Enrolled Bill Summary

Senate Bill 646 amends the Education Code to extend eligibility for the mental health professionals loan repayment program to the following categories of professionals:

• licensed master social workers;
• persons who hold a licensed professional counselor associate license;
• licensed marriage and family therapist associates; and
• certified school counselors who have earned at least a master's degree related to counseling from any public or accredited private institution of higher education.

In addition, the bill revises the program eligibility requirements to give a mental health professional the option of providing mental health services to students enrolled in a public school in Texas as an alternative to providing mental health services to patients in a state hospital or individuals receiving applicable community-based mental health services. The bill removes provisions that require grants for licensed marriage and family therapists to be given lower priority than grants for all other types of eligible mental health professionals.

 Senate Bill 646 raises caps on the amount of assistance that an eligible mental health professional may receive under the program and provides for additional one-time repayment opportunities for professionals who are fluent in a language of need in their practice area, who practice in a county with a population of 150,000 or less, or who practice in a program-eligible manner for a fourth and fifth consecutive year. The bill authorizes the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to use funds, in an amount not to exceed $1 million appropriated for the program, to market the program to students enrolled in postsecondary institutions, mental health professionals, and mental health professional organizations and associations and to contract with a third party for this purpose.