Maryland – “There is a growing movement across the country to take mental health seriously,” said Senator Muse.
Maryland state legislators are also joining in, introducing Senate Bill 567. The bill would ensure that college students are reimbursed for tuition and fees paid for a given semester due to mental health-related concerns. “We don’t want to push people with mental illness off a cliff,” said Sen. Muse.
Senate Bill 567 is also known as the Cameron-Carden Act of 2024. Carden was a student at Salisbury University but had to drop out due to mental health issues.
The bill’s sponsor, Sen. C. Anthony Muse, said each public higher education institution would be required to adopt a policy that allows students to withdraw from courses under certain circumstances. “We have put in place an infrastructure of psychologists and psychiatrists who take various steps to reach a consensus on whether a student should be absent or not,” he said.
Heather Brown, a chartered associate professor of psychology under the supervision of Dr. Samantha Scott, said it’s important for students to view that period as a critical point in their potentially difficult adulthood. “Stress can also be caused by the course load students are taking, balancing work and school, and even the general transition of leaving home,” she says. “The more stress you have, the more likely it is that if you have a mental health disorder, that’s when it really starts to manifest itself.”
Dr. Brown added that if these concerns are ignored, they can lead to potentially dangerous consequences. “We don’t want people to end up in a situation where they’re suicidal, they drink alcohol, they use other bad coping mechanisms and they end up being kicked out or it affects them for the rest of their lives.” “No,” she says.
Sen. Muse said this bill is actually the third time it has been introduced, but he believes with the support of stakeholders and Governor Wes Moore, it can get to the finish line.
Senator Muse, none of us oppose this bill at this time. The bill is currently before the Senate Education, Energy, and Environment Committee.
