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<section article="ged" article_name="Education" number="7-504" title_number="7" title_name="Public Schools" subtitle_number="5" subtitle_name="Youth Suicide Prevention School Programs">
  <level label="a">
    <level label="1">
      <text>The Department shall adopt regulations that set eligibility guidelines for State funding of Youth Suicide Prevention School Programs under this subtitle.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>The regulations shall:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>Establish procedures for developing local programs, in cooperation with local education agencies, youth service bureaus, and community mental health centers; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>Establish standards and policies for programs to offer:</text>
        <level label="1">
          <text>Individual, family, and group counseling related to youth suicide prevention;</text>
        </level>
        <level label="2">
          <text>Referral, crisis intervention, and information for students, parents, and school personnel; and</text>
        </level>
        <level label="3">
          <text>Training for school personnel, and others responsible for counseling or supervising student activities.</text>
        </level>
      </level>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="b">
    <text>A Youth Suicide Prevention School Program established under this subtitle shall plan, fund, and implement educational programs, which may include any of the following:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>Classroom instruction designed to achieve any of the following objectives:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>Encourage sound decision making and promote ethical development;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>Increase pupils’ awareness of the relationship between drug and alcohol use, gambling, and youth suicide;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iii">
        <text>Teach pupils to recognize signs of suicidal tendencies, and other facts about youth suicide;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iv">
        <text>Inform pupils of available community youth suicide prevention services;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="v">
        <text>Enhance school climate and relationships between teachers, counselors, and pupils; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="vi">
        <text>Further cooperative efforts of school personnel and community youth suicide prevention program personnel;</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>School or community based alternative programs outside of the classroom, including:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>Positive peer group programs;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>A 24–hour “hotline” telephone service, staffed by trained professional counselors;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iii">
        <text>Programs to collect data on youth suicide attempts;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iv">
        <text>Intervention and follow–up;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="v">
        <text>Mental health programs to promote mental health awareness and encourage pupils to seek help as soon as it is needed; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="vi">
        <text>Parent education and training programs; and</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>Teacher training programs.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="c">
    <text>Any program established under this subtitle shall:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>Assist in increasing the awareness, among school personnel and community leaders, of the incidence of teenage suicide;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>Train school personnel in individual and schoolwide strategies for teenage suicide prevention;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>Develop and implement school–based teenage suicide prevention programs and pilot projects;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="4">
      <text>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</text>
    </level>
    <level label="5">
      <text>Through cooperative efforts, utilize community resources in the development and implementation of teenage suicide prevention programs under this subtitle.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="d">
    <text>The Department may assist local school systems in implementing pilot peer–to–peer mental health awareness programs.</text>
  </level>
</section>
