Section 7-504 - Eligibility guidelines; authorized programs. - Maryland Statutes

§ 7-504. Eligibility guidelines; authorized programs.
 

(a)  Regulations for eligibility guidelines.-  

(1) The Department shall adopt regulations that set eligibility guidelines for State funding of Youth Suicide Prevention School Programs under this subtitle. 

(2) The regulations shall: 

(i) Establish procedures for developing local programs, in cooperation with local education agencies, youth service bureaus, and community mental health centers; and 

(ii) Establish standards and policies for programs to offer: 

1. Individual, family, and group counseling related to youth suicide prevention; 

2. Referral, crisis intervention, and information for students, parents, and school personnel; and 

3. Training for school personnel, and others responsible for counseling or supervising student activities. 

(b)  Authorized programs.- A Youth Suicide Prevention School Program established under this subtitle shall plan, fund, and implement educational programs, which may include any of the following: 

(1) Classroom instruction designed to achieve any of the following objectives: 

(i) Encourage sound decision making and promote ethical development; 

(ii) Increase pupils' awareness of the relationship between drug and alcohol use and youth suicide; 

(iii) Teach pupils to recognize signs of suicidal tendencies, and other facts about youth suicide; 

(iv) Inform pupils of available community youth suicide prevention services; 

(v) Enhance school climate and relationships between teachers, counselors, and pupils; and 

(vi) Further cooperative efforts of school personnel and community youth suicide prevention program personnel; 

(2) School or community based alternative programs outside of the classroom, including: 

(i) Positive peer group programs; 

(ii) A 24-hour "hotline" telephone service, staffed by trained professional counselors; 

(iii) Programs to collect data on youth suicide attempts; 

(iv) Intervention and follow-up; 

(v) Mental health programs to promote mental health awareness and encourage pupils to seek help as soon as it is needed; and 

(vi) Parent education and training programs; and 

(3) Teacher training programs. 

(c)  Requirements for programs established under subtitle.- Any program established under this subtitle shall: 

(1) Assist in increasing the awareness, among school personnel and community leaders, of the incidence of teenage suicide; 

(2) Train school personnel in individual and schoolwide strategies for teenage suicide prevention; 

(3) Develop and implement school-based teenage suicide prevention programs and pilot projects; 

(4) 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 

(5) Through cooperative efforts, utilize community resources in the development and implementation of teenage suicide prevention programs under this subtitle. 

(d)  Assistance in development of pilot peer-to-peer mental health awareness programs.- The Department may assist local school systems in implementing pilot peer-to-peer mental health awareness programs. 
 

[1986, ch. 122; 1990, ch. 6, § 2; 1996, ch. 10, § 16; 2005, ch. 403.]