(a)

• (1) The governing board or body of a local educational agency that serves pupils in grades 7 to 12, inclusive, shall, before the beginning of the 2017–18 school year, adopt, at a regularly scheduled meeting, a policy on pupil suicide prevention in grades 7 to 12, inclusive. The policy shall be developed in consultation with school and community stakeholders, school-employed mental health professionals, and suicide prevention experts and shall, at a minimum, address procedures relating to suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention.
• (2)
  • (A) The governing board or body of a local educational agency that serves pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 6, inclusive, shall, before the beginning of the 2020-21 school year, adopt, at a regularly scheduled meeting, a policy on pupil suicide prevention in kindergarten and grades 1 to 6, inclusive. The policy shall be developed in consultation with school and community stakeholders, the county mental health plan, school-employed mental health professionals, and suicide prevention experts and shall, at a minimum, address procedures relating to suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention.
  • (B) The policy for pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 6, inclusive, shall be age appropriate and shall be delivered and discussed in a manner that is sensitive to the needs of young pupils.
  • (C) The policy for pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 6, inclusive, shall be written to ensure proper coordination and consultation with the county mental health plan if a referral is made for mental health or related services on behalf of a pupil who is a Medi-Cal beneficiary.
• (3) The policy shall specifically address the needs of high-risk groups, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
  • (A) Youth bereaved by suicide.
  • (B) Youth with disabilities, mental illness, or substance use disorders.
  • (C) Youth experiencing homelessness or in out-of-home settings, such as foster care.
  • (D) Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning youth.
• (4)
  • (A) The policy shall also address any training on suicide awareness and prevention to be provided to teachers of pupils in all of the grades served by the local educational agency.
  • (B) Materials approved by a local educational agency for training shall include how to identify appropriate mental health services, both at the schoolsite and within the larger community, and when and how to refer youth and their families to those services.
  • (C) Materials approved for training may also include programs that can be completed through self-review of suitable suicide prevention materials.
• (5) The policy shall be written to ensure that a school employee acts only within the authorization and scope of the employee’s credential or license. Nothing in this section shall be construed as authorizing or encouraging a school employee to diagnose or treat mental illness unless the employee is specifically licensed and employed to do so.
• (6) To assist local educational agencies in developing policies for pupil suicide prevention, the department shall develop and maintain a model policy in accordance with this section to serve as a guide for local educational agencies. (b) The governing board or body of a local educational agency that serves pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, shall review, at minimum every fifth year, its policy on pupil suicide prevention and, if necessary, update its policy. (c) Nothing in this section shall prevent the governing board or body of a local educational agency from reviewing or updating its policy on pupil suicide prevention more frequently than every fifth year. (d) For purposes of this section, “local educational agency” means a county office of education, school district, state special school, or charter school.

(a) The department shall identify one or more evidence-based online training programs that a local educational agency can use to train school staff and pupils as part of the local educational agency’s policy on pupil suicide prevention adopted pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 215. (b) In identifying an online training program pursuant to subdivision (a), the department shall ensure all of the following: (1) The training program is evidence based. (2) The training program is consistent with the model pupil suicide prevention policy developed by the department pursuant to paragraph (5) of subdivision (a) of Section 215. (3) The training program addresses the needs of high-risk groups as specified in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 215. (4) The training program can track aggregate, statewide usage. (5) The training program can assess trainee knowledge before and after training is provided in order to measure training outcomes. (c) (1) The department shall, subject to funds being appropriated in the annual Budget Act or another Statutefor this purpose, provide a grant to a county office of education, upon application by the county office of education, for the county office of education to acquire a training program identified by the department pursuant to subdivision (a) and disseminate that training program to local educational agencies. (2) The county office of education shall make the training program available to local educational agencies at no cost. (3) A local educational agency is not required to use the training program and may use the training program on a voluntary basis. (d) For purposes of this section, “local educational agency” means a county office of education, school district, state special school, or charter school that serves pupils in grades 7 to 12, inclusive. (e) The requirements of this section are contingent on funds being appropriated in the annual Budget Act or another Statutefor its purposes.

(a) The Mental Health Student Services Act is hereby established as a mental health partnership competitive grant program for the purpose of establishing mental health partnerships between a county’s mental health or behavioral health departments and school districts, charter schools, and the county office of education within the county. (b) The Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission shall award grants to county mental health or behavioral health departments to fund partnerships between educational and county mental health entities.

• (1) County, city, or multicounty mental health or behavioral health departments, or a consortium of those entities, including multicounty partnerships, may, in partnership with one or more school districts and at least one of the following educational entities located within the county, apply for a grant to fund activities of the partnership:
  • (A) The county office of education.
  • (B) A charter school.
• (2) An educational entity may be designated as the lead agency at the request of the county, city, or multicounty department, or consortium, and authorized to submit the application. The county, city, or multicounty department, or consortium, shall be the grantee and receive any grant funds awarded pursuant to this section even if an educational entity is designated as the lead agency and submits the application pursuant to this paragraph. (c) The commission shall establish criteria for the grant program, including the allocation of grant funds pursuant to this section, and shall require that applicants comply with, at a minimum, all of the following requirements:
• (1) That all school districts, charter schools, and the county office of education have been invited to participate in the partnership, to the extent possible.
• (2) That applicants include with their application a plan developed and approved in collaboration with participating educational entity partners and that include a letter of intent, a memorandum of understanding, or other evidence of support or approval by the governing boards of all partners.
• (3) That plans address all of the following goals:
  • (A) Preventing mental illnesses from becoming severe and disabling.
  • (B) Improving timely access to services for underserved populations.
  • (C) Providing outreach to families, employers, primary care health care providers, and others to recognize the early signs of potentially severe and disabling mental illnesses.
  • (D) Reducing the stigma associated with the diagnosis of a mental illness or seeking mental health services.
  • (E) Reducing discrimination against people with mental illness.
  • (F) Preventing negative outcomes in the targeted population, including, but not limited to:
    • (i) Suicide and attempted suicide.
    • (ii) Incarceration.
    • (iii) School failure or dropout.
    • (iv) Unemployment.
    • (v) Prolonged suffering.
    • (vi) Homelessness.
    • (vii) Removal of children from their homes.
    • (viii) Involuntary mental health detentions.
• (4) That the plan includes a description of the following:
  • (A) The need for mental health services for children and youth, including campus-based mental health services, as well as potential gaps in local service connections.
  • (B) The proposed use of funds, which shall include, at a minimum, that funds will be used to provide personnel or peer support.
  • (C) How the funds will be used to facilitate linkage and access to ongoing and sustained services, including, but not limited to, objectives and anticipated outcomes.
  • (D) The partnership’s ability to do all of the following:
    • (i) Obtain federal Medicaid or other reimbursement, including Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment funds, when applicable, or to leverage other funds, when feasible.
    • (ii) Collect information on the health insurance carrier for each child or youth, with the permission of the child or youth’s parent, to allow the partnership to seek reimbursement for mental health services provided to children and youth, where applicable.
    • (iii) Engage a health care service plan or a health insurer in the mental health partnership, when applicable, and to the extent mutually agreed to by the partnership and the plan or insurer.
    • (iv) Administer an effective service program and the degree to which mental health providers and educational entities will support and collaborate to accomplish the goals of the effort.
    • (v) Connect children and youth to a source of ongoing mental health services, including, but not limited to, through Medi-Cal, specialty mental health plans, county mental health programs, or private health coverage.
    • (vi) Continue to provide services and activities under this program after grant funding has been expended. (d) Grants awarded pursuant to this section shall be used to provide support services that include, at a minimum, all of the following:
• (1) Services provided on school campuses, to the extent practicable.
• (2) Suicide prevention services.
• (3) Drop-out prevention services.
• (4) Outreach to high-risk youth and young adults, including, but not limited to, foster youth, youth who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer, and youth who have been expelled or suspended from school.
• (5) Placement assistance and development of a service plan that can be sustained over time for students in need of ongoing services. (e) Funding may also be used to provide other prevention, early intervention, and direct services, including, but not limited to, hiring qualified mental health personnel, professional development for school staff on trauma-informed and evidence-based mental health practices, and other strategies that respond to the mental health needs of children and youth, as determined by the commission. (f) The commission shall determine the amount of grants and shall take into consideration the level of need and the number of schoolage youth in participating educational entities when determining grant amounts. (g) The commission may establish incentives to provide matching funds by awarding additional grant funds to partnerships that do so. (h) Partnerships currently receiving grants from the Investment in Mental Health Wellness Act of 2013 (Part 3.8 (commencing with Section 5848.5)) are eligible to receive a grant under this section for the expansion of services funded by that grant or for the inclusion of additional educational entity partners within the mental health partnership. (i) Grants awarded pursuant to this section may be used to supplement, but not supplant, existing financial and resource commitments of the county, city, or multi-county mental health or behavioral health departments, or a consortium of those entities, or educational entities that receive a grant. (j)
• (1) The commission shall develop metrics and a system to measure and publicly report on the performance outcomes of services provided using the grants.
• (2)
  • (A) The commission shall provide a status report to the fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature on the progress of implementation of this section no later than March 1, 2022. The report shall address, at a minimum, all of the following:
    • (i) Successful strategies.
    • (ii) Identified needs for additional services.
    • (iii) Lessons learned.
    • (iv) Numbers of, and demographic information for, the schoolage children and youth served.
    • (v) Available data on outcomes, including, but not limited to, linkages to ongoing services and success in meeting the goals identified in paragraph (3) of subdivision (c).
  • (B) A report to be submitted pursuant to this paragraph shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code. (k) This section does not require the use of funds included in the minimum funding obligation under Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution for the partnerships established by this section. (l) The commission may enter into exclusive or nonexclusive contracts, or amend existing contracts, on a bid or negotiated basis in order to implement this section. Contracts entered into or amended pursuant to this subdivision are exempt from Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 14825) of Part 5.5 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, Section 19130 of the Government Code, and Part 2 (commencing with Section 10100) of Division 2 of the Public Contract Code, and shall be exempt from the review or approval of any division of the Department of General Services. (m) This section shall be implemented only to the extent moneys are appropriated in the annual Budget Act or another statute for purposes of this section.

This document adresses the requirement to have a suicide prevention policy and provides a template to develop one.