Bill > H595

This bill requires every school district to employ at least one full-time school psychologist and one full-time school social worker to provide comprehensive mental health services for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. For school psychologists, these services include conducting mental health evaluations and screenings, informing parents and school personnel about a student's mental health condition, addressing individual student mental health needs, and making recommendations about the school's mental health environment. School social workers would have broader responsibilities, including creating psychosocial intervention plans, diagnosing mental and emotional disorders, conducting crisis assessments, providing short-term and long-term psychotherapy, serving as a liaison between parents, children, schools, and the community, and offering guidance to school personnel about mental health interventions. The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education would be responsible for creating regulations to implement these requirements, ensuring that public schools have dedicated mental health professionals to support students' psychological well-being.

Education

https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H595