Colorado Revised Statutes Title 22. Education § 22-60.5-218. Employment of certain school-based therapists--legislative declaration--definitions

(a) In 2021, children's hospital in Colorado declared a youth mental health state of emergency and in 2022 said that conditions are worse;

(b) In 2022, the centers for disease control and prevention released a survey that found that forty-four percent of high school students reported that they felt persistently sad or hopeless during the past year and that schools are crucial partners in supporting the health and well-being of students;

(c) The complex and time-consuming process for school-based therapists to receive a special services license from the department of education prevents schools and school districts from employing school-based therapists who might otherwise help students;

(d) School-based therapists are already licensed by various state boards in the department of regulatory affairs; and

(e) Students can be protected by requiring school-based therapists employed in schools to submit to fingerprint-based criminal history background checks and to be supervised by administrators who are licensed by the department of education.

(a) “Eligible school-based therapist” means a person who meets the eligibility requirements described in subsection (4) of this section and who is a:

(b) “School” means a school of a school district, a charter school authorized by a school district pursuant to part 1 of article 30.5 of this title 22, a charter school authorized by the state charter school institute pursuant to part 5 of article 30.5 of this title 22, or the Colorado school for the deaf and the blind.

(c) “School district” means a school district organized and existing pursuant to law. “School district” includes the state charter school institute, a board of cooperative services that operates a school, and schools operated by the division of youth services.