(a)Subject to appropriations by the Legislature, commencing with the 2023-2024 school year, each local board of education in the state shall employ a mental health service coordinator. The coordinator shall be responsible for coordinating student mental health services throughout the local school system.
(b)An individual hired as a coordinator shall possess at least one of the following qualifications:
(1)Have a bachelor’s degree in social work.
(2)Satisfy State Department of Education qualifications for a school counselor.
(3)Satisfy State Department of Education qualifications for a school nurse.
(4)Have professional mental health experience, or have been licensed in a mental health occupation including, but not limited to, licensure as a licensed professional counselor or marriage
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(a) Subject to appropriations by the Legislature, commencing with the 2023-2024 school year, each local board of education in the state shall employ a mental health service coordinator. The coordinator shall be responsible for coordinating student mental health services throughout the local school system.
(b) An individual hired as a coordinator shall possess at least one of the following qualifications:
(1) Have a bachelor’s degree in social work.
(2) Satisfy State Department of Education qualifications for a school counselor.
(3) Satisfy State Department of Education qualifications for a school nurse.
(4) Have professional mental health experience, or have been licensed in a mental health occupation including, but not limited to, licensure as a licensed professional counselor or marriage and family therapist.
(5) Other qualifications as determined by the Alabama Department of Mental Health and the State Department of Education.
(c) Within one year after being hired as a mental health service coordinator, an individual shall earn a school-based mental health certificate by successfully completing a certification program developed by the Alabama Department of Mental Health.
(d) On or before the last day of the 2021 fiscal year, and as requested thereafter, each local board of education shall complete and submit to the Alabama Department of Mental Health a needs assessment and resource map for the schools under the jurisdiction of the board. The assessment shall document the status of mental health for the entire school system and allow the local board of education to engage in a quality improvement process to improve the provision of mental health resources to students within the school system.
(e) The Alabama Department of Mental Health and the State Department of Education may adopt rules and policies as necessary for implementation of this section.
(f) The administration of this section shall be subject to appropriations made by the Legislature.
(g) As used in this section, the term “local board of education” and “school system” shall include the schools or school systems provided by Chapter 1 of Title 21; Chapters 26A, 26B, and 26D of this title; and Article 4 of Chapter 1 of Title 44.
(h)(1) For the purposes of this section: (i) “mental health services” includes services, treatment, surveys, or assessments relating to mental health, including, but not limited to, guidance counseling and any programming offered by an employee or independent contractor of a local board of education relating to mental health, suicide counseling, or bullying counseling; (ii) “parent” includes a student’s parent or legal guardian, as applicable; and (iii) “imminent threat” means a known or foreseeable danger that could occur in the immediate or near future.
(2)a. Except as provided in paragraph b., no student of a public K-12 school under 16 years of age may be allowed to participate in ongoing school counseling services including, but not limited to, mental health services, unless specific written instruction has been granted by the student’s parent. For the purposes of this section, this written permission is referred to as an opt in.
b. No school counselor or health care provider may be precluded from providing mental health services due to:
1. An imminent threat to the health of the student or others;
2. Suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation; or
3. When there is an immediate necessity for immediate grief counseling.
(3) All local boards of education in this state shall adopt a policy concerning parent opt in for mental health services. At a minimum, each policy shall contain the following:
a. A provision for written notification, at least annually, to parents about school provided or sponsored mental health services. The notification shall include the purpose and general description of each of the mental health services, information regarding ways parents may review materials to be used in guidance and counseling programs that are available to students, and information regarding ways parents may allow, limit, or prevent their student’s participation in the programs.
b. A provision requiring written permission by a parent for his or her student to participate in mental health services. This written permission shall be specific as to any treatment and not broad in nature. This permission shall also be required annually and may be rescinded at any time by providing written notice to school administration.
c. If a parent elects to opt in to mental health services for his or her student, the counselor providing the services shall keep the parent fully informed regarding diagnosis, recommended counseling, or treatments, and the parent shall have the authority to make final decisions regarding counseling and treatments.
d. A provision requiring all records pertaining to mental health services to be treated as health care records and kept separately from academic records.
(i) Nothing in this section shall limit, preclude, or prevent the provision of any health care service to a minor when the health care provider providing the service has a good faith belief that one of the following conditions exist in regard to the minor:
(1) An imminent threat, as defined in subsection (h).
(2) Suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation.