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Committee approves bill to create anonymous school safety tip line and crisis counseling pilot with UAMS
Summary
House Bill 1963 would authorize an anonymous reporting and crisis counseling line run by UAMS/PRI modeled on Utah's SafeUT program; sponsor estimated a $1.5 million annual cost but said the bill requires no immediate appropriation and establishes a fund for donations and future appropriations.
House Bill 1963 proposes creating an anonymous tip and crisis counseling line for K–12 students, to be administered through the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences' Psychiatric Research Institute and modeled after other states' programs such as Utah's SafeUT.
Program design and cost: The sponsor described a multi-channel app providing text, chat and phone access; preliminary cost estimates were about $1,500,000 per year. The bill creates an Arkansas Safe Schools Fund to accept donations and future appropriations; the sponsor said the bill does not require an immediate appropriation.
Privacy and HIPAA concerns: Committee members asked whether counseling records could be subject to HIPAA. The sponsor acknowledged the concern, explaining that counseling records may be medical in nature and that UAMS is equipped to handle HIPAA compliance and storage, citing Utah's experience as precedent.
Committee action: The committee passed the bill and encouraged local coordination; sponsor and supporters described a pilot phase covering an initial set of districts pending funding.
