House Bill 172, which is currently in the Ohio House Health Committee, would repeal an Ohio law that allows minors older than 14 to receive up to six sessions of mental health services without parental consent.
Under law, the minor’s guardians should only be informed if the professional “determines that there is a compelling need for disclosure based on a substantial probability of harm to the minor or to other persons.”
Springfield High School students Jack Hill, Usayd Ashraf and Emerson Babian, as well as BATS president from Miami Valley School Mary Cunningham, testified before the Health Committee against the bill.
Bill ‘makes a dangerously false assumption,’ student says
Babian, vice president of BATS, testified that the bill is an obstacle to mental health access, something he said should be a priority for youth.
“It is our understanding that HB 172 would attempt to create a stronger connection between a child and their parent by requiring parental consent for a child to receive mental health services in emergency situations,” Babian said. “We sympathize with the ultimate goal of this bill: To create strong familial connections. That is a key ingredient in a successful society. However, the approach that HB 172 takes to achieve this common goal is (1) assumptive and (2) backwards.”
With no exception for emergency mental health care without parental consent, Babian said the bill “makes a dangerously false assumption” that every child in Ohio has a parent or guardian to whom they can go.
“A parent that isn’t abusive, a parent that isn’t addicted to drugs or alcohol, a parent that doesn’t neglect the current mental health norms,” Babian said. “When I say that assumption is dangerously false, I don’t say that as an opinion.”
Babian cited a Clark County youth behavior risk survey that found 28% of high schoolers lived with a parent with alcohol or drug problems and 42% had “rarely or never had” a caring adult to go to about their feelings.
“This bill would force over ¼ of our students to go to a potentially unstable adult before being able to receive emergency care,” Babian said.
Credit: Jessica Orozco
Credit: Jessica Orozco
‘For some students, requiring parental consent doesn’t help them; it traps them’
Ashraf, a Springfield High junior, shared with city commissioners and during his statehouse testimony a story about a student being caught vaping in a bathroom. The student was sent to the office, where his mother was waiting and said she had told him “not to bring that to school today.”
“The reason for sharing this story is to admit something that is sort of taboo or we as a society do not like to admit; sometimes the parent is part of the problem. Parents have one of, if not, the largest influence on a kid’s life, so when a parent is normalizing, encouraging, or replying with frustration instead of genuine concern to a problem, you can’t expect that student to go home and ask them for permission to get mental health help,” Ashraf said. “In fact, when that kid does not have the option to speak with a mental health professional because of their parents, they turn to the only coping mechanism they have: pills, substances, skipping school or even hurting themselves.”
Some parents may not take mental health seriously and may become angry at the subject due to factors like their own mental health, cultural background and stigma, Ashraf said.
“In the case like I just shared, it could encourage the behaviors we are trying to prevent. For some students, requiring parental consent doesn’t help them; it traps them,” he said. “This event of bad parental influence isn’t a rare case. Thousands of kids are dealing with this very reality, where their parents minimize their struggles or don’t allow their children to seek the help that they truly need.”
The Ohio law allowing the limited sessions without parental consent is a “safety net” many kids rely on, Ashraf said, and the bill would remove that.
Springfield Mayor Rob Rue said during the commission meeting that his gut reaction would have been to support the bill, but the students’ presentation changed his mind.
“Can I be transparent with you? This is probably something that I would be pretty resistant to, just going to be honest. Until I heard your compelling argument,” Rue said. “I really have to think that every not family’s like my family. It would devastate me that one of my kids would seek mental health [care] without me knowing because I’m for mental health and I want them to be in counseling if they need it, but I know I’m not normal when it comes to a lot of students and their families that they encounter.”
Commissioner Krystal Brown, who is also supervisor of student support services at Springfield City School District, said during the commission meeting that in her experience, she has seen the impact of harm being done to children in the home.
“It seems it would be unreasonable to think that their parent would be OK with them going out and sharing this information about the harm that’s being caused or the trauma that’s constantly going on at home,” Brown said.
Brown also said she feels this mental health therapy without parental consent is being lumped in with the idea that kids will get “some other sort of medical procedure” without parental knowledge. She emphasized that these are “two very vastly different things.”
Bill would remove confusion for schools, lawmaker says
Bill sponsor Rep. Johnathan Newman, R-Troy, previously said he could not imagine any scenario in which he’d be uncomfortable with the state barring a minor from receiving mental health care without parental consent and that the contents of this bill should have been passed last year when the “Parents Bill of Rights” was approved.
Newman testified when he introduced the bill that it would remove confusion with schools, saying if the law remains, " it would confuse schools making them think they should promote children keeping knowledge of mental health treatment from their parents." He said this directly contradicts the “Parents Bill of Rights.”
He said parents should know about and authorize all mental health treatment for their children and that asking a child dealing with a mental health problem if they’d like their parents to know about their forthcoming treatment “is wrong.”
If a school administrator or mental health professional suspects abuse of neglect from parent to child, Newman said law enforcement must be contacted, per state law.
Newman did not return a request for comment in time for publication for this story.
Current law ‘undermines parents as primary caregivers’
Kathy Boff, volunteer with grassroots organization Protect Ohio Children, previously testified that the bill would close “a dangerous loophole and aligns Ohio’s laws with family-driven care.” She said the current law “undermines parents as primary caregivers” and expressed concerns about a lack of data on its use, outcomes and impacts, “leaving a significant gap in oversight.”
Boff addressed what she called “valid concerns” about the law protecting “at-risk youth,” but said state law has emergency provisions and safeguards for reporting abuse.
“Parental involvement is proven to improve mental health outcomes for minors, aligning with Ohio’s family-centric values,” Boff said.
BATS representatives urged those opposed to the bill to contact their statehouse representatives.
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