§ 22-102-102 — Legislative declaration

(1) The general assembly finds that:

(a) School mental health professionals, including school social workers,
positively impact the school environment by working with young students and their
families to identify safety-net insecurities, social and emotional skills deficits,
instances of abuse and neglect, and mental health challenges;

(b) Identifying these student issues as early as possible increases the
likelihood that problems can be resolved successfully and in a manner that
decreases long-term problems with learning and other barriers to student success
in the future;

(c) A pilot program that places a team of school mental health professionals
in every pilot program school will allow the team, in partnership with classroom
teachers, to provide needed support for young students and their families at a
critical time in their education;

(d) A significant goal of the pilot program is to ensure that students of
elementary age receive the right level of necessary services, in the right place, and
at the right time;

(e) Receiving the right level of services, in the right place, and at the right
time helps remove the burden placed on teachers to be everything to a student,
from therapist to family counselor, and instead allows teachers to return to their
primary task: Teaching; and

(f) The pilot program will enable parents, students, teachers, administrators,
and school mental health professionals to create a safe, positive, and successful
school learning environment.

(2) Therefore, the general assembly declares that the creation and
successful implementation of a Colorado K-5 social and emotional health pilot
program could have a profound impact on the early educational and social
experiences of kindergarten through fifth-grade students, resulting in those
students graduating to middle and high school programs with fewer social,
emotional, and behavioral issues; adverse childhood experiences; disciplinary
referrals and delinquent conduct; school absences and truancy; and incidences of
self-harm.

Legislative History

Source: L. 2019: Entire article added, (HB 19-1017), ch. 156, p. 1846, � 1, effective August 2.