Category
Alcohol and Drug-use Intervention Programs
Category
Alcohol and Drug-use Intervention Programs
State law requires districts to implement school-based alcohol and drug referral, intervention or treatment programs for students with substance use disorders.
Idaho Administrative Code 08.02.03.160 Safe Environment and Discipline.
Each school district will have a comprehensive districtwide policy and procedure encompassing the following:
- School Climate
- Discipline
- Student Health
- Violence Prevention
- Possessing Weapons on Campus
- Substance Abuse - Tobacco, Alcohol, and Other Drugs
- Suicide Prevention
- Student Harassment
- Drug-free School Zones
- Building Safety including Evacuation Drills
- Relationship Abuse and Sexual Assault Prevention and Response
Districts will conduct an annual review of these policies and procedures. (See Section 33-1612) Effective date (3-20-14)
Idaho Statutes 16-2404A Teen Early Intervention Mental Health and Substance Abuse Specialist Program.
(1) The department of health and welfare shall be authorized to contract for teen early intervention specialists to work with teens at risk and their families in school districts. (2) The teen early intervention specialist shall be a certified counselor or a social worker with a clinical background in mental health or substance abuse as prescribed by the department of health and welfare by rule. (3) The salary paid to the teen early intervention specialist shall be equivalent to the salary paid to comparably trained and experienced individuals employed by the school district in the region in which the community resource is employed. (4) Teen early intervention specialists shall work with individual teens at risk to offer group counseling, recovery support, suicide prevention and other mental health and substance abuse counseling services to teens as needed, regardless of mental health diagnosis. (5) By permission of school administrators, as prescribed in rule, teens at risk not currently enrolled in a public school may, if assigned by a judge, participate in group or individual teen early intervention specialist counseling sessions or services for teens at risk as appropriate. (6) School districts seeking to have one (1) or more teen early intervention specialists placed within its district may apply to the department of health and welfare for such placement. The department of health and welfare shall establish by rule a simple application process and criteria for placement of teen early intervention specialists in districts. The number of teen early intervention specialists placed in school districts in any given year shall be limited by the funds appropriated to the teen early intervention specialist program in that fiscal year. In evaluating applications for the three (3) year pilot project, the department of health and welfare shall give special consideration to rural districts and shall consider:
- (a) The demonstrated need for mental health and substance abuse counseling and treatment for teens at risk in the school district;
- (b) The resources and cooperation which the school district has proposed to contribute to the support of the teen early intervention specialist program for teens at risk; and
- (c) The funding appropriated to the teen early intervention specialist program for teens at risk.
(7) Through an initial three (3) year period beginning at the start of the 2008 school year, the department of health and welfare shall work with local school districts where teen early intervention specialists have been placed to gather data on the effectiveness of this program. This data may be gathered and tracked through cooperative projects with Idaho colleges and universities and may include, but not be limited to:
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(a) Impacts on the number and nature of teen arrests;
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(b) Reductions in the number of teen suicides and suicide attempts;
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(c) Changes in patterns of teen incarceration or involvement with Idaho's juvenile justice system;
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(d) Impacts on local caseloads of practitioners in the department of health and welfare;
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(e) Where applicable, impacts to juvenile mental health or drug courts;
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(f) Changes in academic achievement by teens at risk and by those participating in the teen early intervention specialist program; and
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(g) Changes in the number and nature of student disciplinary actions in schools where teen early intervention specialists have been placed.
Idaho Statutes 33-210 Students Using or Under the Influence of Alcohol or Controlled Substances.
(1) It is legislative intent that parental involvement in all aspects of a child's education in the public school system remain a priority. Substance abuse prevention programs and counseling for students attending public schools are no exception. Consequently, it is the duty of the board of trustees of each school district, including specially chartered school districts, and governing boards of charter schools, to adopt and implement policies specifying how personnel shall respond when a student discloses or is reasonably suspected of using or being under the influence of alcohol or any controlled substance defined by section 37-2732C, Idaho Code. Such policies shall include provisions that anonymity will be provided to the student on a faculty need to know basis, when a student voluntarily discloses using or being under the influence of alcohol or any controlled substance while on school property or at a school function, except as deemed reasonably necessary to protect the health and safety of others. Notification of the disclosure and availability of counseling for students shall be provided to parents, the legal guardian or child's custodian. However, once a student is reasonably suspected of using or being under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance in violation of section 37-2732C, Idaho Code, regardless of any previous voluntary disclosure, the school administrator or designee shall contact the student's parent, legal guardian or custodian, and report the incident to law enforcement. The fact that a student has previously disclosed use of alcohol or a controlled substance shall not be deemed a factor in determining reasonable suspicion at a later date.
(2) In addition to policies adopted pursuant to this section, students may, at the discretion of the district board of trustees or governing board of a charter school, be subject to other disciplinary or safety policies, regardless whether the student voluntarily discloses or is reasonably suspected of using or being under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance in violation of district or charter school policy or section 37-2732C, Idaho Code.
(3) The district board of trustees or the governing board of the charter school shall ensure that procedures are developed for contacting law enforcement and the student's parents, legal guardian or custodian regarding a student reasonably suspected of using or being under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance. District and charter school policies formulated to meet the provisions of section 37-2732C, Idaho Code, and this section shall be made available to each student, parent, guardian or custodian by August 31, 2002, and thereafter as provided by section 33-512(6), Idaho Code.
(4) Any school district employee or independent contractor of an educational institution who has a reasonable suspicion that a student is using or is under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance and, acting upon that suspicion, reports that suspicion to a school administrator or initiates procedures adopted by the board of trustees or governing board of the charter school pursuant to this section, shall have immunity from any liability, civil or criminal, that might otherwise be incurred or imposed. Any such participant shall have the same immunity with respect to participation in any judicial proceeding resulting from such report. Any person who reports in bad faith or with malice shall not be protected by this section. Employees and independent contractors of educational institutions who intentionally harass a student through the misuse of the authority provided in this section shall not be immune from civil liability arising from the wrongful exercise of that authority and shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed three hundred dollars ($300).
(5) For the purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply:
- (a) Reasonable suspicion means an act of judgment by a school employee or independent contractor of an educational institution which leads to a reasonable and prudent belief that a student is in violation of school board or charter school governing board policy regarding alcohol or controlled substance use, or the use or under the influence provisions of section 37-2732C, Idaho Code. Said judgment shall be based on training in recognizing the signs and symptoms of alcohol and controlled substance use.
- (b) Intentionally harass means a knowing and willful course of conduct directed at a specific student which seriously alarms, annoys, threatens or intimidates the student and which serves no legitimate purpose. The course of conduct must be such as would cause a reasonable person to suffer substantial emotional distress.
- (c) Course of conduct means a pattern or series of acts over a period of time, however short, evidencing a continuity of purpose. Constitutionally and statutorily protected activity is not included within the meaning of course of conduct.