NY A06825

School districts must conduct annual depression screening examinations for all students in grades 7-12 using the Patient Health Questionnaire 2 or equivalent tool approved by the Commissioner of Education and Health.

Screenings must be administered by qualified professionals (school psychologists, nurses, counselors, student assistance coordinators, social workers, or physicians) with privacy protections and confidentiality consistent with state and federal law.

Parents or guardians must be notified in writing within 90 days of positive screening results, informed the screening is not a diagnosis, and encouraged to share results with the student's primary care physician.

Departments of Education and Health shall establish procedures for screenings and may include additional screening tools for anxiety (such as the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 scale).

School districts must forward aggregated, de-identified screening data to the departments to identify statewide trends in teenage depression and develop school and community-based initiatives to address it.