Los Angeles – The Children’s Partnership applauds Governor Jerry Brown for signing Assembly Bill 2315 by Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva (D-Fullerton) – Pupil health: mental and behavioral health services: telehealth technology: guidelines.
AB 2315 requires the State Department of Education, in consultation with the State Department of Health Care Services and appropriate stakeholders, to develop guidelines for the use of telehealth technology in public schools to provide mental health and behavioral health services to pupils on school campuses. Telehealth, the use of technology to provide and coordinate care at a distance, can vastly improve access and care for vulnerable children. Telehealth provides communities with the option to deliver services to children when available providers in a given area are in short supply or difficult to access.
The State Department of Education is required to post the guidelines on its Web site on or before July 1, 2020. AB 2315 provides that it shall only be implemented if sufficient funds are made available to the State Department of Education pursuant to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act or another statute for that purpose.
“I am pleased by the Governor’s signature of AB 2315 (Quirk-Silva). As an organization committed to bringing care to kids where they live, learn, and play, schools are critical partners in this endeavor. We look forward to working with the State Departments of Education and Health Care Services to construct a thorough and thoughtful model with key stakeholders and experts to deliver on the promise of technology to meet the mental and behavioral health care needs of California’s children. The Children’s Partnership remains committed to working with California policymakers, providers, payers, child health advocates, and families to advance telehealth and other innovative solutions that will break down access barriers, improve care, and move us closer to achieving health equity for California’s children.”
