Journalist: Cole Norrid (SE)
A bill regarding childhood mental health and abuse prevention was introduced to the Senate yesterday by Sen. Avens from the University of Oklahoma and subsequently failed with a crushing 1-15 vote. The bill text mandates that all physicians must administer the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) test to any of their patients that are between the ages of eight and eighteen years of age, with provisions stating the guardians of the patient may not object to the test or be present when it is administered. The bill also states that physicians must follow mandatory reporting procedures and “take prudent steps to benefit physical and mental health.”
When questioned about the bill, Sen. Baker from East Central University had mixed feelings. “I agree with the heart of the bill,” Baker said. Though he agreed with the intention, Sen. Baker took issue with the ACE test. The ACE test is a ten question cognitive evaluation that scores the test taker according to their answers to determine how much abuse and or neglect they experienced before their eighteenth birthday. OU-001 had a provision stating that scoring a four or higher would be enough to prompt action from the physician.
Although the test is designed to be taken by adults with the benefit of hindsight and is phrased in the past tense, OU-001 intended for the test to be administered only to people under the age of eighteen. Sen. Baker, and evidently several others, took issue with this apparent contradiction, which contributed to the bill’s failure to pass. Sen. Baker repeatedly praised the idea and intention of the bill, however. “If she came back with a similar bill but a different test, I would vote for it,” he said. As of now, it is unclear if a rewritten version of this bill will be brought in the future.