HB 20: State Board of Education; adopt rules to require all certified public school personnel to receive annual training in depression and suicide awareness and prevention

Georgia law already requires school staff to get suicide prevention training, but this bill expands that requirement to also cover depression, shifts responsibility for setting the training rules from the Department of Education to the State Board of Education, and requires the Department of Education to approve the training materials used. The bill also creates the Student Mental Health Screenings Grant Program, subject to available funding, so local school systems can screen students in grades six through 12 for depression and suicide risk. School systems that want grant money must apply with details on their screening tools, partnerships with mental health providers, and consent procedures. The bill also requires local school systems to adopt a depression and suicide prevention policy by December 31, 2025, directs the Department of Education to issue telehealth guidance by October 1, 2025, and clarifies that schools and staff are not legally liable for harm connected to the training, screenings, or advice provided under the law.

• Shifts responsibility for setting annual staff training rules on suicide and depression awareness from the Department of Education to the State Board of Education.
• Expands required annual training for certified public school personnel to cover depression awareness in addition to suicide prevention.
• Creates the Student Mental Health Screenings Grant Program, subject to state funding, to help local school systems screen students in grades six through 12 for depression and suicide risk.
• Requires local school systems to adopt a written depression and suicide prevention policy by December 31, 2025, developed with school and community input.
• Directs the Department of Education to issue guidance by October 1, 2025 on using telehealth to deliver mental health services to students, including data security and parental consent rules.
• Protects schools and staff from lawsuits over harm connected to the required training, screenings, or advice, and states that the law does not create a specific legal duty of care.

Certified public school personnel who must complete the annual training, local school systems that must adopt policies and may apply for grant funding, students in grades six through 12 who could receive mental health screenings, parents and guardians who must give consent, and the Department of Education and Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, which must develop guidance and materials.

If enacted, more Georgia school staff would be trained to recognize depression, not just suicide risk, and some students could get access to mental health screenings and same-day intervention through a new grant program, while schools and staff would gain legal protection from lawsuits tied to that training or screening.

• Section 1 names the bill the 'Student Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Act.'
• Section 2 lists legislative findings on teen depression rates and its link to suicide risk.
• Section 3 amends O.C.G.A. § 20-2-779.1 to move rule-making authority for staff training from the Department of Education to the State Board of Education and expand training to cover depression.
• Section 3 creates the Student Mental Health Screenings Grant Program, requiring the State Board of Education to try to fund at least one school system in each of the state's northern, central, and southern regions.
• Section 3 requires local school systems seeking grant funds to submit applications detailing screening tools, partnerships, funding requests, and parental consent procedures.
• Section 3 requires local school systems to adopt a depression and suicide prevention policy no later than December 31, 2025.
• Section 3 directs the Department of Education to issue telehealth guidance for student mental health services by October 1, 2025, addressing consent, data privacy, and liability.
• Section 3 states that no one has a cause of action for harm from training, advice, or screenings provided under this section, and that the section does not create a specific duty of care.

1. 2025-01-15House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-01-14House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-01-13House Hopper (House)

• Sandra Scott (D, HD-076)Primary sponsor
• Kim Schofield (D, HD-063)
• Viola Davis (D, HD-087)

• school mental health
• suicide prevention
• depression screening
• public school policy
• student wellness