Legislature(2021 - 2022)ADAMS 519
02/10/2022 01:30 PM House FINANCE
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB187 | |
| HB146 | |
| HB60 | |
| HB98 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 187 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 60 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 146 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 98 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
HOUSE BILL NO. 60
"An Act relating to mental health education."
Co-Chair Merrick invited Representative Claman to begin.
2:24:37 PM
REPRESENTATIVE MATT CLAMAN, SPONSOR, introduced HB 60. He
read a prepared statement:
"Co-chairs, members of the House Finance Committee,
thank you for hearing House Bill 60, which amends the
existing K-12 public school health education statute
to include mental health education guidelines.
Currently the health curriculum guidelines, developed
by the state Board of Education and Early Development,
include learning about prevention and treatment of
diseases; "good" health practices like diet, exercise,
and personal hygiene; and "bad" health habits such as
substance abuse, alcoholism, and physical abuse. But
the guidelines do not address mental health.
House Bill 60 is not an unfunded mandate. The
legislation maintains local control of curriculum by
allowing school districts to choose to adopt the
mental health guidelines. When a local school district
makes its decision, we should have guidelines for the
district to follow.
This bill was brought to my attention in 2019 by a
college student who successfully advocated for similar
legislation when he was in high school in Virginia. We
then worked with a group of Alaska high school
students advocating for increased mental health
resources in Alaska's schools. These students spoke of
their own struggles with mental health as well as
those of their peers some students even said their
mental health struggles began as early as elementary
school. But what we continued to hear from these
students was that, while they learned about signs,
symptoms, and treatments for physical health at
school, there wasn't much conversation about mental
health with their friends and teachers.
Alaska's adolescent suicide rate is three times higher
than the nationwide rate. And our state adolescent
suicide rates are increasing. According to the 2019
Alaska High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which
surveyed 1,875 students in grades 9-12 from 39 high
schools across the state, the percentage of students
who have attempted suicide has doubled since 2007. And
given that 50% of all lifetime cases of mental illness
begin by age 14, and 75% by age 24, we need to start
having these conversations about mental health with
our children. Early data from 2020 and 2021 suggest
that the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on youth has
exacerbated the mental health crisis. The U.S. Surgeon
General declared a youth mental health crisis in
December of 2021, and in his advisory, he emphasized
the "devastating" impact that the pandemic has had on
our children.
This bill requires the State Board of Education and
Early Development to work with representatives from
tribal and mental health organizations to update the
health education standards to include guidelines on
mental health education. Once the legislation passes,
it will be up to school districts across Alaska
whether to use these guidelines to incorporate mental
health into their health education curriculum. As is
the case with current health education curriculum, the
Department of Education and Early Development is
available to assist schools in incorporating health
standards into local curricula. To be clear, this bill
does not create or mandate that schools adopt a
curriculum.
We have a responsibility to treat the current mental
health crisis in Alaska as a serious public health
issue. This bill underscores the notion that mental
health is just as important as physical health and
should be treated as such. We must normalize
conversations about mental health starting at an early
age, just as we do with physical health, in order to
destigmatize mental illness and increase knowledge on
the fundamental aspects of mental health as well as
the causes, risk factors, and treatments for mental
illness."
Representative Claman deferred to his staff to present the
sectional analysis for HB 60.
2:28:13 PM
EMMA POTTER, STAFF, REPRESENTATIVE MATT CLAMAN, reviewed
the sectional analysis in a prepared statement:
"Good afternoon members of the House Finance
Committee. For the record, my name is Emma Potter and
I am staff to Representative Matt Claman. Thank you
for hearing House Bill 60.
Section 1 of House Bill 60 adds intent language
stating that it is the intent of the legislature that
the Board of Education and Early Development develop
guidelines for instruction in mental health in
consultation with the Department of Health and Social
Services, regional tribal health organizations, and
representatives of national and state mental health
organizations.
Section 2 amends AS 14.30.360(a) by removing the word
"physical" when referencing instruction for health
education and adding "mental health" to the list of
curriculum items each district includes in their
health education programs.
Section 3 amends AS 14.30.360(b) by adding that, in
addition to establishing guidelines for a health and
personal safety education program, the state board
shall establish guidelines for developmentally
appropriate instruction in mental health.
Section 4 amends the uncodified law of the State of
Alaska by providing that the State Board of Education
and Early Development shall develop the aforementioned
mental health guidelines within two years after the
effective date of this Act.
Thank you for hearing this bill. I would also like to
inform the committee that online for invited testimony
we have Jason Lessard from National Alliance on Mental
Health Anchorage chapter as well as Justin
Pendergrass, a suicide prevention specialist at MY
House in Wasilla."
2:29:37 PM
Representative Rasmussen asked for someone from the
Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) to
offer the department's opinion on the legislation.
KELLY MANNING, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF INNOVATION AND
EDUCATION EXCELLENCE, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND EARLY
DEVELOPMENT (via teleconference), asked that the question
be repeated.
Representative Rasmussen asked for the department's
position on the legislation.
Ms. Manning indicated the department would implement the
bill if it were to be adopted.
Representative Rasmussen asked if Ms. Manning anticipated
any challenges in implementing the bill.
Ms. Manning indicated the process would take about two
years and would include a standard update process and
stakeholder input.
Representative LeBon thought local school board
participation would be warranted. He asked if school
districts could opt in or out.
Representative Claman responded that the bill intended to
establish guidelines, but districts would not necessarily
be required to follow all of the guidelines.
Representative LeBon asked if most school districts already
had a mental health policy or program. He asked about the
Anchorage School District (ASD) in particular.
Representative Claman did not believe ASD had adopted a
specific mental health policy. He thought this was
partially because there were no state guidelines in place.
2:34:59 PM
Representative LeBon wondered if there would be a minimum
standard for mental health across districts.
Representative Claman relayed that the bill was not a
mandate. Rather, it intended to provide a curriculum to
districts. He thought it would be particularly helpful in
rural districts that had fewer resources to devote to
mental health.
Representative Rasmussen asked how the bill would help
prevent or reduce suicide rates.
Representative Claman thought there needed to be a greater
comfort level in having open discussions about mental
health. He thought it was important for kids to feel like
the resources were available to them.
2:37:14 PM
Representative Rasmussen shared an experience of losing a
friend to suicide. She shared the concern but could not see
how the bill would increase comfort levels in talking about
mental health. She wondered if there might be a group of
teachers that had additional training. She was still trying
to understand how the bill would result in fewer suicides.
Representative Claman responded that the current situation
was that students were confiding in teachers who did not
have any relevant training and had no guidelines to follow.
The bill would result in teachers in the building having
appropriate training and students would have a
knowledgeable person to turn to rather than potentially
receiving misinformation due to lack of training. He had
heard from students that having more teachers with
appropriate training would make a difference.
Representative Rasmussen relayed her son was in
kindergarten in ASD and his school employed health
teachers. She thought that some mental health training had
already occurred within ASD. She wondered if the bill
should be attached to the Department of Health and Social
Services (DHSS) instead of DEED.
Representative Claman indicated that DEED had tremendous
experience in setting guidelines and establishing
curricula. The focus was on the schools and he thought
involving DHSS would make the process more complicated.
2:41:24 PM
Representative Edgmon was intrigued by the bill. He
understood the practical reasoning for it. He thought the
bill would bring the topic of mental health to the Board of
Education and he did not think the board dealt with mental
health related matters.
Representative Claman replied that his whole point of the
bill was to introduce guidelines for mental health
education in schools, not to force it on districts.
Representative Edgmon thought there were already a number
of health-related subjects under the purview of DEED. He
asked if he had given an accurate assessment.
Representative Claman responded in the affirmative.
Representative Edgmon looked forward to additional
discussion surrounding the bill.
2:44:03 PM
Representative Carpenter agreed there was a need to
increase the discussion around mental health. He had a
technical question around the removal of "physical" in the
bill. He was concerned that curriculum would no longer
include physical health.
Representative Claman did not read the language as
excluding physical health in any way. He did not think
including mental health would exclude physical health. He
would not object to adding the words "physical health" to
the language of the bill for clarity.
Representative Carpenter argued that the use of the word
"heath" meant both mental and physical health. He
understood that including "mental health" specifically was
to emphasize the issue. He suggested that some curriculum
that would be encouraged under the bill were already
implemented by the school districts.
Ms. Manning replied that the state would update standards
and the districts would then decide how the standards would
be implemented. She offered to distribute further details
to the committee on current implementation.
Co-Chair Merrick thought additional details would be
helpful.
Representative Claman explained that the deletion of
"physical health" was important because he did not think
the language inherently included mental health. However, he
did not think there would a problem with adding the
language back to the list of curriculum that the bill hoped
to encourage.
2:48:09 PM
Representative Carpenter thought that the list of
additional guidelines would exclude physical health. He was
open to being corrected by the attorneys in the room.
Representative Claman thought that the grammatical
structure of the language mandated the inclusion of
physical health. He thought it was a grammatical matter and
that it was not ambiguous.
Co-Chair Merrick indicated Legislative Legal Services was
not available online.
Representative Carpenter was concerned whether the bill
would be effective at changing policy within local
districts. He wondered how many of the districts would
design significant curriculum. He asked if teachers would
have to be specifically trained in mental health.
Ms. Manning indicated that the goal of the board was to
establish standards. She relayed that the guidelines could
be expanded to include training but that it would impact
the fiscal note.
Representative Carpenter thought teachers needed additional
training to provide sufficient education on subjects. He
imagined that the districts would need more money.
2:51:34 PM
Representative Johnson thought much of the issue came down
to local control. She thought teachers would have to
exclude other curriculum in order to make time for mental
health education. She asked in which ways would the
department encourage mental health education.
Representative Claman rebutted that there was nothing in
the bill that required DEED to do anything and that the
bill was about local control. The bill intended to clarify
that the state would provide guidelines to districts should
the districts choose to provide mental health education.
Representative Johnson thought it sounded like school
districts would be encouraged to provide the education
which seemed like a monetary issue to her. Teachers had a
significant workload already, and she though that the state
would be asking teachers to do more if the bill were to
pass. She was concerned about adding guidelines in statute
when the legislature was unaware of the content.
Representative Claman responded that he thought it was a
normal process for DEED and a range of community experts to
convene and determine guidelines. The bill would create
mental health guidelines which would be referred to by
educators, and the state routinely created similar
guidelines for educators. He thought there should be
guidelines specific to mental health.
Representative Johnson thought mental health was just as
diverse as physical health. She asked whether family
planning clinics and gender studies would be included under
the mental health umbrella. She had received several
questions about the topics being discussed in schools.
2:56:30 PM
AT EASE
2:56:39 PM
RECONVENED
Representative Claman referred to a two-page document in
members' packets that outlined Alaska content standards,
"Skills for a Healthy Life" (copy on file). He predicted
that if mental health was added to the document, it would
still be a two-page document and would not become
particularly extensive.
Representative Johnson continued to express her concerns
about adding to the burden on teachers. She remained
concerned about taking away local control and wanted
communities to be able to address mental health crises in
the way the community saw fit.
Representative Claman fundamentally disagreed with
Representative Johnson. He stressed that the bill was not
forcing districts to adopt the guidelines. He did not think
it was reasonable to expect the legislature to approve any
and all guidelines adopted by local or state agencies. He
thought it was reasonable to allow DEED to determine the
guidelines. He emphasized that the bill was not imposing
anything on districts or requiring districts to adopt
mental health guidelines.
2:59:55 PM
JASON LASSARD, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NATIONAL ALLIANCE ON
MENTAL HEALTH ILLNESS (via teleconference), relayed that he
had worked for Mental Health Advocacy Through Storytelling
(MHATS) for the past three years which worked to
destigmatize mental health and offer resources by telling
true and personal stories. There was a significant amount
of data that showed that access to mental health resources
decreased suicide rates. He wanted to focus on a couple of
data points. First was the prevalence of mental illness in
the United States: one in five adults had a mental illness.
Additionally, 50 percent of all lifetime mental illnesses
would begin by age 14, and 75 percent began by age 24. The
onset of mental illness largely occurred during teenage
years and it was important for it to be addressed quickly,
safely, and in evidence-based programs.
Mr. Lassard relayed an individual's personal story wherein
the individual did not feel comfortable talking about their
mental health struggles due to societal stigmas and instead
turned to the internet for help. The proposed bill was of
critical importance to ensure that students had access to
education and resources in their communities and did not
have to look to places like the internet, which was rife
with inaccuracies. He reiterated that the bill was not a
mandate. He was regularly asked to provide mental health
services to schools in his area and such conversations were
already happening in schools without guidelines. He wanted
to ensure that if and when a district was ready to engage
in mental health education, that the programs were vetted
and evidence based. He respectfully asked for members'
support. The program was intended to simply destigmatize
the conversations around mental health and suicide. It
would be up to the communities to decide the focus of their
own programs, whether it be suicide prevention, mental
wellness, or something else. He would like to see the bill
do more, but it was a good first step. Given the statistics
he mentioned at the beginning of his testimony, he thought
it was beyond time to address mental health in schools. He
was available for questions.
3:05:49 PM
Representative Edgmon noted that Mr. Lassard had relayed
that one in five adults had a mental illness. He asked what
the numbers were for individuals aged 14 and older.
Mr. Lassard thought it was 17 percent but could confirm the
information and get it to the committee.
Representative Carpenter asked about the responsibility of
parents to speak about mental health to their children. He
thought it was dangerous for the state to teach mental
health to students. He argued that conversations about
mental health should be between parents or doctors and
children.
Mr. Lassard indicated it was a district-level decision. The
parents that were involved with their local districts would
be part of the conversation and the decisions. He provided
an example of a school in the state that attempted to
address suicide but the school did not follow any
guidelines or best practices. There was no space for
students to ask questions or be part of the conversation
and the misguided attempt had a profoundly negative effect
on a number of students despite there being good
intentions. It was a matter of setting basic standards and
guidelines as laid out by experts and ensuring a safe
environment for conversation.
Representative Carpenter did not hear anything about
empowering parents.
Mr. Lassard reiterated that empowering parents happened at
the local level. Parents would be part of the discussion on
whether they wanted to bring the program to the local
school district.
3:10:05 PM
JUSTIN PENDERGRASS, SELF, WASILLA (via teleconference),
spoke of his own mental health problems and suicidal
ideations. He had fallen into a deep depression when he was
young that nearly took his life, and as a result he became
homeless for five years. He was enrolled in school and
although it was a safe place for him, he was not learning
anything about mental health and his education was not
helping his situation. He eventually discovered the root of
his mental illness and was able to get help. Since then, he
had dedicated his life to helping others that suffered from
similar mental illnesses. The opposite of suicide was
connection, and therefore the only way to prevent suicide
was to create connection. Mental illness was on the rise
due to the increased isolation that had occurred over the
past few years due to the pandemic.
Mr. Pendergrass argued that the state had a responsibility
to help youth in crisis, and the most reasonable place to
provide help was within school districts. When he was
young, he did not have a parent at home that could help him
through the issues he was experiencing and did not have a
safe place to be able to share his experience. His
financial situation prevented him from getting help without
his parents' assistance. He believed it was unjust for kids
in similar situations to not have access to help.
Mr. Pendergrass relayed that he was currently a suicide
prevention specialist for individuals aged 14 to 24 and 66
percent of the induvials he worked with were struggling
with suicide or mental health problems upon intake. The
majority of the individuals he worked with were
misdiagnosing themselves with a variety of disorders that
they did not understand. He thought schools should be a
place to build connections and become educated, but
connections could not be made without there being a safe
place to do so. He spoke about a school counselor who
created a safe space for him as a teen and gave him a place
to go when he needed one, but unfortunately the situation
did not last long because it was not allowed by the school.
He thought it was important for counselors to be able to
provide mental health education and thought they were well-
equipped to do so. The counselors understood that the
problem was getting worse and there needed to be a way to
address it.
Co-Chair Merrick thanked Mr. Pendergrass for his testimony.
3:15:30 PM
AT EASE
3:16:08 PM
RECONVENED
Representative Johnson thanked Mr. Pendergrass for
testifying before the committee and for his work in mental
health. She wanted to connect with him and local schools to
help implement the changes in the districts. She reiterated
her for his testimony.
Representative Wool supported the bill and thought it was a
good start. He thought mental health awareness and
education were vital. He noted his daughter went to a
weekly counseling class as part of the basic curriculum at
her school. He relayed that his daughter did not think the
mental health education received in schools was sufficient.
Mental health was a serious problem and had been
exacerbated by the pandemic. Teachers were required to get
continuing education to maintain their license already and
he did not think the bill would cause additional expenses.
He thought mental health could be part of continuing
education for teachers.
Representative LeBon commented that curriculum committees
needed to include robust parental participation. He thought
the best curriculum committees were comprised mostly of
parents who had children in the district.
HB 60 was HEARD and HELD in committee for further
consideration.
3:20:42 PM
AT EASE
3:22:07 PM
RECONVENED