Congress takes action to provide more mental health services at schools. Is it enough?

Congress takes action to provide more mental health services at schools. Is it enough?

Posted on September 26, 2022

CA: Suicide ideation

According to the NAMI, nearly 20% of high school students report serious thoughts about suicide and 9% report a suicide attempt. The goal is to bring more staffing into schools for kids in crisis and the need is dire for school psychologists alone. A big question remains – does funding solve the immediate problem? The answer, according to Hannah Wesolowski, NAMI CAO, is complicated. While the funding represents a ten-fold increase from past investments, Wesolowski said, the need that currently exists is unprecedented. Innovative ideas may be needed to scale up the workforce in the short-term including training non-professionals to deal with mental health issues. "I think we also need to consider other para-professionals who can fill the gap," Wesolowski said. “How can we provide better training to all school personnel? All teachers and school personnel should receive more training to be aware." Wesolowski also said loan forgiveness and repayment may help increase the potential workforce.