Education Has a Three-Headed Crisis. Mental Health Is Only Part of It.
EdSurge story cites the NASBE State Policy Database on School Health.
There has been some progress. Sixteen states have adopted laws limiting or prohibiting suspension and expulsion in early grades. And preschool classrooms with behavioral consultation services, such as Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (IECMHC), have recorded significantly lower expulsion rates. IECMHC has been shown to improve children’s social skills and emotional functioning; promote healthy relationships; reduce challenging behaviors; reduce the number of suspensions and expulsions; improve classroom quality; and reduce provider stress, burnout and turnover.
Funding for mental health consultation and support is on the rise, but only meets a fraction of today’s needs. It should become the norm.
There is little data on the number of “trauma-sensitive classrooms” in the U.S. What we know is that states with trauma-informed policies in PK-12 have grown from nine in 2017 to 30 in 2019, and the NASBE state policy database is tracking 40 states that offer trauma-informed professional development in 2021.
Read the full article in EdSurge.
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