SB2606sam001 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Sen. David Koehler

Filed: 3/8/2024

10300SB2606sam001 LRB103 34587 RJT 70482 a

AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 2606

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 2606 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

"Section 5. The Mental Health Early Action on Campus Act is amended by changing Sections 5, 15, and 25 by adding Section 43 as follows:

(110 ILCS 58/5)

Sec. 5. Intent. This Act is intended to address gaps in mental health services on college campuses across Illinois, including both 2-year and 4-year institutions, through training, peer support, and community-campus partnerships, and academic days off.

(Source: P.A. 101-251, eff. 7-1-20.)

(110 ILCS 58/15)

Sec. 15. Purpose. The purpose of this Act is to accomplish all of the following:

(1) Further identify students with mental health needs and connect them to services.

(2) Increase access to support services on college campuses.

(3) Increase access to clinical mental health services on college campuses and in the surrounding communities for college students.

(4) Empower students through peer-to-peer support and training on identifying mental health needs and resources.

(5) Reduce administrative policies that put an undue burden on students seeking leave for their mental health conditions through technical assistance and training.

(6) Increase the number of academic days off to prevent health issues from escalating.

(Source: P.A. 101-251, eff. 7-1-20.)

(110 ILCS 58/25)

Sec. 25. Awareness. To raise mental health awareness on college campuses, each public college or university must do all of the following:

(1) Develop and implement an annual student orientation session aimed at raising awareness about mental health conditions and informing students about the public college's or university's student wellness day policy.

(2) Assess courses and seminars available to students through their regular academic experiences and implement mental health awareness curricula if opportunities for integration exist.

(3) Create and feature a page on its website or mobile application with information dedicated solely to the mental health resources available to students at the public college or university, including information about the public college's or university's student wellness day policy, and in the surrounding community.

(4) Distribute messages related to mental health resources that encourage help-seeking behavior through the online learning platform of the public college or university during high stress periods of the academic year, including, but not limited to, midterm or final examinations. These stigma-reducing strategies must be based on documented best practices.

(5) Three years after the effective date of this Act, implement an online screening tool to raise awareness and establish a mechanism to link or refer students of the public college or university to services. Screenings and resources must be available year round for students and, at a minimum, must (i) include validated screening tools for depression, an anxiety disorder, an eating disorder, substance use, alcohol-use disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and bipolar disorder, (ii) provide resources for immediate connection to services, if indicated, including emergency resources, (iii) provide general information about all mental health-related resources available to students of the public college or university, and (iv) function anonymously.

(6) At least once per term and at times of high academic stress, including midterm or final examinations, provide students information regarding online screenings and resources.

(7) Provide contact information for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (988), the Crisis Text Line, a local suicide prevention hotline, and the mental health counseling center or program of the public college or university on the back of each student identification card issued by the public college or university after July 1, 2022 (the effective date of Public Act 102-373) if the public college or university issues student identification cards. If the public college or university does not issue student identification cards to its students, the public college or university must publish the contact information on its website. The contact information shall identify each helpline that may be contacted through text messaging. The contact information shall be included in the public college's or university's student handbook and also the student planner if a student planner is custom printed by the public college or university for distribution to students.

(Source: P.A. 101-251, eff. 7-1-20; 102-373, eff. 7-1-22; 102-416, eff. 7-1-22; 102-813, eff. 5-13-22.)

(110 ILCS 58/43 new)

Sec. 43. Student wellness days.

(a) As used in this Section:

"Academic day" means any day Monday through Friday during an academic term. "Academic day" does not include any academic day off that is already being provided by each public college or university for students during an academic term, including, but not limited to, fall breaks, winter breaks, spring breaks, public holidays, or any other academic day that a public college or university provides to enrolled students as not attending academic classes that is not a student wellness day.

"Academic term" means a division of the academic year during which a course of studies from each public college or university is offered. "Academic term" includes the spring academic semester and fall academic semester.

"Academic year" means the period of time from September 1 of one year through August 31 of the next year or as otherwise defined by the public college or university.

"Student wellness day" means an excused academic day of absence for a student from all academic enrolled courses during an academic term for any reason.

(b) In order to improve overall student health, beginning no later than the 2026-2027 academic year, the governing body of each public college or university shall adopt a student wellness day policy for each academic term that does one of the following:

(1) allows students to use a minimum of 2 student wellness days per academic term;

(2) provides students a minimum of 2 scheduled student wellness days per academic term; or

(3) allows students to use a minimum of one student wellness day per academic term and provides students a minimum of one scheduled student wellness day per academic term.

Each public college or university student wellness day policy adopted under this subsection shall apply to students who are enrolled in at least one academic course that lasts 9 weeks or longer during an academic term, unless the course conflicts with subsection (c) or subsection (d).

(c) A student wellness day policy adopted by a public college or university under subsection (b) shall not apply to a clinical component course, credit internship course, or a fieldwork placement course.

(d) Each public college or university shall determine whether its student wellness day policy adopted under subsection (b) shall apply to the following students:

(1) students who are only enrolled in courses that are 8 weeks or less during an academic term;

(2) students who are only enrolled in non-credited courses, unless the non-credited courses are remedial courses; or

(3) students who are only enrolled in non-standard courses, flexible term courses, or online courses during an academic term.

Each public college or university student wellness day policy may allow students under paragraph (1), (2), and (3) to either receive one or more scheduled student wellness day or use one or more student wellness day if the student wellness day is a part of the students public college or university student wellness days policy adopted under subsection (b) and the students courses are 8 weeks or less in length during an academic term.

(e) Student wellness days shall only be used on academic days. No student wellness days may be carried over from one academic term to the next academic term.

(f) No academic course work shall be assigned or due to students on a scheduled student wellness day, if the scheduled student wellness day does not conflict with any of the rules or policies established in subsection (b), (c), and (d).

(g) Nothing in this Section shall interfere with or in any way diminish the right of academic course instructors to bargain collectively with their employers through representatives of their own choosing to determine the responsibility of tracking any student wellness days that are used by students under this Section. No public college or university's student wellness day's policy under this Section shall infringe upon any academic course instructor's ability to allow students to miss additional academic course classes.

(h) At a minimum, for each academic year or academic term, beginning no later than the start of the 2026-2027 academic year, each public college or university shall provide information about the public college's or university's wellness day policy in its institutions academic student handbook. If a public college or university schedules a student wellness day for students, the student wellness day shall be scheduled before the academic term begins, and a reasonable notice of the scheduled student wellness day date shall be provided to the students and course instructors that the student wellness day applies to before the academic term begins.

(i) Each public college or university shall only use the term "student wellness day" as the name of the day that a student does not have to attend an academic class or classes during an academic day under this Section.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.".