An Act To Implement the Recommendations of the Legislative Youth Advisory Council
Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 0751
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Amends: 3 MRSA §168-A

12lst MAINE LEGISLATURE 
Legislative Document 
No. 751 
H.P.557 
House of Representatives, February 14,2003 
An Act To Implement the Recommendations of the Legislative 
Youth Advisory Council 
(EMERGENCY) 
Reported by Representative PARADIS of Frenchville for the Legislative Youth Advisory 
Council pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 3, section 168-A. 
Reference to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs suggested and ordered 
printed under Joint Rule 218. 
Printed on recycled paper 
/Jf~ 
/J7.1JJIJC~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Emergency preamble. Whereas. Acts of the Legislature do not 
become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted 
as emergencies: and 
Whereas. the changes in legislative representation on the 
Legislative Youth Advisory Council must be made at the earliest 
opportunity: and 
Whereas, the realignment and coordination of the terms of 
the youth members of the Legislative Youth Advisory Council must 
happen immediately: and 
Whereas. the tasks assigned to agencies of state government 
in this Act must begin immediately in order to allow those tasks 
to be completed this year: and 
Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts 
create an emergency wi thin the meaning of the Constitution of 
Maine 
and 
require 
the 
following 
legislation 
as 
immediately 
necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and 
safety: now, therefore, 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 3 MRSA §168-A, sub-§3. as enacted by PL 200L c. 439, 
Pt. pppp, §1 and affected by §4, is amended to read: 
3. 
Membership. 
The 
council 
consists 
of 
;n 
voting 
members 
and 
nonvoting 
members 
who 
are 
Maine 
residents 
in 
accordance with this subsection. 
In appointing members, 
the 
appointing authorities shall consider geographic distribution and 
shall appoint at least one member from each of the 3 service 
regions of the Department of Human Services. 
Members shall serve 
for terms of 2 years and, if eligible, may be reappointed for 
subsequent 2-year terms, except that the appointing author i ties 
shall appoint 1/2 of the members first appointed to the council 
to terms of one year. 
A. 
The President of the Senate shall appoint ±G 11 members 
as follows: 
(1) 
Six youths who are students in secondary schools 
or 
who 
are 
enrolled 
in 
programs 
that 
lead 
to 
a 
secondary school diploma or certificate of attendance 
or a general equivalency diploma: 
(2) 
One 
youth 
who 
instruction 
program 
subchapter ~-A 1-A: 
is 
under 
enrolled 
in 
Title 
20-A, 
an 
equivalent 
chapter 
21L 
} 
(3) 
Two 
students 
at 
postsecondary 
educational 
institutions located in the State; and 
(4) 
GBe-.ffiefllBe£ Two members of the Senate whose tenl 
eeiBeiees terms coincide with the term of office in the 
Senate. 
B. 
The Speaker of the House shall appoint 11 members as 
follows: 
(1) 
Six youths who are students in secondary schools 
or 
who 
are 
enrolled 
in 
programs 
that 
lead 
to 
a 
secondary school diploma or certificate of attendance 
or a general equivalency diploma; 
(2) 
One 
youth 
who 
instruction program 
subchapter ~-A I-A; 
is 
under 
enrolled 
in 
Ti tle 
20-A, 
(3) 
Two 
students 
at 
postsecondary 
institutions located within the State; and 
an 
equivalent 
chapter 
211, 
educational 
(4) 
Two members of the House of Representatives whose 
terms coincide with their terms of office in the House 
of Representatives. 
C. 
The 
members 
of 
the 
Children's 
Cabinet, 
established 
pursuant to Title 5, section 19131, serve ex officio and may 
not vote. 
Sec. 2. 3 MRSA ~168-A~ sub-§4. 
Pt. PPPP, §1 and affected by §4, 
enacted in its place: 
as enacted by PL 2001, c. 439, 
is repealed and the fOllowing 
4. 
Chairs. 
There is a legislative chair and a youth chair 
of the council. 
The legislative chair alternates every 2 years 
between 
the 
first-appointed 
member 
of 
the 
House 
of 
Representatives 
and the first-appointed member of the Senate, 
beginning in 2003 with the first-appointed member of the House of 
Representatives serving as the legislative chair for the 121st 
Legislature. 
The members shall elect one of their youth members 
to serve as the youth chair for a term of one year. 
Sec. 3. Coordinating terms of current youth members of Legislative 
Youth Advisory Council. 
Notwithstanding the provlslons of the 
Maine Revised Statutes, Title 3, section 168-A, the terms of the 
appointed youth members of the Legislative Youth Advisory Council 
expire on the following dates: 
1. 
Members 
whose 
terms 
expire 
on 
August 
30, 
2003 
are 
William Barker, Trevor Bragdon, Paul Brunetti, Elizabeth Comeau, 
David Heidrich, Barrett Littlefield, Melissa Simones and Alicia 
Stokes; and 
2. 
Members whose terms expire on August 30, 2004 are Molly 
Feeney, 
Keith Rollings, 
Megan Bernard, 
Britney Dupee, 
William 
Lane, Hannah Pennington, Brenwin Soucie and Nathanael Yellis. 
The terms of persons appointed to replace the 2 vacancies on 
the council that existed as of January 23, 2003 expire on August 
30,2004. 
Sec. 
4. 
Executive 
Branch 
youth 
advisory 
committee. 
The 
Commissioner 
of 
Director of the 
of 
Behavioral 
recommendations 
Education, 
the 
Secretary 
of 
State 
and 
the 
Office of Substance Abuse within the Department 
and 
Developmental 
Services 
shall 
develop 
for 
the 
establishment 
of 
a 
permanent 
youth 
advisory committee within the Executive Branch to serve as 
a 
resource 
for 
any 
state 
agency 
charged 
with 
developing, 
implementing or enforcing programs, policies or laws that apply 
specifically 
to 
youth. 
The 
Commissioner 
of 
Education, 
the 
Secretary of State and the Director of the Office of Substance 
Abuse shall report those recommendations to the Legislative Youth 
Advisory Council, 
established in the 
Maine 
Revised Statutes, 
Title 3, section 168-A. in the fall' of 2003. 
Sec. 5. Office of Substance Abuse. 
The Director uf the Off ice 
of 
Substance 
Abuse 
within 
the 
Department 
of 
Behavioral 
and 
Developmental Services shall: 
1. Review the procedures used by the Office of Substance 
Abuse for collecting information on drug and alcohol use among 
youth, including a review of Washington State's "Healthy Youth 
Survey," 
and 
report 
back 
to 
the 
Legislative 
Youth 
Advisory 
Council, established in the Maine Revised Statutes, 
Title 3. 
section 168-A, in the fall of 2003 with recommendations on the 
following issues: 
A. 
Options to the existing Maine Youth Drug and Alcohol Use 
Survey tool that include a more appropriate survey tool and 
a 
methodology 
based 
on 
random 
sampling 
that 
provides 
statistically valid data at the state level 
and within 
participating local school districts; and 
B. 
Expanding the target population of the survey to include 
not only students who attend school but also home-schooled 
students and youth who attend school infrequently or have 
dropped out of school; and 
,~ 
\ 
2. 
Review procedures used by the Office of Substance Abuse 
for 
awarding grants for youth-related drug 
and alcohol 
abuse 
prevention programs and services to ensure that those grants are 
being awarded to programs with the highest demonstrated level of 
effectiveness and in those areas of the State having the highest 
demonstrated need. 
The director shall report the findings of 
that 
review 
to 
the 
Legislative 
Youth 
Advisory 
Council, 
established in the 
Maine 
Revised Statutes, 
Title 
3, 
section 
168-A, in the fall of 2003. 
Sec. 6. Office of Substance Abuse and Department of Education~ 
review of survey support. 
The Director of the Office of Substance 
Abuse 
within 
the 
Department 
of 
Behavioral 
and 
Developmental 
Services shall review the off ice's procedures for prepar ing and 
training teachers and others who administer the Maine Youth Drug 
and Alcohol Use Survey in the schools to ensure that all persons 
administering the survey are adequately prepared to perform that 
task. 
The Director of the Off ice of Substance Abuse and the 
Commissioner of Education shall, in coordination with appropriate 
representatives of local school districts, develop a plan for 
training and coordinating the administration of the 2004 Maine 
Youth Drug and Alcohol Use Survey, or any successor survey, and 
present that plan to the Legislative Youth Advisory Council, 
established in the 
Maine 
Revised Statutes, Title 
3, 
section 
168-A, in the fall of 2003. 
Sec. 7. Department of Education. 
The Commissioner of Education 
shall 
review 
the 
Project 
ALERT 
program 
and 
other 
similar 
prevention programs and prepare recommendations on the viability 
of 
those 
programs 
as 
options 
to 
the 
Drug 
Abuse 
Resistance 
Education, 
DARE, 
program in Maine 
schools. 
The 
commissioner 
shall 
include 
a 
teacher 
training 
program 
as 
part 
of 
any 
recommended 
option 
considered 
by 
the 
department. 
Options 
recommended by the commissioner must be available statewide and 
available 
through 
the 
system 
of 
learning 
results 
as 
an 
alternative to the DARE program offered through the Maine State 
Police. 
The commiss ioner shall present those recommendations to 
the Legislative Youth Advisory Council, established in the Maine 
Revised Statutes, Title 3, section 168-A, in the fall of 2003. 
Sec. 8. Review of Content Standards in system of learning results. 
As part of the review of the content standards and performance 
indicators required under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, 
section 6209, subsection 4, the Commissioner of Education shall 
determine whether the content standards pertaining to health and 
physical 
education 
adequately 
incorporate 
the 
principles 
and 
goals of the alcohol and drug use policies for student athletes 
as 
proposed 
in 
the 
2002 
report 
by 
the 
Youth 
Policy 
and 
Empowerment Project. 
The commissioner shall propose changes to 
those 
content 
standards 
if the commissioner determines as a result of that review that 
the 
content 
standards 
do 
not 
adequately 
incorporate 
those 
principles and goals. The commissioner shall present the results 
of that review and those recommendations to the Legislative Youth 
Advisory 
Council, 
established 
in 
Title 
3, 
section 
168-A, 
following the completion of that review. 
Emergency clause. 
In view of the emergency cited in the 
preamble, this Act takes effect when approved. 
SUMMARY 
This bill implements the recommendations of the Legislative 
Youth Advisory Council. 
The bill: 
1. 
Requires the Commissioner of Education, the Secretary of 
State and the Director of the Office of Substance Abuse within 
the 
Department 
of 
Behavioral 
and 
Developmental 
Services 
to 
develop 
recommendations 
for 
the establishment of 
a 
permanent 
youth advisory committee within the Executive Branch to serve as 
a 
resource 
for 
any 
state 
agency 
charged 
with 
developing, 
implementing or enforcing programs, policies or laws that apply 
specifically to youth; 
2. 
Requires the Director of the Office of Substance Abuse 
to 
review the 
procedures 
used 
by 
the 
office 
for 
collecting 
information on drug and alcohol use 
among youth, 
including a 
review of 
Washington State's 
"Healthy Youth 
Survey," 
and 
to 
report back to the Legislative Youth Advisory Council on options 
to the existing Maine Youth Drug and Alcohol Use Survey tool that 
include a more appropriate survey tool and a methodology based on 
random sampling that provides statistically valid data at the 
state level and wi thin participating local school districts and 
expanding the target population of the survey to include not only 
students who attend school but also home-schooled students and 
youth who 
attend school infrequently or have 
dropped out of 
school. 
3. 
Requires the Director of the Office of Substance Abuse 
to review procedures used by the office for awarding grants for 
youth-related drug 
and 
alcohol 
abuse prevention programs 
and 
services 
to 
ensure 
that 
those 
grants 
are 
being 
awarded 
to 
programs with the highest demonstrated level of effectiveness and 
in those areas of the State having the highest demonstrated need; 
4. Requires the Director of the Office of Substance Abuse 
and 
the 
Commissioner 
of 
Education 
to 
review 
and 
report 
on 
procedures for preparing and training teachers and others who 
administer the Maine Youth Drug and Alcohol Use Survey l.n the 
schools to ensure that all persons administering the survey are 
adequately prepared to perform that task; 
5. 
Requires 
the Commissioner of Education to 
review the 
Project ALERT program and other similar prevention programs and 
prepare recommendations on the viability of those programs as 
options to the Drug Abuse Resistance Education, DARE, program in 
Maine schools; 
6. Requires the Commissioner of Education, as part of the 
required review of content standards and performance indicators 
under the system of learning results, to determine whether the 
content standards pertaining to health and physical education 
adequately incorporate the principles and goals of the alcohol 
and drug use policies for student athletes as proposed in the 
2002 report by the Youth Policy and Empowerment Project; 
7. 
Adds 
a 
2nd 
Senate 
member 
to 
the 
Legislative 
Youth 
Advisory 
Council 
and 
provides 
for 
the 
legislative 
chair 
to 
alternate every 2 years between the first-appointed House member 
and the first-appointed Senate member; and 
8. 
Adjusts 
the 
terms 
provide greater consistency 
appointment process. 
of 
the existing youth 
members 
in membership and simplicity in 
to 
the