Enacts the "Tevyan Rowe child and young teen mental health community safety act"; directs boards of education to create policies, procedures, and guidelines for at-risk children and young teens who have demonstrated suicidal ideation, been victims of harassment or bullying, and/or who have eloped from school property; establishes a commission to evaluate the safety and security of children in primary and secondary public and private schools in this state.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6495
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 5, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BRONSON, SEAWRIGHT, EPSTEIN, SIMON, DAVILA,
GLICK, COLTON -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to enacting the "Tevyan
Rowe child and young teen mental health community safety act"
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new article 2-A to
2 read as follows:
3 ARTICLE 2-A
4 CHILD & YOUNG TEEN MENTAL HEALTH
5 Section 20. Short title.
6 21. Definitions.
7 22. Child and young teen mental health and community safety.
8 23. Reporting.
9 24. Commission.
10 § 20. Short title. This article shall be known and may be cited as the
11 "Tevyan Rowe child and young teen mental health community safety act".
12 § 21. Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the following
13 terms shall have the following meanings:
14 1. "Harassment" and "bullying" shall mean the creation of a hostile
15 environment by conduct or by threats, intimidation or abuse, including
16 cyberbullying, that (a) has or would have the effect of unreasonably and
17 substantially interfering with a student's educational performance,
18 opportunities or benefits, or mental, emotional or physical well-being;
19 or (b) reasonably causes or would reasonably be expected to cause a
20 student to fear for such student's physical safety; or (c) reasonably
21 causes or would reasonably be expected to cause physical injury or
22 emotional harm to a student; or (d) occurs off school property and
23 creates or would foreseeably create a risk of substantial disruption
24 within the school environment, where it is foreseeable that the conduct,
25 threats, intimidation or abuse might reach school property. Acts of
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03597-02-5
A. 6495 2
1 harassment and bullying shall include, but not be limited to, those acts
2 based on a person's actual or perceived race, color, weight, national
3 origin, ethnic group, religion, religious practice, disability, sexual
4 orientation, gender or sex. For the purposes of this definition the term
5 "threats, intimidation or abuse" shall include verbal and non-verbal
6 actions.
7 2. "Cyberbullying" shall mean harassment or bullying as defined in
8 subdivision one of this section, including paragraphs (a), (b), (c) and
9 (d) of such subdivision, where such harassment or bullying occurs
10 through any form of electronic communication.
11 3. "School property" shall mean in or within any building, structure,
12 athletic playing field, playground, parking lot, or land contained with-
13 in the real property boundary line of a public elementary or secondary
14 school; or in or on a school bus, as defined in section one hundred
15 forty-two of the vehicle and traffic law.
16 4. "Disability" shall mean (a) a physical, mental or medical impair-
17 ment resulting from anatomical, physiological, genetic or neurological
18 conditions which prevents the exercise of a normal bodily function or is
19 demonstrable by medically accepted clinical or laboratory diagnostic
20 techniques; (b) a record of such an impairment; or (c) a condition
21 regarded by others as such an impairment.
22 5. "Sexual orientation" shall mean actual or perceived heterosexuali-
23 ty, homosexuality or bisexuality.
24 6. "Gender" shall mean actual or perceived sex and shall include a
25 person's gender identity or expression.
26 7. "Race" shall, for the purposes of this article include traits
27 historically associated with race, including but not limited to, hair
28 texture and protective hairstyles as defined by section eleven of this
29 title.
30 8. "At-risk children or young teenagers" shall mean children or teen-
31 agers seventeen years of age or younger who (a) have a disability or who
32 identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, gender non-con-
33 forming; and (b) are in need of mental or behavioral health support due
34 to anxiety, trauma, harassment or bullying, physical or mental abuse,
35 suicidal ideation, or self-harm.
36 9. "Police officer" shall have the same meaning as defined by subdivi-
37 sion thirty-four of section 1.20 of the criminal procedure law.
38 10. "Peace officer" shall mean a person listed in section 2.10 of the
39 criminal procedure law.
40 § 22. Child and young teen mental health and community safety. 1. The
41 board of education and the trustees or sole trustee of every school
42 district shall create policies, procedures, and guidelines, including
43 prevention, intervention, and postvention planning to direct teachers,
44 school administrators, school safety staff, bus drivers, other school
45 district employees, social workers, police officers, and peace officers
46 on how to respond to children or young teenagers, including but not
47 limited to at-risk children or young teenagers, who have:
48 (a) Demonstrated suicidal ideation, intentions, or inflicted self-
49 harm;
50 (b) Been victims of harassment or bullying; and/or
51 (c) Without permission, wandered or eloped from school property, or
52 threatened to do so.
53 2. In creating the policies, procedures, and guidelines pursuant to
54 subdivision one of this section, a board of education and the trustees
55 or sole trustee of a school district shall coordinate with pediatric
56 mental and behavioral health services providers, community health agen-
A. 6495 3
1 cies, local law enforcement and public safety agencies, and any other
2 local municipal agency offering relevant mental or behavioral health
3 services.
4 3. Upon creation of the policies, procedures, and guidelines pursuant
5 to subdivision one of this section, and annually thereafter, a board of
6 education of a school district shall distribute such policies, proce-
7 dures, and guidelines to all teachers, school administrators, school
8 safety staff, bus drivers, and other employees of such school district,
9 and any local social services agencies, and local law enforcement and
10 public safety agencies.
11 § 23. Reporting. The commissioner shall create a procedure under which
12 boards of education of every school district shall report to the depart-
13 ment annually on the policies, procedures, and guidelines developed
14 pursuant to subdivision one of section twenty-two of this article. The
15 commissioner may comply with the requirements of this section through
16 use of the existing uniform violent incident reporting system under
17 section twenty-eight hundred two of this chapter, and/or the reporting
18 requirements for harassment, bullying and discrimination on school
19 grounds or at a school function under section fifteen of this title.
20 § 24. Commission. 1. There is hereby created in the department a
21 "commission on child and young teen mental health and community safety"
22 to evaluate the safety and security of children in primary and secondary
23 public and private schools in this state. The commission, in consulta-
24 tion with the office of children and family services and the office of
25 mental health shall perform the following duties:
26 (a) evaluate the safety and security of students in primary and
27 secondary private and public schools in this state;
28 (b) identify any disparate treatment regarding mental health or behav-
29 ioral health services provided to students in primary and secondary
30 private and public schools in this state and in Monroe county;
31 (c) examine the effects of COVID-19 on the mental health and behav-
32 ioral health of primary and secondary students in this state, as it
33 relates to returning to in-person learning;
34 (d) identify any racial or ethnic disparities in the delivery of
35 educational supports and services to students in primary and secondary
36 private and public schools in this state, whether such students partic-
37 ipate in person or through distance learning methods; and
38 (e) suggest modifications to the personalized recovery-oriented
39 services (PROS) program to allow participants to access mental health
40 services outside of such program through a healthcare provider of their
41 choice without losing eligibility for comprehensive assistance under
42 such program to encourage natural supports and improve medication
43 management.
44 2. The commission shall consist of eleven members to be appointed as
45 follows:
46 (a) one member shall be appointed by the governor;
47 (b) one member shall be appointed by the speaker of the assembly;
48 (c) one member shall be appointed by the temporary president of the
49 senate;
50 (d) one member shall be appointed by the minority leader of the assem-
51 bly;
52 (e) one member shall be appointed by the minority leader of the
53 senate;
54 (f) two members shall be appointed by the commissioner of mental
55 health;
A. 6495 4
1 (g) two members shall be appointed by the commissioner of the office
2 of children and family services; and
3 (h) two members shall be appointed by the commissioner.
4 3. The members of the commission shall receive no compensation for
5 their services, but shall be allowed their actual and necessary expenses
6 incurred in the performance of their duties hereunder.
7 4. The commission may acquire directly from the head of any depart-
8 ment, agency, or instrumentality of the state, available information
9 which the commission considers useful in the discharge of its duties.
10 All departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the state shall
11 cooperate with the commission with respect to such information and shall
12 furnish all information requested by the commission to the extent
13 permitted by law.
14 5. The commission shall submit a report of its findings and recommen-
15 dations to the governor, the temporary president of the senate, the
16 speaker of the assembly and the minority leaders of the senate and the
17 assembly no later than one year after the effective date of this
18 section.
19 § 2. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
20 have become a law; provided, however, that effective immediately, the
21 addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary
22 for the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized
23 to be made and completed on or before such effective date.
