Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Every day, hundreds of sick and injured patients walk into free and charitable clinics around the Tampa Bay area in need of a doctor.Many are suffering from chronic conditions, such as diabetes or high blood pressure. Some patients were referred to the clinics by staff at hospitals where they landed after years of neglecting to care for treatable conditions.The clinics allow the patients to pay what they can, or nothing at all. They are staffed by doctors and nurses who volunteer their time. They survive off donations and small grants.Many of the patients have jobs but they are living paycheck to paycheck. None have health insurance, either because they do not qualify for Medicaid or can’t afford private coverage. For these patients, the clinics are often their only option for primary care.

Requirement For Mental Health Disclosure In Schools Raises Concerns

Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.
The Florida Channel
Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.

A requirement in the school safety bill passed after the Parkland shooting is raising privacy concerns.

The law requires new students who are initially registering in a district to disclose any referrals to mental health services.

Legislators added the line to an existing requirement that new students disclose whether they've ever been expelled or arrested.

Though schools control access to private student education records, asking about mental health referrals delves into the area of federal medical privacy laws known as HIPPA.

“We’re at the intersection between student education records and the privacy around those and medical records and the privacy laws around HIPPA,” said Alisa LaPolt, director of the Florida Chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. “Who oversees the HIPPA laws in the school and do student education records also cover a mental health condition. And we don’t have answers to that at this point.”

LaPolt said her agency is getting calls and emails from parents who aren’t sure how to answer the question.

Many want to know what they have to report and what sanctions, if any, they face if they don’t report, LaPolt said.

“We've gotten some questions about what is a mental health referral because in the statute it says that mental health referrals need to be disclosed,” LaPolt said.

Because the law is so new, LaPolt said her agency is still looking for answers.  

The state says it will be up to individual school districts to implement the law.

“Decisions on how parents report their child’s mental health services are made at the local level,” Florida Department of Education spokeswoman Audrey Walden said in an email.

The state encourages districts to work with their school board attorneys, she said.

But with school less than a month away for some students there are districts still working out the details.

Julio Ochoa is editor of Health News Florida.