Colorado proposal for more $$ for "behavioral health services for schools"

Jan 4, 2019, Chalkbeat: Here’s a look at the first education bills to hit the floor in Colorado https://www.chalkbeat.org/posts/co/2019/01/04/heres-a-look-at-the-first-education-bills-to-hit-the-floor-in-colorado-2019/ The more than 100 bills filed on the first day of Colorado’s 2019 legislative session include proposals to address the teacher shortage, bolster mental health services in schools, reduce regulation on rural schools, and provide bonuses to teachers deemed highly effective. … HB19-1017 Kindergarten Through Fifth Grade Social And Emotional Health Act This bill from state Rep. Dafna Michaelson Jenet, a Commerce City Democrat, and state Sen. Rhonda Fields, an Aurora Democrat, would create a pilot program to assign a social worker to every grade in elementary schools in a high-poverty school district. Those social workers would follow their students for five years in the hopes that there would be a long-term payoff in both the well-being of those children and their academic progress…. SB19-010 Professional Behavioral Health Services For Schools This bill takes an existing grant program that provides money for substance abuse treatment in schools and expands it so that it can used for a range of behavioral health care needs, including screenings, counseling, therapy, referrals to community organizations, and training for students and staff. Schools would be prioritized based on a demonstrated need for mental health professionals and the extent to which the school had seen an increase in suicide attempts among students, along with other factors.