HB554: HB554 APEX Now Program; enact

Georgia schools currently have no statewide, standardized system for connecting students and staff to mental health help during a crisis like a shooting threat, act of violence, or natural disaster. This bill adds a new section to Georgia law creating the APEX Now Program inside the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. The program requires a joint crisis plan with the Department of Education, a 24 hour hotline for reporting risks of suicide or violence, and rules for quickly connecting referred students to licensed mental health providers (within 24 hours for urgent cases, five business days for others). It sets up an electronic parental consent system, requires the state to contract with at least three telehealth mental health providers, grants legal immunity to good-faith referrers, and directs how program funding may be spent. The crisis plan must reach schools by January 1, 2026.

• Creates the APEX Now Program within the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities to coordinate mental health support during school crises.
• Requires the department and the Department of Education to jointly build a mental health crisis plan, due to local school systems by January 1, 2026.
• Establishes a 24 hour hotline for school staff and students to report violence risks or request mental health referrals, keeping student reports anonymous.
• Sets response time limits: students referred for urgent care must get a consultation within 24 hours, non urgent cases within five business days.
• Requires the Department of Administrative Services to sign statewide contracts with at least three telehealth mental health providers meeting specific criteria.
• Grants civil and criminal immunity to people who make good-faith referrals and bars retaliation against school staff who do so.

Public school students and school personnel statewide, local education agencies (school districts), the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, the Department of Education, the Department of Administrative Services, telehealth mental health providers, and parents or guardians who must give consent for services.

If enacted, schools would gain a standardized, state-run way to quickly connect students in crisis to mental health care, with set response deadlines and legal protections for staff who report concerns. Families would need to opt in through a new consent system before students can receive services.

• Subsection (c) establishes the APEX Now Program to support mental health services during violence, threats, natural disasters, and other crises.
• Subsection (d) requires a joint crisis plan between the two departments, including designated crisis coordinators, workforce recommendations, and staff training, due to schools by January 1, 2026.
• Subsection (e) creates a 24 hour hotline for referrals and reports, keeping student callers anonymous while allowing limited recording of school personnel information.
• Subsection (f) sets referral response deadlines (24 hours urgent, five business days nonurgent) and lets local districts designate a preferred provider.
• Subsection (g) requires an electronic opt-in consent system for parents, to be publicized starting the 2025-2026 school year.
• Subsection (h) directs the Department of Administrative Services to contract with at least three statewide telehealth providers meeting listed qualifications.
• Subsection (i) provides civil and criminal immunity for good-faith referrals and bars retaliation against reporting school staff.
• Subsection (j) limits how program funds may be spent, excluding reimbursement of insurance copayments.

1. 2025-02-24House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-02-21House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-02-20House Hopper (House)

• Rick Townsend (R, HD-179)Primary sponsor
• Todd Jones (R, HD-025)
• Chris Erwin (R, HD-032)
• Bethany Ballard (R, HD-147)
• Lydia Glaize (D, HD-067)
• Holt Persinger (R, HD-119)

• school mental health
• student safety
• crisis hotline
• school violence prevention
• telehealth