H 4741 Session 110 (1993-1994)
H 4741 Joint Resolution, By P.B. Harris, Carnell, J.L. Harris and J.G. Mattos
A Joint Resolution to establish a pilot project for school-based counseling
services.
02/15/94 House Introduced and read first time HJ-8
02/15/94 House Referred to Committee on Education and Public
Works HJ-8
04/14/94 House Committee report: Favorable with amendment
Education and Public Works HJ-4
04/27/94 House Tabled HJ-111
COMMITTEE REPORT
April 14, 1994
H. 4741
Introduced by REPS. P. Harris, Carnell, J. Harris and
Mattos
S. Printed 4/14/94--H.
Read the first time February 15, 1994.
THE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND PUBLIC
WORKS
To whom was referred a Joint Resolution (H. 4741), to establish a
pilot project for school-based counseling services, etc., respectfully
REPORT:
That they have duly and carefully considered the same, and
recommend that the same do pass with amendment:
Amend the joint resolution, as and if amended, by striking SECTION
1.(E)(1), page 4, beginning on line 7, and inserting:
/(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./
Amend further, by striking SECTION 1.(E)(3), page 4, beginning on
line 17, and inserting:
/(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./
Amend title to conform.
OLIN R. PHILLIPS, for Committee.
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:
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) ranging in grades from fifth to eighth or ninth if included in
a selected 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.
(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.
(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. A final report must be
provided to the Legislative-Governor's Committee on Mental Health and
Mental Retardation by the involved departments no later than November
1, 1997. The committee shall forward this report 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.
SECTION 2. Before December 1, 1996, the Department of Mental
Health shall follow the appropriate procedures for a request for proposal
for an independent process evaluation of the pilot project. This
evaluation must be presented to the Legislative-Governor's Committee
on Mental Health and Mental Retardation no later than November 1,
1997.
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.
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