HB3361 Summary

• State Board of Education shall establish a School-Based Mental Health Services Grant Program to award grants to schools for supplemental mental health services provided by licensed mental health specialists.

• Maximum of 35 grant awards per fiscal year, geographically dispersed across the state, with awards disbursed no later than December 1 each year, subject to appropriation.

• Grant recipients must agree to supplement rather than replace existing mental health services and cannot reduce or eliminate any mental health programs that existed at the time of application.

• Schools must enter into memoranda of understanding with mental health services entities, post approved applications online, notify parents of the program, and provide opt-out forms for parents to exempt their children from supplemental services.

• Schools must file annual reports with the State Board describing how grants enabled them to provide supplemental mental health services; State Board compiles reports and submits recommendations to the Governor and General Assembly by April 30 each year.