ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Fifty-fourth Legislature

Second Regular Session

House: APPROP DPA/SE 9-1-0-1

HB 2072: mental health professionals; loan repayment

S/E mental health professionals academy; appropriation

Sponsor:  Representative Blackman, LD 6

Caucus & COW

 

Summary of the Strike-Everything Amendment to HB 2072

Overview

Directs Northern Arizona University (NAU) to implement a three-year Arizona Mental Health Professional's Academy Pilot Program (Academy) and outlines funding and participation requirements. Appropriates $5,000,000 from the state GF in FYs 2021 through 2023.

History

Established in 1899, NAU is one of 3 public universities governed by the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR). The university’s primary focus is undergraduate residential education.

 

Current law requires any student loan program, student grant program or other financial assistance program established or administered by this state must treat the balance in an account of which the student is designated beneficiary as neither an asset of the parent of the designated beneficiary nor as a scholarship, a grant or an asset of the student for determining a student's or parent's income, assets or financial need. This applies to any state appropriated financial assistance program administered by a college or university in this state and does not apply if any following conditions exist: 1) federal law requires all or a portion of the amount in an account to be taken into consideration in a different manner; 2) federal benefits could be lost if all or a portion of the amount in an account is not taken into consideration in a different manner; and 3) a specific grant establishing a financial assistance program requires that all or a portion of the amount in an account to be taken into consideration (A.R.S. § 15-1877)

 

Outlined in statute are the duties of the Director of Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC), which include, but are not limited to: 1) holding in custody all persons who are sentenced to ADC under the law and for the term directed by the court; 2) providing medical and health services for the prisoners by contracting professional services and ensuring that medical records are retained only by authorized medical personnel and kept in a safe and secure place; 3) charging each inmate a reasonable fee for prescriptions, medication or prosthetic devices; and 4) establishing reasonable medical and health services fees for each medical visit an inmate makes pursuant to a health needs request form or for emergency treatment. (A.R.S. § 31-201.01)

Provisions

1.    ☐ Prop 105 (45 votes) ☐ Prop 108 (40 votes) ☐ Emergency (40 votes) ☐ Fiscal NoteDirects Northern NAU to implement a three-year Arizona Mental Health Professional's Academy Pilot Program to provide incentives for students to enter the mental health profession and to commit to working as a mental health professional in Arizona public schools, or in a correctional facility operated by ADC or Department of Juvenile Corrections (ADJC). (Sec. 1)

2.    Requires NAU to develop and implement administrative processes for the academy, including:

a)    A marketing and promotion plan to recruit students for the academy;

b)    Data collection and reporting;

c)    Tracking postgraduation service requirements; and

d)    Collecting reimbursement from individuals who fail to meet service obligations. (Sec. 1)

3.    States the Academy may include new or existing mental health professional preparation program pathways that are student-focused and that employ proven, research-based models of best practices already being implemented. (Sec. 1)

4.    Allows NAU to develop a portfolio of mental health professional preparation programs to offer as part of the Academy. (Sec. 1)

5.    Requires NAU to develop formalized partnerships with ADC, ADJC and public schools in this state to build commitments for mental health professional employment on completion of the Academy. (Sec. 1)

6.    States the targeted deployment of mental health professionals who have completed the Academy must be based on the needs of ADC, ADJC and on each school system and the community that is being served as well as the individual skills of each mental health professional.         (Sec. 1)

7.    Requires NAU to provide to each full-time master student who is enrolled in the Academy an annual scholarship of $10,000 per year for a maximum of three academic years or six semesters for master students, after all other financial gifts, aid or grants received by that student. (Sec. 1)

8.    States that scholarships are subject to all of the following:

a)    If the student does not successfully complete the academic year in good academic standing, the student must reimburse NAU for the total amount of the scholarship for tuition and fees the student received for that year

b)    For each academic year that the student successfully completes and for which the student receives a scholarship for all tuition and fees, the student must agree to work as a mental health professional for one full school year in a public school in this state or in a correctional facility operated by ADC or ADJC;

c)    If the scholarship does not cover remaining tuition and fee costs after other aid received, NAU may not charge students the remaining difference.

d)    If the scholarship amount exceeds tuition and fee costs at NAU, NAU may use the remaining amount to support the Academy;

e)    If the student does not fulfill the student's obligation to work as a mental health professional in a correctional facility operated by ADC or ADJC, or a public school in this state, the student must reimburse NAU for the proportional amount of the scholarship for tuition and fees that the student received that corresponds to the number of years the student agreed to work as a mental health professional but did not work as a mental health professional in a correctional facility operated by ADC or ADJC, or a public school in this state;

f)     If the student is physically or mentally unable to fulfill the requirements of the Academy, NAU must establish a process for assessing the student's ability to repay the financial assistance received and must determine any terms of repayment; and

g)    NAU must establish a process for deferring service or repayment based on factors adopted by NAU. (Sec. 1)

9.    Specifies that scholarships provided are limited to master's students. (Sec. 1)

10.  Establishes the Arizona Mental Health Professionals Academy Fund (Fund) consisting of legislative appropriations made for the purpose of administering and funding the Academy. (Sec. 1)

11.  States that the monies in the Fund are continuously appropriated and exempt from lapsing. (Sec. 1)

12.  States that monies in the Fund may be used only for:

a)    Reimbursing scholarships that cover the balance of tuition and fees for master students enrolled in the Academy after all other gifts and aid received;

b)    Implementing a marketing and promotion plan to recruit and retain students in and administer the Academy; or

c)    Academy expenditures for marketing, promoting and administering the academy, which may not exceed three percent of the monies in the fund each fiscal year. (Sec. 1)

13.  Stipulates that monies in the Fund at the end of each fiscal year may be used by NAU for Academy costs in the next fiscal year. (Sec. 1)

14.  Requires NAU, on or before March 1, of 2021, 2022 and 2023, to report to the Joint Legislative Budge Committee (JLBC) and the Governor's Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting (OSPB) on all of the following:

a)    The total number of students enrolled in the Academy in the current academic year; and

b)    The estimated amount of monies committed from the Academy fund in the current fiscal year. (Sec. 1)

15.  Requires NAU, on or before September 1, of 2021, 2022 and 2023, to report to the Governor, President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives, including a copy to the secretary of state, on all of the following:

a)    The total number of students enrolled in the Academy by year of college enrollment;

b)    The percentage of students who completed each year of the Academy and who plan to continue to the subsequent year, delineated by each mental health professional preparation program offered as part of the Academy;

c)    The number of mental health professionals who completed a program of study through the Academy;

d)    The number of mental health professionals currently working in a correctional facility operated by ADC or ADJC, or a public school in this state as part of an agreement for receiving an Academy scholarship;

e)    The number of students who have defaulted on their obligation and who are in repayment agreements;

f)     The number of students who have deferred repayment agreements;

g)    The number of students who have completed repayment agreements; and

h)    The amount of unused monies in the Fund from the prior fiscal year. (Sec. 1)

16.  Defines terms. (Sec. 1)

17.  Repeals program January 1, 2030. (Sec. 1)

18.  Appropriates $5,000,000 from the state GF in FYs 2021 through 2023to the Fund. (Sec. 1)

19.  Contains a retroactivity clause of June 30, 2020. (Sec. 1)

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23.  Initials TG/AG                   Caucus & COW

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