H.B. No. 2059
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to mental health first aid training provided by local
  mental health authorities and local behavioral health authorities.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 1001.201, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 1001.201.  DEFINITIONS.  In this subchapter:
               (1)  "Child-care facility" has the meaning assigned by
  Section 42.002, Human Resources Code.
               (2)  "Educator" means a person who is required to hold a
  certificate issued under Subchapter B, Chapter 21, Education Code.
               (3)  "First responder" has the meaning assigned by
  Section 421.095, Government Code.
               (4)  "Institution of higher education" has the meaning
  assigned by Section 61.003, Education Code.
               (5)  "Local behavioral health authority" means an
  authority designated by the commission under Section 533.0356.
               (6) [(2)]  "Local mental health authority" has the
  meaning assigned by Section 531.002.
               (7)  "Open-enrollment charter school" and "private
  school" have the meanings assigned by Section 5.001, Education
  Code.
               (8) [(3)]  "Regional education service center" means a
  regional education service center established under Chapter 8,
  Education Code.
               (9) [(4)]  "School district employee" means a person
  employed by a school district who regularly interacts with students
  through the course of the person's duties, including an educator, a
  secretary, a school bus driver, or a cafeteria worker.
               (10) [(5)]  "School resource officer" has the meaning
  assigned by Section 1701.601, Occupations Code.
               [(6)  "University employee" means a person employed by
  a public or private institution of higher education who regularly
  interacts with students enrolled at the university through the
  course of the person's duties.]
         SECTION 2.  Section 1001.202, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 1001.202.  GRANTS FOR TRAINING OF MENTAL HEALTH FIRST
  AID TRAINERS. (a) To the extent money is [funds are] appropriated
  to the commission [department] for that purpose, the commission
  [department] shall make grants to local mental health authorities
  or local behavioral health authorities to contract with persons
  approved by the commission [department] to train employees or
  contractors of the authorities as mental health first aid trainers.
         (b)  The commission [department] shall make each grant to a
  local mental health authority or local behavioral health authority
  under this section in the [an] amount the commission determines
  necessary to cover the costs of training [equal to $1,000 times the
  number of] employees or contractors of the authority whose training
  as mental health first aid trainers will be paid by the grant.
         (d)  The executive commissioner shall adopt rules to
  establish the requirements for a person to be approved by the
  commission [department] to train employees or contractors of a
  local mental health authority or local behavioral health authority
  as mental health first aid trainers. The rules must ensure that a
  person who is approved by the commission [department] is qualified
  to provide training in:
               (1)  the potential risk factors and warning signs for
  various mental illnesses, including depression, anxiety, trauma,
  psychosis, eating disorders, substance use [abuse] disorders, and
  self-injury;
               (2)  the prevalence of various mental illnesses in the
  United States and the need to reduce the stigma associated with
  mental illness;
               (3)  an action plan for use by the employees or
  contractors that involves the use of skills, resources, and
  knowledge to assess a situation and develop and implement an
  appropriate intervention to help an individual experiencing a
  mental health crisis obtain appropriate professional care; and
               (4)  the evidence-based professional, peer, social,
  and self-help resources available to help individuals with mental
  illness.
         (e)  Two or more local mental health authorities or local
  behavioral health authorities may collaborate and share resources
  to provide training for employees or contractors of the authorities
  under this section.
         SECTION 3.  Section 1001.203, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 1001.203.  GRANTS FOR TRAINING CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS 
  [UNIVERSITY EMPLOYEES, SCHOOL DISTRICT EMPLOYEES, AND SCHOOL
  RESOURCE OFFICERS] IN MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID. (a) To the extent
  money is [funds are] appropriated [to the department] for the
  [that] purpose, the commission [department] shall make grants to
  local mental health authorities or local behavioral health
  authorities to provide at no cost an approved mental health first
  aid training program[,] administered by mental health first aid
  trainers[, at no cost] to the following individuals at the
  discretion of the authorities:
               (1)  [university employees,] school district
  employees[,] and school resource officers;
               (2)  employees of:
                     (A)  an institution of higher education;
                     (B)  an open-enrollment charter school; or
                     (C)  a private school;
               (3)  employees and contractors of a child-care
  facility;
               (4)  youth;
               (5)  individuals with direct and recurring contact with
  students;
               (6)  first responders;
               (7)   military service members, veterans, or immediate
  family members of military service members or veterans;
               (8)  judges and attorneys, as applicable based on the
  practice of law of the judge or attorney; or
               (9)  contractors of an institution of higher education,
  an open-enrollment charter school, a private school, or a school
  district.
         (c)  The commission [department] shall grant [$100] to a
  local mental health authority or local behavioral health authority
  the amount the commission determines necessary to cover the costs
  of training each individual described by Subsection (a) [for each
  university employee, school district employee, or school resource
  officer] who successfully completes a mental health first aid
  training program provided by the authority under this section.
         (d)  A mental health first aid training program provided by a
  local mental health authority or local behavioral health authority
  under this section must:
               (1)  be conducted by a person trained as a mental health
  first aid trainer;
               (2)  provide participants with the skills necessary to
  help an individual experiencing a mental health crisis until the
  individual is able to obtain appropriate professional care; and
               (3)  include:
                     (A)  instruction in a five-step strategy for
  helping an individual experiencing a mental health crisis,
  including assessing risk, listening respectfully to and supporting
  the individual, and identifying professional help and other
  supports for the individual;
                     (B)  an introduction to the risk factors and
  warning signs for mental illness and substance use [abuse]
  problems;
                     (C)  experiential activities to increase
  participants' understanding of the impact of mental illness on
  individuals and families; and
                     (D)  a presentation of evidence-supported
  treatment and self-help strategies.
         (e)  A local mental health authority or local behavioral
  health authority may contract with a regional education service
  center to provide under this section a mental health first aid
  training program to [university employees,] school district
  employees and contractors, [and] school resource officers,
  open-enrollment charter school employees and contractors, private
  school employees and contractors, and employees and contractors of
  an institution of higher education [under this section].
         (f)  Two or more local mental health authorities or local
  behavioral health authorities may collaborate and share resources
  to develop and operate a mental health first aid training program
  under this section.
         SECTION 4.  Section 1001.204, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 1001.204.  PLANS FOR MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID TRAINING
  PROGRAMS. (a) Not later than July 1 of each even-numbered [state
  fiscal] year for which a local mental health authority or local
  behavioral health authority will seek a grant from the commission
  [department] under Section 1001.203, the authority shall submit to
  the commission [department] a plan demonstrating the manner in
  which grants made to the authority under that section will be used:
               (1)  to train individuals in mental health first aid
  throughout the authority's local service area to maximize the
  number of children who have direct contact with an individual who
  has successfully completed a mental health first aid training
  program provided by the authority;
               (2)  to meet the greatest needs of the authority's local
  service area, as identified by the authority; and
               (3)  to complement existing resources and not duplicate
  established mental health first aid training efforts.
         (b)  The commission [department] may not make a grant to a
  local mental health authority or local behavioral health authority
  under Section 1001.203 unless the commission [department] has
  evaluated a plan submitted by the authority under this section.
         SECTION 5.  Section 1001.205, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 1001.205.  REPORTS. (a) Not later than September 30 of
  each year, a local mental health authority or local behavioral
  health authority shall provide to the commission [department] the
  number of:
               (1)  employees and contractors of the authority who
  were trained as mental health first aid trainers under Section
  1001.202 during the preceding fiscal year, the number of trainers
  who left the program for any reason during the preceding fiscal
  year, and the number of active trainers;
               (2)  [university employees,] school district
  employees[,] and contractors, school resource officers,
  open-enrollment charter school employees and contractors, private
  school employees and contractors, and employees and contractors of
  an institution of higher education who completed a mental health
  first aid training program offered by the authority under Section
  1001.203 during the preceding fiscal year categorized by:
                     (A)  local mental health authority or local
  behavioral health authority region;
                     (B)  [, university or] school district,
  open-enrollment charter school, private school, and institution of
  higher education, as applicable; [,] and
                     (C)  category of personnel;
               (3)  child-care facility employees and contractors,
  youth, individuals with direct and recurring contact with students,
  first responders, judges, and attorneys [individuals who are not
  university employees, school district employees, or school
  resource officers] who completed a mental health first aid training
  program offered by the authority during the preceding fiscal year
  categorized by local mental health authority or local behavioral
  health authority region; and
               (4)  military service members, veterans, and immediate
  family members of military service members and veterans who
  completed the veterans module or standard version of a mental
  health first aid training program offered by the authority during
  the preceding fiscal year categorized by local mental health
  authority or local behavioral health authority region and the
  training program completed.
         (b)  Not later than December 1 of each year, the commission 
  [department] shall compile the information submitted by local
  mental health authorities or local behavioral health authorities as
  required by Subsection (a) and submit a report to the legislature
  containing:
               (1)  the number of authority employees and contractors
  trained as mental health first aid trainers during the preceding
  fiscal year, the number of trainers who left the program for any
  reason during the preceding fiscal year, and the number of active
  trainers;
               (2)  the number of [university employees,] school
  district employees[,] and contractors, school resource officers,
  open-enrollment charter school employees and contractors, private
  school employees and contractors, and employees and contractors of
  an institution of higher education who completed a mental health
  first aid training program provided by an authority during the
  preceding fiscal year categorized by:
                     (A)  local mental health authority region or local
  behavioral health authority region;
                     (B)  [, university or] school district,
  open-enrollment charter school, private school, and institution of
  higher education, as applicable; [,] and
                     (C)  category of personnel;
               (3)  the number of child-care facility employees and
  contractors, youth, individuals with direct and recurring contact
  with students, first responders, judges, and attorneys
  [individuals who are not university employees, school district
  employees, or school resource officers] who completed a mental
  health first aid training program provided by an authority during
  the preceding fiscal year categorized by local mental health
  authority or local behavioral health authority region;
               (4)  the number of military service members, veterans,
  and immediate family members of military service members and
  veterans who completed the veterans module or standard version of a
  mental health first aid training program provided by an authority
  during the preceding fiscal year categorized by local mental health
  authority or local behavioral health authority region and the
  training program completed; and
               (5)  a detailed accounting of expenditures of money
  appropriated for the purpose of implementing this subchapter.
         (c)  The commission [department] shall develop and provide
  to local mental health authorities and local behavioral health
  authorities a form to be used for the reporting of information
  required under Subsection (a), including the reporting of each
  category of personnel described by that subsection.
         SECTION 6.  Section 1001.206, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 1001.206.  LIABILITY. A person who has completed a
  mental health first aid training program offered by a local mental
  health authority or local behavioral health authority under this
  subchapter and who in good faith attempts to assist an individual
  experiencing a mental health crisis is not liable in civil damages
  for an act performed in attempting to assist the individual unless
  the act is wilfully or wantonly negligent.
         SECTION 7.  The following sections of the Health and Safety
  Code are repealed:
               (1)  Section 1001.2015; and
               (2)  Section 1001.2031.
         SECTION 8.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 2059 was passed by the House on April
  14, 2023, by the following vote:  Yeas 129, Nays 14, 2 present, not
  voting.
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 2059 was passed by the Senate on May
  15, 2023, by the following vote:  Yeas 30, Nays 1.
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate    
  APPROVED:  _____________________
                     Date          
   
            _____________________
                   Governor