S*1180 Session 110 (1993-1994)
S*1180(Rat #0430, Act #0570) Joint Resolution, By Bryan, Elliott, Hayes,
Jackson, Thomas and Washington
A Joint Resolution to establish a pilot project for school-based counseling
services.
02/15/94 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-4
02/15/94 Senate Referred to Committee on Education SJ-4
03/24/94 Senate Committee report: Favorable with amendment
Education SJ-23
03/30/94 Senate Amended SJ-41
03/30/94 Senate Read second time SJ-42
03/31/94 Senate Read third time and sent to House SJ-14
04/05/94 House Introduced and read first time HJ-55
04/05/94 House Referred to Committee on Education and Public
Works HJ-55
04/06/94 House Recalled from Committee on Education and Public
Works HJ-21
04/21/94 House Amended HJ-76
04/21/94 House Read second time HJ-77
04/21/94 House Unanimous consent for third reading on next
legislative day HJ-77
04/22/94 House Read third time and returned to Senate with
amendments HJ-2
04/26/94 Senate Concurred in House amendment and enrolled SJ-43
05/04/94 Ratified R 430
05/10/94 Signed By Governor
05/10/94 Effective date 07/10/94
05/10/94 See act for exception to or explanation of
effective date
05/23/94 Copies available
(A570, R430, S1180)
A JOINT RESOLUTION TO ESTABLISH A PILOT PROJECT FOR
SCHOOL-BASED COUNSELING SERVICES.
Whereas, school-based counseling services have numerous advantages
relative to traditional center-based approaches. Schools have the potential
to be a venue by which services can be provided to children and families
where they are and when they need help; and
Whereas, children with emotional disturbances and their families typically
have multiple problems which research shows are not amenable to narrow
interventions. Efficacy is increased when services are integrated into
everyday settings; and
Whereas, research shows that families now often lack easily available help
when they are having "normal" crises. The service system
generally has failed to respond to this important change in family life.
Because of the schools' universality and the relative lack of stigma
associated with services provided within them, school-based services are
one way that the gap can be filled. By so doing, relief can be given to
children and families in general, and families "on the edge" can
be prevented from development of more serious problems; and
Whereas, perhaps more than any other potential venue, schools offer a
setting in which children can seek help when they need it; and
Whereas, schools can be powerful factors, both negatively and positively in
children's mental health. School-based services can be important elements
in the decision of schools that are healthy and safe for children in general
and for children with emotional disturbance. The need for such an
emphasis is especially acute in South Carolina where schools account for a
far greater proportion of juvenile justice referrals than is typical across the
nation; and
Whereas, school-based services can make access to mental health services
more easily accessible. Not only do they not provide help to people at the
time that they are most acutely in need, but they also have high no-show
rates. Keeping of appointments by parents as well as children is
substantially greater in school-based programs. Data from the Bryson
Middle School project, an initially federally funded demonstration project
administered by the Piedmont Mental Health Center in Greenville County,
indicate that no-show rates decrease and that collections of fees increase
several times over, relative to center-based services, and that the disparity
grows greater across time; and
Whereas, schools are ideologically compatible with the steps that should be
taken to help children and families. Perhaps most important, they have an
emphasis on development of competence. One of the most important needs
of school-aged children is reduction of barriers to learning, because
adaptation to school expectations is the primary work that is expected of
children; and
Whereas, schools are integral institutions in communities, and they thus
permit easy accommodation of services to community needs. One
ideological change that may be necessary, though, if schools are to be
maximally effective in meeting the needs of troubled pupils and their
families is to make them more family-oriented. School-based services may
provide a means of doing so; and
Whereas, school-based services are consistent with public policy in South
Carolina. For example, the Community Education Act of 1976 established
a policy of support for schools as "community centers operated in
conjunction with governmental agencies and community service
organizations to provide educational, recreational, cultural, social, health,
and other community services for all persons in the community in
accordance with their needs, interests, and concerns of that
community." Moreover, the Department of Mental Health's child
mental health plan calls for development of child, youth, and family
services that are comprehensive, that are not more restrictive than
necessary, that involve families in all aspects of service planning and
delivery, that are integrated into a broader policy framework, that are
coordinated through case management, that rely on early identification and
intervention, that provide transitions to the adult service system, that
preserve children's rights, and that are equitably administered with due
regard to the special needs of ethnic minorities. School-based services are
compatible with each of these objectives; and
Whereas, preschool programs have had the greatest demonstrated efficacy
in primary prevention. Elementary-school programs have had the greatest
demonstrated efficacy in secondary prevention; and
Whereas, early adolescence is a time when serious problems begin to
appear, and entry into middle school or junior high school tends to be
associated with increased depression and decreased achievement
motivation. Accordingly, middle schools and junior high schools are prime
targets for help for children at a particularly sensitive point; and
Whereas, a number of mental health problems of serious social importance,
such as conduct disorders, are especially prevalent during the high school
years, and some chronic adult mental illnesses often first appear at that
time; and
Whereas, accordingly, the case is sufficiently strong for school-based
services at all levels that the Department of Mental Health favors initiation
of programs across childhood and adolescence. However, there is a need to
test the relative efficacy of various service models before they are widely
adopted. Now, therefore,
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
Pilot project for school-based counseling services established
SECTION 1. (A) A three-year pilot project for school-based counseling
services must be established jointly by the Department of Mental Health
and the Department of Education. The purpose of the project is to provide
an array of school-based and child-focused counseling services developed
by the Department of Mental Health in designated schools. The pilot
project must serve at least fourteen schools.
(B) The services must include, but are not limited to:
(1) a child-focused school-based counseling clinic;
(2) training, consultation, and support programs for school staff.
(C) The schools chosen must meet the following criteria:
(1) geographically representative;
(2) representative of the socio-economic diversity of the State;
(3) varying in numbers of students for each school;
(4) twelve schools ranging in grades from fifth to eighth or ninth if
included in a selected school, one school designated as an elementary
school and one school designated as a high school.
(D) The Department of Mental Health and the Department of Education
are jointly responsible for selecting individual schools and mental health
centers within the designated parameters for participation in the pilot
project.
(E)(1) The Department of Mental Health is responsible for providing
mental health counselors, student interns, a supervisory position for the
project in the Division of Children, Adolescents, and Their Families,
Department of Mental Health, and basic travel and operating expenses.
The personnel and expenses must be paid for with funds made available to
the department by the General Assembly for this purpose. The director of
the project must be employed on a full-time basis and is prohibited from
engaging in any other paid employment with the State or any of its political
subdivisions.
(2) The local education authorities are responsible for providing
appropriate office space and furniture for the mental health personnel
stationed at the designated schools.
(3) The departments are required to use Medicaid reimbursement to
off-set the cost to the State. The departments are required to consult with
the Health and Human Services Finance Commission, to be known as the
Department of Health and Human Services, July 1, 1995, to estimate the
resulting revenue as a result of services as a match for federal Medicaid
reimbursement. The designated centers and schools are required to explore
ways of redirecting or expanding support other than state funds. The
department shall use a strategy to maximize the probability of federal or
foundation, or both, funding. Notwithstanding another provision of law,
any patient fees collected through the project must be used to offset the cost
to the State.
(F)(1) There is established a School-Based Mental Health Pilot Project
Advisory Board. It consists of one member appointed by each of the
following: the Superintendent of Education, the Director of Mental Health,
and the Legislative-Governor's Committee on Mental Health and Mental
Retardation. Other appropriate individuals shall serve in an ex officio
capacity as the advisory board considers necessary.
(2) The advisory board shall meet quarterly to review pilot project
information and advise in regard to the project's implementation.
Participating centers and schools shall provide quarterly updates to the
advisory board.
(3) The involved departments shall submit an annual report containing
a financial statement, which includes Medicaid reimbursement data, and a
report of activities no later than September first each year of the project to
the Legislative-Governor's Committee on Mental Health and Mental
Retardation on the progress of the pilot project.
(4) The pilot project ends July 1, 1997. An interim and final
evaluation must be provided to the Legislative-Governor's Committee on
Mental Health and Mental Retardation by the involved departments no later
than September 1, 1996, and November 1, 1997, respectively. The
committee shall forward the final evaluation with its recommendations for
school-based counseling services to the General Assembly no later than
January 15, 1998.
(5) The Division of Children, Adolescents, and Their Families,
Department of Mental Health, is responsible for providing staff support to
the advisory board.
Evaluations
SECTION 2. Before December 1, 1995, the Department of Mental Health
shall follow the appropriate procedures for a request for proposal for an
independent interim and final evaluation of the pilot project. These
evaluations must be presented to the Legislative-Governor's Committee on
Mental Health and Mental Retardation and to the Senate Education
Committee and House Education and Public Works Committee no later
than September 1, 1996, and no later than November 1, 1997,
respectively.
Time effective
SECTION 3. Upon approval by the Governor, this joint resolution takes
effect July 1, 1994, or when the necessary funds are available to implement
the pilot project for school-based counseling services provided in
Section 1.
Approved the 10th day of May, 1994. |