---
title: HB 554. APEX Now Program; enact
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb554
cite_as: HB 554, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb554
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb554.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb554/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70599
date: 2025-02-24
status: introduced
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 129
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb554.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 554
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2025-02-20
last_action: House Second Readers
sponsors:
- Rick Townsend
- Todd Jones
- Chris Erwin
- Bethany Ballard
- Lydia Glaize
- Holt Persinger
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB554/2025
upstream_id: 1978288
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- student mental health
- school safety
- crisis response hotline
- telehealth services
- parental consent
---
# HB 554. APEX Now Program; enact
## Text
House Bill 554
By: Representatives Townsend of the 179th, Jones of the 25th, Erwin of the 32nd, Ballard of
the 147th, Glaize of the 67th, and others
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Part 3 of Article 16 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, relating to health of students, so as to enact the "APEX Now Program"; to
provide support for mental health services to students and school personnel experiencing
incidents of violence, threats of violence, natural disasters, and other crisis situations; to
provide for such program to be established within the Department of Behavioral Health and
Developmental Disabilities; to provide for the development and promulgation of a mental
health crisis plan; to provide for a 24 hour online and telephonic hotline; to provide for
prospective parental consent; to provide for contracting for services; to provide for liability;
to provide for funding; to provide for rules and regulations; to provide for definitions; to
provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Part 3 of Article 16 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,
relating to health of students, is amended by adding a new Code section read as follows:
"20-2-779.5.
(a) This Code section shall be known and may be cited as the 'APEX Now Program.'
(b) As used in this Code section, the term:
(1) 'Department' means the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental
Disabilities.
(2) 'Local education agency' shall have the same meaning as set forth in Code Section
20-2-167.1.
(3) 'Parent' means a biological parent, legal guardian, custodian, or other person with
legal authority to act on behalf of a child.
(4) 'Program' means the APEX Now Program provided for in this Code section.
(5) 'School personnel' means one or more individuals employed by a local education
agency.
(c) There is established within the department the APEX Now Program, which shall
provide support for mental health services to students and school personnel experiencing
incidents of violence, threats of violence, natural disasters, and other crisis situations and
for other purposes provided for in this Code section.
(d)(1) The department and the Department of Education shall jointly develop a mental
health crisis plan to rapidly provide mental health services to students experiencing
incidents of violence, threats of violence, natural disasters, or other crisis situations. Such
mental health crisis plan shall include provisions for:
(A) The designation of a team of individuals to serve as lead coordinators for the
deployment of mental health services in a crisis situation, and one individual to serve
as the primary leader of such team;
(B) Recommendations to make available sufficient mental health workers licensed in
this state to meet crisis needs for students, and a plan to deploy such mental health
workers when and where needed in a crisis situation; and
(C) Training that selected school personnel should receive to serve as mental health
first responders in the event of a crisis.
(2) The department and the Department of Education shall be authorized to engage with
the Southern Regional Education Board to facilitate and support the development of the
mental health crisis plan.
(3) By January 1, 2026, the mental health crisis plan shall be made available to all local
education agencies in this state and the chairpersons of the House Committee on
Education and the Senate Education and Youth Committee.
(e)(1) The department shall establish an online and telephonic hotline that shall be
available at all times:
(A) To any school personnel in this state to refer a student for mental health evaluation
and treatment services; and
(B) To any students and school personnel in this state to report any risk of suicide or
threats of violence or actual violence for referral to the appropriate educational and law
enforcement authorities.
(2) The role of the hotline shall be limited to coordinating the provision of mental health
evaluation and treatment services and for making referrals to appropriate educational and
law enforcement authorities. The hotline shall not provide mental health evaluation or
treatment services.
(3)(A) Reports to the hotline by students shall be accepted anonymously, and the
department shall not record any personally identifiable information from students.
(B) The department shall be authorized to record personally identifiable information
from school personnel for the exclusive purpose of facilitating appropriate follow-up
efforts.
(4) The department is authorized to develop promotional materials, training programs,
and curricula to be used in training students and school personnel to recognize and report
severe mental illness and to provide such materials, programs, and curricula to local
education agencies.
(f)(1) Students referred for mental health evaluation or treatment services under this
Code section shall be provided the opportunity to consult with an authorized mental
health professional within 24 hours of any such referral designated as urgent or within
five business days for any such referral designated as nonurgent.
(2) Local education agencies shall be authorized to designate a preferred provider to
consult with students referred for mental health evaluation or treatment services under
this Code section, and such referrals shall be made first to such preferred provider, who
may provide services to the student in person or via telehealth. If the preferred provider
is unable to consult with the student within the time provided by this subsection, the
department shall refer the student to a provider selected pursuant to this Code section who
is able to do so.
(3) Each local education agency shall designate a contact person to serve as the primary
point of contact for the department in conjunction with the program. Within 24 hours of
any referral made as part of the program, the department shall notify the designated
contact person for the local education agency of such referral.
(g)(1) The Department of Education, in coordination with the department, shall develop
and make available an electronic opt-in system for parents of minor children to provide
prospective consent pursuant to the laws of this state for mental health evaluation and
treatment services provided under the program.
(2) At the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year and each school year thereafter, each
local education agency shall notify parents of the availability of such prospective consent
and take reasonable efforts to encourage them to complete it electronically.
(h) The Department of Administrative Services shall, in coordination with the department,
select three or more mental health telehealth providers under state-wide convenience
contracts to provide services pursuant to this Code section. Providers under state-wide
contracts established under this subsection shall also be available to be utilized by local
education agencies to provide mental health services to students and school personnel. All
mental health services provided pursuant to such contracts shall be provided by healthcare
professionals licensed to provide such services under the laws of this state. The factors
used to select such mental health services providers shall include, but shall not be limited
to:
(1) A demonstrated ability to maximize payment for services from commercial insurers
and other third parties;
(2) Sufficient staffing to provide services on a state-wide basis as needed using
physicians, nurses, licensed professional counselors, or licensed social workers with
specific training in providing mental health services;
(3) The ability to provide services in a language fluently spoken by the student or school
personnel receiving such services;
(4) A demonstrated record of providing mental health telehealth services in elementary
and secondary school settings;
(5) Ability to use information technology to track services provided and outcomes for
program evaluation purposes;
(6) A financial model that allows the provider to serve all students, regardless of whether
they make a copayment or have third-party insurance coverage; and
(7) The flexibility to work both in an augmentation role providing additional capacity to
local education agencies with in-person mental health services resources and in serving
as a lead mental health services provider for a local education agency.
(i)(1) Any person or persons participating in the making of a referral pursuant to this
Code section or participating in any judicial proceeding or any other proceeding resulting
therefrom shall in so doing be immune from any civil or criminal liability that might
otherwise be incurred or imposed, provided that such participation pursuant to this Code
section or any other law is made in good faith.
(2) No school personnel making a referral in good faith under this Code section shall be
subject to adverse employment consequences, disciplinary action, or retaliation in any
form by a local education agency.
(j) Funds appropriated for the program may be expended for the following purposes, in
addition to the general administration of the program, provided that such funds shall not
be used to reimburse any person for copayments required by a commercial insurance
policy:
(1) Purchasing equipment for the provision of mental health services by local education
agencies;
(2) Reimbursing providers for mental health services provided to students who do not
have coverage under government or private policies; and
(3) Training staff and teachers on the program and related technology.
(k) The department and the Department of Education shall adopt rules and regulations to
implement the provisions of this Code section."
SECTION 2.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
## Summaries written by Georgia Commons
The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.
House Bill 554 would create the 'APEX Now Program,' a statewide system connecting Georgia students and school staff to mental health crisis support, including a 24-hour hotline and telehealth services, after violence, threats, or disasters.
### Plain-language summary
Georgia currently has no single statewide system for quickly connecting students and school staff to mental health help after a crisis like a shooting threat, an act of violence, or a natural disaster. This bill would create the APEX Now Program inside the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities to fill that gap.
The department and the Department of Education would jointly write a mental health crisis plan by January 1, 2026, covering crisis response teams, available mental health workers, and training for school staff. The bill also sets up a 24-hour hotline for reporting risks of violence or suicide and for referring students to care, guarantees students a mental health consultation within 24 hours (urgent cases) or five business days (nonurgent), creates an electronic parental consent system starting the 2025-2026 school year, and directs the Department of Administrative Services to contract with at least three statewide telehealth providers. It also grants legal immunity for good-faith referrals and protects school staff who make them from retaliation.
### What it does
- Creates the APEX Now Program within the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities to coordinate mental health support after school crises.
- Requires the department and the Department of Education to jointly develop a mental health crisis plan by January 1, 2026, covering staffing, deployment, and training.
- Establishes a 24-hour online and phone hotline for students and school staff to report violence risks or refer students for mental health help, with anonymous reporting for students.
- Guarantees students referred for care a consultation within 24 hours for urgent cases or five business days for nonurgent cases.
- Directs creation of an electronic parental consent system for mental health services starting in the 2025-2026 school year.
- Requires the state to contract with at least three statewide telehealth mental health providers and grants legal immunity and job protection for good-faith referrals.
### Who it affects
Public school students and their parents, school personnel and administrators, local education agencies (school districts), the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, the Department of Education, the Department of Administrative Services, and mental health telehealth providers who contract with the state.
### Why it matters
Students and staff facing threats, violence, or disaster would gain a direct hotline and guaranteed timelines for mental health consultations rather than relying on ad hoc school responses. Parents would get a formal consent process, and schools and providers would take on new coordination, contracting, and training responsibilities.
### Key provisions
- Subsection (a)-(b) names the program and defines key terms like 'department,' 'local education agency,' and 'school personnel.'
- Subsection (d) requires a joint mental health crisis plan between the department and Department of Education, distributed to all local education agencies and legislative education committees by January 1, 2026.
- Subsection (e) establishes an always-available hotline for referrals and reports, limited to coordination and referral rather than direct treatment, with anonymous reporting guaranteed for students.
- Subsection (f) sets consultation deadlines (24 hours for urgent referrals, five business days for nonurgent) and lets local education agencies designate preferred providers.
- Subsection (g) requires an electronic parental opt-in consent system starting with the 2025-2026 school year.
- Subsection (h) requires the Department of Administrative Services to select at least three statewide telehealth contract providers meeting specific criteria, such as language access and insurance billing ability.
- Subsection (i) grants civil and criminal immunity for good-faith referrals and bars retaliation against school personnel who make them.
- Subsection (j) restricts how appropriated program funds can be spent, excluding reimbursement of insurance copayments.
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2025-02-20)
- Last action: House Second Readers (2025-02-24)
- Sponsors: Rick Townsend, Todd Jones, Chris Erwin, Bethany Ballard, Lydia Glaize, Holt Persinger
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70599
> The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb554.md?full=1