Please vote to pass HB 686 Meals for All. The children in Virginia need your help. Every child should be able to get a hot meal and not have to worry about being hungry. Parents are struggling and children are suffering. Please vote for free meals for children.

Vote in favor of: HB1039, HB732, HB686, HB603, HB498, HB497, HB482, HB386, HB253, HB224, HB215, HB134, and HB41. I would recommend including additional language in HB41 that addresses voter registrations in public schools. Being an active voter is part of our civic duty and participation in our democratic process should be taught and encouraged. Voter registration drives should be occurring in all public high schools in the Commonwealth.

Vote YES 224

To: Chairperson Simonds and House Ed K-12 subcommittee members, My name is Narissa Rahaman, my pronouns are she/her, and I write on behalf of Equality Virginia. Equality Virginia is the leading statewide LGBTQ+ advocacy organization in the Commonwealth. We support House Bill 224. The 2023 CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that adolescents in Virginia are considering suicide at the highest rate in a decade, mirroring the larger mental health crisis that young people are facing nationwide. Specific populations of youth including but not limited to youth bereaved by suicide, youth with disabilities, youth experiencing homelessness, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) youth, face additional challenges that increase the likelihood of adverse mental health outcomes that place them at a higher risk for suicidal ideation. Virginia has taken significant steps to address youth suicide across the Commonwealth but there is still a significant gap in school suicide prevention requirements that leave young people vulnerable to suicide risk, particularly for young people who are considered higher risk. Current statute does not require school staff to consider the needs of young people who are placed at a higher risk for suicide, nor does statute require explicit suicide awareness and prevention education for students. House Bill 224 would help address these gaps. The Trevor Project found that in 2022, an alarming 43% of LGBTQ+ young people seriously considered suicide in Virginia. LGBTQ+ youth are not inherently prone to suicide. Rather, they are placed at higher risk because of how they are mistreated and stigmatized in society and at school, as emphasized through the minority stress hypothesis. The minority stress hypothesis posits that minority groups, such as LGBTQ+ young people and especially LGBTQ young people of color, experience stress stemming from experiences of stigma and discrimination, which in turn places them at risk for a number of negative physical and mental health outcomes. Young LGBTQ+ Virginians in K-12 schools today are experiencing a tremendous amount of anxiety due to anti-LGBTQ+ policy introduced in the General Assembly and local school boards. There is a sense of not feeling safe. This increased sense of animosity toward this already vulnerable population is even affecting those living in school districts where anti-LGBTQ+ policy isn’t on the table. By ensuring that school professionals are adequately trained to meet the needs of all students and provide explicit instruction on suicide prevention, the Virginia legislature will make key advancements needed to address the ongoing youth mental health crisis. It is with those reasons that we strongly encourage the subcommittee to report House Bill 224 to the full committee. Thank you.

HB224 takes an important step in addressing our mental health crisis. Today's children and youth are experiencing mental health challenges and crises more than ever before. In addition to addressing the need for students to have age appropriate instruction on mental health, it is vital that teachers have training in mental health, particularly the warning signs of severe depression and suicidal ideation.

As a grandparent of a trans gender 15 year old youth and a 13 year old both of whom have severe mental health issues that presently prevent them from even attending public school the Commonwealth needs to do more to address the severity of this crisis We have come a long way re our treatment of all children and youth but more needs to be done in order to support the professionals, adults and yes these youth through better training and awareness

I strongly support HB 224, introduced by Delegate Henson, which aims at risk reduction policies to address the mental health crisis impacting the youth of Virginia. In 2023 the CDC found that adolescents in Virginia are considering suicide at the highest rate in a decade. As someone who has experienced suicidal ideation since middle school and who, in my work at a hospital, witnesses many people admitted to the hospital after suicide attempts, I believe in the importance of education for the communities around individuals who are at increased risk of committing suicide, in addition to the individuals themselves. No one thing prevented me from committing suicide. For me, I was fortunate to be taken to a mental health counselor, to have a mom who could take me to work with her, to have multiple teachers who were supportive when I missed school, to have a close group of friends. Encoding a policy that would establish a conversation around best practices for suicide prevention and mental health support for youth is an important step in fostering schools that are proactive to the needs of youth.

"This bill would require public schools to expand and implement curriculum for a mental wellness/suicide prevention program for students, and would institute training requirements for school personnel around youth mental health awareness." Dear Members of the Virginia General Assembly, Our young people are our future. We must invest in their education as well as in mental and emotional health. Over my 36 years, I have visited 4 of my high school students confined to psychiatric hospitals who had attempted suicide. With your support of this bill, hopefully we will address issues gnawing at our youth so that they have supportive, trained staff to listen to them. Being proactive, hopefully, will reduce teen suicide rates and attempts at suicide. I suspect that these mental health program offerings at our public school will have a "halo" effect at every school: we all face challenges and heartache--but we are never alone, never have to result to suicide or other forms of violence against ourselves or against others at school or in the community. In contrast, we have supportive programs at our schools. Again, youth are our future. We want healthy and strong young people in mind, spirit, and body to be ready take up the reins and responsibilities of our Commonwealth after us. Thanking you for your time, service, and consideration, Sincerely, Robert L. Oliver Williamsburg, VA

seconding what my family and friends have said and taught me as we examine these bills together- 134- YES 214- YES 224- YES 253- YES 386- YES 398- YES 497- YES 498- YES 603- YES 686- YES 732- YES

134- YES to fentanyl training to save lives and decrease stigma. It is overdue 214- YES 224- YES 253- YES civic engagement encouraged 386- YES 398- YES incredible practice to prevent punishment and foster healthy development 497- YES 498- YES 603- YES 686- YES 732- YES Nalaxone critical and life saving

134- YES to fentanyl training to save lives and decrease stigma 214- YES increase safety and change culture 224- YES to save lives with training 253- YES students' voices are critical and will teach power of speaking up for themselves 386- YES 398- YES restorative justice changes lives and prevents school to prison pipeline. Lynchburg has found restorative practices to be so impactful that a federal grant was just awarded almost 1M to continue 497- YES SAVE LIVES 498 YES save lives 603 YES save lives reduce stigma 686 YES 732 YES save lives