Bill > S2259

Introduced Session

This bill requires a board of education to ensure that students in grades seven through 12 annually receive a health screening for depression. The screening is to be proctored and conducted electronically via a computer, and is to utilize a screening tool that has been validated to screen depression in adolescents, as determined by the Commissioners of Education and Children and Families. The Commissioner of Children and Families is to select one electronic screening tool to be utilized by all school districts. Under the bill, the Department of Education (DOE) and the Department of Children and Families (DCF) are to jointly establish standards on the procedures to be implemented to conduct the screenings. The screenings are to be conducted in a manner that ensures the privacy of the student and the confidentiality of the results. A superintendent is to inform a parent or guardian of an abnormal depression screening result and advise the parent or guardian to seek the care of a health care professional in order to obtain further evaluation and diagnosis. Under the bill, the Commissioners of Education and Children and Families are to establish recommendations for conducting screenings in a manner that accommodates students with developmental disabilities, intellectual disabilities, or low reading proficiency. Further, a board of education is to ensure that screenings are conducted in a manner that accommodates students with developmental disabilities, intellectual disabilities, or low reading proficiency. As determined by the DOE and the DCF, boards of education are required to forward data concerning depression screenings to the DOE and the DCF, provided that the forwarded data are aggregated and does not include any identifying or confidential information concerning any individual. The collected data are to be used to identify trends concerning teenage depression and to develop school and community based initiatives to address teenage depression. The DOE and the DCF are to annually publish on their Internet websites findings and recommendations that are based on collected data as to additional resources that may be necessary to screen adolescents for depression and further evaluate adolescents who have exhibited abnormalities in their depression screening. Under the bill, the DOE and the DCF may provide for other screening tools, including, but not limited to, screening tools for anxiety, substance use disorder, and suicidal ideation or behavior, as determined by the Commissioners of Education and Children and Families. A school district is to obtain written consent from a student's parent or guardian, upon enrollment or at the beginning of the school year, prior to screening the student for depression.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Teresa Ruiz (D)*,  Troy Singleton (D)*,  Patrick Diegnan (D), 

Substituted by A970 (ACS/2R) (on 03/25/2021)

Official Document