Bill Text: VA HB2637 | 2025 | Regular Session | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Mental Health First Aid Program; DOE, et al., to develop, participation by school staff & students.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)
Status: (Engrossed) 2025-02-19 - Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB2637) [HB2637 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2025-HB2637-Comm_Sub.html
| OFFERED FOR CONSIDERATION | 2/13/2025 |
HOUSE BILL NO. 2637
AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE
(Proposed by the Senate Committee on Education and Health
on February 13, 2025)
(Patron Prior to Substitute—Delegate LeVere Bolling)
A BILL to direct the Department of Education, in collaboration with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, to incentivize and facilitate participation in the Mental Health First Aid Program by public school staff and students.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. § 1. The Department of Education, in collaboration with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, shall develop and implement a plan to incentivize and facilitate participation in the Commonwealth Mental Health First Aid Program (the Program), established pursuant to § 37.2-312.2 of the Code of Virginia, by public school staff and students. Such plan shall (i) ensure that training provided pursuant to the Program is offered at several public schools in school divisions across the Commonwealth and at a variety of dates and times, including during and outside of the school day, to provide flexibility and maximize opportunities for participation by public school staff and students; (ii) include strategies for incentivizing or encouraging public school staff and students to participate in such training; (iii) provide for the development and dissemination of informational materials for public school staff and students that (a) describe the Mental Health First Aid Program and the benefits of participating in such training, (b) list the dates, times, and locations at which such training shall be offered, and (c) clearly state that such training provided pursuant to the Program is available at no cost to public school staff or students; and (iv) include any other strategies deemed appropriate or effective for incentivizing participation in or facilitating the provision of such training.
