Bipartisan Mental Health Services for Students Act Reintroduced Thursday

(KNSI) — The Mental Health Services for Students Act is being reintroduced on Capitol Hill today with a bipartisan hearing to discuss the causes of the student mental health crisis and explore solutions.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2021, four in ten students identified as feeling persistently sad or hopeless, and nearly a third said they have “poor mental health,” but only 10% are receiving professional treatment. The bill aims to strengthen school based mental health services for students in grades K through 12 by partnering with local mental health providers. U.S. Senator Tina Smith, (D-MN) who authored the bill and sits on the Senate Health Committee, tells KNSI News many schools already do this, and in fact, St. Cloud, Sartell St. Stephen and Sauk Rapids-Rice have advocacy and student to student programs available.

Smith adds, “We know that schools are great places for young people to get access to care. Where there is access to care in schools, it’s working. And it’s also a great way to help reduce the stigma and the shame and the fear, and also just practical barriers that keep young people from getting help.”

The bill asks districts to apply for a grant and put it toward the exact mental health support services needed in that district.

Smith gave an example of one Minnesota school district with one mental health specialist across five buildings. So that meant only one day a week there was somebody at the school, but with the funding they can get under the bill, they have the resources to support a full time specialist in each building. “A student who’s not feeling well and goes into the school nurse, and then the school nurse says, ‘Hey, maybe you should go and talk to this person,’ and they’re able to get the help when they present with the need, which is so much better for people than saying, ‘I can see you a week from Wednesday.’ That just doesn’t work. It just does not work.”

The bill also looks at providing support to schools to help do more training for adults. “Both educators and also giving information to families so that they can identify students, or family members that might need help that they can’t see right away,” says Smith. “This is something I’ve heard about from a lot of parents who will say, ‘Gosh, I didn’t realize that my teenager was really struggling. I thought that maybe they were having a bad day here or there, but I didn’t realize that it was as serious as it was.’ and so that kind of training can really help adults as well as students.”

She says having those services available at schools is important because that’s where students spend so much of their day, and early intervention is key so kids can learn coping skills to help with depression and anxiety before they evolve into behavior issues. Parents are also part of the solution. “It’s done with the parents understanding. It’s not like it’s happening behind the backs of parents, which I think is important for parents to know, too.”

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