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Sponsors press for youth mental‑health screening, peer programs and a mental‑health innovation fund
Summary
A sponsor presented proposals to increase mental‑health screening in schools, expand peer‑support and scale evidence‑based trainings, and create a fund to incentivize innovation and provider capacity for youth mental health and substance use services.
A sponsor told the committee she would soon introduce a mental‑health innovation package focused on youth that includes three main components: expand evidence‑based mental‑health literacy trainings in schools (for example, Mental Health First Aid and other peer‑support models), stand up universal screening with a parental opt‑out and create a special fund to incentivize mental‑health and substance‑use provider capacity and innovations.
The sponsor said pilots for trainings and peer programs have shown promise and urged scaling successful models statewide. The proposed universal screening would include a parental notification and opt‑out process; program details and screening tools would be developed jointly by the Agency of Education and the Department of Mental Health. The sponsor emphasized the urgency of youth mental‑health needs and said screening should not be delayed because services are limited; instead the state should expand the provider pipeline and link children to care.
Committee members thanked the sponsor and indicated interest in further testimony. The bill had not been introduced at the time of the hearing; the sponsor said it would likely be filed the following week and asked the committee to prioritize youth mental‑health in upcoming work.
