01/30/2025
LEGISLATIVE CALL TO ACTION!!!! TIME SENSITIVE!!!!
We are calling on all mental health providers to oppose HB281, Health Curriculum Amendments. UAMFT, UMHCA, UTNASW, and UPA OPPOSE this bill. HB281 is being heard in the house education committee TOMORROW! We need your voices heard NOW!
HB281 puts severe limitations on school based therapists, defined as any licensed therapists providing therapy services in a school, and would require two things:
1. A school based therapist will be prohibited from discussing certain topics or issues if a parent expressly states it. (lines 185-188)
*This is against every mental health professional’s code of ethics. It also poses a huge safety risk. For example, if a parent says we can’t discuss s*x, how do assess for s*xual abuse?
2. It would require school based therapists to give parents a description of the topic and content of a session on the same day the session. (lines 181-184)
*We are concerned about the term “descriptive” and how that can be interpreted. While children are not given confidentiality in the state of Utah, all of our codes of ethics reference privacy. In addition, this could pose a safety risk should we disclose content that may be private. For example, if we have to disclose that we discussed conflict at home, will a child get in trouble when the parent gets the update? We would also argue that parents are entitled to their child’s records under FERPA and HIPAA.
We are asking you to write to the house education committee members to OPPOSE HB281. The bill is being heard tomorrow at 2pm so we need your voices ASAP!
In the files is a sample letter that you are welcome to edit.
Here’s a link to the committee. Click on their name and it will pull up their contact information. https://le.utah.gov/committee/committee.jsp?year=2025&com=HSTHHS
