The Maricopa Unified School District Governing Board held a public hearing last night to review a proposed policy required under Jake’s Law, an Arizona law passed in 2020 to improve access to mental health services for children.

Jake’s Law is named after Jake Machovsky, a 15-year-old who died by suicide in Tempe. The law requires school districts to set up procedures for referring students to behavioral services funded through Arizona’s Medicaid program, called the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System. 

Tracey Pastor, the assistant superintendent of administrative services, led the presentation to the Maricopa school board last night. She explained that this proposed policy is Maricopa schools’ first step toward making behavioral health referrals under Jake’s Law.

Pastor explained that under the law, district schools must refer students only to agencies or providers contracted through AHCCCS. She said that part of the law requires schools to have parents annually opt in — meaning they must give permission each year before their child can be referred for health or behavioral services.

Pastor added that the school also must adopt certain public policies, such as conducting the annual opt-in process, providing parents with a survey after services are delivered, posting a list of participating providers on the school’s website and submitting yearly reports on the survey results back to AHCCCS. 

When board member Shawnté Rothschild asked if these policies must be adopted every year, Pastor clarified that the policies are adopted just once. However, the annual requirements apply to the parent opt-in process and the reporting of survey results. 

Under Jake’s Law, parents of children who use mental health services are asked a series of questions to help the district ensure students have access to those services. The results of these surveys are submitted to the state every year.  

Last night’s public hearing was the legally required first step to adopting the policy. No community members spoke during the hearing. 

The school board did not vote on the policy last night but signaled plans to do so at the July 23 board meeting. 

The discussion comes amid growing concerns about youth mental health in Maricopa. The city leads Pinal County in teen suicides, a problem many see as escalating. 

Jake’s Law aims to combat such troubling trends by creating the Children’s Behavioral Health Services Fund, which spends $8 million to cover mental health services for uninsured or underinsured students referred through schools. 

School district officials couldn’t answer questions about the timing of the policy discussion because they are at a retreat and won’t return until tomorrow.