Sen. David Koehler

Filed: 3/8/2024

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 2606

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 2606 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 5. The Mental Health Early Action on Campus Act
5is amended by changing Sections 5, 15, and 25 by adding Section
643 as follows:
 
7    (110 ILCS 58/5)
8    Sec. 5. Intent. This Act is intended to address gaps in
9mental health services on college campuses across Illinois,
10including both 2-year and 4-year institutions, through
11training, peer support, and community-campus partnerships, and
12academic days off.
13(Source: P.A. 101-251, eff. 7-1-20.)
 
14    (110 ILCS 58/15)
15    Sec. 15. Purpose. The purpose of this Act is to accomplish

 

 

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1all of the following:
2        (1) Further identify students with mental health needs
3    and connect them to services.
4        (2) Increase access to support services on college
5    campuses.
6        (3) Increase access to clinical mental health services
7    on college campuses and in the surrounding communities for
8    college students.
9        (4) Empower students through peer-to-peer support and
10    training on identifying mental health needs and resources.
11        (5) Reduce administrative policies that put an undue
12    burden on students seeking leave for their mental health
13    conditions through technical assistance and training.
14        (6) Increase the number of academic days off to
15    prevent health issues from escalating.
16(Source: P.A. 101-251, eff. 7-1-20.)
 
17    (110 ILCS 58/25)
18    Sec. 25. Awareness. To raise mental health awareness on
19college campuses, each public college or university must do
20all of the following:
21        (1) Develop and implement an annual student
22    orientation session aimed at raising awareness about
23    mental health conditions and informing students about the
24    public college's or university's student wellness day
25    policy.

 

 

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1        (2) Assess courses and seminars available to students
2    through their regular academic experiences and implement
3    mental health awareness curricula if opportunities for
4    integration exist.
5        (3) Create and feature a page on its website or mobile
6    application with information dedicated solely to the
7    mental health resources available to students at the
8    public college or university, including information about
9    the public college's or university's student wellness day
10    policy, and in the surrounding community.
11        (4) Distribute messages related to mental health
12    resources that encourage help-seeking behavior through the
13    online learning platform of the public college or
14    university during high stress periods of the academic
15    year, including, but not limited to, midterm or final
16    examinations. These stigma-reducing strategies must be
17    based on documented best practices.
18        (5) Three years after the effective date of this Act,
19    implement an online screening tool to raise awareness and
20    establish a mechanism to link or refer students of the
21    public college or university to services. Screenings and
22    resources must be available year round for students and,
23    at a minimum, must (i) include validated screening tools
24    for depression, an anxiety disorder, an eating disorder,
25    substance use, alcohol-use disorder, post-traumatic stress
26    disorder, and bipolar disorder, (ii) provide resources for

 

 

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1    immediate connection to services, if indicated, including
2    emergency resources, (iii) provide general information
3    about all mental health-related resources available to
4    students of the public college or university, and (iv)
5    function anonymously.
6        (6) At least once per term and at times of high
7    academic stress, including midterm or final examinations,
8    provide students information regarding online screenings
9    and resources.
10        (7) Provide contact information for the National
11    Suicide Prevention Lifeline (988), the Crisis Text Line, a
12    local suicide prevention hotline, and the mental health
13    counseling center or program of the public college or
14    university on the back of each student identification card
15    issued by the public college or university after July 1,
16    2022 (the effective date of Public Act 102-373) if the
17    public college or university issues student identification
18    cards. If the public college or university does not issue
19    student identification cards to its students, the public
20    college or university must publish the contact information
21    on its website. The contact information shall identify
22    each helpline that may be contacted through text
23    messaging. The contact information shall be included in
24    the public college's or university's student handbook and
25    also the student planner if a student planner is custom
26    printed by the public college or university for

 

 

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1    distribution to students.
2(Source: P.A. 101-251, eff. 7-1-20; 102-373, eff. 7-1-22;
3102-416, eff. 7-1-22; 102-813, eff. 5-13-22.)
 
4    (110 ILCS 58/43 new)
5    Sec. 43. Student wellness days.
6    (a) As used in this Section:
7    "Academic day" means any day Monday through Friday during
8an academic term. "Academic day" does not include any academic
9day off that is already being provided by each public college
10or university for students during an academic term, including,
11but not limited to, fall breaks, winter breaks, spring breaks,
12public holidays, or any other academic day that a public
13college or university provides to enrolled students as not
14attending academic classes that is not a student wellness day.
15    "Academic term" means a division of the academic year
16during which a course of studies from each public college or
17university is offered. "Academic term" includes the spring
18academic semester and fall academic semester.
19    "Academic year" means the period of time from September 1
20of one year through August 31 of the next year or as otherwise
21defined by the public college or university.
22    "Student wellness day" means an excused academic day of
23absence for a student from all academic enrolled courses
24during an academic term for any reason.
25    (b) In order to improve overall student health, beginning

 

 

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1no later than the 2026-2027 academic year, the governing body
2of each public college or university shall adopt a student
3wellness day policy for each academic term that does one of the
4following:
5        (1) allows students to use a minimum of 2 student
6    wellness days per academic term;
7        (2) provides students a minimum of 2 scheduled student
8    wellness days per academic term; or
9        (3) allows students to use a minimum of one student
10    wellness day per academic term and provides students a
11    minimum of one scheduled student wellness day per academic
12    term.
13    Each public college or university student wellness day
14policy adopted under this subsection shall apply to students
15who are enrolled in at least one academic course that lasts 9
16weeks or longer during an academic term, unless the course
17conflicts with subsection (c) or subsection (d).
18    (c) A student wellness day policy adopted by a public
19college or university under subsection (b) shall not apply to
20a clinical component course, credit internship course, or a
21fieldwork placement course.
22    (d) Each public college or university shall determine
23whether its student wellness day policy adopted under
24subsection (b) shall apply to the following students:
25        (1) students who are only enrolled in courses that are
26    8 weeks or less during an academic term;

 

 

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1        (2) students who are only enrolled in non-credited
2    courses, unless the non-credited courses are remedial
3    courses; or
4        (3) students who are only enrolled in non-standard
5    courses, flexible term courses, or online courses during
6    an academic term.
7    Each public college or university student wellness day
8policy may allow students under paragraph (1), (2), and (3) to
9either receive one or more scheduled student wellness day or
10use one or more student wellness day if the student wellness
11day is a part of the students public college or university
12student wellness days policy adopted under subsection (b) and
13the students courses are 8 weeks or less in length during an
14academic term.
15    (e) Student wellness days shall only be used on academic
16days. No student wellness days may be carried over from one
17academic term to the next academic term.
18    (f) No academic course work shall be assigned or due to
19students on a scheduled student wellness day, if the scheduled
20student wellness day does not conflict with any of the rules or
21policies established in subsection (b), (c), and (d).
22    (g) Nothing in this Section shall interfere with or in any
23way diminish the right of academic course instructors to
24bargain collectively with their employers through
25representatives of their own choosing to determine the
26responsibility of tracking any student wellness days that are

 

 

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1used by students under this Section. No public college or
2university's student wellness day's policy under this Section
3shall infringe upon any academic course instructor's ability
4to allow students to miss additional academic course classes.
5    (h) At a minimum, for each academic year or academic term,
6beginning no later than the start of the 2026-2027 academic
7year, each public college or university shall provide
8information about the public college's or university's
9wellness day policy in its institutions academic student
10handbook. If a public college or university schedules a
11student wellness day for students, the student wellness day
12shall be scheduled before the academic term begins, and a
13reasonable notice of the scheduled student wellness day date
14shall be provided to the students and course instructors that
15the student wellness day applies to before the academic term
16begins.
17    (i) Each public college or university shall only use the
18term "student wellness day" as the name of the day that a
19student does not have to attend an academic class or classes
20during an academic day under this Section.
 
21    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
22becoming law.".