Story at a glance
- A report released Wednesday found that all 50 states could do more to equip schools with mental health services and education for students.
- Data shows a growing mental health crisis among the country’s young people, stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The report card graded each state on eight different policy areas meant to help students’ mental health .
All 50 states could be doing more to help schools better address mental health concerns among students, a new report found.
Adolescents and teenagers are particularly vulnerable to mental health issues as they grapple with all the complexities of becoming a fully fledged adult, and data shows that an increasing number of young people are struggling with feelings of sadness or hopelessness.
The study released Wednesday by The Hopeful Futures Campaign, a coalition of organizations promoting mental health support in schools, grades states on eight policy areas meant to help students’ mental health. Those areas include teacher and staff training, mental health education and ratios of school mental health providers to students.
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Only Idaho and D.C. exceeded the nationally recommended ratio of one school psychologist for every 500 students, according to the “report card,” while West Virginia, Missouri, Texas, Alaska and Georgia had shockingly low ratios at only one school psychologist for more than 4,000 students.
Several states including Idaho, Minnesota, California and North Dakota have taken positive steps toward bolstering school mental health, but all states showed gaps in their efforts.
“Establishing the right policies is an important first step, but ensuring that each student, teacher, and staff member inside a school system has access to the care they need will require adequate and sustainable sources of funding, technical assistance, and more,” said Angela Kimball, senior vice president for advocacy and policy at Inseperable, the organization that spearheaded the report.
“This report card is a dynamic tool meant to shed light on each state’s accomplishments and gaps, and to provide students, advocates, legislators, and allies a roadmap for making progress on school mental health in their state,” Kimball added.
According to a 2019 study, about 7.7 million children in the United States had a diagnosable mental health condition, and out of those children, roughly half did not receive treatment or counseling from a mental health care provider. By 2018, suicide became the second leading cause of death for people ages 10 to 24, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The loss of family members, financial stability and routine due to the COVID-19 pandemic has caused or worsened mental health conditions for many.
A national poll of nearly 1,000 parents found that close to half reported their children were experiencing new or worsening mental health conditions since the pandemic began.
That uptick prompted the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the Children’s Hospital Association to issue a joint statement last fall declaring a national emergency. The U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy also issued an advisory on the youth mental health crises stemming from the pandemic.
“Mental health challenges in children, adolescents, and young adults are real and widespread. Even before the pandemic, an alarming number of young people struggled with feelings of helplessness, depression, and thoughts of suicide — and rates have increased over the past decade.” said Murthy in a statement after releasing the advisory. “The COVID-19 pandemic further altered their experiences at home, school, and in the community, and the effect on their mental health has been devastating. The future wellbeing of our country depends on how we support and invest in the next generation.”
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