Annual Training in Depression and Suicide Awareness and Prevention

If this bill is passed, it will update part of the Code of Georgia about the student health, and what the State Board of Education has to do about it.

• Code of Georgia: These are the rules or laws for the state of Georgia that say what people in Georgia can and cannot do.

• State Board of Education: A group of leaders who make rules and decisions about how public schools in the state should be run.

This bill:

• (If passed) makes the State Board of Education create rules for training that happens every year for everyone who works at public schools on depression, and suicide awareness prevention

  • Depression: A mental health struggle that makes people feel very sad, tired, or hopeless for a long time and can make it hard to do daily activities.

  • Suicide awareness prevention: Learning about the warning signs of suicide and taking steps to help prevent people from hurting themselves.

  • Training must go over how to find mental health support and send students to the right care.

• (If passed) sets up the “Student Mental Health Screenings Grant Program” to give money for mental health checks in schools.

• Makes the Department of Education, a government office that helps run schools, train teachers, and make sure students get a good education, do these things:

  • Create a guide for student depression and suicide awareness that schools can use.

  • Decide which training materials are good for schools to use.

  • Help schools pick tools to check on students' mental health.

  • Provide advice on working with healthcare providers to check on students' mental health.

  • Create a guide for using video calls for mental health support.

• Updates rules for local schools to put mental health plans in place.

• Gets rid of any other laws that stop this one from working.

If this bill passes, there will be training every year for everyone who works in public schools.

• The State Board of Education must use rules that make everyone who works in public schools get  training every year on depression and suicide awareness and prevention.

• Training will be part of work time professional development or in-service training.

  • Professional development and in-service training:

If this bill passes, a new program will be put in place called the “Student Mental Health Screenings Grant Program” that gives money and support for schools to check on students in grades 6-12 for depression and suicide risk.

• The State Board of Education will determine how to give out the money.

  • The Board will make sure at least one group of schools in North Georgia, Central Georgia, and South Georgia gets funding.

  • The Board will make sure funding is reached by city, suburban, and rural schools.

If this bill is passed, the Department of Education will have to:

• Work with mental health experts to create a list of okay training materials for school staff.

• Develop a guide for schools to use when making their own mental health and suicide prevention plans and rules.

• Create a list of mental health check in tools that have been looked at closely to make sure they will work well, for schools to check students for depression and suicide risk.

• Support Schools in Partnering with Healthcare Providers: By January 1, 2026, the department will create guides for schools to team up with healthcare providers who focus on mental health for kids and teens.

• By October 1, 2025, the department will create rules for using video calls to provide mental health support in schools. The rules must cover:

  • Who can treat and support students through video calls

  • Rules for parents to say “yes” or “no” for their kids to get mental health support through video calls

  • Information safety and privacy rules under FERPA (student privacy laws) and HIPAA (medical privacy laws).

  • Any potential rules about following the law for schools offering support through video calls.

If this bill is passed, new rules about student mental health will be put in place that schools have to follow. These new rules include: 

• By December 31, 2025, every group of schools must have a set of plans for depression and suicide awareness and prevention.

• Plans must be must with input from the community, like mental health pros and people who have a lot of knowledge on stopping suicides from happening.

• Plans have to include how schools will find out about and respond to risks of depression and suicide, and plans for helping students.

How to get the money:

• Schools that want money for mental health checks need to turn in an application with:

  • A description of how they will check on student mental health.

  • Details on how checks will be done each year for students in grades 6-12.

  • Whether the school plans to use a tool for checks that the department of ed has said is okay, or team up with a healthcare provider.

  • Paperwork explaining how the money will be used.

  • A plan for students to get care on the same day they are checked, by a person with a special mental health license, if they need to.

  • A description of how parents will be told if their child is found to be likely to be depressed or thinking about suicide.

  • A plan to get a parent’s written down permission before checking students.

Schools that get grant money must offer checks every year for all students in grades 6-12. Checks must:

• Use a tool to do the checks that has worked in other situations.

• Be done by a person with a special mental health license or a partner of the school that provides care.

• Allow for students to get care on the same day they are checked, if they need to.

• Work for students with disabilities, students learning English, and students who have a hard time reading.

• Be private

• Get parent’s written down permission before checking students.

• Schools have to send information that does not say who it’s about from the checks to the Department of Education and the Suicide Prevention Program.

  • Suicide Prevention Program: A program that helps stop suicide by teaching people about warning signs and get help for those at risk.

If a school chooses to work with someone who provides care, that person can also offer mental health help to students if the students’ parents say it's okay.

If this bill is passed, no lawsuits can happen against schools or staff for following this law.

Schools don’t have to give mental health care beyond what the law says they have to.