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Senate approves changes to school mental-health consent and health curriculum; debate centers on parental consent and 'success sequence'
Summary
Third substitute House Bill 281 passed after extended debate. Sponsors and backers say it increases parental involvement and aligns in-school therapeutic practices with parental rights; opponents warned the consent requirements could reduce students'access to crisis care and objected to adding the "success sequence" to curriculum materials.
The Utah Senate on March 6 passed third substitute House Bill 281, which includes changes to in-school mental health procedures and revisions to the public-school health curriculum. The bill's floor consideration generated one of the session's most substantive debates, centering on parental consent for school-based therapeutic services and the inclusion of the so-called "success sequence" in instructional materials.
Sponsor Senator Cullimore described the bill as focusing on parental involvement in school-based mental-health services and minor updates to the health curriculum. The substitute requires that school mental-health therapists involve parents in services, requires prior written parental consent before nonemergency therapeutic services start, and…
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