H.B. No. 2059

	AN ACT
	relating to mental health first aid training provided by local
	mental health authorities and local behavioral health authorities.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 1001.201, Health and Safety Code, is
	amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 1001.201.  DEFINITIONS.  In this subchapter:
	(1)  "Child-care facility" has the meaning assigned by
	Section 42.002, Human Resources Code.
	(2)  "Educator" means a person who is required to hold a
	certificate issued under Subchapter B, Chapter 21, Education Code.
	(3)  "First responder" has the meaning assigned by
	Section 421.095, Government Code.
	(4)  "Institution of higher education" has the meaning
	assigned by Section 61.003, Education Code.
	(5)  "Local behavioral health authority" means an
	authority designated by the commission under Section 533.0356.
	(6) [(2)]  "Local mental health authority" has the
	meaning assigned by Section 531.002.
	(7)  "Open-enrollment charter school" and "private
	school" have the meanings assigned by Section 5.001, Education
	Code.
	(8) [(3)]  "Regional education service center" means a
	regional education service center established under Chapter 8,
	Education Code.
	(9) [(4)]  "School district employee" means a person
	employed by a school district who regularly interacts with students
	through the course of the person's duties, including an educator, a
	secretary, a school bus driver, or a cafeteria worker.
	(10) [(5)]  "School resource officer" has the meaning
	assigned by Section 1701.601, Occupations Code.
	[(6)  "University employee" means a person employed by
	a public or private institution of higher education who regularly
	interacts with students enrolled at the university through the
	course of the person's duties.]
	SECTION 2.  Section 1001.202, Health and Safety Code, is
	amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 1001.202.  GRANTS FOR TRAINING OF MENTAL HEALTH FIRST
	AID TRAINERS. (a) To the extent money is [funds are] appropriated
	to the commission [department] for that purpose, the commission
	[department] shall make grants to local mental health authorities
	or local behavioral health authorities to contract with persons
	approved by the commission [department] to train employees or
	contractors of the authorities as mental health first aid trainers.
	(b)  The commission [department] shall make each grant to a
	local mental health authority or local behavioral health authority
	under this section in the [an] amount the commission determines
	necessary to cover the costs of training [equal to $1,000 times the
	number of] employees or contractors of the authority whose training
	as mental health first aid trainers will be paid by the grant.
	(d)  The executive commissioner shall adopt rules to
	establish the requirements for a person to be approved by the
	commission [department] to train employees or contractors of a
	local mental health authority or local behavioral health authority
	as mental health first aid trainers. The rules must ensure that a
	person who is approved by the commission [department] is qualified
	to provide training in:
	(1)  the potential risk factors and warning signs for
	various mental illnesses, including depression, anxiety, trauma,
	psychosis, eating disorders, substance use [abuse] disorders, and
	self-injury;
	(2)  the prevalence of various mental illnesses in the
	United States and the need to reduce the stigma associated with
	mental illness;
	(3)  an action plan for use by the employees or
	contractors that involves the use of skills, resources, and
	knowledge to assess a situation and develop and implement an
	appropriate intervention to help an individual experiencing a
	mental health crisis obtain appropriate professional care; and
	(4)  the evidence-based professional, peer, social,
	and self-help resources available to help individuals with mental
	illness.
	(e)  Two or more local mental health authorities or local
	behavioral health authorities may collaborate and share resources
	to provide training for employees or contractors of the authorities
	under this section.
	SECTION 3.  Section 1001.203, Health and Safety Code, is
	amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 1001.203.  GRANTS FOR TRAINING CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS
	[UNIVERSITY EMPLOYEES, SCHOOL DISTRICT EMPLOYEES, AND SCHOOL
	RESOURCE OFFICERS] IN MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID. (a) To the extent
	money is [funds are] appropriated [to the department] for the
	[that] purpose, the commission [department] shall make grants to
	local mental health authorities or local behavioral health
	authorities to provide at no cost an approved mental health first
	aid training program[,] administered by mental health first aid
	trainers[, at no cost] to the following individuals at the
	discretion of the authorities:
	(1)  [university employees,] school district
	employees[,] and school resource officers;
	(2)  employees of:
	(A)  an institution of higher education;
	(B)  an open-enrollment charter school; or
	(C)  a private school;
	(3)  employees and contractors of a child-care
	facility;
	(4)  youth;
	(5)  individuals with direct and recurring contact with
	students;
	(6)  first responders;
	(7)   military service members, veterans, or immediate
	family members of military service members or veterans;
	(8)  judges and attorneys, as applicable based on the
	practice of law of the judge or attorney; or
	(9)  contractors of an institution of higher education,
	an open-enrollment charter school, a private school, or a school
	district.
	(c)  The commission [department] shall grant [$100] to a
	local mental health authority or local behavioral health authority
	the amount the commission determines necessary to cover the costs
	of training each individual described by Subsection (a) [for each
	university employee, school district employee, or school resource
	officer] who successfully completes a mental health first aid
	training program provided by the authority under this section.
	(d)  A mental health first aid training program provided by a
	local mental health authority or local behavioral health authority
	under this section must:
	(1)  be conducted by a person trained as a mental health
	first aid trainer;
	(2)  provide participants with the skills necessary to
	help an individual experiencing a mental health crisis until the
	individual is able to obtain appropriate professional care; and
	(3)  include:
	(A)  instruction in a five-step strategy for
	helping an individual experiencing a mental health crisis,
	including assessing risk, listening respectfully to and supporting
	the individual, and identifying professional help and other
	supports for the individual;
	(B)  an introduction to the risk factors and
	warning signs for mental illness and substance use [abuse]
	problems;
	(C)  experiential activities to increase
	participants' understanding of the impact of mental illness on
	individuals and families; and
	(D)  a presentation of evidence-supported
	treatment and self-help strategies.
	(e)  A local mental health authority or local behavioral
	health authority may contract with a regional education service
	center to provide under this section a mental health first aid
	training program to [university employees,] school district
	employees and contractors, [and] school resource officers,
	open-enrollment charter school employees and contractors, private
	school employees and contractors, and employees and contractors of
	an institution of higher education [under this section].
	(f)  Two or more local mental health authorities or local
	behavioral health authorities may collaborate and share resources
	to develop and operate a mental health first aid training program
	under this section.
	SECTION 4.  Section 1001.204, Health and Safety Code, is
	amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 1001.204.  PLANS FOR MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID TRAINING
	PROGRAMS. (a) Not later than July 1 of each even-numbered [state
	fiscal] year for which a local mental health authority or local
	behavioral health authority will seek a grant from the commission
	[department] under Section 1001.203, the authority shall submit to
	the commission [department] a plan demonstrating the manner in
	which grants made to the authority under that section will be used:
	(1)  to train individuals in mental health first aid
	throughout the authority's local service area to maximize the
	number of children who have direct contact with an individual who
	has successfully completed a mental health first aid training
	program provided by the authority;
	(2)  to meet the greatest needs of the authority's local
	service area, as identified by the authority; and
	(3)  to complement existing resources and not duplicate
	established mental health first aid training efforts.
	(b)  The commission [department] may not make a grant to a
	local mental health authority or local behavioral health authority
	under Section 1001.203 unless the commission [department] has
	evaluated a plan submitted by the authority under this section.
	SECTION 5.  Section 1001.205, Health and Safety Code, is
	amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 1001.205.  REPORTS. (a) Not later than September 30 of
	each year, a local mental health authority or local behavioral
	health authority shall provide to the commission [department] the
	number of:
	(1)  employees and contractors of the authority who
	were trained as mental health first aid trainers under Section
	1001.202 during the preceding fiscal year, the number of trainers
	who left the program for any reason during the preceding fiscal
	year, and the number of active trainers;
	(2)  [university employees,] school district
	employees[,] and contractors, school resource officers,
	open-enrollment charter school employees and contractors, private
	school employees and contractors, and employees and contractors of
	an institution of higher education who completed a mental health
	first aid training program offered by the authority under Section
	1001.203 during the preceding fiscal year categorized by:
	(A)  local mental health authority or local
	behavioral health authority region;
	(B)  [, university or] school district,
	open-enrollment charter school, private school, and institution of
	higher education, as applicable; [,] and
	(C)  category of personnel;
	(3)  child-care facility employees and contractors,
	youth, individuals with direct and recurring contact with students,
	first responders, judges, and attorneys [individuals who are not
	university employees, school district employees, or school
	resource officers] who completed a mental health first aid training
	program offered by the authority during the preceding fiscal year
	categorized by local mental health authority or local behavioral
	health authority region; and
	(4)  military service members, veterans, and immediate
	family members of military service members and veterans who
	completed the veterans module or standard version of a mental
	health first aid training program offered by the authority during
	the preceding fiscal year categorized by local mental health
	authority or local behavioral health authority region and the
	training program completed.
	(b)  Not later than December 1 of each year, the commission
	[department] shall compile the information submitted by local
	mental health authorities or local behavioral health authorities as
	required by Subsection (a) and submit a report to the legislature
	containing:
	(1)  the number of authority employees and contractors
	trained as mental health first aid trainers during the preceding
	fiscal year, the number of trainers who left the program for any
	reason during the preceding fiscal year, and the number of active
	trainers;
	(2)  the number of [university employees,] school
	district employees[,] and contractors, school resource officers,
	open-enrollment charter school employees and contractors, private
	school employees and contractors, and employees and contractors of
	an institution of higher education who completed a mental health
	first aid training program provided by an authority during the
	preceding fiscal year categorized by:
	(A)  local mental health authority region or local
	behavioral health authority region;
	(B)  [, university or] school district,
	open-enrollment charter school, private school, and institution of
	higher education, as applicable; [,] and
	(C)  category of personnel;
	(3)  the number of child-care facility employees and
	contractors, youth, individuals with direct and recurring contact
	with students, first responders, judges, and attorneys
	[individuals who are not university employees, school district
	employees, or school resource officers] who completed a mental
	health first aid training program provided by an authority during
	the preceding fiscal year categorized by local mental health
	authority or local behavioral health authority region;
	(4)  the number of military service members, veterans,
	and immediate family members of military service members and
	veterans who completed the veterans module or standard version of a
	mental health first aid training program provided by an authority
	during the preceding fiscal year categorized by local mental health
	authority or local behavioral health authority region and the
	training program completed; and
	(5)  a detailed accounting of expenditures of money
	appropriated for the purpose of implementing this subchapter.
	(c)  The commission [department] shall develop and provide
	to local mental health authorities and local behavioral health
	authorities a form to be used for the reporting of information
	required under Subsection (a), including the reporting of each
	category of personnel described by that subsection.
	SECTION 6.  Section 1001.206, Health and Safety Code, is
	amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 1001.206.  LIABILITY. A person who has completed a
	mental health first aid training program offered by a local mental
	health authority or local behavioral health authority under this
	subchapter and who in good faith attempts to assist an individual
	experiencing a mental health crisis is not liable in civil damages
	for an act performed in attempting to assist the individual unless
	the act is wilfully or wantonly negligent.
	SECTION 7.  The following sections of the Health and Safety
	Code are repealed:
	(1)  Section 1001.2015; and
	(2)  Section 1001.2031.
	SECTION 8.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
	______________________________	______________________________
	President of the Senate	Speaker of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 2059 was passed by the House on April
	14, 2023, by the following vote:  Yeas 129, Nays 14, 2 present, not
	voting.
	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 2059 was passed by the Senate on May
	15, 2023, by the following vote:  Yeas 30, Nays 1.
	______________________________
	Secretary of the Senate
	APPROVED:  _____________________
	Date
	_____________________
	Governor