What's happening
This bill requires annual mental health screenings for depression and anxiety for New York students in grades 7-12.
Why it matters
Early Identification and Intervention. By mandating annual screenings, the bill aims to catch signs of depression and anxiety in adolescents early, potentially preventing escalation to more severe mental health issues, self-harm, or suicide.
Standardized, Privacy-Protected Process. The screenings must be conducted by qualified professionals using recognized tools (like the PHQ-2 and GAD-7), with explicit requirements to ensure student privacy and confidentiality, which can help build trust in the process among students and families.
Parental Notification and Guidance. If a screening suggests a possible mental health concern, parents must be notified (within 90 days), but the law clarifies this is not a clinical diagnosis, encouraging families to seek further evaluation with the child’s doctor—an approach that respects both parental rights and clinical best practices.
Data for Systemic Change. Aggregated, anonymous screening data will be used by state agencies to track trends and develop targeted school and community programs to address youth mental health needs, potentially informing future policy and resource allocation.
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
Headline styles
Screen Students for Depression
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to education
- Referred to education
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
6091
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
May 16, 2019
Introduced by Sen. KAMINSKY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law and the public health law, in relation to requiring annual screenings for depression of students in grades seven through twelve
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 905-a to read as follows:
§ 905-a. Screening examination for depression. 1. The director of school health services of each school district in this state that is required to provide school health services, or the health department or agency otherwise responsible to provide such services, shall conduct annual screening examinations for depression of all students in grades seven through twelve. The screening shall be administered by a qualified professional and shall consist of the Patient Health Questionnaire 2 or an equivalent depression screening tool, as determined by the commissioner, with the assistance of the commissioner of health. The screenings shall be conducted in a manner that ensures the privacy of the student during the screening process and the confidentiality of the results consistent with state and federal laws applicable to the confidentiality of student records. The department, with the assistance of the department of health, shall establish standards on the procedures to be implemented to conduct the screenings for depression and provide for other screening tools, including, but not limited to, a screening tool for anxiety, such as the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 or an equivalent anxiety screening tool, as determined by the commissioner, with the assistance of the commissioner of health.
2. The positive results of any such screening examinations of students for depression shall be in writing and the parent of, or person in parental relation to, any child whose screening for depression detects a
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08243-01-9
S. 6091 2
suspected deviation from the recommended standard shall be advised of such results by the school authorities within ninety days after such detection of a suspected deviation is made. The school authorities shall inform the parent, or person in parental relation, that the screening is not a diagnosis and shall encourage the parent, or person in parental relation, to share the results of the screening with the student's primary care physician.
3. The school authorities shall forward data collected from screenings administered pursuant to this section to the department and the department of health, provided that any data forwarded shall be aggregated and shall not contain any identifying or confidential information with regard to any individual. Data collected by the departments pursuant to this subdivision shall be used by the departments to identify statewide trends concerning teenage depression and to develop school and community based initiatives to address teenage depression.
4. As used in this section, "qualified professional" means a school psychologist, school nurse, school counselor, student assistance coordinator, school social worker, or physician.
§ 2. Section 206 of the public health law is amended by adding a new subdivision 31 to read as follows:
31. The commissioner shall assist the commissioner of education in developing rules and regulations relating to the annual screening for depression of students in grades seven through twelve, in accordance with section nine hundred five-a of the education law.
§ 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the education law and the public health law, in relation to requiring annual screenings for depression of students in grades seven through twelve
Purpose or general idea of bill
Establishes a mental health screening services in schools
Summary of provisions
Section 1 requires directors of school health services of each school district to conduct annual screenings for depression of student s in grades seven through twelve. Parents shall be notified in writing of suspected deviation from the recommended standard. Aggregate data from the screenings shall be forwarded to the department of health to help create initiatives to address depression.
Section 2 grants the commissioner of health regulatory authority.
Section 3 of this bill is the effective date.
Justification
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 20% of youth live with a mental health condition. The Institute also found that half of all lifetime cases of mental illness begins by the age of 14. Children suffering from mental illness, like depression, experience serious changes in the way they typically learn, behave, or handle their emotions. Studies have also shown children who suffer from depression or anxiety experience social rejection in school, which can lead to aggres- sive or antisocial behavior. Many children who battle depression even turn to substance abuse to address the issues they face because of untreated mental health conditions.
Currently, so many children lack access to vital mental health care due to either financial barriers, limited health insurance coverage, and lack of awareness. With so many barriers in place preventing children from accessing necessary mental health treatment, it is important for our state to take steps to breach these barriers by providing screenings for depression in schools.
Schools are a prime setting to conduct annual mental health screenings for depression as they already provide other health screenings such as vision and hearing exams. Creating a school-based mental health initi- ative would assist parents in the early identification of depression. Early detection of these issues would allow parents to seek treatment, which would help prevent significant mental health problems from devel- oping. By providing mental health screenings in schools, New York will take a step in the right direction in the fight against mental illness.
Prior legislative history
2019: New bill
Fiscal implications
To be determined.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.