Dear Utah AACAP Member:
This email comes to you with some important news and an even more important request. HB 202 just passed the Utah House of Representatives and has been reported out of the Senate Education Committee. It will soon be on the Senate floor for a vote.
HB 202 prohibits school personnel from discussing with parents/guardians the possibly that their child may have a psychiatric disorder, such as AD/HD. Also school personnel would be prohibited from requiring parents/guardians to provide their children with medications once a child has been properly diagnosed.
Currently many school personnel are trained in dealing with behavioral problems in young children, and thus are skilled in making observations about AD/HD or the symptoms. Passage of the bill would take away a teacher or school administrator’s right to do this and resulting in numerous children that will go undiagnosed and thus not receive proper treatment. force to examine mental health issues in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems; and Inclusion of eligibility of children and adolescents in residential treatment facilities for Medicaid home or community-based services waivers.
Passage of HB 202 will reduce channels of communication between parents and teachers. It is possible that teachers will stop communicating with parents regarding suspected psychiatric disorders to avoid the risk of being reprimanded.
Call or e-mail your Senator immediately! If you don’t know who your state Senator is you can locate them by going to: http://www.utahsenate.org/perl/spage/index.pl
Time is of the essence, so we cannot emphasis how important it is that YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES contact your Senator’s office. Numbers matter, so a call or e-mail from you and your friends and colleagues will have a great effect.
Feel free to use the following message when calling or e-mailing your Senator
“Dear Senator _____,
I am writing to you today to ask for your “NO” vote on HB 202, this bill prohibits school personnel from making medical recommendations or requests for a student, primarily for the use of psychotropic medications.
HB 202 prohibits trained school personnel from dealing with behavioral problems in young children, which may in fact have psychiatric disorders. It would eliminate a valuable avenue to help properly diagnose children with psychiatric disorders and help them and get proper treatment.
In addition, HB 202 weakens existing Utah state standards, doesn’t provide adequate training for school personnel on the revised standard, and will discourage teacher/parent communications. Once again I urge you to vote “NO” on HB 202.
Thank you again for all of your efforts on behalf of the citizens of Utah.”
We will send out another message informing you of the results of the Senate vote as soon as we receive information.
If you have further questions or concerns, please contact Ramon Gardenhire, JD, AACAP Assistant Director State Advocacy at 800.333.7636, Ext. 107 or by e-mail at mailto:rgardenhire@aacap.org
Thank you for your action.
This email comes to you with some important news and an even more important request. HB 202 just passed the Utah House of Representatives and has been reported out of the Senate Education Committee. It will soon be on the Senate floor for a vote.
HB 202 prohibits school personnel from discussing with parents/guardians the possibly that their child may have a psychiatric disorder, such as AD/HD. Also school personnel would be prohibited from requiring parents/guardians to provide their children with medications once a child has been properly diagnosed.
Currently many school personnel are trained in dealing with behavioral problems in young children, and thus are skilled in making observations about AD/HD or the symptoms. Passage of the bill would take away a teacher or school administrator’s right to do this and resulting in numerous children that will go undiagnosed and thus not receive proper treatment. force to examine mental health issues in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems; and Inclusion of eligibility of children and adolescents in residential treatment facilities for Medicaid home or community-based services waivers.
Passage of HB 202 will reduce channels of communication between parents and teachers. It is possible that teachers will stop communicating with parents regarding suspected psychiatric disorders to avoid the risk of being reprimanded.
Call or e-mail your Senator immediately! If you don’t know who your state Senator is you can locate them by going to: http://www.utahsenate.org/perl/spage/index.pl
Time is of the essence, so we cannot emphasis how important it is that YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES contact your Senator’s office. Numbers matter, so a call or e-mail from you and your friends and colleagues will have a great effect.
Feel free to use the following message when calling or e-mailing your Senator
“Dear Senator _____,
I am writing to you today to ask for your “NO” vote on HB 202, this bill prohibits school personnel from making medical recommendations or requests for a student, primarily for the use of psychotropic medications.
HB 202 prohibits trained school personnel from dealing with behavioral problems in young children, which may in fact have psychiatric disorders. It would eliminate a valuable avenue to help properly diagnose children with psychiatric disorders and help them and get proper treatment.
In addition, HB 202 weakens existing Utah state standards, doesn’t provide adequate training for school personnel on the revised standard, and will discourage teacher/parent communications. Once again I urge you to vote “NO” on HB 202.
Thank you again for all of your efforts on behalf of the citizens of Utah.”
We will send out another message informing you of the results of the Senate vote as soon as we receive information.
If you have further questions or concerns, please contact Ramon Gardenhire, JD, AACAP Assistant Director State Advocacy at 800.333.7636, Ext. 107 or by e-mail at mailto:rgardenhire@aacap.org
Thank you for your action.
Department of Government Affairs
Kristin K. Ptakowski, Director
Elizabeth Rorick, Assistant Director
Ramon Gardenhire, Assistant Director for State Advocacy
Abby Schopick, Legislative Assistant
Kristin K. Ptakowski, Director
Elizabeth Rorick, Assistant Director
Ramon Gardenhire, Assistant Director for State Advocacy
Abby Schopick, Legislative Assistant
