Biden Administration Pledges $85M to Support Student Mental Health

K-12 Dive writes about federal developments to support student mental health programs and cites NASBE’s April 2021 webinar “Supporting Student Mental Health during the Return to School,” featuring the work of California, Illinois, and Kentucky.

 

Among districts that have detailed plans for this, Chicago Public Schools has announced it will invest $24 million of its federal COVID-19 relief funds over the course of three years to increase the number of behavioral support teams from 200 schools to about 500. The initiative will embed in-school teams of counselors, case managers and social workers to provide a trauma-informed approach to student support and discipline.

Education leaders in a virtual panel organized by the National Association of State Boards of Education in April suggested student mental supports should be prioritized when schools reopen for fall. State leaders should look at existing policies that can be used to assist superintendents and districts as students return to school. Many of those existing initiatives can be expanded in the wake of COVID-19, they say.

The panel also noted partnerships with parents, local universities and other resource centers are key in successfully implementing mental health initiatives.

 

Read more from the K-12 Dive story here.