republic-os/legislation/us/states/de/152/hb-200.md

type, title, description, jurisdiction, legislature, session, identifier, citation, classification, subjects, status, primary_sponsors, version_count, action_count, vote_count, first_action, last_action, source, source_identifier, source_url, source_hash, vintage, source_snapshot, retrieved_at, confidence, tags

type	title	description	jurisdiction	legislature	session	identifier	citation	classification	subjects	status	primary_sponsors	version_count	action_count	vote_count	first_action	last_action	source	source_identifier	source_url	source_hash	vintage	source_snapshot	retrieved_at	confidence	tags
Bill	AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES.	This Act establishes a mental health services unit for Delaware high schools. The unit is phased in over 3 years, beginning in FY2024, to arrive at a final ratio of 250 full-time equivalent students grades 9-12 for a full-time school counselor, school social worker, or licensed clinical social worker. Additionally, a unit ratio of 700 full time equivalent students for grades 9-12 for employment of a full-time school psychologist. This Act defines “mental health services” as prevention, response, and coordination services delivered to students in high schools. Mental Health disorders are the most common health problem for school aged youth. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), one in five youth are affected by a mental health disorder. Additionally, 50% of lifetime mental illnesses begin by age 14. Untreated mental illness leads to negative outcomes including increased risk of dropout, homelessness, substance abuse, other chronic illnesses, incarceration, and possibly suicide. According to the National Alliance on Mental Health, ninety percent of people who have taken their own life have had an underlying mental health condition, and suicides are on the rise. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, suicides are now the second leading cause of death for youth ages 10-14. Delaware schools need trained and experienced mental health professionals to provide prevention and support programs and services to students. This bill will lower ratios of students to counselors and increase access to mental health services for high school students. Districts and charters should prioritize the hiring of school counselors who provide mental health services over those who provide career counseling.	us/states/de	Delaware General Assembly	152	HB 200	Delaware HB 200 (152)	bill		enacted	Cyndie Romer David P. Sokola Edward S. Osienski Eric Morrison John "Jack" Walsh Kendra Johnson Laura V. Sturgeon Marie Pinkney Michael F. Smith Nicole Poore Peter C. Schwartzkopf Russell Huxtable Sarah McBride Sean Matthews Sherry Dorsey Walker Spiros Mantzavinos Stell Parker Selby Timothy D. Dukes Trey Paradee Valerie Longhurst William Bush	2	13	2	2023-04-25	2024-08-07	openstates	ocd-bill/a50714d9-699c-4f0a-a11f-5c03d7aaa841	https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail?LegislationId=130244	ff715647a0964c63c60c1edf66efd7911362477c878a011fa6cec72c62cd4da5	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-de

Delaware HB 200 (152) — AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES.

This Act establishes a mental health services unit for Delaware high schools. The unit is phased in over 3 years, beginning in FY2024, to arrive at a final ratio of 250 full-time equivalent students grades 9-12 for a full-time school counselor, school social worker, or licensed clinical social worker. Additionally, a unit ratio of 700 full time equivalent students for grades 9-12 for employment of a full-time school psychologist. This Act defines “mental health services” as prevention, response, and coordination services delivered to students in high schools. Mental Health disorders are the most common health problem for school aged youth. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), one in five youth are affected by a mental health disorder. Additionally, 50% of lifetime mental illnesses begin by age 14. Untreated mental illness leads to negative outcomes including increased risk of dropout, homelessness, substance abuse, other chronic illnesses, incarceration, and possibly suicide. According to the National Alliance on Mental Health, ninety percent of people who have taken their own life have had an underlying mental health condition, and suicides are on the rise. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, suicides are now the second leading cause of death for youth ages 10-14. Delaware schools need trained and experienced mental health professionals to provide prevention and support programs and services to students. This bill will lower ratios of students to counselors and increase access to mental health services for high school students. Districts and charters should prioritize the hiring of school counselors who provide mental health services over those who provide career counseling.

Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. Bill Text (committee substitute) — source
2. HA 1 to HB 200 (committee substitute) — source

Votes

• SM — 21–0 (pass) · upper
• SM — 39–0 (pass) · lower

Sponsors

• Cyndie Romer — primary (person)
• David P. Sokola — primary (person)
• Edward S. Osienski — primary (person)
• Eric Morrison — primary (person)
• John "Jack" Walsh — primary (person)
• Kendra Johnson — primary (person)
• Laura V. Sturgeon — primary (person)
• Marie Pinkney — primary (person)
• Michael F. Smith — primary (person)
• Nicole Poore — primary (person)
• Peter C. Schwartzkopf — primary (person)
• Russell Huxtable — primary (person)
• Sarah McBride — primary (person)
• Sean Matthews — primary (person)
• Sherry Dorsey Walker — primary (person)
• Spiros Mantzavinos — primary (person)
• Stell Parker Selby — primary (person)
• Timothy D. Dukes — primary (person)
• Trey Paradee — primary (person)
• Valerie Longhurst — primary (person)
• William Bush — primary (person)

Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

• 2023-04-25 Introduced and Assigned to Education Committee in House introduction, referral-committee
• 2023-05-03 Reported Out of Committee (Education) in House with 7 Favorable, 6 On Its Merits committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable
• 2023-05-04 Assigned to Appropriations Committee in House introduction, referral-committee
• 2023-06-01 Amendment HA 1 to HB 200 - Introduced and Placed With Bill amendment-introduction
• 2024-05-07 Reported Out of Committee (Appropriations) in House with 6 On Its Merits committee-passage
• 2024-05-09 Amendment HA 1 to HB 200 - Passed In House by Voice Vote amendment-passage
• 2024-05-09 Passed By House. Votes: 39 YES 2 ABSENT passage
• 2024-05-09 Assigned to Education Committee in Senate introduction, referral-committee
• 2024-05-22 Reported Out of Committee (Education) in Senate with 5 On Its Merits committee-passage
• 2024-05-22 Assigned to Finance Committee in Senate introduction, referral-committee
• 2024-06-25 Reported Out of Committee (Finance) in Senate with 4 On Its Merits committee-passage
• 2024-06-25 Passed By Senate. Votes: 21 YES passage
• 2024-08-07 Signed by Governor executive-signature

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/a50714d9-699c-4f0a-a11f-5c03d7aaa841. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Delaware legislature records).