BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 1468

By: Talarico

Public Education

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Concerns have been raised over the mental health crisis across the nation and in Texas, particularly with regard to adolescents. It has been suggested that the study and evaluation of existing programs and measures being used to treat mental health in public schools could provide valuable information on the effectiveness of school mental health programs provided to public school students. C.S.H.B. 1468 seeks to create the public school mental health task force for such purposes and to aid in addressing these concerns. 

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 1468 amends the Education Code to establish the Public School Mental Health task force to examine the effectiveness of school mental health programs provided for students enrolled in public schools. The bill sets out the composition of the 25-member task force and requires the commissioner of education to appoint the members not later than December 31, 2020. The bill sets out provisions relating to the presiding officer, filling a vacancy on the task force, and task force meetings, the first of which must be called on or before January 31, 2021. The bill requires the task force to take the following actions:

· examine the types of mental health services that public schools provide;

· examine existing measures used by schools that positively affect student mental health;

· determine which school mental health programs achieve the best performance, considering the cost of the program, the number of students served, and the effectiveness of the program;

· determine which school mental health programs schools prefer to use; and

· conduct a statistical analysis, incorporating information on student demographics, including student family average income, to determine the effectiveness of school mental health programs and the impact on student achievement and performance.

C.S.H.B. 1468 requires the task force to deliver a report to the commissioner detailing the task force's findings and recommendations and the results of the statistical analysis not later than August 31, 2022. The bill exempts the task force from state law relating to state agency advisory committees. The bill's provisions expire and the task force is abolished on December 1, 2022.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2019.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 1468 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The substitute changes the scope of the task force's purpose and duties from examining the effectiveness of public school counseling programs to examining the effectiveness of public school mental health programs.

The substitute revises the task force's composition by:

· including five certified school counselors among the membership, but not including such a counselor in the definition of "public school mental health professional;"

· including one director of a public school counseling program among the membership; and

· decreasing from 10 to four the number of public school mental health professionals among the membership.