Pupil mental health: emergency services.

Existing law requires the governing board of a school district to give diligent care to the health and physical development of pupils and authorizes the governing board of a school district to employ properly certified persons for the work. This bill would establish within the State Department of Education the Emergency Program for Pupil Mental Health. The bill, subject to an appropriation by the Legislature, would require the department to establish and operate a grant program to provide funding to local educational agencies to provide mental health services following a qualifying event, either natural or manmade, that is likely to cause sustained and ongoing pupil trauma, as provided. The bill would specify that qualifying events include, among others, an act of school violence on a school campus. The bill would establish criteria for grant eligibility.