(a)(1) The Department shall adopt regulations that set eligibility guidelines for State funding of Youth Suicide Prevention School Programs under this subtitle.
(2) The regulations shall:
(i) Establish procedures for developing local programs, in cooperation with local education agencies, youth service bureaus, and community mental health centers; and
(ii) Establish standards and policies for programs to offer:
1. Individual, family, and group counseling related to youth suicide prevention;
2. Referral, crisis intervention, and information for students, parents, and school personnel; and
3. Training for school personnel, and others responsible for counseling or supervising student activities.
Planning, funding, and implementation of educational programs
(b) A Youth Suicide Prevention School Program established under this subtitle shall plan, fund, and implement educational programs, which may include any of the following:
(1) Classroom instruction designed to achieve any of the following objectives:
(i) Encourage sound decision making and promote ethical development;
(ii) Increase pupils' awareness of the relationship between drug and alcohol use and youth suicide;
(iii) Teach pupils to recognize signs of suicidal tendencies, and other facts about youth suicide;
(iv) Inform pupils of available community youth suicide prevention services;
(v) Enhance school climate and relationships between teachers, counselors, and pupils; and
(vi) Further cooperative efforts of school personnel and community youth suicide prevention program personnel;
(2) School or community based alternative programs outside of the classroom, including:
(i) Positive peer group programs;
(ii) A 24-hour “hotline” telephone service, staffed by trained professional counselors;
(iii) Programs to collect data on youth suicide attempts;
(iv) Intervention and follow-up;
(v) Mental health programs to promote mental health awareness and encourage pupils to seek help as soon as it is needed; and
(vi) Parent education and training programs; and
(3) Teacher training programs.
Duties of programs established under subtitle
(c) Any program established under this subtitle shall:
(1) Assist in increasing the awareness, among school personnel and community leaders, of the incidence of teenage suicide;
(2) Train school personnel in individual and schoolwide strategies for teenage suicide prevention;
(3) Develop and implement school-based teenage suicide prevention programs and pilot projects;
(4) Develop and implement school-based pilot mental health programs and peer-to-peer support to address the needs of students suffering from mental illness; and
(5) Through cooperative efforts, utilize community resources in the development and implementation of teenage suicide prevention programs under this subtitle.
Peer-to-peer mental health awareness programs
(d) The Department may assist local school systems in implementing pilot peer-to-peer mental health awareness programs.
Credits
Added as Education § 7-4A-04 by Acts 1986, c. 122, § 1, July 1, 1986. Amended by Acts 1990, c. 6, § 2. Renumbered as Education § 7-504 by Acts 1996, c. 10, § 16, eff. April 9, 1996. Amended by Acts 2005, c. 403, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 2005.
MD Code, Education, § 7-504, MD EDUC § 7-504
Current through legislation effective through July 1, 2024, from the 2024 Regular Session of the General Assembly. Some statute sections may be more current, see credits for details.
