Relating to mental health supports and services for children and adults, including the establishment of a mental health professional fellowship program

This bill relates to mental health supports and services for children and adults, including the establishment of a mental health professional fellowship program. MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONAL FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM AND ACCOUNT. The bill requires the department of public health, in cooperation with the college student aid commission, to establish a mental health professional fellowship program. The purpose of the program is to determine the effect of specialized training and support for mental health professionals in providing mental health services to address Iowa’s shortage of mental health professionals. The bill requires the program to provide for collaboration between Iowa institutions of higher education and mental health professional programs to educate mental health professionals; elderly, youth, and general population clinical experiences, with a primary emphasis on youth clinical experiences and a secondary emphasis on elderly and general population clinical experiences; and supervision of students in the program by Iowa institutions of higher education and other clinical partners. The bill provides that a contract for the program shall stipulate the time period the mental health professional shall practice in a mental health professional shortage area in this state. In addition, the contract shall stipulate that the mental health professional repay any funds paid on the mental health professional’s behalf by the program if the mental health professional is unable to fulfill the time period in the contract. The bill provides that state and private entity clinical partners are required to regularly evaluate and document their experiences with the approaches utilized and outcomes achieved by the program to identify an optimal model for operating the program. The evaluation process is required to include but is not limited to identifying the ways the program’s clinical and training components could be modified to facilitate other students and practicing mental health professionals specializing as mental health professionals.175 establishes a health care workforce support initiative to provide for the coordination and support of various efforts to address the health care workforce shortage in Iowa. The initiative includes the medical residency training state matching grants program; the nurse residence state matching grants program; and the fulfilling Iowa’s need for dentists matching grant program. The bill provides the health care workforce support initiative shall also provide coordination and support to the mental health professional fellowship program. CHILDREN’S MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES. Under current Code, a psychiatric medical institution for children (PMIC) shall utilize a team of professionals to direct an organized program of diagnostic services, psychiatric services, nursing care, and rehabilitative services to meet the needs of residents in accordance with a medical care plan developed for each resident. The membership of the team may include an advanced registered nurse practitioner or a physician assistant. Social and rehabilitative services shall be provided under the direction of a qualified mental health professional. The bill amends current law to provide the membership of a PMIC team of professionals shall include but is not limited to mental health professionals. The bill also provides that psychiatric, social, and rehabilitative services shall be provided by a mental health professional.52 establishes the purpose for the community-based mental health services system for children and youth. The bill amends the purpose to provide that the children’s system shall ensure that the children and youth served are provided treatment by a mental health professional or by a person who holds an advanced degree that will qualify the person as a mental health professional following a required period of supervision. The bill provides the board of directors of a school district may develop and implement mental health services for students at each attendance center in the district. The bill provides the school district may coordinate with mental health professionals within the school district to provide services at the attendance center for students who are in need of mental health services. SUICIDE PREVENTION COMMITTEES. The bill directs the board of directors of a school district to require all schools in the school district to develop suicide prevention committees. Each committee shall include a mental health professional, a parent or guardian, a current student of the public school, and a member of the clergy of a religious denomination in the school district. A suicide prevention committee is required to collect, review, and analyze the circumstances related to the suicide of a child in the school district, recommend to the school district suicide prevention and postvention services to be offered to students and school personnel, assist school districts following the suicide of a child, and develop strategies to increase awareness for increased child suicide attempts after a child’s suicide in the school district. ADVERSE CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES. The bill requires the departments of human services and public health to develop information related to the identification of adverse childhood experiences.70 (relating to training on suicide prevention, adverse childhood experiences identification, and toxic stress response mitigation strategies for school personnel). The bill requires the departments to provide support services to a school district following media reports relating to adverse childhood experiences impacting or more children within the school district or a report of a suicide of a child from the school district. CHILDREN’S MENTAL HEALTH INFORMATION —— DISTRIBUTION. The bill requires the department of public health to develop information relating to the identification of the early signs and symptoms of mental health concerns in children and to coordinate with existing statewide mental health hotlines to distribute the information to members of the public utilizing telephone and text messaging systems.