Tackling the ‘second pandemic’ in schools

Key Takeaways

A top official in the Department of Education is advising counties to “be bold and creative” when it comes to finding ways to help youth in their communities who are facing mental health challenges.

“We’re seeing a 25 percent increase in emergency room visits across the country for student mental health issues,” Nick Simmons, a senior advisor at the Department of Education told county officials Feb. 14, during a workshop on “Leveraging Federal Funding to Strengthen Mental Health in Schools.”

“Fifty-three percent of parents reported being concerned or very concerned about their child’s mental health,” he said. “We’re seeing an enormous tragic spike in the dropout rate, which is nearly quadruple from where it was. We’ve been set back decades of work.”

Montgomery County, Md. Councilmember Craig Rice, chair of NACo’s Human Services and Education Policy Steering Committee, led panelists on a discussion about the needs and struggles of our nation’s youth.

“In the midst of the very tumultuous times that we find ourselves in, we realize our children have been facing more than any generation before,” he said.

With historic American Rescue Plan funding, Simmons is especially hopeful that counties will be able to fund the arts, after-school programming, theater and sports as well as hire mental health experts to give students a chance to work through their trauma.

“What we see in the most successful efforts across the country are ones where a district is working very closely with their county and or city level to create a program like this in the short term,” he said.

Onondaga County Executive J. Ryan McMahon, II is well ahead of the curve on tackling mental health issues in his community. He said he recognized the need for addressing the mental health crisis in his schools long before COVID hit.

McMahon saw a sharp increase in mental health-related events as early as 2018, he noted. The county expanded programs to meet the growing needs of the community. As early as 2008, social workers were integrated into public schools, hiring specialists focused on one-on-one interactions with students. They also built mental health clinics for students and their families.

“Whether you’re a working class, suburban district, a rural district or affluent school district, our focus is making sure that every kid gets the services they need to get through this,” said McMahon.

Mary Roche, director of policy at the Institute for Educational Leadership, praised the organization CASEL (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning) for their unique Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) model to educate and assist youth. Roche spoke of five key competencies schools should focus on in the classroom to bolster the resiliency of the young. SEL helps to foster learning and development through:

• self-awareness
• self-management
• social awareness
• relationship skills
• responsible decision-making

Roche also supports the adoption of a community school strategy, where the school district is a hub for the community and many of its resources through the use of a community coordinator. The coordinator completes an analysis of assets and needs for the school and community, working to find partner organizations to bolster the needs of both, building a pipeline of support and funding for critical systems like integrated health clinics, social workers and child psychologists.

County officials who attended the panel discussion asked many questions, looking for examples on how to implement the SEL model, how to tackle drug use and self-medicating youth who lack access to mental health care to funding new initiatives.

“The final word I would leave you all with is to be bold, be creative in this,” Simmons said.

“There’s no need to let ‘perfect’ be the enemy of good and innovative... Our kids are struggling so much, you know that the house is on fire for them. And so, it doesn’t have to be a perfect solution but everybody.”