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HB200 - An Act To Amend Title 14 Of The Delaware Code Relating To School-based Mental Health Services.
Valerie J. Longhurst, Marie Pinkney, Debra J. Heffernan
Last updated 3 months ago
26 Co-Sponsors
This Act establishes a mental health services unit for Delaware high schools. The unit is phased in over 3 years, beginning in FY2024, to arrive at a final ratio of 250 full-time equivalent students grades 9-12 for a full-time school counselor, school social worker, or licensed clinical social worker. Additionally, a unit ratio of 700 full time equivalent students for grades 9-12 for employment of a full-time school psychologist. This Act defines mental health services as prevention, response, and coordination services delivered to students in high schools. Mental Health disorders are the most common health problem for school aged youth. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), one in five youth are affected by a mental health disorder. Additionally, 50% of lifetime mental illnesses begin by age 14. Untreated mental illness leads to negative outcomes including increased risk of dropout, homelessness, substance abuse, other chronic illnesses, incarceration, and possibly suicide. According to the National Alliance on Mental Health, ninety percent of people who have taken their own life have had an underlying mental health condition, and suicides are on the rise. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, suicides are now the second leading cause of death for youth ages 10-14. Delaware schools need trained and experienced mental health professionals to provide prevention and support programs and services to students. This bill will lower ratios of students to counselors and increase access to mental health services for high school students. Districts and charters should prioritize the hiring of school counselors who provide mental health services over those who provide career counseling.
STATUS
Passed
HB12 - An Act To Amend Title 29 Of The Delaware Code Relating To Electric Vehicles.
Sophie Phillips, Sarah McBride, Debra J. Heffernan
Last updated over 1 year ago
14 Co-Sponsors
This Act creates an Electric Vehicle Rebate Program to incentivize the purchase and lease of new and used electric vehicles by Delaware residents. All-electric vehicles shall receive a rebate of no more than $2,500 and hybrid vehicles shall receive a rebate of no more than $1,000. The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control shall develop standards, forms, and procedures necessary to implement this program.
STATUS
Passed
HB220 - An Act Proposing An Amendment To Article I Of The Delaware Constitution Relating To Protecting Delawares Natural Resources.
Madinah Wilson-Anton, Stephanie L. Hansen, Bryan Townsend
Last updated over 1 year ago
21 Co-Sponsors
This is the first leg of an amendment to the Delaware Constitution to conserve, protect and maintain Delaware's natural resources, including its water, air, soil, flora, fauna, ecosystems and climate. This Amendment would create an inherent and inalienable right for all Delawareans to a clean and healthy environment. The Amendment would also declare the State, including all of its branches, agencies, and political subdivisions, as trustee of the State's natural resources. By enacting this amendment Delaware would join other States which have or are seeking similar provisions, in their respective Constitutions, creating the same inherent and inalienable rights for their citizens.
STATUS
Introduced
HB193 - An Act To Amend Titles 14 And 16 Of The Delaware Code Relating To Concussion Protection In Youth Athletic Activites.
Debra J. Heffernan, Nicole Poore, Kyle Evans Gay
Last updated about 1 year ago
16 Co-Sponsors
In 2016, the General Assembly passed HB 404, the Concussion Protection in Youth Athletic Activities Act (CPYAAA). This Act clarifies the requirements of CPYAAA and enables the Division of Public Health, in consultation with the State Council for Persons with Disabilities, to promulgate regulations to broadly implement the Act. This Amendment adds the requirement for non-scholastic athletic activity organizations to develop policies and procedures for advising athletes, coaches, officials, parents, and guardians of the signs and symptoms of concussion and explaining the risk of continuing to practice or compete in athletic events or activities after sustaining a concussion, as well as providing information about returning to academic and athletic events or activities after sustaining a concussion.
STATUS
Passed
HB11 - An Act To Amend Title 16 Of The Delaware Code Relating To County Building Codes.
Debra J. Heffernan, Russ Huxtable, Stephanie L. Hansen
Last updated over 1 year ago
14 Co-Sponsors
This Act requires new commercial buildings with a foundation footprint of 50,000 square feet or greater to meet certain requirements to ensure that their roof is able to support solar energy infrastructure.
STATUS
Passed
SB126 - An Act To Amend Title 16 Of The Delaware Code Relating To Refrigerants.
Spiros Mantzavinos, Debra J. Heffernan, Stephanie L. Hansen
Last updated over 1 year ago
6 Co-Sponsors
This Act clarifies that State building code and other local codes must align with substitute standards for refrigerants as approved by the United States Environmental Protection Agency through their federal listing requirements.
STATUS
Passed
HB83 - An Act To Amend Title 14 Of The Delaware Code Relating To Oral Health Screenings.
Kimberly Williams, Sarah McBride, Sherry Dorsey Walker
Last updated over 1 year ago
23 Co-Sponsors
This Act requires every public school and charter school to provide students enrolled in kindergarten with an oral health screening by the last student attendance day of each school year. Notification to the parent or guardian must be done and a copy of the oral health screening results sent home. A referral to a dentist, if required, will be provided by the Bureau of Oral Health and Dental Services. The Division of Public Health (DPH), through the Delaware Smile Check Program, offers school-based oral screenings, at no cost to the school districts, schools, including charter schools, or the students. This Substitute Bill takes out the requirement to advise teachers of the results of the oral health screenings, including Special Education Coordinators and Educational Diagnosticians of students with an IEP. This Substitute Bill also removes any follow-up requirements, by the school, with the students parent or guardian. The Substitute Bill also makes the school requirements, under this Act, contingent on the Delaware Smile Check Program remaining in effect or a comparable program to provide free oral health screenings to all enrolled kindergarten students. This Act takes effect for the 2024-2025 school year.
STATUS
Passed
HB3 - An Act To Amend Title 14 Relating To School Attendance.
Valerie J. Longhurst, Laura Sturgeon, Debra J. Heffernan
Last updated about 1 year ago
20 Co-Sponsors
According to a recent CDC survey, the COVID pandemic exacerbated an existing mental health crisis for students. One in 5 school aged children has a mental health condition, and 45% of children may have experienced a traumatic event. This bill provides for excused absences for the mental or behavior health of a student and requires that any student taking more than 2 such excused absences will be referred to a behavioral health specialist. This bill provides a supplemental tool to identify students struggling with mental and behavioral health issues and legitimizes these struggles faced by many students. Moreover, this bill makes clear that the mental and behavioral health of students is a priority in this State.
STATUS
Passed
HB99 - An Act To Amend Titles 7 And 29 Of The Delaware Code Relating To Climate Change.
Debra J. Heffernan, Stephanie L. Hansen, Bryan Townsend
Last updated over 1 year ago
33 Co-Sponsors
This Act, known as the Delaware Climate Change Solutions Act of 2023, follows the issuance of Delawares Climate Action Plan in 2021, and establishes a statutory target of greenhouse gas emissions reductions over the medium and long term to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change due to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions on the State. The Act establishes a process of regular updates to the Climate Action Plan to serve as the framework to achieve the targeted emissions reductions and develop resilience strategies for the State, creates Climate Change Officers in certain Key Cabinet-Level Departments who will assist DNREC in the ongoing implementation of the Climate Action Plan, requires State agencies to consider climate change in decision-making, rulemaking, and procurement, and requires an Implementation Report every 2 years on the progress of the State towards meeting the statutory targets.
STATUS
Passed
SB8 - An Act To Amend Title 6 Of The Delaware Code Relating To Medical Debt.
Spiros Mantzavinos, Kimberly Williams, Sherry Dorsey Walker
Last updated about 1 year ago
17 Co-Sponsors
This Act is the second substitute for Senate Bill No. 8. Like Senate Bill No. 8 and its first substitute, this Act protects patients from unfair debt collection practices for medical debt, including prohibiting large health care facilities from charging interest and late fees, requiring facilities to offer reasonable payment plans, limiting the sale of debt to debt collectors unless an agreement is made to keep protections in place, providing minimum time before certain collections actions may be taken, limiting liability for the medical debt of others, and preventing the reporting of medical debt to consumer credit reporting agencies for at least one year after the debt was incurred. Violations of the provisions of this Act are considered Prohibited Trade Practices and Consumer Fraud violations. Senate Substitute 1 for Senate Bill No. 8 differed from Senate Bill No. 8 as it required large health-care facilities to provide information to uninsured patients regarding eligibility and the application process for medical assistance. This information must be provided at the time of service or prior to discharge and again with each billing statement. It also created a minimum threshold for eligibility for payment plans, and it reduced the timeframe in which a bill under a payment plan may be first due. The first substitute also defined medical assistance and time of service, which were not defined in Senate Bill No. 8.
STATUS
Passed
BIOGRAPHY
INCUMBENT
Representative from Delaware district HD-006
COMMITTEES
Delaware House
BIRTH
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OFFICES HELD
Delaware House from Delaware
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