(a) School corporations shall provide student assistance services at the elementary and secondary school levels. (b) Student assistance services shall be coordinated by a:

• (1) certified school counselor;
• (2) certified school psychologist; or
• (3) certified school social worker (master's level). (c) Student assistance services shall include, but are not limited to, the following:
• (1) Prevention, which includes:
• (A) assisting teachers and parents in delivering the health and social studies proficiencies of the school curricula;
• (B) collaborating with community resources to develop summer and extended school programs to meet the social and recreational needs of students; and
• (C) educating school staff and parents on the developmental needs and behavioral management of students.
• (2) Assessment, which includes:
• (A) educating school staff and parents to identify and refer students who are experiencing problems that interfere with student learning;
• (B) obtaining and interpreting data on student needs; and
• (C) implementing the school's policies and procedures with regard to identifying and referring students with their families who are in need of special services.
• (3) Intervention, which includes:
• (A) providing brief individual and group counseling to students and families who need help with personal concerns or developmental problems; and
• (B) providing consultation services to school staff and parents regarding strategies for helping students cope with personal and social concerns.
• (4) Referral, which includes:
• (A) implementing policies and procedures for referring students and families to student assistance services and to community agencies for intensive counseling or other specialized services not available from the school;
• (B) disseminating a directory of community services and resources; and
• (C) creating a system to monitor referrals to ensure that students and families receive services in a timely and appropriate manner.

(a) The student and parent support services grant program is established to provide grants to school corporations, charter schools, and state accredited nonpublic schools for the development and implementation of student and parent support services plans to support parents caring for at-risk students. (b) The department, in coordination with the division of mental health and addiction, shall administer the program.

A school corporation, a charter school, or a state accredited nonpublic school must do the following to participate in the program:

• (1) Apply to the department to participate in the program.
• (2) Submit to the department a student and parent support services plan that the school corporation, charter school, or state accredited nonpublic school intends to implement and that includes the following:
• (A) A process for a teacher or school employee to notify a school official to contact a student’s parent if the student demonstrates a repeated pattern of aberrant or abnormal behavior. The parental notification process described in this clause must also include that the school will hold a conference with the student and the student’s parent.
• (B) A requirement that the conference described in clause (A) must address the student’s potential need for and benefit from:
• (i) school based treatment services; or
• (ii) treatment services provided by an outside professional care provider that is contracted and paid for by the school corporation, charter school, or state accredited nonpublic school.
• (C) A procedure for a parent who chooses to seek services for the student to follow that includes granting written parental consent for the student to receive services by a service provider described under clause (B).
• (D) A requirement to ensure that a school shall maintain the confidentiality of any medical records that result from a student’s participation in any treatment described in clause (B). The school must adopt a policy that prohibits the school from:
• (i) sharing any reports or notes resulting from the provision of school based treatment services described in clause (B)(i) with other school officials; and
• (ii) maintaining any reports, notes, diagnosis, or appointments that result from a student’s participation in any treatment described in clause (B)(i) through (B)(ii) in the student’s permanent educational file.