Pupil health: mental health peer supporters: model program.

Existing law requires a school of a school district or a county office education and a charter school to notify pupils and parents or guardians of pupils no less than twice during the school year on how to initiate access to available pupil mental health services on campus or in the community, as provided. This bill would require the State Department of Education, on or before July 1, 2022, and in collaboration with the State Department of Health Care Services, to establish a peer-to-peer mental health support model program to enable pupils in high school to act as peer supporters for fellow pupils on campus. The bill would require the model program to have specified elements. The bill would require each governing board of a school district, on or before July 1, 2022, to implement the model program on each schoolsite of the school district that contains a high school. By imposing new duties on school districts, the bill would create a state-mandated program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.