to mental health services identified by the school district pursuant to s. 1012.584(4).

(l) Notice that any student who is determined to have brought a firearm or weapon, as defined in chapter 790, to school, to any school function, or onto any school-sponsored transportation, or to have possessed a firearm at school, will be expelled, with or without continuing educational services, from the student's regular school for a period of not less than 1 full year and referred to mental health services identified by the school district pursuant to s. 1012.584(4) and the criminal justice or juvenile justice system. District school boards may assign the student to a disciplinary program or second chance school for the purpose of continuing educational services during the period of expulsion. District school superintendents may consider the 1-year expulsion requirement on a case-by-case basis and request the district school board to modify the requirement by assigning the student to a disciplinary program or second chance school if the request for modification is in writing and it is determined to be in the best interest of the student and the school system. [...]

(7) Threat assessment teams.–Each district school board shall adopt policies for the establishment of threat assessment teams at each school whose duties include the coordination of resources and assessment and intervention with individuals whose behavior may pose a threat to the safety of school staff or students consistent with the model policies developed by the Office of Safe Schools. Such policies must include procedures for referrals to mental health services identified by the school district pursuant to s. 1012.584(4), when appropriate, and procedures for behavioral threat assessments in compliance with the instrument developed pursuant to s. 1001.212(12).

(e) If an immediate mental health or substance abuse crisis is suspected, school personnel shall follow policies established by the threat assessment team to engage behavioral health crisis resources. Behavioral health crisis resources, including, but not limited to, mobile crisis teams and school resource officers trained in crisis intervention, shall provide emergency intervention and assessment, make recommendations, and refer the student for appropriate services. Onsite school personnel shall report all such situations and actions taken to the threat assessment team, which shall contact the other agencies involved with the student and any known service providers to share information and coordinate any necessary followup actions. Upon the student's transfer to a different school, the threat assessment team shall verify that any intervention services provided to the student remain in place until the threat assessment team of the receiving school independently determines the need for intervention services.

1011.62. Funds for operation of schools.

Mental health assistance allocation. The mental health assistance allocation is created to provide funding to assist school districts in implementing their school-based mental health assistance program pursuant to s. 1006.041. These funds shall be allocated annually in the General Appropriations Act or other law to each eligible school district. Each school district shall receive a minimum of $100,000, with the remaining balance allocated based on each school district’s proportionate share of the state’s total unweighted full-time equivalent student enrollment.

1012.584. Continuing education and inservice training for youth mental health awareness and assistance.

(4) Each school district shall notify all school personnel who have received training pursuant to this section of mental health services that are available in the school district, and the individual to contact if a student needs services. The term "mental health services" includes, but is not limited to, community mental health services, health care providers, and services provided under ss. 1006.04 and 1011.62(16).

REGULATIONS

No relevant regulations found.