Lawmakers gave first-round approval on Monday to a bill designed to improve access to mental and behavioral health services for public school students. The bill, introduced by Omaha Senator Jen Day, would require each school district to designate at least one employee in each school building who has knowledge of community behavioral health service providers and other resources for students and families.
“We were experiencing a youth mental health crisis prior to COVID, but we know the pandemic has greatly exacerbated this issue.” Day says. I believe LB852 is one of the simplest ways we can provide better access to mental behavioral health care to students.”
The behavioral health point of contact would coordinate access to behavioral health services for students and families and facilitate access to services at a student’s school during the school day and as approved by a student’s parent or guardian.
A point of contact could be an administrator, a school nurse, a school psychologist or another designated employee. Day says her bill would not require schools to hire a staff member to serve as a point of contact or provide training to that person.
The bill would require the state Department of Education to provide each district with a registry of state and local behavioral health resources for students and families by geographic area. It also would require the registry to be updated at least annually and include both school-based services and those accessible outside of school.