Key points:
Between March 2020 and March 2021, America's K-12 schools received an unprecedented influx of federal aid, totaling $190 billion. The funding was aimed at helping students recover academically and emotionally from the pandemic. School districts across the country have used these grants to hire counselors, social workers, psychologists and other health care providers. In theory, this should have been revolutionary. But the available workforce was not large enough to meet demand, and traditionally underserved rural areas bore the brunt of these shortages.
The federal government has deployed follow-on funding as needed to increase the workforce of health care providers. As these funding opportunities end, many school districts are still struggling to adequately address the mental health needs of their students.
According to the CDC, more than one in three high school students have experienced poor mental health during the pandemic, but the percentage of U.S. students struggling with these issues was actually increasing even before COVID-19. The disruption to students' schooling and development due to the pandemic has further exacerbated mental health issues, worsening anxiety, depression and behavioral problems. As funding like ESSER ends, schools that could have expanded their treatment teams or introduced new mental wellbeing initiatives now face a funding cliff. The impact of this is predictable. Students will suffer as staff and programs are cut. To solve this problem, the American education system must find alternative solutions.
Expand beyond traditional approaches
Counselors, social workers, and school psychologists are some of the most influential frontline resources available to support students’ mental health. However, these professionals face enormous workloads and demands that go beyond their normal scope. For example, a 2020 survey of 7,000 school counselors found that many have had to serve as substitute teachers, take temperatures and perform other duties due to the COVID-19 crisis. Improving mental health support for students requires expanding narrow perceptions of what treatment looks like.
Beyond traditional Western medicine approaches, districts should consider adopting solutions such as peer-to-peer counseling, where trained students can meet to support each other and address personal, social, or emotional concerns. Peer-to-peer counseling supports students to become stakeholders in their mental health while providing benefits such as cultural relevance, early intervention, crisis prevention, and social-emotional skill development. This effective strategy is strongly advocated by California's Children Trust, which has worked tirelessly over the past several years to ensure that peer-to-peer assistance is reimbursed for California schools through Medi-Cal, the state's Medicaid program.
Additionally, utilizing community-based collaborative care models can further strengthen mental health resources in school systems. This type of approach is not intended to replace the role of trained mental health professionals, but can provide Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) tiers 1 and 2 for large student populations. This kind of effective initiative might look like inviting proven community leaders to provide culturally relevant support. This is a resource that schools often lack. When combined with other solutions, community-based treatment approaches can play a key role in improving students’ mental health.
embrace technology
While face-to-face methods such as professional counseling, peer-to-peer programs, and community-based collaborative care models offer numerous benefits, immediate and ready solutions exist that can effectively address the gap in mental health resources for K-12. : Digital mental health product.
Technology is accessible, easily complementary to health care providers, and dozens of products that are culturally competent and evidence-based are being successfully utilized in school districts. These digital products can complement in-school health care providers with access to care planning and telehealth, assessment tools, screening, tracking, and prevention technologies that provide education, awareness, peer support, and other non-clinical approaches.
Effective technology solutions exist, but most schools face barriers to adopting and leveraging them. Figuring out how to fund product implementation, choosing a trustworthy product, and understanding exactly what types of student mental health issues need to be addressed are common obstacles for school systems.
Proper resource allocation can help ensure a brighter future
There are currently several technology products focused on mental health, but investment in this type of innovation is still lacking. As federal funding dries up, large VC-backed companies that had not previously worked in the education sector are beginning to enter the field, and often these companies are driven by interests that do not meet the needs of the students for which they are intended. To serve.
The key to supporting school systems, and ultimately students, is to harness the power of culturally competent, age-appropriate solutions developed by entrepreneurs with lived experience, while supporting school systems by helping them identify, adopt, and leverage these innovative products. It will.