(1) In the first and subsequent years of operation of the pilot program, each pilot school shall employ or contract with additional school mental health professionals so that each of grades one through five and the kindergarten program in each pilot school has a school mental health professional dedicated to each grade and the kindergarten program. If a single grade or the kindergarten program has more than two hundred fifty students, additional school mental health professionals must be added to the grade or kindergarten program to maintain a ratio of approximately one school mental health professional per two hundred fifty students, as determined by the pilot school. A small pilot school shall maintain a ratio of approximately one school mental health professional per two hundred fifty students, as determined by the pilot school. At least one of the school mental health professionals at each pilot school must be a school social worker. (2) The goal of the pilot program is for a school mental health professional to develop an ongoing relationship with pilot school students and to follow those students, to the extent possible, as the students advance through the grades at the pilot school. This will allow the school mental health professional to understand the needs of the students and their families over time and to help address those needs over time, if necessary. To achieve this goal, school mental health professionals may be assigned to a cohort of students by grade or, in a smaller school, by multiple grades. School mental health professionals in each pilot school shall work as a team to address the academic and social-emotional needs of the pilot school's students and to create a safe and positive school learning environment through additional behavioral health supports. (3) Throughout the duration of the pilot program, the pilot school must employ or contract with, at the pilot school's expense, the same number of school mental health professionals employed by or contracted with the pilot school during the school year immediately preceding the first year of implementation of the pilot program so that additional money for the pilot program supplements, but does not supplant, the pilot school's existing expenditures for school mental health professional positions prior to the operation of the pilot program. (4) (a) In implementing the pilot program, the school mental health professionals shall work as a team, with each professional providing services to students and offering training and resources to school faculty and administrators who are authorized under the school mental health professional's authorization or the professional's license and endorsement. (b) In addition, school mental health professionals shall, consistent with the school mental health professional's job duties and licensure: (I) Provide the school with resources to develop and improve the social and emotional health of students, including resources translated into the primary languages of the student population to the extent possible, and create a safe and positive learning environment through additional behavioral health supports; and (II) Provide social and emotional skill building in the school and with students in the classroom. (c) School mental health professionals may, consistent with the school mental health professional's job duties and licensure: (I) Assist students and their families with applying for and obtaining necessary public benefits for which each student and the student's family is eligible; (II) Provide services and supports to students who have an individualized education program, as provided in section 22-20-108; (III) Consult and coordinate with other school professionals on behalf of students and support families accessing community-based resources as needed and appropriate; and (IV) Identify food insecurity, homelessness, and other issues affecting students and make referrals to services within the community, bringing those services into the school setting where possible. (d) As appropriate, and to the extent possible, the school mental health professional must provide services or arrange for services to be provided for students at the school and during school hours or when student busing is available. (e) Services provided by the school mental health professional to the student must include the student's family and household, where appropriate. The school mental health professional is specifically authorized to make home visits when appropriate under the circumstances and consistent with licensure. (5) Each pilot school's team of school mental health professionals shall participate in the school's or school district's multi-tiered systems of support process to assist in developing appropriate plans for the mental health and behavioral needs of individual students. (6) Each pilot school, or each pilot school's governing body, where appropriate, shall collect, transmit, and retain any data and information necessary for the evaluation of the pilot program pursuant to section 22-102-106. Each pilot school shall record the unique student identifier, as defined in section 22-16-103, for all students enrolled in the pilot school. (7) A student who is home-schooled but who participates in extracurricular activities or athletic programs at a school that is selected as a pilot school is excluded from any data collection or reporting requirements pursuant to this article 102.
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