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WNIJ's summary of news items around our state.

Students Could See New Disclosure Form To Sign Before College

Flickr user Jim Bowen / "Illinois State Capitol" (CC BY 2.0)

Illinois students could see a new form to sign when they start college -- one that would allow mental health information to be disclosed to their parents.

Michael Predmore knew his son Chris was going through a tough time. But he didn’t know Chris tried to kill himself months before he died from suicide.

Chris Predmore’s counselor at Illinois State University knew, but wasn’t able to let his parents know because of privacy laws.

Michael Predmore says knowing could have made all the difference -- he could have done something to help his son.

"We had no idea how depressed he was,” Predmore said. “If you knew him, smile on his face, the jokester. I mean, he could get himself into trouble by joking around, get himself out of trouble by joking around."

A proposal awaiting the governor’s signature would allow universities to notify emergency contacts about a student's mental health. Counselors would only notify parents if they thought the student could cause harm to himself or others.

The measure has made it through both the House and the Senate, and now heads to the governor.

Lisa Ryan is a graduate student in the public affairs reporting program at the University of Illinois at Springfield. She previously worked at Indiana Public Radio and the college radio station founded by David Letterman. She is a 2014 broadcast journalism and political science graduate of Ball State University.