What Texas asks of schools on student mental health and suicide prevention

The short summary

According to the Texas Education Agency, Texas law requires each school district employee who regularly interacts with students to complete an evidence-based mental health training program, asks schools that issue student IDs to students in grades 6 through 12 to include national suicide prevention crisis-line numbers on them, and points districts to a list of recommended best-practice programs for mental health promotion, substance abuse prevention and suicide prevention. TEA also describes eight components of a comprehensive school mental health system, ending with suicide prevention, intervention and postvention.

This guide is general information for school leaders, counselors and parents, not legal advice. Laws and rules change with each legislative session, and your district's policies and legal counsel are the final word on what applies to your campus. At Grant Halliburton Foundation we work with schools in Dallas and across North Texas, and the questions below are the ones we hear most often when a campus is planning its year.

Staff training for everyone who works with students

TEA's mental health page explains that House Bill 3, passed in the 88th legislative session and codified as Texas Education Code Section 22.904, requires each district employee who regularly interacts with students to complete an evidence-based mental health training program. The training is designed to provide instruction on recognizing and supporting children and youth who experience a mental health or substance use issue that may pose a threat to school safety.

That reaches well beyond counselors. Teachers, coaches, bus drivers, cafeteria staff and front-office employees may all see students regularly, and the people who notice a change first are often not the people with mental health in their job title. TEA's resources page describes several training options, including Youth Mental Health First Aid, which it lists as an eight-hour face-to-face course, along with shorter suicide prevention trainings such as ACT on FACTS, described as a two-hour online program, and Ask About Suicide to Save a Life, described as a 1.5 to 4-hour workshop.

Check with your district on which course it has adopted, how completion is tracked and whether any refresher is expected. TEA's page lists Texas Education Code Section 21.451, the general staff development requirements, among the statutes its resources support.

Crisis numbers on student IDs

Senate Bill 279 is aimed at helping prevent youth suicides by putting crisis-line numbers where students can find them. TEA's FAQ on the bill says that student IDs issued by the school to students in grades 6 through 12 should include national suicide prevention crisis-line numbers, that digital IDs should include them as well, that printed stickers are acceptable, and that schools that do not issue student IDs are not required to start.

The FAQ also notes that the Lifeline number may change. Today the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is reached by calling or texting 988 or chatting at 988lifeline.org, and the Lifeline describes it as free, confidential and available 24/7. If your campus printed IDs or stickers with an older number, it is worth checking what students are carrying.

A number on a card only helps if students know why it is there. Take a minute in an advisory period or a presentation to explain that 988 can be called or texted any time, by a student who is struggling or by one who is worried about a friend, and that texting is an option for students who would never make a phone call. That one explanation turns a line of small print into something a student might actually use.

Eight pieces of a complete school approach

TEA describes eight components of a comprehensive school mental health system. They are a useful checklist for seeing where a campus is strong and where it has gaps, because most schools are doing several of these already without calling them by name.

A practical way to use the list is to write down, next to each component, what your campus already does. Advisory lessons, a counseling group, an anti-bullying effort, a substance prevention week and a crisis response plan may already cover several items. The blank lines are where the next year's planning should focus.

• Building skills related to managing emotions, establishing and maintaining positive relationships, and responsible decision-making.
• Early mental health prevention and intervention.
• Grief-informed and trauma-informed practices.
• Positive youth development.
• Positive behavior interventions and supports.
• Safe, supportive and positive school climates.
• Substance abuse prevention and intervention.
• Suicide prevention, intervention and postvention.

Choosing programs from the state's recommended list

Under Texas Education Code Section 38.351, as TEA's page describes it, districts may select programs for mental health promotion, substance abuse prevention and suicide prevention. TEA links to a repository of recommended evidence-based programs and research-based practices, hosted at schoolmentalhealthtx.org, and notes that the list is not exhaustive. In other words, the list is a starting point for a district's selection, not a closed menu.

When you evaluate a program, look past the name. Ask what grade levels it serves, how much class time it needs, whether staff or outside presenters deliver it, how parents are informed, and what happens when a student comes forward afterward. A strong program fits your students and your counseling capacity; a program that looks good on paper but leaves counselors overwhelmed the following week does not serve anyone.

Our guide on choosing between a one-time assembly and an ongoing program goes deeper into how to combine options across a school year.

Where an outside partner fits

Many of TEA's eight components map directly onto the kind of programming a community partner can provide. Our Building Blocks of Mental Health presentations for students in third through 12th grade cover emotional regulation, healthy relationships and boundaries, stress and anxiety, social media, bullying and belonging, substance misuse, the teenage brain, and depression and suicide prevention. Our adult presentations for teachers, parents and professionals include recognizing the warning signs of depression and suicidal crisis and a trauma-informed look at youth behavior.

Our Peer Helpers PLUS program, a peer-to-peer suicide prevention and support program that trains students to recognize warning signs in classmates and report them to an adult, can run as an extracurricular club or an elective course, and our program page notes that this helps schools meet state requirements. Your district decides how any outside program fits its compliance plan, but a partner can carry much of the delivery.

For staff who want a practical primer on recognizing a struggling student, our guide on the warning signs teachers notice and what to do is a good companion to formal training.

Compliance is the floor, not the goal

It is possible to complete every required training and still have a campus where a struggling student does not know who to tell. The requirements set a floor. What protects students is a culture in which adults notice, ask and follow through, and in which students know that telling a trusted adult about a friend is the right thing to do.

One belief we work hard to undo in every training is that asking a student about suicide might put the idea in their head. The 988 Lifeline's #BeThe1To initiative cites evidence that it does not; our guide on why asking about suicide is safe explains why. Staff who are comfortable asking the question are worth more than a certificate on file.

The last of TEA's eight components, postvention, is the one schools least want to think about and most need to plan in advance: how a campus responds after a student dies by suicide, so that grieving students are supported and others at risk are identified. Our suicide prevention resources page points schools to After a Suicide: A Toolkit for Schools, from the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, which covers postvention and identifying at-risk students. Reading it on a calm day is far better than reading it for the first time in a crisis.

Questions for your campus team this year

Use these to check where your campus stands. They are not a legal checklist, but they cover the practical side of the requirements and the gaps we see most often.

• Has every employee who regularly interacts with students completed the district's required mental health training, and is completion tracked?
• Do student IDs or stickers for grades 6 through 12 show current crisis-line numbers, including 988?
• Does every staff member know the campus suicide-risk procedure and who to call first?
• Which of TEA's eight components are strong on your campus, and which are missing?
• What programs do students receive, at which grades, and what happens after them?
• How are parents informed and given resources, such as the free Here For Texas Navigation Line at 972-525-8181?

Planning next semester with us

If you lead a campus or a district in Dallas or anywhere in North Texas and want help filling the gaps, start with a conversation. We will ask what training your staff has completed, what students already receive and where you see the need, then recommend presentations, staff training, Peer Helpers PLUS or a combination. Since 2006 the Foundation has provided education, training and support to more than 375,000 students, educators, parents and professionals.

If you are a parent who wants to know what your child's school does, ask the principal or counselor which of these pieces are in place. Schools generally welcome engaged parents, and a question from a parent is often what moves a program from someday to this year. Either way, reach out, and I will connect you with our education team.

Questions people ask me