H579/H684 - Telehealth in Schools

One of the biggest medical crises of our time is the worsening mental health of our children, including high rates of suicide. This bill would allow increased access to care by allowing mental health providers to provide telehealth services in schools.

Based on previous bills, this bill adds language about what a student should do if they think a mental health professional is being inappropriate, allows the family access during the telehealth visit if they want to be there, and it allows more freedom for treatment to the student including medication as long as the parents are informed.

• One of the reasons driving our current mental health crisis is lack of access to mental
health services for many children and adolescents.

• To further increase access, in-person mental health services are already being offered
by many school districts in Idaho. The schools do not have access to students’
medical information, or have anything to do with the services other than providing a
location and needed equipment such as a laptop or tablet.

• Over half of U.S. public schools (55%) provided students with diagnostic mental
health assessments to evaluate them for mental health disorders during the 2019-20
school year. These assessments were conducted by a licensed mental health
professional either employed or contracted by the schools.*

*https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/08/10/just-over-half-of-u-s-public-schools-offer-
mental-health-assessments-for-students-fewer-offer-treatment/