Senate File 398 - IntroducedA Bill ForAn Act 1relating to a mental health service providers
2competitive grant program for school districts and area
3education agencies, making an appropriation, and including
4effective date provisions.
5BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
1   Section 1.  NEW SECTION.  256.20  Mental health service
2providers competitive grant program.
   31.  The department shall establish a mental health service
4providers competitive grant program to use mental health
5service providers in high-need school districts or in high-need
6attendance centers operated by school districts. The state
7board, after consultation with education stakeholders, shall
8adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A for the program, including
9but not limited to rules relating to grant application
10materials, eligibility requirements, and award criteria.
   112.  A school district or area education agency or any
12combination thereof may apply to the department for a grant to
13employ a mental health service provider to design and implement
14a program that provides counseling and support services for
15children who are enrolled in a school district, and counseling,
16support services, and training for adults employed by or
17served by the school district, who have a serious emotional
18disturbance. For purposes of this section, “serious emotional
19disturbance”
means the same as defined in section 225C.2.
   203.  Moneys awarded under this section shall be used to
21supplement, not supplant, existing public funding used by a
22school district or area education agency for similar purposes.
23   Sec. 2.  DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION — MENTAL HEALTH SERVICE
24PROVIDERS COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAM.
  There is appropriated
25from the general fund of the state to the department of
26education for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2020, and
27ending June 30, 2021, the following amount, or so much thereof
28as is necessary, to be used for the purposes designated:
   29For purposes of the mental health service providers
30competitive grant program pursuant to section 256.20, if
31enacted, including the establishment and start-up programming
32costs of implementing the program:
..................................................  $3315,000,000
   34Notwithstanding section 8.33, moneys received by the
35department pursuant to this section that remain unencumbered or
-1-1unobligated at the close of the fiscal year shall not revert
2but shall remain available for expenditure for the purposes
3specified in this section for the following fiscal year.
4   Sec. 3.  EMERGENCY RULES.  The state board of education
5may adopt emergency rules under section 17A.4, subsection 3,
6and section 17A.5, subsection 2, paragraph “b”, to implement
7the provisions of this Act and the rules shall be effective
8immediately upon filing unless a later date is specified in the
9rules. Any rules adopted in accordance with this section shall
10also be published as a notice of intended action as provided
11in section 17A.4.
12   Sec. 4.  EFFECTIVE DATE.  This Act, being deemed of immediate
13importance, takes effect upon enactment.
14EXPLANATION
15The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
16the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   17This bill provides for the establishment by the department
18of education of a mental health service providers competitive
19grant program to use mental health service providers in
20high-need school districts or in high-need attendance centers
21operated by school districts, and appropriates $15 million
22from the general fund of the state to the department for FY
232020-2021 for purposes of the program.
   24A school district or area education agency or any
25combination thereof may apply to the department for a grant to
26employ a mental health service provider to design and implement
27a program that provides counseling and support services
28for children who are enrolled in a school district and such
29counseling and support services, as well as training, to adults
30employed by or served by the school district who have a serious
31emotional disturbance.
   32“Serious emotional disturbance” is defined as a diagnosable
33mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder of sufficient
34duration to meet diagnostic criteria specified within the most
35current diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders
-2-1published by the American psychiatric association that results
2in a functional impairment. “Serious emotional disturbance”
3does not include substance use and developmental disorders
4unless such disorders co-occur with such a diagnosable mental,
5behavioral, or emotional disorder.
   6In adopting rules for the program, the state board of
7education is directed to consult with education stakeholders.
8The bill provides the state board with emergency rulemaking
9authority.
   10Moneys awarded must be used to supplement, not supplant,
11existing public funding used by a school district or area
12education agency for similar purposes. Moneys remaining
13unencumbered or unobligated at the close of the fiscal year
14do not revert but remain available for the following year for
15expenditure for the specified purposes.
   16The bill takes effect upon enactment.
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