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2002 SESSION

022049870
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 43
Offered January 9, 2002
Prefiled January 4, 2002
Directing the Joint Commission on Health Care to study the delivery of emergency medical services and emergency mental health services in the public schools of the Commonwealth.
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Patron-- O'Bannon
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Referred to Committee on Rules
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WHEREAS, pursuant to § 22.1-278.1, all public schools in the Commonwealth are required to conduct school safety audits and to develop written school crisis and emergency management plans; and

WHEREAS, school crisis and emergency management plans must include the "essential procedures, operations, and assignments required to prevent, manage, and respond to a critical event or emergency"; and

WHEREAS, the provision of effective emergency medical services and emergency mental health services is inherent in this charge in response to any critical event; and

WHEREAS, school administrators must consult professional school health nurses, counselors, school psychologists, and other mental health providers concerning the elements of the school crisis and emergency management plan vis-a-vis bioterrorism; and

WHEREAS, Virginia will be receiving an estimated $1.5 million focused on meeting the mental health needs of young children and adolescents during the current crisis; and

WHEREAS, children are affected by violence and strife, ranging from world events such as media exposure to the attacks of September 11 and the war in Afghanistan to neighborhood encounters with bullying, peer pressures, and drug-related crimes; and

WHEREAS, school health personnel, such as school nurses and school psychologists, play a primary role in helping children cope with these events; and

WHEREAS, poor health, either physical or mental, is often an impediment to learning and causes underachievement; and

WHEREAS, the numbers and severity of school children's special health care needs have increased; and

WHEREAS, school personnel are required to provide assistance to students with asthma, diabetes, technological dependence, behavioral and emotional disturbance, and other serious medical and mental health needs; and

WHEREAS, because of these issues, school health professionals are now more important and needed more than ever; and

WHEREAS, it appears that the greatest improvement of children's medical and mental health could be achieved through the hiring of sufficient professional school health personnel; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the Joint Commission on Health Care be directed to study the delivery of emergency medical services and emergency mental health services in the public schools of the Commonwealth. In conducting this study, the Joint Commission on Health Care shall (i) review the delivery of emergency medical services and emergency mental health services in the public schools; (ii) evaluate the evolving need for nursing and mental health care in the public schools; (iii) evaluate the staffing patterns for school health providers, particularly school nurses and school psychologists; (iv) recommend the staffing patterns needed to result in the greatest benefits to and improvements in the physical and mental health of Virginia's school children; and (v) estimate the cost to the Commonwealth and the localities of any new staffing patterns.

The Departments of Education and Health shall provide technical assistance to the Joint Commission on Health Care. All agencies of the Commonwealth shall provide assistance to the Joint Commission on Health Care, upon request.

The Joint Commission on Health Care shall complete its work by November 30, 2002, and shall submit its written findings and recommendations to the Governor and the 2003 Session of the General Assembly as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents.