Commission on Youth studies proposals on sharing hospital discharge plans with schools after inpatient psychiatric care

The Virginia Commission on Youth heard a staff study of proposals to change how inpatient psychiatric facilities share discharge-planning information with public schools, a debate that balances student privacy, school capacity and safe school re-entry.

Commission staff member Will Egan presented two draft recommendations developed from legislative proposals and stakeholder interviews. The proposed statutory changes respond to Senate Bill 1143 and earlier drafts; the commission will take no vote at this meeting and has opened the draft recommendations for written public comment through Oct. 15.

Recommendation 1 (modeled on SB 1143, as refined) would authorize a facility to provide portions of a discharge plan to a school counselor or school mental-health professional when the student was originally admitted because the student posed a threat of violence or physical harm to self or others or when the facility determines additional educational services will be needed. The recommendation would add a…