Georgia CommonsHB 554: APEX Now Program; enact
Última acción: 24 de febrero de 2025 · House Second Readers
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.
Los resúmenes de abajo son traducciones de resúmenes en inglés escritos por un modelo de IA (claude-sonnet-5) a partir del texto del proyecto de ley; no forman parte de él. El proyecto de ley está en inglés. Cite el texto, no el resumen. El texto almacenado es la versión Introduced, la más reciente que tiene LegiScan.
El resumen en español de este proyecto de ley se está preparando. Mientras tanto se muestra el resumen en inglés.
En lenguaje claro
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.
Qué hace el proyecto de ley
- 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.
A quién afecta
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.
Por qué importa
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.
Disposiciones clave
- 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.
Del proyecto de ley
“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”
“Reports to the hotline by students shall be accepted anonymously, and the department shall not record any personally identifiable information from students.”
“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.”
Cronología del estado
- House Second Readers (Cámara de Representantes)
- House First Readers (Cámara de Representantes)
- House Hopper (Cámara de Representantes)
Patrocinadores
- Rick Townsend (R, HD-179)
- 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)
Temas
- student mental health
- school safety
- crisis response hotline
- telehealth services
- parental consent