New York Public Schools To Add Mental Health To Mandatory Health Education

On September 30, 2016, New York Governor Cuomo signed legislation to add mental health education as a mandatory topic in the public school health education curriculum. The bill goes into effect July 1, 2018. Prior to the effective date, the New York State Education Department (NYSED) will release a resource packet. The state recently released a similar resource packet after implementing revised health education curriculum standards to include additional instruction on substance abuse, with a focus on opioids and heroin.

The legislation to add mental health topics to the health education curriculum was proposed in Senate Bill S6046A and Assembly . . .