Lawmakers OK bills on children’s mental health
Package would provide millions of dollars to address pandemic’s toll on youth
HARTFORD — A package of bills that would provide tens of millions of dollars to address the pandemic’s toll on Connecticut’s youth received final approval in the General Assembly on Tuesday.
The investments in children’s mental, behavioral and developmental health, which are supported by both Democrats and Republicans, are a centerpiece of the 2022 legislative session — with the honorific bill numbers Senate Bill 1 and Senate Bill 2 in the Senate, and House Bill 5001 in the House.
As one piece of legislation won unanimous approval in the Senate, the House adopted the first of two bills that would complete the bipartisan effort to use part of the state’s robust budget surplus and federal pandemic relief to help children and teenagers recover from the impacts of the pandemic.
“This is a first step in the correct direction for our children in the state of Connecticut,” said state Sen. Heather Somers, R-Groton, a top Republican on the Public Health Committee detailing the House bill aimed at attracting more school psychologists, expanding mental health services, offering higher education grants, helping athletic coaches treat trauma and supporting mobile mental health clinics.
“If we can help intervene and help give children an opportunity to have healthy lives with healthy perspectives on what it’s like to be cared for if you have a mental or behavioral health issue and not be faced with a stigma, Smers said, “I think we will all be better off.”
A truancy intervention program is part of the wide-ranging package. “It’s a symptom of the first time a child is experiencing some stress,” said state Sen. Saud Anwar, D-South Windsor, a physician who is
“This is a first step in the correct direction for our children in the state of Connecticut.” State Sen. Heather Somers, R-Groton
co-chairman of the Public Health Committee, stressing the need for crisis intervention and treating trauma.
Senate Bill 1, a massive bill that provides grants for school districts to hire and retain more school social workers and counselors, allows school nurses to administer opioid-reversal drugs to students, and permit local school boards to offer remote learning starting with the 2024-25 school year. The latter would enable students home sick from school, for example, to participate in online instruction.
Another provision in the bill would provide grants to child care and early childhood providers to supplement employee salaries and address other needs — an issue “very dear to my heart,” said Rep. Bobby Sanchez, D-New Britain, a preschool teacher for 20 years.
“We’ve had an issue with retaining teachers and also recruiting them and this would go a long way to help the industry,” said Sanchez, co-chair of the legislative Education Committee. “The industry is in trouble.”
Senate Bill 2 includes provisions ranging from a fund to help families pay for mental health treatment for their children to providing around-the-clock mobile crisis response services.
Schools would be prohibited from withholding recess as a form of discipline for students under the bill, and the governor would be required to declare May 26 of each year as “Get Outside and Play for Children’s Mental Health Day.”
“We are looking not only at the mental health of children but the entire wellbeing of children, which spans the system and ultimately includes the ability to care for children in certain situations, not just school but also in early childhood,” said state Rep. Liz Linehan, D-Cheshire, co-chair of the legislature’s Children’s Committee.
Despite the largely bipartisan votes in the House, there were points of disagreement during the debates. A Republican amendment to Senate Bill 2, which failed, sought to require parental consent for a child to receive mental health treatment. Some lawmakers said they believe parents have been improperly removed from child mental health systems.
Other Republicans’ critiques were aimed at the amount of proposals covered under the legislation.
“These bills are way too big, way too many mandates for people,” said state Rep. Gale Mastrofrancesco, R-Wolcott.
That’s a strong point, as Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, saw it. “It is extremely important for us to tackle this in a big way,” he said. “We have really made some significant strides this session on mental health, emotional health, behavioral health for our youth.”