But time is tight. Compelled to get through all of the day鈥檚 appointments, doctors and nurse practitioners have about 20 minutes to check the physical side of things, but in the rush, questions often go unasked and unanswered.

That鈥檚 where (CHWs) come in. The job varies, and so does the title, but broadly, a CHW is a trusted connector and advocate who supports well-being in their community. Some work for a health care system or clinic, while others work for a school or nonprofit organization. The tools of their trade are cultural competency, a willingness to listen and a knack for building strong relationships.

A by a group at the calls for the integration of CHWs in early childhood well-child care. According to the report, these workers 鈥渙ften live in the community they serve, bringing unique and valuable skills to address health disparities. Their roles include providing culturally appropriate health education, coaching, social support, and direct services, as well as care coordination, case management, and care navigation, among others.鈥� The authors also highlight that 鈥渃ommunity health worker鈥� is an umbrella term that includes a range of roles including 鈥渉ealth advocates, patient navigators, health coaches, and in Spanish 鈥榩romotoras鈥� or 鈥榩romotores de salud.鈥欌�� 

The report shows that an increasing number of hospitals and practices are integrating these workers into well-child care, highlighting evidence that this practice supports young children and families in low-income communities and sharing action steps for pushing this practice forward.

鈥淚f we don’t use this opportunity, then we’re going to pay later,鈥� says the report鈥檚 lead author Dr. Tumaini Rucker Coker, chief of general pediatrics and professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine and Seattle Children鈥檚. She points to a growing body of evidence on the value of community health workers. Coker worked on one , for example, that demonstrated the effectiveness for improving the receipt of preventive care services for families.

Another study she led, involving , points to greater participation in well-child appointments and reduced emergency room visits 鈥� which translates into cost savings. 

鈥淔amilies need to talk with someone about the challenges that they’re facing in parenting,鈥� says Coker. 鈥淭hey might need advice on doing that hard work of parenting. They might need emotional support, but they don’t always want to tell their primary care provider all the struggles that they have, other than 鈥楳y kid has a rash or cold, those kinds of things.鈥欌��

鈥淲e tend to look busy,鈥� she admits.

Community health workers offer support on many other issues that come up related to areas including parenting, eating, sleeping and cognitive development. They can identify developmental delays to help ensure that young children arrive in kindergarten ready to learn. They can connect families to services such as supportive housing. It depends, she says, on the character and capacity of the community.

The CHW role in the 1990s and was related to the treatment of children with asthma, as medical providers realized that having someone evaluate environmental factors in the home could help manage the condition. The COVID-19 pandemic the part community health workers play in keeping families healthy, as they expanded bandwidth to support families as medical offices and hospitals were stretched to capacity. As Coker recalls, 鈥淚t was like, Wow, families really need this. The needs really outstripped the capacity that clinics had.鈥� 

There鈥檚 an ecosystem of national and local organizations and networks focused on community health workers. The , for example, integrates into pediatric primary care teams. These specialists are highly trained and are expected to be conversant in professional practice guidelines, regulations, and laws; to possess a basic vocabulary in medical terminology and relevant diagnoses; and to know about health screens, medical procedures, and referral processes. Meanwhile a  in New Haven, Connecticut combines birth doula training with community health worker instruction.

While training is key for these professionals, Coker contends that the effectiveness of CHWs is not necessarily tied to a specific degree, license or certificate, making the role even more cost-effective than originally envisioned. 鈥淚f we require a level of training and education that鈥檚 too high,鈥� she says, 鈥渢hen it becomes impractical for many communities. It’s not about a license. It’s about that ability to connect with people in the community in a way that builds trust.鈥� 

With 鈥� a model that fosters collaboration across medical practitioners and community partners 鈥� she says, the goal is for 鈥渆veryone to be working to the top of their ability and the top of their training.鈥� 

Even if a community health program is low cost and ultimately saves money for the family and the nation, it鈥檚 still an investment. Community health workers are paid through a range of funding mechanisms, and these days, Medicaid 鈥� 鈥� is . 

Coker explains that while CHWs are increasingly funded through Medicaid, multiple states have amendments that should cover the work even in the event of diminished federal dollars. She says the current situation might compel policymakers to say, 鈥淗ey, let’s be more efficient with the use of our primary care providers, our nurse practitioners, our docs who are more highly specialized than a community health worker.鈥�

Medicaid, she says, has been instrumental in supporting team-based care and community health workers, adding, 鈥淎nd I just hope we don’t go backwards on that.鈥� 

As school districts struggle to control the spread of cyberbullying, pornographic images and online exploitation among their students, Texas lawmakers could consider banning social media from minors, among other sweeping measures, in the upcoming legislative session.

Over the last decade, Texas lawmakers have attempted to slow the spread of social media’s harmful effects by and preventing online platforms from collecting data on minors, the latter of which has faced court challenges by social media companies.

While law enforcement and prosecutors have traditionally been responsible for cracking down on these online dangers, lack of resources in those agencies has meant enforcement has fallen onto educators, who already struggle to meet the demands of instruction, let alone stay knowledgeable on all the ways children use the internet.

Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for 社区黑料 Newsletter

鈥淎lmost every kid comes to school these days, regardless of background, regardless of socioeconomic status, they have some type of smartphone device in their hand. So they will have access to unfettered content most of the time, no matter what we try to do,鈥� said Zeph Capo, president of the Texas American Federation of Teachers.

Lawmakers have suggested several initiatives next session to address the online dangers affecting Texas children, including a filed by Rep. , R-Frisco, that would prohibit minors from creating accounts on social media sites and require age verification for new users. Other include adding funds to internet crimes units in law enforcement agencies, in artificially created pornographic images, and making of the dangers of the internet.

“Social media is the most dangerous thing our kids have legal access to in Texas,” Patterson .

While they welcome any efforts to reduce harm to children, school officials and cybercrime investigators say more needs to be done to hold social media companies accountable for enforcement.

鈥淲e need these businesses to be responsible business people and throttle some of this tremendously negative content, particularly when it comes to kids,鈥� Capo said. 鈥淏ut, you know, they don鈥檛 want to do anything like that.鈥�

Schools are hunting grounds

During a Senate Committee on State Affairs hearing in October, lawmakers listened to a litany of stories about how social media has affected young people in Texas: a middle school girl who developed an eating disorder after watching a TikTok video, a middle school boy addicted to cartoon pornography after his YouTube algorithm took him to a porn site, and a woman who testified to being groomed for sex work in high school as her images were posted on social media applications.

Most of these incidents had a starting point at school where children have frequent access to technology and teachers and administrators are too busy to provide oversight. Add in the fact that they know ways to circumvent campus firewalls, students are being groomed via social media on school grounds, said Jacquelyn Alutto, president of Houston-based No Trafficking Zone, during the hearing.

鈥淩ight now, schools are a hunting ground,鈥� she said.

The Texas Tribune requested interviews with several school districts about online dangers in schools, including the Austin, Round Rock, Katy and Eanes school districts, but they did not respond. The Plano school district declined to be interviewed.

Last year, the American Federation of Teachers and the American Psychological Association, among other national organizations, called out social media platforms for undermining classroom learning, increasing costs for school systems, and being a 鈥渞oot cause鈥� of the nationwide youth mental health crisis. The admonishment came after a detailed how school districts across the country are experiencing significant burdens as they respond to tech鈥檚 predatory and prevalent influence in the classroom.

The same year, in an attempt to hold social media companies more accountable, Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law , known as the Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment Act. The SCOPE Act requires covered digital service providers to provide minors with certain data protections, prevent minors from accessing harmful content, and give parents tools to manage their child鈥檚 use of the service.

It also school districts to obtain parental consent for most software and social media applications used in the classroom and to look for alternatives to the internet for instruction.

However, many of the family-friendly websites and games that children might use for entertainment are also rife with potential sexual predators who pretend to be children.

鈥淎 little boy can be playing Robloxs in the cafeteria, and during that lunch break, a trafficker can target him, and he can be sexually groomed or exploited within a few weeks or months,鈥� Alutto said.

And even harder to control is when students share pornographic images of themselves online, a reason why some child welfare groups want social media platforms restricted or outright banned for minors.

鈥淭his has also helped human traffickers groom and recruit children,鈥� Alutto said.

Unknown damage

show 95% of youth ages 13 to 17 report using social media, with more than a third saying they use social media 鈥渁lmost constantly.鈥�

Nearly 40% of children ages 8 to 12 use social media, even though most platforms require a minimum age of 13 to sign up, according to a study by the U.S. Surgeon General.

This has created a generation of chronically online children, and the medical community is still unsure of their longterm effects.

Although the SCOPE Act was passed to restrict kids from seeing harmful online content and give parents more control over what their children do online, social media companies have watered it down.

A federal district court judge earlier this year of the law that required them to filter out harmful content, saying it was unconstitutional under the First Amendment free speech right.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced in October that he was suing TikTok by allowing their algorithm to affect minors. TikTok denied the state’s allegations, pointing to about how parents in certain states, including Texas, can contact TikTok to request that their teen’s account be deleted.

This lawsuit, like across the country, is playing out in court, forcing Texas lawmakers to wait and see what more they can do in the upcoming session to hold social media companies accountable.

social media from children under the age of 16.

鈥淭he state needs to ensure that if technology providers want to do business, they must protect our children, stop the flow of (child pornography and child sexual assault) and report it,鈥� Brent Dupre, director of law enforcement at the Office of the Attorney General of Texas, told The Texas Tribune.

Potential solutions?

Dupre鈥檚 department is one of three Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces in the state, and his agency alone covers 134 counties. His office receives 2,500 cyber tips per month for investigation from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an overwhelming number of cases for an agency with only 11 officers.

The problem is so persistent that Dupre said his office was conducting a live training session with law enforcement officers a few months ago on how to pose in chat rooms as a minor when the trainer noticed a real adult was already trying to solicit their fake minor for sex.

鈥淭hese proactive investigations aren鈥檛 done as frequently as we like because of the sheer caseload that we got,鈥� Dupre said, noting how they work with other law enforcement agencies who are suffering with staff shortages.

Christina Green, chief advancement and external relations officer for Children鈥檚 Advocacy Centers of Texas, said her agency serves more than 60,000 child victims yearly, a majority of these cases being child sexual abuse, with very few of these cases not having a technology component. She said law enforcement agencies as well as hers need more resources to protect children.

鈥淭his field is rapidly developing, and the tools needed to continue must also develop,鈥� she said.

Echoing school officials, Dupre said social media companies should enforce more restrictions on what minors can do on their platforms. He said companies should be required to track attempts to upload child pornography and other internet harm and be held accountable for allowing sexually explicit content to stay on their websites.

Dupre suggested lawmakers require chat and social media companies use artificial intelligence to scan for child pornography and child sexual assault material and block users from sending this kind of material on their platforms.

鈥淭o me, children who try to upload self-produced material should automatically have their accounts disabled,鈥� he said. 鈥淢any technology providers scan for these photos and videos, which are then quarantined and reported, but not all providers lockout or cancel that user end-to-end encryption.鈥�

She believes many efforts can be implemented to combat online crimes, including awareness and education for children and parents.

Green said one of their centers teaches children in schools about online risks as early as the third grade and repeats training yearly.

鈥淲e have been talking to parents about when you drop your kid off at someone鈥檚 house, do you know if devices will be used there? It鈥檚 like asking if there is a pool in the backyard. These types of questions need to become commonplace,鈥� Green said.

This article originally appeared in , a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

In an era where digital devices are everywhere, the term 鈥渟creen time鈥� has become a buzz phrase in discussions about technology鈥檚 impact on people鈥檚 lives. Parents are . But what if this entire approach to screen time is fundamentally flawed?

This was produced by  a nonprofit, nonpartisan news outlet focused on education.

Over the past few years, it鈥檚 become clear that states need more money to support kids.  is long gone, but effects from  still linger, evident in persistent child care shortages and ongoing child behavioral and mental health concerns. Now, states are increasingly trying to generate new sources of money to support young children, although in at least one state, a ballot measure was designed to pull back on just these kinds of efforts.

At least a dozen measures were on ballots across the country Tuesday, proposing tax increases or new revenue streams to pay for child care and other child-focused services. Voters overwhelmingly chose to maintain or increase spending on these initiatives 鈥� though there were some holdouts.

Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for 社区黑料 Newsletter

Here鈥檚 a look at how early childhood fared this election: ()

Child care:

 Washington state:  aimed to repeal a capital gains tax that passed in 2021 and has since provided child care subsidies and money for select child care programs. By failing, the tax and funding stream for child care will remain in place. 

 Travis County, Texas:  called for a property tax increase to raise more than $75 million to create affordable child care spots and mitigate the loss of federal pandemic funds for local child care programs. 

 St. Paul, Minnesota: The 2024 Early Care and Learning Proposal is a property tax levy aimed at providing public funding to child care. The city would raise $2 million the first year and add an additional $2 million each year until year 10, with this money going into a special early care and education fund that would . (The city鈥檚 mayor, Melvin Carter, said he was  if it passed). 

Sonoma County, California:  asked voters to approve a quarter-cent countywide sales tax to create a local revenue stream that would help pay for child care and children鈥檚 health programs, with a special emphasis on children who experience homelessness. The initiative gained over 20,000 signatures from registered voters to qualify for the November ballot. 

 La Plata County, Colorado:  will redirect up to 70 percent of revenue from a lodger鈥檚 tax toward child care and affordable housing. 

 Grand County, Colorado: Ballot Measure 1A will increase the county鈥檚 lodging tax from 1.8 percent to 2 percent, with the revenue paying for tourism, housing and child care. 

 Montrose, Colorado:  will increase the city鈥檚 hotel tax and put 17 percent of the revenue toward local child care. 

Early childhood health, education and well-being:

 Platte County, Missouri:  measure calls for a quarter cent sales tax increase to create a revenue stream for mental health programs, including early childhood screening. 

Pomona County, California:  aims to reallocate at least 10 percent of funds in an existing city general fund to create a Department of Children and Youth. The funds would also be used to pay for youth programs, child care and support for parents. 

Santa Cruz, California:  proposed a $0.02 per ounce tax on sugar-sweetened beverages to raise funds that can be used for youth mental health and programs for children. 

 Colorado:  aims to establish a $39 million fund by imposing a 6.5 percent excise tax on guns and ammunition. While most of the money is directed at crime victim and veterans mental health services, $3 million will fund behavioral health services for children. 

 Missouri:  would have established a new gambling boat license, with the estimated $14 million in revenue funding public school early childhood literacy programs. 

 Nevada:  on the ballot this year gave voters the chance to exempt diapers from sales tax, starting on January 1, 2025. 

While fat-shaming may be among the last forms of discrimination, a new story in The Hechinger Report highlights the children who endure weight stigma at school 鈥� and its on their well-being and academic performance. 

鈥淒o you want a cupcake?鈥� one fifth grader recalled being asked by one of her classmates who routinely called her 鈥渇atty.鈥� Teachers routinely fail to confront students who fat-shame their classmates 鈥� and play their own role in anti-obesity bias.  

The 15 million U.S. children who are considered obese are more likely than other kids to have poor academic performance 鈥� a reality dubbed the obesity achievement gap. Now, new research suggests bias among teachers could be part of the problem. 

鈥淭eachers often perceive children with obesity as emotional, unmotivated, less competent and noncompliant,鈥� journalist Kavitha Cardoza wrote. 鈥淭hat can lead to teachers giving these students fewer opportunities to participate in class, less positive feedback and lower grades.鈥�

Schools nationwide have policies that prohibit bullying on the basis of race, gender and religion. Few mention body weight. 

In the news

Can鈥檛 stop reading about the election. Won鈥檛 stop reading about the election: Survivors of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, which resulted in the deaths of 20 children and six adults, are now old enough to vote. Six explain how the shooting continues to influence their lives 鈥� and their picks for president. |

• These are the states where youth voters have the most potential to affect the presidential election results. |
• Donald Trump has vowed to carry out mass deportations if elected. It could separate millions of families 鈥� and leave schools to pick up the pieces. |
• Inside school shooting survivor David Hogg鈥檚 multimillion-dollar bid to elect young progressives. | 社区黑料

About two-thirds of teachers use tools designed to catch students who use artificial intelligence to cheat on homework, but an investigation into the leading services found error rates 鈥渃an quickly add up鈥� and can carry 鈥渄evastating consequences for students who are falsely flagged.鈥� |

• Lawsuit alert: Parents are suing their son鈥檚 Massachusetts high school in federal court, arguing he was wrongly penalized for using AI to research and write a history paper. At the time of the incident, the district lacked a policy on the acceptable uses of AI. | 社区黑料

School security vendor faces new scrutiny: Evolv, a publicly traded security company that sells 鈥渨eapons detection鈥� metal detectors to schools, warned shareholders last week not to rely on its most recent financial statements as an independent investigation dissects its sales practices. |

• For more than a year, industry insiders have scrutinized the claims Evolv makes in its sales pitches 鈥� and its detectors鈥� high rate of false alarms. Last year, the Federal Trade Commission opened an inquiry into the company鈥檚 marketing practices following allegations Evolv overstates the capabilities of its technology. | 社区黑料
• A year after Virginia鈥檚 Prince William County Public Schools entered into a $10.7 million deal to install Evolv scanners, educators reported a decline in weapons confiscations. School safety officials found zero firearms, three knives, two box cutters and a 鈥減neumatic鈥� paintball or airsoft gun. The results, one school board member said, present 鈥渁 pretty good ROI [return on investment] on these Evolv scanners.鈥� |

What teachers need to know about the rise of AI-generated deepfakes 鈥� including computer-generated and nonconsensual nude images that students have created to harass their peers. |

The spy and the school board: Atlanta鈥檚 Cobb County school district hired a private security company purportedly led by anonymous former U.S. intelligence agents to analyze students鈥� social media accounts and identify potential online threats. The public learned about the unnamed company that is being paid an undisclosed amount during a school board meeting presentation by a man 鈥渙nly identified as Rob.鈥� |

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments Dec. 4 in a case that challenges Tennessee鈥檚 ban on gender-affirming care for minors, which could have implications for transgender youth nationally. |

Day in the life: A Minnesota-based journalist walked the halls with a school resource officer. Here鈥檚 what he learned about school-based policing. |

ICYMI @The74

• Native American Leaders Call Again for Action After Boarding Schools Apology

• Computer Programs Monitor Students鈥� Every Word in the Name of Safety

• Civil Liability for Parents in Florida Could Deter School Threats

Emotional support

Matilda doesn鈥檛 need a costume. She鈥檚 a monster every day. 

(Can we see your pet costumes!?)

This story, by Report for America corps member Carly Berlin and Vermont Public reporter Lola Duffort, was produced through a partnership between VTDigger and Vermont Public.

The motels that serve as emergency shelters in Vermont have been home to hundreds of children. They include 8-year-old Summer, who loves Disney鈥檚 Inside Out and potato chips, and a 6-year-old named Sariyah, who always chooses to go down the biggest slide at the playground near her elementary school.

But as restrictions on the motel program come to bear this fall 鈥� resulting in a mass  鈥� the landscape of available shelter for families with children is particularly tight. 

There were  living in motels before the limits took effect in mid-September, but only 203 shelter units statewide that accept families with children. And those slots, by and large, are already full.

Some will win the shelter lottery when their voucher expires. That鈥檚 the case for Summer and her family, who are moving into a temporary unit managed by Capstone Community Action. Sariyah and her grandmother accepted an offer from a stranger for a place to stay. When those accommodations fell through, they took a charitable donation to help pay for a hotel room.

Other families 鈥� including James and Teala Ouimette and their two young daughters,  last month 鈥� will have no other choice but to pitch a tent. When the Ouimettes tried to access a family shelter in Burlington before leaving their hotel room, they were told it had a lengthy waitlist.

The number of families experiencing homelessness in Vermont has grown precipitously in recent years. Particularly as motel shelter capacity retracts, providers now have to balance the long-term goals of boosting shelter and housing options for families, while triaging those families鈥� acute needs.

鈥淲e just got a request for a cooler to keep milk cold for toddlers at a campground,鈥� said Paul Dragon, executive director of the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity. 鈥淭his is unprecedented.鈥�

鈥榃e鈥檝e kind of lost control鈥�

Not too long ago, Vermont believed that ending family homelessness outright was within reach. In 2015,  to eliminate child and family homelessness by 2020, which involved giving families with children  and rehabbing run-down housing. And as recently as January 2023,  to solve child homelessness, arguing that doing so would 鈥渉elp break the generational cycle of poverty.鈥�

But as the scale of the problem has grown amid a deepening housing crisis, some feel that goal has slipped out of reach. Not only have the numbers grown, but so have the needs of unhoused families.

鈥淣ow I feel like we鈥檝e kind of lost control,鈥� Dragon said.

An annual federally-mandated census in January , but this census is widely considered to be an undercount, and does not include those who are couch surfing. According to preliminary data collected by the state Agency of Education, which does count couch surfing and other types of doubling up, there were 1,927 unhoused students enrolled in Vermont public schools last school year 鈥� nearly double the figure from five years prior.

Vermont has capacity to shelter 61 households with children at dedicated family shelters that receive state funding. Those family shelters are located in Bennington, Brattleboro, Burlington, Hartford, and in scattered temporary apartments in Washington County, according to information provided by Lily Sojourner, director of the Department for Children and Families鈥� Office of Economic Opportunity. 

Another 82 shelter spaces are available for households experiencing domestic violence (with another nine currently in development), which can include children. Another 60 units can serve families but are also open to a broader population. 

In three Vermont counties 鈥� Orange, Essex, and Grand Isle 鈥� there does not exist a single formal shelter option for families. 

Decades of research has cataloged the  of homelessness on children.  are more likely to have developmental delays, to do poorly in school, and experience higher rates of victimization, bullying, suicidality, substance abuse, and hospitalization. And children who experience homelessness are less likely to have .

Precisely because children are so vulnerable, family shelters are more resource-intensive, space-intensive, and staff-intensive than those serving individuals. And so there are fewer of them.

COTS has long run two family shelters in Burlington. Both are staffed around the clock so families don鈥檛 have to leave during the day, said Rebekah Mott, director of development and communications for the organization. The family shelters also have a dedicated family housing navigator, as well as an education liaison and a new mental health specialist fully-funded through private donations. 

Providers for the most part agree that congregate shelters 鈥� typically, cots or bunk beds lined up in a large space 鈥� aren鈥檛 best for families. Family shelters in Vermont are generally 鈥渟emi-congregate,鈥� meaning families might have their own room, but share a kitchen and common spaces, or fully 鈥渘on-congregate.鈥�

鈥淚 think the prospect of getting one up and running from scratch is probably鈥eems very difficult and overwhelming,鈥� Mott said.

鈥業t鈥檚 shameful, to be really honest鈥�

With shelters full, the city of Burlington has set aside temporary campground space for unhoused families with children, and, alongside the school district, put out a public callout for camping equipment in the wake of the new motel limits taking effect. 

Victor Prussack, the school district鈥檚 engagement director, expressed bewilderment that some students were living outdoors. Citing student privacy rules, he declined to give the precise number.

鈥淚t鈥檚 shameful, to be really honest,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 understand how we allow that to happen in this day and age and in the state of Vermont.鈥� 

There鈥檚 also a concern amongst local officials that the effort, although perhaps necessary, also endorses the status quo.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 feel great about reaching out to our community and saying, 鈥楬ey, could you give sleeping bags? Could you give tents? Could you give cooking fuel?鈥�,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ecause to me, that is supporting what the state is not&苍产蝉辫;诲辞颈苍驳.鈥�

Despite their limitations, schools throughout the state are trying to plug in the gaps. They often host food pantries, collect clothes, provide counseling, and, as is federally required, will arrange transportation for their unhoused students, even if seeking shelter forces families to move out of the district.

At the Hilltop Inn in Berlin, a white sedan arrives every school day to bring Summer 45 minutes south to Bradford Elementary. The 8-year-old, who has autism and is now learning to speak in full sentences, is well supported at school, her mother, Kimberlin Gowell said. And the elementary, which she has attended for the last three years, has also become a refuge from life in the motel, which sometimes overwhelms Summer.

鈥淪he loves school,鈥� Gowell said.

But even as schools attempt to provide some measure of material support and constancy for children experiencing homelessness, local school officials say there鈥檚 only so much within their power.

鈥淲e have families reaching out to the school, seeing if there鈥檚 anything we can do to help support them. And the reality is that what we can do in schools is limited,鈥� said Bianca McKeen, the assistant superintendent for the Rutland City school district, where there were 104 unhoused children enrolled last year 鈥� 5% of all students.

鈥楢nywhere I can keep her safe鈥�

Asked how much additional family shelter she thinks the state needs, Sojourner, of the Department for Children and Families, emphasized the need for Vermont to create more housing.

鈥淲e can鈥檛 lose sight of that North Star,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 think if someone said, you know, 鈥榃ould you rather build housing or more shelter capacity?鈥� I would want more housing.鈥� 

Dragon agrees that Vermont needs to bolster its housing stock to address homelessness. CVOEO administers a rapid-rehousing program for unhoused families, offering vouchers for rental assistance. But 60 families have vouchers in hand 鈥� including some who are being exited from the motel program 鈥� and can鈥檛 find anywhere to use them, Dragon said.

鈥淚 think in lieu of adequate housing for families, we have to provide more shelters, especially if we鈥檙e not going to continue with the hotel program,鈥� Dragon said. 鈥淣obody likes to see more shelters, but that鈥檚 the place that we鈥檙e in.鈥� 

As motel vouchers expire for hundreds of Vermonters over the next few weeks, , including from the very lawmakers who wrote the new limits into law. But for now, families will have to figure out how to survive until the program鈥檚 rules loosen up again in December.

Sariyah and her grandmother, Terri Ann Garrett, briefly stayed with a stranger who reached out to them after  a few weeks ago. They鈥檝e since returned to the Barre motel where they鈥檇 previously had a state voucher; a charitable donation has covered a room for them and Garrett鈥檚 husband. But Garrett doesn鈥檛 know how long that help will last. She is trying to get them into an apartment of their own.

Sometimes, she and Sariyah talk about imagining their dream home. 

鈥淗ers is somewhere with a pool that is all hers, with a Lamborghini,鈥� Garrett said, laughing, as she watched Sariyah run around the playground on a recent afternoon. Then she grew serious.

鈥淢y idea of a perfect home is anywhere I can keep her safe,鈥� she said.

• Marshara Fross, Ph.D., perinatal justice scholar and post-doctoral fellow at the University of South Florida鈥檚
• Luis J. Hernandez, founder of
• Jha鈥橬iyah Holland, entrepreneur and community safety advocate at and
• Zonnie Thompson, housing justice project coordinator at
• Rachel Warren, coordinator of the

They spoke about their journeys, their motivations and their strategies, encouraging webinar participants to find a cause and join forces with others in their community. As Warren asserted, 鈥淲e need each other more than we鈥檙e allowed to believe.鈥�

Here are our 5 Top Takeaways

1. Start by centering Black experience. As a researcher trained in , Jha鈥橬iyah Holland prioritizes listening to people and making them feel they鈥檙e being heard. For example, ThreeCubed partnered with the United Way of Greater Knoxville, Tennessee and Tennesseans for Quality Early Education on the , an initiative designed 鈥渢o tap the power of communities across the state to collaboratively design, implement and scale high-quality early care and education systems locally, while informing and advocating supportive state policies.鈥�

In the course of her research, she realized 鈥渢he people doing the work are underfunded and the grant process needs more equity,鈥� and she expressed determination to address these chronic shortcomings. As a survivor of gun violence, Luis J. Hernandez understands that it takes 鈥減eople who are in crisis,鈥� as well as mental health professionals, to develop comprehensive community violence-prevention programs. They are closest to the problem, he said, so they are closest to the solution. Zonnie Thompson described a White House rally in support of a , where people told their own stories of their struggles to obtain and maintain housing.

2. Act on data-driven strategies. The evidence is clear on a uniquely American epidemic: . 鈥淲e need robust data,鈥� said Hernandez, 鈥渢o identify best strategies for interventions,鈥� adding that academic research bolsters activists鈥� credibility.

Thompson said that 鈥渂eing honest about who is unhoused鈥� means counting people who are couch surfing or living in motels, and this more inclusive data broadens the alliance advocating for reforms. Rachel Warren鈥檚 blunt viewpoint on research reflected a preference for action: 鈥淪top asking the same question over and over,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he community has given you the answer. The data is there. Use it.鈥�

3. 鈥淏e impeccable with your word.鈥� This dictum from Don Miguel Ruiz鈥檚 influential book resonated with all of the webinar participants. They spoke about the importance of choosing their words carefully and earning the trust of those affected by the overlapping causes they were fighting for. Warren called this the 鈥渢hrough line between all our work. We do what we say we鈥檙e going to do.鈥�

Dr. Marshara Fross stated, 鈥淲e shoulder not only our own burdens but the burdens of our families and communities,鈥� and Holland added, 鈥淲e need to understand how tied we are to our ancestors.鈥�

4. 鈥淒oing nothing is not an option,鈥� declared moderator Mavis Sanders, senior research scholar of Black Children and Families at Child Trends.听 Driven by two traumatic birth experiences of her own,听 Fross helped launch . 鈥淲e had to raise all our own funds,鈥� she recalled. 鈥淚 got an awesome group of people to support me.鈥�

Surrounded by systemic and historical racism, facing odds that seem insurmountable, today鈥檚 advocates have at least two advantages over their predecessors in the Civil Rights movement. First, they have the shoulders of those predecessors to stand upon. Second, they have social media, which connects them to allies down the street and around the world.

Ultimately, today鈥檚 social entrepreneurs take action to fight injustice and to advance well-being in their communities because they don鈥檛 feel they have a choice in the matter. In other words, as Holland urged, 鈥淚f you don鈥檛 do it, nobody else will.鈥�

5. Don鈥檛 underestimate the power of faith. All of the webinar participants cited God as their primary influence. Fross鈥檚 faith enables her to 鈥渟tand steadfast in my purpose: creating a better future for the families of the future.鈥� Hernandez, 23, who has been an anti-violence advocate since he was 14, is also inspired by young New Yorkers 鈥渨ho show up in spite of their pain.鈥�

Thompson, who started a career doing hair and makeup for celebrities before shifting to housing advocacy, spoke of 鈥渓etting God order your steps.鈥� He also cited the influence of his sister, who recently died of cancer. 鈥淚f it weren鈥檛 for wanting to make her proud,鈥� he said, 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 be doing this work anymore.鈥�

Warren invoked her faith in the context of a thought-provoking vocabulary word: which she defined as 鈥渢he thing that makes you, you.鈥�

A new state-by-state report shows Indiana鈥檚 child well-being ranking has dropped 鈥� in part due to Hoosier kids鈥� , as well as increased rates of youth deaths.

Although Indiana continues to rank in the bottom half of states for its rates of teen births and children living in high-poverty or in single-parent households, those numbers are showing improvement.

The ranked Indiana 27th among states, three places lower than last year. It鈥檚 still a slight improvement, however, compared to 2022 and 2021, when the state ranked 28th and 29th, respectively.

Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for 社区黑料 Newsletter

In specific categories covered in the latest report, Indiana came in 15th for economic well-being, 17th in education, 31st in family and community, and 32nd in health.

鈥淚ndiana has significant opportunities and challenges ahead in supporting the well-being of our children,鈥� said Tami Silverman, president and CEO of the Indiana Youth Institute.

鈥淲e should celebrate the progress we鈥檝e made, especially in economic well-being areas such as parental employment rates and housing affordability; and we must acknowledge the disparities that persist for our kids,鈥� Silverman continued. 鈥淓very child in Indiana should have access to quality education, regardless of their background or circumstances. By addressing these disparities head-on, we not only invest in the future of our children but also in the economic prosperity of our state.鈥�

The report is prepared by the Annie E. Casey Foundation in conjunction with organizations across the county, including the Indiana Youth Institute. It rates states in 16 wide-ranging areas, which are lumped together under the categories of health, education, economic well-being, and family and community support.

Gaps in reading and math

The education portion of the 鈥� focused on student achievement 鈥� reiterates low numbers familiar to Hoosier education officials.

Just 32% of fourth graders nationally were at or above proficiency in reading in 2022, the latest year for which numbers were available. That was down from the 34% who were proficient in 2019, before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Scores were even worse for eighth grade math. Nationwide, only 26% of eighth graders were at or above proficiency in math two years ago, down from 33% in 2019.

In Indiana, one-third of fourth graders performed at or above proficiency in reading 鈥� a four percentage-point decrease from the 2019 rate of 37%, the report showed.

Further, only 30% of Indiana eighth grade students performed at or above proficiency in math, marking an 11% decrease from 2019, ranking the state 11th nationally.

Among Indiana fourth graders in 2022, Black students had an average reading score that was 23 points lower than that of white students. Students eligible for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) had an average reading score 18 points lower than those not eligible for NSLP, according to the KIDS COUNT report.

Meanwhile, eighth grade Black students in Indiana had an average math score that was 31 points lower than white students. Hispanic students in the same grade had an average math score that was 19 points lower than their white peers.

The Casey Foundation report contends that the pandemic is not the sole cause of lower test scores, though. Rather, the foundation says educators, researchers, policymakers and employers who track students鈥� academic readiness have been ringing alarm bells 鈥渇or a long time.鈥�

U.S. scores in reading and math have barely budged in decades. In Indiana, state education officials have repeatedly pointed out that Hoosier literacy exam scores have been on the decline since 2015.

During the 2024 legislative session, state lawmakers took decisive action as part of an ongoing push to improve literacy and K-12 student performance.

Paramount among the new laws passed was one to .

Stats on youth health and family life

Health-focused portions of the report show that 鈥� after peaking in 2021 鈥� the national child and teen death rate stabilized at 30 deaths per 100,000 children and youth ages 1 to 19.

But in Indiana, the death rate has continued to rise. While 29 deaths per 100,000 Hoosier children and youth were recorded in 2019, the rate increased to 36 deaths in 2022, per the report.

The Indiana Youth Institute (IYI) has already drawn attention, for example, to such as depression and suicidal ideation among the state鈥檚 youth. According to IYI data, one out of every three students from 7th to 12th grade reported experiencing persistent sadness and hopelessness. One out of seven students made a plan to commit suicide.

The most recent data available additionally show that nationwide and in Indiana, the child poverty rate improved and economic security of parents increased back to pre-pandemic levels.

Between 2018 and 2022, roughly 113,000 鈥� or 7% 鈥� of Hoosier children were reportedly living in high-poverty areas. That鈥檚 a drop from 10% between 2013 and 2017, according to the report.

From 2019 to 2022, teen births per 1,000 declined from 21 to 17, and the percentage of children in single-parent families also dropped from 35% to 32%.

Still, some gains

Advocates pointed to 鈥渟ome bright spots鈥� for Hoosier kids and their families in this year鈥檚 national report, as well:

Between 2019 and 2022, more parents (75%) had full-time secure employment in Indiana 鈥� which surpassed both the national average and that of the four neighboring states: Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio.

In 2022, fewer children (22%) lived in households that faced a high housing cost burden, spending 30% of their income solely on housing expenses, in comparison to the national average (30%).
In 2022, more Hoosier teens (95%) between the ages 16 and 19 were either enrolled in school or employed, an improvement from 93% in 2019.
Far fewer children under 19 (5%) were also uninsured. Indiana saw the fifth-highest decrease nationally in uninsured children between 2019 and 2022 鈥� a 29% improvement.

The report offers several recommendations for policymakers, school leaders and educators that include chronicling absenteeism data by grade, establishing a culture to pursue evidence-based solutions and incorporating intensive, in-person tutoring to align with the school curriculum.

鈥淜ids of all ages and grades must have what they need to learn each day, such as enough food and sleep and a safe way to get to school, as well as the additional resources they might need to perform at their highest potential and thrive, like tutoring and mental health services,鈥� said Lisa Hamilton, president and CEO of the Annie E. Casey Foundation. 鈥淥ur policies and priorities have not focused on these factors in preparing young people for the economy, short-changing a whole generation.鈥�

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Indiana Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Niki Kelly for questions: info@indianacapitalchronicle.com. Follow Indiana Capital Chronicle on and .

鈥淭his is so me,鈥� Thurston responds to Wang, an author and technology entrepreneur. 鈥淚 love to fix things. I literally fixed computers to help pay for college, and I鈥檓 always jumping to solutions in the face of almost any problem, even when the people around me don鈥檛 want me to come up with a solution.鈥�

鈥淗ow to Citizen鈥� is all about how to fix democracy, something that many Americans feel is deeply if not permanently broken. Early Learning Nation interviewed Thurston, who also hosts 鈥溾�� on PBS, and gained insight into how he thinks about interpersonal and global issues alike. Here鈥檚 what we learned:

Humor is a tool. Thurston started his career with 鈥淭he Onion鈥� and 鈥淭he Daily Show鈥� with Trevor Noah, as well as performing standup. 鈥淚n comedy,鈥� he says, 鈥淭here鈥檚 this language of punching up and punching down 鈥� which, if you really examine it, is very violent. Why is anybody getting punched? Maybe it could be tickling up or tickling down.鈥�

He finds a range of purposes for different kinds of comedy. When it comes to children, learning to make fun of yourself is an important developmental stage that comes later or never for some people. An inside joke, or comedy within a trusted circle, is another. When in doubt about what to make fun of, Thurston recommends animals, a topic that allows the imagination to run wild. 鈥淭here are so many ways to explore the what-ifs,鈥� he says, 鈥渁nd you can train young people to flex that muscle, practicing it on themselves. Mash-ups and remixes are natural fodder. What would happen if you drank a banana?鈥�

Change requires risk. In the chapter of Thurston鈥檚 2012 book 鈥溾�� called 鈥淗ow to Be the Angry Negro,鈥� Thurston addresses the reader: 鈥淵ou are compelled to say what others won鈥檛. They remain quiet, not because they doubt the truth of their perceptions but because they lack the courage to risk being ostracized… Rage is your cape. Self-confidence is your mask. Truth is your sword.鈥�

While Thurston鈥檚 humor rarely comes across as out-and-out angry, there is often an edge so sharp you don鈥檛 immediately feel the laceration. 鈥淐omedy challenges established narratives and surprises us,鈥� he says. 鈥淚n surprise, in challenge, there is risk, and risk doesn鈥檛 always pay off positively 鈥� whether it鈥檚 an investment risk or a career risk or even a food risk.鈥�

The riskiness of stand-up comedy isn鈥檛 for everyone, but Thurston sees a unique thrill in telling jokes to strangers, saying, 鈥淵ou try to emotionally connect with them so deeply that you trigger an involuntary physiological response known as laughter. It鈥檚 like one of the most confident things a person without confidence could do.鈥�

Nature helps us heal from history. Thurston credits his mother for nurturing his love of the outdoors. 鈥淲hoever said Black folk don鈥檛 go camping forgot to tell Arnita Thurston,鈥� he writes in 鈥淗ow to Be Black.鈥� His enthusiasm for America and the outdoors is on full display in America Outdoors.

Asked which parts of the country have surprised him most, he seizes upon the terrain of Arkansas as well as certain outdoor recreational pursuits. 鈥淯ltramarathons, for example, are just more marathon than a marathon,鈥� he laughs, 鈥渁nd that鈥檚 already too much for me. Without being conscripted into it, people are signing up to run 100 miles!鈥�

He also mentions the rich and vibrant indigenous culture. 鈥淲e read a lot about Native Americans in a historical context,鈥� he says, 鈥渂ut they鈥檙e still here, and they鈥檙e not all the same, with a range of ecologies and ways of living.鈥�

Another surprise: sharks. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e not out to get us. They鈥檝e been shamed in the media. The deeper surprise is how often they鈥檙e right next to us and we don鈥檛 even know it.鈥�

Finally, he notes his surprise at how emotional the show is for him, in terms of people鈥檚 struggles individually, as well as our collective national struggles with our history and how the outdoors has played a part in the struggle, and also in the healing from it.

One episode uses brain science to explore the power of nature to bring us back into equilibrium. 鈥淔or his experiment,鈥� he recalls, 鈥渢hey got me really riled up and then had me walk in a park and measured my brain during the process. I not only recovered from the stress; I was in a better place than before the stress started, so I was higher than baseline. It was a supercharge, not just a recharge.鈥�

Applying this insight to early educators, Thurston says, 鈥淭eachers are not only dealing with their littles, but with the bigs who created them. The parents can often be more challenging than the students. So, if you鈥檝e got some parent all up in your business, have that parent-teacher conference while walking through a park. It鈥檚 a naturally soothing environment. Scientists are looking at how nature affects our ability to recover from stress and help us heal. The short answer is, spoiler alert, massively.

Invest in your relationship with yourself. Thurston鈥檚 podcast and his TV show both address the eternal, yet increasingly relevant, themes of how to get along with others and the planet around us, which both tie back to the same place. 鈥淩elationship with yourself is such an underappreciated concept,鈥� he reflects. 鈥淲e need to ask ourselves how we feel, not just what we think. We need to develop a vocabulary for our emotions as well as our physical feelings.鈥�

The maxim You are what you eat, he says, also applies to what we take in through our eyes and ears. 鈥淭he stories that we eat,鈥� he explains, 鈥渢ell us that we鈥檙e capable or incapable, that we鈥檙e smart or dumb, so it鈥檚 important to consume stories that remind us of our power.鈥�

We all have power. Each episode of 鈥�How to Citizen鈥� explores power dynamics in one way or another, and while some of the topics it covers are too complex for young listeners, he is so interested in how children develop ideas about power that educational spinoffs are a possibility. 鈥淓ven a very small person can be sensitive to who鈥檚 got influence,鈥� he says.鈥�Even in this tiny body, I have the power of my attention. (Will I listen to the teacher or not?) The power of my smile, who will I give that to? The power of my presence, the power of gathering with other people, the power of sharing ideas and information, whether good or bad.鈥�

He encourages adults to ask children where they have power. 鈥淭hey might answer, 鈥業 refused to eat the pasta last night. It made my mom really upset. I guess I have the power to make my mom upset.鈥� I think it鈥檚 really good for people to recognize that.鈥�

From individual power, it鈥檚 a short jump to collective power. 鈥淵ou and your best friend are a unit,鈥� he imagines explaining to a child. 鈥淲hen have you thought about you and your friend, not just yourself? When have you thought about you and this whole classroom or this whole school or your whole family? Have you ever done anything for we and not just for me?鈥�

Power can arise from formally establishing systems in our communities, but there are other ways of practicing power together. 鈥淲e are all very powerful,鈥� he asserts. 鈥淲e all have the ability to gain and lose power. It鈥檚 this ebbing and flowing thing, and it increases when we work with others.鈥�

RICHMOND, Va. 鈥� As a teacher and mother to a child with autism, Elizabeth Callahan is all too familiar with flaws in the Virginia mental health care system.

鈥淚 see the longevity of it, and there鈥檚 just so many holes,鈥� Callahan said.

Callahan鈥檚 son was diagnosed by a developmental pediatrician at the onset of his symptoms, which included speech issues, she said. He went to occupational therapy for years until COVID-19 halted in-person visits.

Her child鈥檚 therapist quit during the pandemic because 鈥渟he said she would make more on unemployment,鈥� according to Callahan.

Callahan watches her students struggle to be seen by psychiatrists for diagnoses. Though schools provide some resources for students, they cannot provide an official diagnosis.

鈥淚 just see it taking forever for families to get appointments,鈥� Callahan said. 鈥淚t takes months.鈥�

There is a significant shortage of practicing child and adolescent psychiatrists, or CAPs, across the United States, according to data from the . These physicians specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of mental and behavioral patterns that affect children. They complete medical school and have a three-year residency.

The AACAP data classified states into four groups: States with a sufficient supply of CAPs, a high shortage, a severe shortage and no CAPs. Virginia is in a severe shortage, with just 264 CAPs in the state as of 2019, the most recent data available.

That means on average there are 14 CAPs available per 100,000 children in Virginia, which is also the national average. The academy defines a 鈥渕ostly sufficient supply鈥� as more than 47 per 100,000 children. Nationwide, few counties meet that standard.

For example, the city of Richmond has 22 CAPs and almost 40,000 children under the age of 18. By the AACAP ranking, the city has 55 CAPS per 100,000 children 鈥� considered a sufficient supply. It is 1 of 9 localities in Virginia that does, out of 133. Eighty-five counties in the state have no CAP.

Children have been unable to receive timely mental health care because of the shortage, according to Callahan.

Virginia ranks No. 37 among states when it comes to accessing mental health services, according to the 2022 Mental Health America . There are nine measures in the ranking, which include adults and youth who did not receive or could not afford treatment and mental health workforce availability.

Why are there so few CAPs?

Emily Moore, policy analyst with Voices for Virginia鈥檚 Children, said there is a lack of mental health care for children due to a system that is not 鈥渟tructured and designed with young people in mind,鈥� and because COVID-19 exacerbated workforce issues.

People enter the field because they want to make change, she said.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e realizing that they are up against a system that is not designed to support people the way that they need to be supported,鈥� Moore said.

Moore encouraged families on long waitlists to look into nonprofit agencies in Virginia designed with mental health in mind, though they are not substitutes for treatment, according to Moore.

鈥淯ntil we can truly transform the system rather than just patch it up and put Band-Aids on it, resilience is a part of our work,鈥� Moore said.

She also said the state legislature needs to provide adequate funding for children鈥檚 mental health care, and that early mental health intervention should be prioritized and normalized to avoid mental health crises. The crisis system should not be the entry point to the mental health system, Moore said.

What is Virginia doing to fix it?

Mental health-related emergency room visits at the beginning and height of the pandemic went up, while physical-related visits went down, according to Dr. Bela Sood. Emergency room doctors and pediatricians were not prepared for the mental health emergencies they faced, she said.

Sood is lead CAP for the Virginia Mental Health Access Program, or VMAP, and oversees the work of all child psychiatrists involved in the program.

VMAP is a statewide that strives to give kids greater mental health access by teaching pediatricians to function like psychiatrists. Pediatricians are taught how to screen, diagnose, manage and treat mental health in children.

鈥淚t鈥檚 amplifying the knowledge that we have as child psychiatrists into the world of general pediatrics,鈥� Sood said.

Sood had tried to pitch programs like VMAP to the state since 2001, but said the program didn鈥檛 receive funding until 2018. The Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services is the umbrella funding agency for programs like VMAP.

Her biggest concern with the shortage is the lack of therapists.

鈥淓ven as a practicing child psychiatrist, when I refer for therapy, I have no idea who鈥檚 going to be treating the child I鈥檓 sending them, and what kind of treatment they鈥檙e going to deliver,鈥� Sood said.

Virginia needs to design a platform that can be sustained through collaboration and shared resources, or else child health care will remain fragmented, according to Sood.

鈥淎s rich a country as the United States, the manner in which health care delivery is spun out into a place is shocking and unconscionable,鈥� Sood said.

She also said Virginia needs to 鈥渞amp up鈥� its ability to train therapists and saturate them across the state to help with the understaffing issue.

鈥淐hild mental health is one of those arenas where people are naturally collaborative,鈥� Sood said. 鈥淭he collaboration really yields very good results.鈥�

Mitigating the CAP shortage

The Richmond Behavioral Health Authority, or RBHA, provided behavioral and primary medical services to . The agency states that one-third of its clients cannot pay for vital services.

RBHA serves adults and children. It has attempted to mitigate a CAP shortage through telehealth options, increased caseload for staff and temporary staff hired from temp agencies, according to John Lindstrom, RBHA chief executive officer.

The RBHA has tried to 鈥済et pretty creative鈥� with solutions but cannot meet all the need, he said.

The community health agency has to occasionally 鈥渢urn off the spigot鈥� if they get overloaded in terms of capacity and certain service areas, Lindstrom said.

鈥淚deally we should not be running the vacancy rates that we run if we want to offer a robust set of services to anybody that needs them,鈥� Lindstrom said. 鈥淭hat is really our goal.鈥�

The child and adolescent behavioral health staffing shortage is part of a nationwide health care staffing shortage, Lindstrom said. There are incredible pressures on the system.

The RBHA is focused on immediate problems they can address, such as hiring incentives, job retention and recruitment efforts.

Funding mental health

Another way to increase mental health access is to increase their services in schools, said Moore, with Voices for Virginia.

鈥淥ur young people are asking explicitly for more support in the school system, and it really is both a matter of making it happen from a legislative standpoint and putting those laws and budget funding in place,鈥� Moore said.

The state appropriated $2.5 million for integrated mental health services in schools during the last fiscal year. The amount was bumped to $7.5 million this year after lawmakers passed the budget in September.

More than was allocated for child psychiatry and children鈥檚 crisis response services, to be divided throughout the state based on current services already offered. The funds can be used to hire or contract child psychiatrists to provide clinical services, or to train. Mental health advocates have the budget makes 鈥渟ignificant investments鈥� in mental health services across the state.

Despite the recent urgency behind the issue, Virginia still doesn鈥檛 have an adequate number of school psychologists or licensed professional counselors, Moore said.

鈥淲e're very lucky that there is now an urgency behind changing the system and also realizing at the same time that that doesn't mean tomorrow,鈥� Moore said. 鈥淚 hate to have to ask families to be resilient. It's not fair. They shouldn't have to be resilient.鈥�

Families should continue to share stories with local leaders and lawmakers to illustrate the urgency behind needed changes, Moore said.

Callahan, who has taught for 15 years, does not know how things got this bad, but is ready for a solution.

鈥淚 eat, sleep and breathe this every day,鈥� Callahan said. 鈥淭he year that we鈥檙e in, how are we not having more resources readily available to families? Why is this taking months and months?鈥�

VCU InSight journalist Daemon Hollinshed contributed to this report.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Virginia Mercury maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sarah Vogelsong for questions: info@virginiamercury.com. Follow Virginia Mercury on and .

Here鈥檚 a quick quiz: Think back to Thanksgiving. Was your smartphone at the table? Did you scour Facebook or Instagram between courses? Did you post a selfie to mark the occasion?

With social media occupying a bigger and bigger role in our lives, health experts are increasingly concerned about the role it has on adolescent mental health.

鈥淚n the span of a generation, social media has really dramatically changed the landscape of adolescents鈥� development around the clock,鈥� Eva Telzer told members of a committee earlier this month.

Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for 社区黑料 Newsletter

Telzer is a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at UNC Chapel Hill. She told committee members that several decades ago adolescents were interacting with each other in person. Now adolescent social relationships are occurring largely behind a screen.

鈥淭heir posts are relatively permanent and public. Anybody can see them. They have this digital stress to be available around the clock,鈥� explained Dr. Telzer.

Social media has in effect transformed what it means to be an adolescent today.

Seventy-eight percent of 13- to 17-year-olds are checking their devices hourly, with 46% checking them almost constantly.

鈥淭his has risen dramatically just in the past five or so years. For example, in 2018, just 24% of adolescents were reporting checking them almost constantly. And so, this is really important to really think about, because adolescent social media use is increasing exponentially,鈥� Telzer told the task force鈥檚 Intentional Death Prevention Committee.

Dr. Telzer said that this increase in social media use is happening at an extremely important developmental period when the adolescent brain is also going through dramatic changes.

The brain becomes very sensitive to social rewards and learning to avoid social punishments.

鈥淪ocial media itself can fundamentally change the developing brain,鈥� she warned. 鈥淎nd what鈥檚 even more concerning is that this is all happening at a developmental window when adolescents鈥� mental health disorders are beginning to show increases that鈥elate to impulse control disorder, substance use, anxiety, mood and other symptoms.鈥�

Sam Hiner is a junior at UNC Chapel Hill who wants to see legislative guardrails for social media.

Hiner co-founded the to give his generation a greater voice in the issues not being addressed by state policymakers. One area the alliance would like to see addressed is the mental health crisis faced by youth.

Hiner said the simple act of hovering over an image about healthy eating can spiral you down a rabbit hole that was never intended.

鈥淚 was literally just looking at it. Next thing you know, you see more and more content like that, and it gets more and more extreme,鈥� Hiner told the committee.

鈥淪o, your feed on Instagram or TikTok, you鈥檙e seeing more content containing unrealistic body standards, pictures of insanely skinny models that are photoshopped and things like that. And you鈥檙e seeing unrealistic dieting standards as well.鈥�

Hiner said the social media stream is being shaped by an algorithm that recognizes where a user may pause or click and then serves up more content to keep the user online for as long as possible.

鈥淏ut what ends up happening to a lot of these teens is their feeds become full of really harmful content. And that鈥檚 all they see anymore because of the way the algorithm works.鈥�

Hiner said the same goes for political extremism.

鈥淧eople seeing more and more extremist content over time can completely shift their worldview. And that鈥檚 something that is really shockingly common among my generation,鈥� said Hiner.

And that steady stream of content can influence how teens or young adults feel about themselves.

One in 10 children in North Carolina aged 3-17 has a diagnosis of anxiety or depression. One in five seriously considered attempting suicide, according to NC Healthy Schools data.

Hiner and the Young People鈥檚 Alliance are pushing for legislation in the North Carolina General Assembly that would prevent the data of minors from being used in algorithms that are promoting content or targeted advertisements. Adult users would have the option to turn off that supply of user data.

The Social Media Algorithmic Control in Information Technology (SMAC IT) Act was introduced last May with 62 bipartisan co-sponsors. While passed a House judiciary committee unanimously, it remains in the House Appropriations committee.

North Carolina鈥檚 Department of Justice is also examining the impact social media is having on children鈥檚 mental health and overall well-being.

In late October, Attorney General Josh Stein joined a group of 33 attorneys general to file suit against Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.

The lawsuit alleges that Meta knew its platforms were harmful for children but continued to market them to young people to increase profits. Teens are motivated by immediate rewards, and Meta leveraged those vulnerabilities to get young users to spend more time online.

鈥淭he features like push notifications, infinite scroll, auto play, disappearing content, all of that seeks to keep them on the platforms for longer,鈥� explained Laura Brewer, deputy chief of staff at the NC Department of Justice.

Recently allege that Meta collected minor children鈥檚 data from Instagram accounts without their parents鈥� consent.

But it could take years for that case to wind its way through the courts.

Whitney Belich, co-chair of the , believes the negative influence of social media must be addressed sooner rather than later.

鈥淚t just kind of makes sense to me that if we鈥檙e so concerned about getting help for these kids who need mental health treatment, we should be equally concerned with the things that are leading to them needing it in the first place,鈥� Belich said.

The committee agreed to endorse in 2024 that addresses addictive algorithms in social media.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 important before we have a whole nother generation of teenagers and beyond that are dealing with these things,鈥� said Belich.

For the current generation, Telzer, the UNC professor of psychology and neuroscience, said parents must understand that social media is not going away.

She suggests caring adults follow the guidance of the and engage in social media literacy. Communicate with adolescents what is unsafe about social media, and perhaps more importantly, how to identify misinformation and disinformation.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 just give adolescents the keys to a car and let them go out and drive in the world. There鈥檚 training that happens before we sort of release the keys,鈥� shared Telzer. 鈥淓ngaging in some social media literacy is really important.鈥�

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. NC Newsline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Rob Schofield for questions: info@ncnewsline.com. Follow NC Newsline on and .

Chris Riback: Dr. Martin, thanks for coming to the studio.

Dr. Raquel Martin: Thank you for having me.

Chris Riback: Now, I am not going to lie, and I understand you’re in the process of reworking your website, raquelmartinphd.com, but you only have to spend about three seconds on the site to know that any conversation with you is going to have a lot of energy and is going to be really informative. So no pressure, but-

Dr. Raquel Martin: No, no, none at all. I definitely don’t feel any pressure at all now since you led with it.

Chris Riback: Yes, put it out there upfront. Expectations upfront. So let’s start with, I think, one of the key things that you focus on. What is black mental wealth?

Dr. Raquel Martin: So I like to think of black mental wealth as encompassing mental health and wellbeing because mental health and physical health and the way individuals are treated in society are all linked, right? So I think when you state solely black mental health, sometimes people forget about physical wellbeing. Sometimes people forget about their community and that being linked in. So I like to think of it as an umbrella, and mental health is under that umbrella, but there’s so much more when it comes to contributing to the wealth of the community overall.

Chris Riback: Do you talk with parents, or do you talk with children, or do you talk with both? Do you-

Dr. Raquel Martin: Both. Yes. So currently I have a private practice where I’m doing individual therapy. I also am a full-time professor at Tennessee State University. I also do speaking engagements and research as well. So everyone from, I think, my… I don’t have too many younger patients at this point, but my youngest patient has been four, and my oldest patient has been 66 maybe.

Chris Riback: Wow. Let’s start with the parents. What are you hearing from them? What are the challenges? You’re out there talking to them every day regularly at least, and getting the real stuff, getting to hear really what is on their mind, what are they challenged with. What are you hearing?

Dr. Raquel Martin: Exhaustion. So one of the biggest things I think that contributes to the difficulty with black children and black youth and black individuals being in the society overall is dehumanization, adultification, depriving black people of human qualities, and then not seeing the children as children. So a lot of times parents are parenting out a racism-related fear, because they have a concern that they’re not going to be with them all the time. We understand the fact that you’re not going to be seen as the baby that I see in the house, having to prepare you for all of these difficult things. And in doing that, we’re not able to allow them to have the freedoms that European American counterparts are able to have. So it’s kind of feeling like you have to be tough in order to protect them, but they’re also kids. So trying to find the balance of I want my child to come home safely. I also want them to be a child, and trying to balance it. It’s like walking a tight rope and it can be incredibly exhausting.

Chris Riback: It sounds exhausting. And then for the children themselves, what’s the impact of that? Everything, you don’t need me to tell you, I need to hear from you, and you correct me if I’m wrong, professor, doctor. Everything we do as parents, the children see, they watch. And so parents who have to be behaving the way you just described, what effect does that have on the children?

Dr. Raquel Martin: It depends on how it’s done. So I always feel as though if we’re able to explain what’s going on, if we’re able to have the conversation about this is why I am trying to protect you, then that can be easier for the children to not feel as though they’re not being trusted. Because if you’re being more stringent on rules and things like that, they’re just like, “My parent doesn’t trust me. They’re being difficult.” Instead of just saying that the parents want you to be alive.

But a lot of times parents don’t have that ability to do that. There’s a significant wage gap when it comes to black families. We’re still paying the same amount of bills everyone else is paying, but we’re making significantly less. So most of the time we have to do more. So we don’t really always have the time to stop and have a conversation, and then it can have a disruption in your relationship with your child.

So I think it’s good to have events like this when you’re able to slow down and converse and work within community. But I think sometimes parents who are parents on racism-related fear, they have this thought process of the world is tough, so I’m going to be tougher because I don’t want my children to walk out and think that they’re going to be treated the same way. And they’re not, but that can be a disruption in the relationship with the parent, and it can just be difficult.

And it also, it places emphasis on the wrong things. A lot of times children will just feel like parents are being strict, and sometimes they will feel like the issue is their race, but race isn’t the issue. Racism is the issue. So if we don’t take the time to slow down, which is incredibly difficult, we can kind of disrupt the relationship that we have with our children, which it’s the most salient relationship you’re going to have. In their mind, their most salient relationship is their friends, but caregivers are the most salient relationship they’re going to have growing up. So it can be… Honestly, I’d always describe it as it’s a tightrope.

Chris Riback: And that’s a tightrope, but that’s also an incredibly tense way to live.

Dr. Raquel Martin: It is, and especially since when it comes to black children or black youth, it is life or death. There is the aspect of, honestly, parenting all the time with children, you don’t know what they’re going to do. So you already have the stress of what is that? Where’d you get that chainsaw? But it’s also thinking about them also being safe. And one of the things that becomes incredibly difficult is as black parents and individuals, a lot of us were reared the same way. So it’s hard to foster something in your children that has never been fostered in you, that you haven’t recognized in yourself. It’s hard to tell your children it’s okay to take a break when you never take a break.

So I feel like it’s also that exhaustion of you’re trying to rear your children in this one way, but you haven’t accepted the fact that you need to take a chill pill sometime and also show them your full realm of humanity. They have to see you making mistakes. I hope to make at least one or two mistakes in front of my children a day. So then I could say, “Oh, well that happened. Let’s figure out how we’re going to manage it.” Because imagine a world where children don’t feel so bogged down by the fact of making mistakes, anxiety and depression, and feelings of shame and guilt. A lot of that is based in what happens if I do something wrong? Oh, I do something wrong, I try to figure out how to do it right, or I get help. That’s the goal.

Chris Riback: Well, you’re making me feel terrific, because if making mistakes makes one a better parent, then I must be a fantastic parent.

Dr. Raquel Martin: It’s the goal, right? Because we’re going to become their inner dialogue. Bottom line. I hear my mom’s head voice in my head all the time. “Something isn’t steamed appropriately,” or, “Oh, well, that wasn’t a very good kind thought,” or, “Let them get in front of you, you’re not running late,” whatever, when I’m driving.

But you also want it to come into your mind when you’re thinking like, “Oh, I just did such a stupid job.” Well, everyone has difficulties. You want it to be normal, and you don’t want them to think the perfection is the goal. And the reason why it’s so specific within the black community is because it could have been life or death. Burning biscuits for goodness’ sake, or not listening to this exact aspect of direction. So when you’re reared in this aspect of obedience instead of respect, a lot of things become way more difficult. You feel like you have way more limitations. You were brought up that way, and we kind of are working now to figure out a way to rear our children in a way where they’re able to thrive.

But many generations, not even many generations ago, a generation or two, the goal was simply to survive. And when you’re dealing with survival, that’s obedience. But if we want our children to thrive, we have to work on building respect. And I feel like children are so amazing. The reason why I really enjoy working with child therapy is it’s before we get to the societal norms where… Kids say whatever they want, and they also have a lot of freedom. And they also, they could be like, I want to be a shark today, a doctor tomorrow, a firefighter the next day, because they have this realm of creativity. And I just feel like sometimes when it comes to society, a lot of times when it comes to society, the responsibilities take that away from us as adults. And I think that’s why a lot of us gravitate towards children is because we miss that. It’s like, I remember when I used to want to be a shark, and now I just want to see what my 401Ks look like.

Chris Riback: I just want to get to bed by 10:00 PM.

Dr. Raquel Martin: I want to get to bed by 10:00 PM or oh, that’s not a fiscally responsible decision. We want children to have that as long as possible, and black youth don’t get to have that. So we’re trying to prepare them in a way, we’re trying to combat the adultification, dehumanization that society has put on. But as a result, sometimes we fall into the same lane and you have to be twice as good. No, you can’t do that. Did you get an A or AAA on that paper? What is a AAA? Who knows? But you have to get it. It’s just trying to combat racism-related stress as a parent, while you’re also likely dealing with racism in your skin as a parent as well. It’s just a lot.

Chris Riback: It’s a lot. It’s a lot to keep in mind, and if you do have your mother’s voice in your mind right now, I bet she’s saying, “That was a great conversation.”

Dr. Raquel Martin: She was probably saying, “Talk slower,” to be honest.

Chris Riback: That’s not it! She said, “That was a great conversation.” Dr. Martin, thank you for coming by the studio.

Dr. Raquel Martin: Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me.

Chris Riback: Sonya, thank you for coming to the studio.

Sonya Soni: Thank you so much for having me. I’m so grateful.

Chris Riback: You are affiliated with Boston University, however you co-head the Los Angeles Youth Commission. First, why is that work so important to you, and second, do you spend half your life flying back and forth, Boston to LA?

Sonya Soni: That’s a great question, Chris. The reason why this work is so important to me is mostly because I’m obsessed with identity, ancestry, and a sense of belonging and where we come from, and so I always really was passionate about how we keep families together. My great-grandmother was a freedom fighter in India, and she helped found a nonprofit on girls’ rights, but over the decades, it turned into an orphanage, so I spent a lot of my youth at the orphanage. I really saw how youth had families, but they were being trafficked and warehoused into these orphanages under this myth of benevolence that they were being saved, rather than because of structural poverty and casteism, these youth were being separated by their families, where they found the most sense of belonging.

Then when I moved to Los Angeles County, which is the largest child welfare and juvenile justice system in the country, I was seeing a lot of the same patterns that I was seeing abroad, which was most youth of color were actually being impacted by the child welfare system. Black families were being surveilled, policed, and separated by child protective services. The same way that Black men were being separated by their families through the prison system, I was seeing Black mothers being separated by their families by the child welfare system. The public imagination is mostly around how the child welfare system was protecting children, but it was actually causing a lot more harm and structural violence on these families, so that’s really where my passion started for this work.

Chris Riback: It’s so extraordinary, in a challenging sense, how connected everything is. One thing, it can all just snowball, and I would assume, correct me if I’m wrong, but focusing in just one area may not even be enough. You kind of have to focus all around. Is that accurate?

Sonya Soni: Yes, that is so accurate, Chris. What I really got to see when I came to Los Angeles County was that there was a larger web of carcerality that was surveilled-

Chris Riback: A web, yes.

Sonya Soni: Yes, that was surveilling, policing, and institutionalizing youth of color, and how the child welfare system was so interconnected to youth incarceration. About 75% of youth who are in foster care were also being sent to youth prisons and camps, and so that’s when I really got to see it wasn’t enough just to tackle child protective services and the myth of benevolence around foster care, but also to think about how youth prisons and camps are involved in also institutionalizing youth. That’s really where my passion came for both tackling youth incarceration and child welfare at the same time.

Chris Riback: I understand that you believe that there is a place for something that I think you call poetry in policymaking. What is that? It’s a beautiful phrase.

Sonya Soni: Yes. A lot of the youth organizers I was working with in South Los Angeles, there’s a coalition called Youth Justice Reimagined, where a lot of them were artists, writers, activists, and they really wanted to use their backgrounds in hip hop, spoken word, and poetry to think about how to be changemakers. I really got to see how so much of the policy we were writing in Los Angeles County was so devoid of our humanity, and it was so sterile and cold and devoid from the actual political context in which families were being separated. I created a policymaking through poetry workshop, where youth organizers were able to really grapple with their identities, both politically and personally, to think about how they want to write policy that actually infuses our humanity and our complexity in the way we write our policy. It was also a way for policymakers and youth organizers, the very youth who are systems-impacted, to come together to also grapple with their different identities and how that shows up when they are writing policy when they’re writing their poetry together.

Chris Riback: I don’t mean this to be silly. Anti-racist, I understand, or I think I understand what it would mean to be non-racist, to not have racism as part of oneself. Is anti-racist something beyond that, where it’s almost actionable to try to address racism? What is anti-racist?

Sonya Soni: That’s a great question. I think this term has been in our public imagination, especially since 2020, after George Floyd’s murder, and there’s been a little bit of confusion around what that actually means for our everyday lives and how we show up to the movement. To me, anti-racism, really the heartbeat of it is what are the actions we can take? It’s not just believing that racism is unjust, but how are we practicing that in our everyday lives through the policies we support, through the ways that we show up in our advocacy for our fellow brothers and sisters that are a part of the communities of color? It’s really about how do we take an active stance in it, rather than just believing in it?

Chris Riback: It’s about being active.

Sonya Soni: Yes.

Chris Riback: We are all products of our past, ancestry matters, but I got the sense that your ancestry is particularly meaningful to you. Tell me about your grandmother.

Sonya Soni: Thank you so much. I could talk about ancestry all day. It’s like a personal passion of mine. So much of the work that we do in movement work and organizing work comes from our ancestors. My great-grandmother, she was a freedom fighter very close to Mohandas Gandhi during India’s fight against British colonial rule. She was one of the first women to be a part of the movement to bring other women to fight against the British Empire. She was jailed very much for speaking out and writing against the British Empire. She started a nonprofit organization focused on advancing the rights of girls and widows.

Then, 80 years later, I started working at that very nonprofit. It’s at the foothills of the Himalayas in Northern India. That is where I got exposed to the orphanage system and how detrimental orphanages are for child development and child mental health, and how 80% of those orphans actually had families to be there, but because of structural poverty, they were being sent there or trafficked there. It was really because of her that started my passion for youth justice, and to really think about trans-border politics and also trans-border solidarity of how so many of these issues are so similar. Whether I was working in Kashmir, India or now in South Los Angeles, all of the ways that youth are being trafficked, surveilled, police, and separated from their families are so similar, due to whether it’s casteism or structural racism.

Chris Riback: It’s no surprise that you’re motivated in the ways that you are, it’s in your DNA?

Sonya Soni: Oh, yes. Well, I hope so. Yes.

Chris Riback: Sonya, thank you for coming by the studio.

Sonya Soni: Yes, thank you so much. Thank you.

Student leaders from 18 communities in the Lower Kuskokwim School District gathered in the Bethel Cultural Center on Tuesday to talk about a subject that isn鈥檛 usually the focus in a classroom: the students鈥� strengths.

Everyone was a little quiet at first 鈥� the students had flown into Bethel from all over a region of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta that is roughly the size of West Virginia.

But they started to open up when the instructor, Robyn Weiner, split them into groups with poster paper and markers and asked them to draw things that give them strength. A group from Kasigluk, a village to the northwest of Bethel, filled the poster paper with dance fans, boats, fishing nets, basketballs and berry picking.

Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for 社区黑料 Newsletter

The students were all from grades 6 through 12, and they were there because their communities had identified them as leaders capable of learning the lessons of a suicide prevention program called Sources of Strength. They will be responsible for bringing the lessons of the day home to their peers.

The program teaches students to identify the factors that make them resilient, and shows them how to create their own pathways to healing in times of stress or trauma. The program is in its third year in the district, and administrators say it addresses the hardest issues youth face with positivity.

The program鈥檚 aims are weighty, but the word suicide was not mentioned at all in the five-hour session. The material focuses instead on resilience and personal values. Students got to share the things that bring them joy and make them feel supported. They laughed, and even played games that had the whole room smiling and cheering. That joy was the program鈥檚 medicine, and the fact that it came from the students themselves was the point.

Grief

Jim Biela, an itinerant social worker for the district, has traveled to several villages in the region regularly for the past 19 years. And in his counseling sessions lately, he said, there鈥檚 been a concern among his students that stands out.

鈥淕rief. The past couple of years it鈥檚 been more grief. Understanding grief. They鈥檝e all been affected by death,鈥� he said.

Biela said some students have lost parents to murder and suicide: especially difficult deaths to process. But he said he worries about the effects of losing a parent for any student.

鈥淭hey don鈥檛 have anybody to show them the culture and traditions. And they struggle with their identity,鈥� he said.

The wall above Biela鈥檚 desk is covered in artwork and pictures of students he has counseled and befriended. He pointed out several who have died from suicide, then pulled one image off the wall and looked at it for a moment: 鈥淚 knew him since he was one year old,鈥� he said, before gently laying it down on his desk.

Alaska has the in the nation; youth who are exposed to suicide are . Suicide was the leading cause of death among Alaska Native and American Indian people between the ages of 10 and 24 years old in the state, according to the most recent two years of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Biela said he has seen Sources of Strength work to ease the effects of grief in the region 鈥� the district began offering the program to all schools after it was successful in Nightmute. Biela said last year, after the program, the Nightmute students鈥� grades even shot up.

Biela largely credits two students, Cory and Colby George, with leading Nightmute through the program after a tragic loss. The brothers are now about to graduate high school and they came to the training in Bethel.

Community change through youth leadership

Sources of Strength is so named because its premise is that a path to healing can be found through eight factors: Mental health, family support, positive friends, mentors, healthy activities, generosity, spirituality and physical health.

As Weiner, the instructor, explained each source and gave examples, Lillian Kiunya, another itinerant social worker from Bethel, translated them all into Yup鈥檌k. After each strength was explained, the students were invited to share what part of their lives corresponded to it.

Physical health meant basketball and Native Youth Olympics for many students. For one young woman, mental health was berry picking. For another, family support was the grandmother who adopted her after her mother died. For Colby George, he last found the strength of his spirituality in seal hunting: 鈥淚 was scanning the water and I felt instant calm before the negativity comes,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hen I was enjoying the view and the sun.鈥�

Two years ago, when he and his brother Cory brought Sources of Strength to Nightmute, they used the mental health example of Cory鈥檚 guitar, his source of strength. 鈥淚 was trying to calm my mind and drawing a guitar and it really helped me,鈥� he said.

He said the program gave them hope. 鈥淲e were going through a tragic event and we found a way, like, how to be with it. And it really helped us, it made us be confident,鈥� Cory said.

He said after the presentation, people in their village rallied around them. 鈥淎fter that, everybody was coming to us, talking positive to us, making us laugh,鈥� he said.

Colby said the community response was impactful for him as well: 鈥淧eople that had brighter smiles than before came up to me,鈥� he said. 鈥淓ven other villages, they were coming up to us and saying quyana for bringing this up.鈥�

The brothers even started a basketball team at the school 鈥� physical health 鈥� that went to district finals in its first year. 鈥淚 saw that the kids were getting on track,鈥� Cory said.

The brothers are 19 now, so they can鈥檛 play in games with the team, but they can practice with the others. For Colby, basketball is another source of strength.

鈥淚 love how basketball could tickle my heart,鈥� he said, with a big smile.

‘This is really powerful’

Meghan Crow, the lead social worker for the district, said the program is a good fit for the area. It is aimed at suicide prevention, but Crow said that the resilience building students learn is applicable in other areas of their lives as well.

鈥淲e deal with a lot of crisis,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd we have a lot of really isolated communities. There鈥檚 just been a lot of assimilation, cultural change imposed upon communities. I think that鈥檚 something that our communities have struggled with.鈥�

She said the school district is also an organization imposed on communities, so she wants to make sure it promotes strengths that exist within them already. She said the Sources of Strength curriculum allows youth to match sources of strength to Yup鈥檌k values.

鈥淚t鈥檚 very open to cultural interpretation, and to use those strengths and match them to strengths of our culture and our communities here,鈥� she said.

Lower Kuskokwim Superintendent Kimberly Hankins spent the morning at the training. The district began the program in 2020, when students could not travel.

鈥淏ut even though it was on Zoom, we saw the response. And we thought, 鈥楾his is really powerful.鈥� And so we鈥檝e been continuing to invest in it and grow it over time,鈥� she said. The district had its first in-person training last year.

Only a handful of schools in the district have not yet had training. At the end of the day, as students ate lunch and began to gather their overnight bags for the flights home, Hankins and Crow huddled with the instructor to figure out how to bring the program to the schools that were left.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alaska Beacon maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Andrew Kitchenman for questions: info@alaskabeacon.com. Follow Alaska Beacon on and .

Most school districts only used Mississippi’s new telehealth program a few times in the 2022-23 school year, but program administrators say they are working to increase participation and have already seen positive results.

The school-based telehealth program was created by the Mississippi Department of Education, which to the University of Mississippi Medical Center to administer the program. The grant, which expires in Sept. 2024, covers laptops for video conferencing, rapid strep and flu tests, and specially equipped stethoscopes and otoscopes that transmit information to the doctors or nurse practitioners on the other end of the call.

The program, which is free to students, began under the direction of former State Superintendent Carey Wright, with the goal of increasing access to medical care and keeping children in school more hours each day. Over half of the counties in Mississippi have no practicing pediatricians according to the Office of Mississippi Physician Workforce, something this program aims to help address by decreasing the amount of time families spend traveling to access care.听

Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for 社区黑料 Newsletter

was open to all 145 school districts in the state, and 100 signed up. Of those 100, data from UMMC shows only 34 districts had at least one visit in the 2022-23 school year. However, some visits were not assigned to a school district, making it possible that more participated.

Dr. Saurabh Chandra, the hospital鈥檚 chief telehealth officer, said he is very proud of the speed at which his team has been able to successfully roll out the telehealth program. This is the largest school-based telehealth program in the country he is aware of, adding it was implemented faster than many others. While he was pleased that connectivity did not end up being a major issue, he said the shortage of school nurses has been a challenge.

After spending the first year focused on implementation, Chandra said the goal is now increasing participation. He said nurse educators are communicating regularly with school districts to understand their concerns. UMMC has already made at least one change 鈥� allowing school nurses to call and schedule an appointment instead of doing it in the computer software 鈥� based on the feedback.

The outreach already seems to be helping: the program averaged about 150-170 visits a month last year, but August and September of this year have seen about 275 visits each month.

鈥�(The program) is in a stage of infancy,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou have to implement the program, you have to understand the barriers, you have to do the engagement, this is a continuous work, but we are seeing good trends.鈥�

Lauren Hunt, the nurse at Stone County Elementary School, is a regular user of the program. Stone County does not have any practicing pediatricians, but there are several in neighboring coast counties, according to the physician workforce data.

Hunt brings up the service to parents when she thinks a student could benefit and said she has had very few parents refuse. She said she 鈥渉as not been able to brag on it enough鈥� and expressed a desire for more school nurses to start using it so it can be a greater benefit to the state.

鈥淭he school nurse is really the keyholder 鈥� she is the one that has to want to implement it and use it,鈥� Hunt said.

She also emphasized the importance of outreach to parents so they鈥檙e aware they can request visits and don鈥檛 automatically take their children to the doctor on their own. Hunt said she has seen this be effective in action, particularly for children without health insurance who have used it for ear infections and other small issues.

Parent outreach is also a priority for UMMC, but Chandra said his team depends on school districts to spread the word. He hopes as parent awareness of the program increases, their trust in it will rise as well leading to increased participation.

Jana Miller is one of two nurses covering five rural schools in the Greene County School District. Her favorite part of the program is the convenience: appointments are usually available within 30 minutes, and students are not required to check out and wait to be seen, saving parents time as well.

Miller said her district has also utilized the teletherapy portion of the program, which provides mental health services to children. The school identifies students for it based on parental requests, school staff鈥檚 knowledge of difficult circumstances, or a child reaching out for someone to talk to. She also schedules these appointments but does not participate in them like the telehealth visits.

鈥淚 was really apprehensive (of the telehealth program) at first because I just didn鈥檛 know how it was going to work, but I鈥檓 very glad we took the leap of faith and went through with it,鈥� she said.

One district hopes to use the program more now that technical issues have been resolved. There are no pediatricians in Chickasaw County, where nurse Dawn Vance works in the schools.

鈥淚 think with a little push, maybe the nurses get a little more training and the IT stuff gets all worked out, I think it would really pick up, especially in an area like ours where there鈥檚 not many options,鈥� she said.

Other districts have said they don鈥檛 have as much of a need for the program because of existing school-based clinics or parent preference for local pediatricians.

Hunt, the Stone Elementary School nurse, said she hopes more schools start using it so the state will have an incentive to keep funding the program after the federal pandemic relief money expires.

UMMC is looking for other grants to continue funding the project or considering turning it into a program that takes insurance, Chandra said.

鈥淲e know that there鈥檚 a need for it out there,鈥� said Scott Clements, director of healthy schools for the Mississippi Department of Education. 鈥淲e have a lot of rural areas 鈥� and in those rural areas you oftentimes don鈥檛 have the services you have in a metropolitan area.鈥�

This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

WASHINGTON 鈥� As Congress barrels toward a partial government shutdown, the White House Monday warned that a program that helps millions of low-income families afford healthy food could see substantial cuts.

The White House released a , estimating that nearly 7 million people who rely on the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, also known as WIC, could be at risk of losing funds to purchase select food and receive vouchers for vegetables and fruit.

The program provides financial support for those who are low-income and pregnant or nursing, as well as for children up to 5 years old.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said during a Monday White House briefing that WIC recipients could feel the impact of the shutdown within days.

鈥淢illions of those moms, (babies) and young children would see a lack of nutrition assistance,鈥� he said.

Vilsack, Iowa鈥檚 former governor, said some states have leftover WIC benefits and 鈥渃ould extend (WIC) for a week or so.鈥�

鈥淭he vast majority of WIC participants would see an immediate reduction and elimination of those benefits, which means the nutrition assistance that鈥檚 provided would not be available,鈥� he said.

For example, in Alabama, about 112,000 WIC recipients could lose their benefits, and in Florida, more than 421,000 as well. In Michigan, more than 207,000 recipients could lose their WIC benefits and in North Carolina, it鈥檚 more than 268,000 WIC recipients.

Additionally, new eligible participants could face a backlog.

鈥淲ithout the urgent investment of additional funds, state WIC offices could soon be forced to consider waiting lists for prospective participants 鈥� a drastic step not seen in nearly 30 years,鈥� Kate Franken, board chair of the National WIC Association, which is the non-profit advocacy arm of WIC, said in a statement.

The impending shutdown comes after President Joe Biden with Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy earlier this year to raise the debt ceiling. set maximum spending levels for the next fiscal year.

However, none of the 12 appropriations bills has been passed by the House, and a handful of far-right Republicans are , even if it means a partial government shutdown.

鈥淗ouse Republicans have turned their backs on the bipartisan budget deal that a large majority of them voted for just a few months ago and proposed a continuing resolution (CR) that makes devastating cuts to programs that millions of hardworking Americans count on,鈥� the White House said in a press release.

A continuing resolution, or CR, is regularly used to keep the government funded for weeks or a couple of months while the House and Senate finish work on the 12 annual spending bills.

Without a CR by Saturday, the end of the fiscal year, a partial shutdown will occur and programs that have discretionary funding, like WIC, will lapse.

Funding for WIC is not mandatory spending, meaning the program won鈥檛 be automatically funded regardless of a government shutdown. It鈥檚 funded through the Agriculture appropriations bill, which has not been passed by Congress.

The White House criticized the Agriculture appropriations bill the House passed out of its committee that did not include the supplemental funding the Biden administration requested.

鈥淲ithout the Administration鈥檚 funding request, states could soon be forced to institute waiting lists for WIC, causing mothers and children to lose access to the vital nutrition assistance,鈥� the White House said.

WIC funding is distributed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture鈥檚 Food and Nutrition Service to states through a formula. The share of eligible people who participate in WIC can vary between states 鈥� California, Massachusetts, and Minnesota, have a coverage rate for WIC by over 60%.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sonny Albarado for questions: info@arkansasadvocate.com. Follow Arkansas Advocate on and .

The kids are not all right, and they aren鈥檛 afraid to tell you that.

On college campuses in Virginia and nationwide, students are increasingly reporting struggles with mental health. after has shown rising cases of anxiety, depression and other forms of psychological distress among students aged 18 to 25 鈥� trends that predate but were exacerbated by the isolation and disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

鈥淭he complexity of the mental health challenges that students are facing and when they come for the first time in the clinic are growing,鈥� said Kevin Hughes, vice president of student affairs and dean of students at Christopher Newport University in Newport News. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just the volume, but it鈥檚 how complex the issue is that they鈥檙e dealing with.鈥�

Another thing the kids aren鈥檛 afraid to do? Ask for help. 

鈥淣one of us have it together by the time we鈥檙e 25,鈥� said Courtney Hairston, a counselor-in-residence at Christopher Newport鈥檚 Office of Counseling Services. But today, she said, 鈥渢he stigma, I think, is gone.鈥� 

鈥淭his generation is like, 鈥楬ey, we need help. Help us,鈥欌�� she said. 

Compared to a decade ago, the number of students seeking mental health services on college campuses has skyrocketed. An from Penn State University鈥檚 Center for Collegiate Mental Health found that during the 2021-22 school year, almost 191,000 students at roughly 180 higher education institutions in the U.S. sought mental health treatment at campus counseling centers. In 2011-12, by comparison, that figure was just over 97,000. 

The same trend can be seen on Virginia campuses, say numerous people working in education and health in the state. 

At Radford University, roughly 45 minutes southwest of Roanoke, . But despite that, 鈥渨e鈥檙e seeing an uptick in the percentage of students we鈥檙e seeing in the counseling center,鈥� said Brian Lusk, the school鈥檚 director of student counseling services. 

鈥淭he younger generation of students are coming in more in tune with their mental health needs and more willing to seek out treatment,鈥� said Lusk. And while he said it鈥檚 encouraging to see students being proactive about their needs, 鈥渋t really puts a strain on our counseling centers.鈥�

鈥淢ost of our counseling centers are staffed reasonably well, but they鈥檙e not staffed well enough to handle the kind of need we鈥檙e seeing now,鈥� he said. 

Now, Virginia is trying to harness campuses鈥� soaring demand for mental health services to meet another goal: get more young professionals in the pipeline to provide them. In 2022, lawmakers added $1 million to the state鈥檚 two-year budget for a pilot program that would pay salaries and benefits for counseling and social work graduates pursuing state licensure to work at campus student health and counseling centers.

A May 30 from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV), as well as interviews with participating universities and other people involved in the effort, indicate that nearly a year after the General Assembly signed off on the initiative, it鈥檚 showing promising results. 

Most of our counseling centers are staffed reasonably well, but they鈥檙e not staffed well enough to handle the kind of need we鈥檙e seeing now.

鈥淧articipating institutions are already seeing tangible impacts,鈥� SCHEV wrote in the May report. Among the takeaways: Five residents employed through the program have provided over 740 hours of direct clinical services to 220 students on Virginia campuses while racking up over 1,000 hours of supervised practice needed for their licensure.

鈥淎dding this professional colleague has bolstered morale and bandwidth and prevented burnout and turnover of clinicians,鈥� wrote one supervisor in anonymous comments on the pilot included in the report. 鈥淚n sum, this hire has stabilized the counseling center and our services to the university.鈥� 

At Christopher Newport, 鈥渢hey have hit the ground running,鈥� said Bill Ritchey, executive director of counseling and health services. 鈥淢y most pressing question is: How do we keep it going?鈥�

Rising demand, looming provider shortages

 Among nearly all age groups, there鈥檚 a rising demand for mental health services nationwide. In Virginia, policy discussions have mainly centered on the state鈥檚 troubled , the network of community services boards and state-run facilities that provide treatment to people who are in crisis or experiencing the most severe mental health challenges. 

But while the overburdened public system deserves attention, said Deborah Oswalt, executive director of the Virginia Health Care Foundation (VHCF), the majority of Virginians who seek mental health treatment are in search of more 鈥渂asic鈥� services. Those include treatment for conditions such as depression, anxiety and panic disorder, as well as help dealing with difficult circumstances like a death or traumas linked to situations like abuse. 

鈥淭here鈥檚 really not been much of a state focus on that end of the continuum,鈥� said Oswalt.

Even as demand has risen, the number of professionals available to meet that demand has fallen in Virginia, with data showing it could shrink ever further as a wave of behavioral health providers prepare to retire.

鈥淭he need and demand for behavioral health services far exceeds the available capacity to meet them,鈥� found a . 鈥淸Behavioral health] professionals throughout the Commonwealth are overwhelmed and Virginians are waiting months for help.鈥� 

VHCF鈥檚 data paint a stark portrait. Of Virginia鈥檚 133 localities, the organization found, 93 are considered by federal standards to have a shortage of mental health professionals. At the time the report was issued, two localities 鈥� Craig County near the West Virginia border and Surry County just west of Newport News 鈥� had no licensed behavioral health professionals of any kind. Forty-eight localities had one or fewer full-time clinical psychologists, while 11 had one or fewer full-time social workers and 16 had one or fewer licensed professional counselors.

The workforce was also nearing what the VHCF called a 鈥減rovider cliff鈥�: Among psychiatrists, 61% of providers were aged 55 and older, as were 36% of licensed clinical psychologists, 37% of licensed clinical social workers and 32% of licensed professional counselors. Furthermore, the majority of providers were white, . 

鈥淎s more people get comfortable with seeking out mental health treatment there鈥檚 not going to be enough providers,鈥� said Lusk. 鈥淚n reality, pretty much all of us could use someone to talk to at some point in our lives.鈥�

鈥淟ife is full of challenges,鈥� he continued. 鈥淎nd trying to suck it up and rub some dirt on it or whatever you want to say, those southern sayings, and push through it, it doesn鈥檛 work well for everyone.鈥� 

A long road to licensure

Despite the aging workforce, getting new professionals into the field has been difficult because of the steep requirements many graduates face to achieve licensure in Virginia. 

The largest sectors of Virginia鈥檚 behavioral health professions are clinical social workers and professional counselors, who in 2021 made up almost three-quarters of the workforce, according to VHCF data. While roughly 4,000 of the 12,000 current professionals in those fields are nearing retirement age, colleges and universities in the commonwealth are only producing approximately 400 graduates per year 鈥� not enough to offset the exits. 

More crucially, those graduates still lack licensure. While both professional counseling and clinical social work require graduate-level degrees, licensure requires graduates to undergo thousands of hours of clinical and supervised practice. Professional counselors must undergo 3,400 hours of clinical work experience, of which 2,000 must be direct client contact and 200 must be supervised. For clinical social workers, the requirement is 3,000 hours of experience, including 1,380 clinical hours and 100 supervised hours. 

鈥淭hat鈥檚 one of the big hurdles a lot of [licensed professional counselors] have,鈥� said Ritchey. 鈥淚 think there鈥檚 a lot of people who want to be in higher education who are LPCs that the doors need to be opened to.鈥�  

Supervised hours are particularly tricky for graduates, as most are forced to pay experienced practitioners an average rate of $100 per hour for the supervision. 

鈥淭hat鈥檚 a lot of money,鈥� said Lusk. 鈥淚f someone鈥檚 charging you $100, $150 an hour, that adds up fast.鈥�  

Hairston, the counselor-in-residence at Christopher Newport, said supervision posed a barrier for many of her fellow students.

鈥淵ou have some private practice members who are willing to work with you, some who are not,鈥� she said. 

The state鈥檚 steep licensure requirements, in the absence of other mechanisms to offset the burdens, may also be weeding out candidates with graduate degrees in their field but without the resources to navigate a prolonged and expensive process. 

鈥淕iven the low salaries available to these pre-licensees ($42,000 鈥� $47,000/year) and the high student debt load they carry, many cannot run the financial gauntlet of paying for the required supervision hours,鈥� the VHCF report found. 

Virginia has 鈥渟ome of the strictest and highest standards to get licensure,鈥� said Lusk. 鈥淲e have to be gatekeepers of our profession, right? But sometimes we have such high standards in Virginia, it really puts a barrier up.鈥� 

鈥楨xactly what we鈥檝e been trying to do for such a long time鈥�

Over the past few years, Virginia has become increasingly interested in putting state support toward licensure of counseling and clinical social work graduates. VHCF鈥檚 , which aims to speed up the licensure of 200 behavioral health professionals by paying for their required supervision hours, has received funding from the General Assembly and Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. 

Then, in 2022, conversations between the foundation and SCHEV led to a new idea: Why not marry the need for licensure with growing college campus needs for mental health services?

鈥淥bviously the pandemic really brought to light a lot of issues related to student mental health,鈥� said Emily Salmon, a senior associate with the state council. 

Colleges and universities were immediately enthusiastic. With the General Assembly allocating $500,000 in each of the fiscal years 2023 and 2024 to the pilot, the schools scrambled to apply. 

鈥淭his is literally something I鈥檝e been looking for for honestly almost my whole career,鈥� said Ritchey. 鈥淭his is exactly what we鈥檝e been trying to do for such a long time.鈥�

Of the 10 colleges and universities that applied for funding, six were chosen. Their awards ranged from $66,810 for Longwood to $100,000 for Christopher Newport, which chose to cover resident benefits with university funds in order to add two graduates to its counseling center. 

鈥淭he interest and submission of proposals exceeded the amount of funding that was available,鈥� said Salmon.

For Oswalt, the rush of interest from schools made it clear the pilot was filling an urgent need.

鈥淭his isn鈥檛 a problem that somebody made up or something,鈥� she said. 鈥淯niversities can be pretty slow sometimes in the way they do things, but I think it鈥檚 telling that a good chunk of grantees really made an effort to advertise and get someone on board quickly so they could get the whole thing started.鈥� 

Five months in, Lusk at Radford and Ritchey and Hughes, the dean of students, at Christopher Newport said the benefits of the initiative were already clear 鈥� not just among the residents offering care, but among the students receiving it.鈥� 

鈥淚t鈥檚 a real critical juncture in life,鈥� said Ritchey. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the first time in life when a person is out of the parents鈥� home but they鈥檙e not set so much that they have the encumbrances that a lot of us adults have, so it鈥檚 a real prime time for some heavy lifting in terms of self-exploration and personal development.鈥�

鈥淢y hope is that we lose the word 鈥榩ilot,鈥� and then it just becomes a program,鈥� said Hughes.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Virginia Mercury maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sarah Vogelsong for questions: info@virginiamercury.com. Follow Virginia Mercury on and .

Vanessa鈥檚 first two years of high school passed in a haze.

Some days she attended classes at her high school in East El Paso. Other days she ditched school to smoke or vape cannabis with her friends at a park. Then there were days she would arrive at school, walk straight back home and sleep all day after getting high alone in an empty house.

鈥淭here wasn鈥檛 a day that went by that I didn鈥檛 get high,鈥� Vanessa said. 鈥淚t made me forget the reason why I was alone. It was just a way to escape from reality, to dissociate.鈥�

Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for 社区黑料 Newsletter

Looking back, Vanessa realizes she was still in mourning from her sexual assault years prior and the rift it caused in her family.

When school counselor Alice Gardea felt concerned about why Vanessa was missing so many classes, she referred her to Project Vida, an El Paso-based nonprofit that offers therapy on campus.

Vanessa, who鈥檚 now 17 and heading toward her senior year of high school, described that conversation as the moment that 鈥渟et everything in place.鈥� Weekly therapy sessions helped her navigate her grief and take back control of her life, she said.

As , organizations in El Paso are partnering with school districts to make mental health care more accessible. Local mental health providers say that cost, scheduling conflicts and lack of reliable transportation are among the barriers that prevent students from accessing therapy, especially if they live in rural areas.

Emergence Health Network, a local agency that provides mental health services, offers on-campus therapy and case management in 10 different schools in El Paso County. This month, the organization added the middle school and high school in Fabens, a community about 30 miles southeast of El Paso along the border.

Project Vida, which introduced its first on-campus therapist in 2017, spans 21 schools across El Paso and Hudspeth counties. In some schools, it鈥檚 not uncommon to see students who are raising themselves in non-traditional households, said Pamela Ponce, co-chief of school-based integrated health at Project Vida.

Early intervention can be life changing for not only children and teenagers 鈥� but also for the family and community they grow up in, Ponce said.

鈥淢any of these people who are having crises in their adult years, those crises could have been prevented if they started getting services early during school age,鈥� Ponce said. 鈥淚t gives them the ability to learn coping skills, learn more about themselves, how to care for their mental health, then teach that to their parents and siblings.鈥�

Mental health providers on school campus build trust

Project Vida began seeing the need for mental health services on campus in 2015, while its staff was in schools for the organization鈥檚 teenage pregnancy prevention program. Facilitators noticed that students were coming into Project Vida鈥檚 school offices to ask about topics besides sexual health, such as how to manage their anxiety, Ponce said.

Since Project Vida team members were visible on campus, showing up to lunch and school events, students began seeing them as trusted adults that they could talk to about any health issue, she said.

In 2017, Project Vida piloted its first on-campus, mental health care team at Eastlake High School, located on the outskirts of El Paso in Socorro Independent School District. The suicides of at least two , linked to possible , stunned the district that year.

Project Vida has since expanded to Clint, Canutillo and Fort Hancock, concentrating in middle and high schools and seeing about 300 students a year. Each mental health team, which typically rotates between two campuses, includes a licensed professional counselor or licensed clinical social worker. Availability tends to fill up within the first three months of the school year, although clinicians can take new students in the middle of the school year if their clients finish their treatment plan early, Ponce said.

Ponce said they see students who are grieving the loss of loved ones, experiencing panic attacks or struggling with depression. Students also showed signs of social anxiety when they returned to the classroom after back-to-back tragedies: The 2019 mass shooting at Walmart, followed by the COVID-19 pandemic that has killed more than 3,600 people in El Paso.

Without on-campus services, students in small and rural communities may have to travel half an hour to an hour into El Paso for mental health care. That means a parent might have to miss work 鈥� and lose part of their income 鈥� to drive their child to their appointment, while the child may have to miss school.

A means people can face long wait times for appointments in El Paso to open up, or can only get monthly appointments rather than weekly or biweekly, Ponce said. Parents can also find it challenging to find a provider that takes their health insurance.

Project Vida鈥檚 program is funded by a combination of federal and state grants, as well reimbursements from Medicaid, CHIP and private insurance. The organization works with uninsured people on a sliding scale and won鈥檛 turn away anyone who can鈥檛 pay for services, Ponce said.

Vanessa described the day her counselor referred her to therapy as the day that changed her life. She thinks she鈥檚 better at not letting the painful events she couldn鈥檛 control, control her, she said. She鈥檚 begun catching up on her academics, quit her habitual vaping and looks forward to homecoming, prom and graduation next year 鈥� activities that used to not excite her.

It feels good to have the motivation to live again, she said.

鈥淚 recently wrote a poem for English class about my sexual assault and the emotions I was experiencing,鈥� Vanessa said. 鈥淎s I was writing and reading other poems about assault, it helped me feel it鈥檚 OK to not be OK.鈥�

Small communities overcome mental health care stigma

When 18-year-old Ariana Ba帽ez told her parents last year she wanted to see a professional mental health care provider, they didn鈥檛 believe her at first, she said.

Ba帽ez, now a senior at Fabens High School, said she probably seemed like the typical overachiever. She was on the student council and competing to become the class valedictorian. She was involved with the school theater program and played French horn in the school band.

But Ba帽ez said she had a hard time adjusting to her school load after returning to campus during the pandemic, after more than a year of virtual classes and canceled extracurricular activities. Ba帽ez remembered trying to hide how overwhelmed she felt, but the pressure manifested in physical ways. She would get headaches and stomachaches. Sometimes she forgot to eat.

Searching for a therapist only brought more stress. The clinics in El Paso that Ba帽ez called were booked and couldn鈥檛 take on new clients.

It also seemed taboo at the time to admit she needed help, Ba帽ez said. Fabens has a population of less than 8,000 people 鈥� and gossip spreads fast, she described. Some of her peers feel they can鈥檛 speak up about anxiety, depression or family problems because 鈥渆veryone will say, well, get over it.鈥�

鈥淲e鈥檙e a really close-knit community,鈥� Ba帽ez said. 鈥淏ut when it鈥檚 like that, when family issues come up, it gets harder to deal with. It鈥檚 hard to really express that without everyone judging you.鈥�

Natalie Mendez, a qualified mental health professional from Emergence Health Network, said educating parents and destigmatizing mental health are a major part of her job. Mendez supervises the network鈥檚 team at Canutillo ISD. About 6,200 people live in Canutillo, a census-designated place on the northwest side of El Paso County.

If a parent is receiving services for a child, they don鈥檛 necessarily want the staff at the school to know because staff might know their friend and then word gets around, Mendez explained.

Sometimes parents are initially open to mental health services, but opposed once a provider explains treatment options, Mendez said. Other times parents mistake services as a quick fix that will immediately change their child鈥檚 behavior, grades and attendance. Ultimately, students should have a direct say in their mental health care and forcing them to get treatment before they鈥檙e ready can re-open trauma, Mendez said.

鈥淲hen a child is not on board, we don鈥檛 recommend services because the child has to be in charge,鈥� Mendez said. 鈥淩egardless of their age, they need to be the one to set their own goal. 鈥� The child and parent are equal partners. Our job is to bridge that partnership so we are working together for the benefit of the whole family.鈥�

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission funds Emergence Health Network鈥檚 operation, which includes three schools in Canutillo ISD and five schools in El Paso ISD. Emergence Health Network has seen about 350 students for on-campus services since 2020.

Along with therapy, the organization provides case management and informal youth mentorship. A therapist can help a student trace why they feel anxious in crowded hallways while a case manager can help a student develop grounding techniques, like counting tiles on a ceiling, when they鈥檙e in a situation that triggers their anxiety, Mendez explained.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e both tackling the same problem,鈥� Mendez said. 鈥淥ne is understanding the reason, the other piece is, 鈥極K, what are we going to do about it?鈥欌��

This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

WASHINGTON 鈥� Every public school kid in the United States was eligible for free school meals during the COVID-19 pandemic, regardless of family income, thanks to the federal government.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. New Jersey Monitor maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Terrence McDonald for questions: info@newjerseymonitor.com. Follow New Jersey Monitor on and .

released their on April 4, which grades North Carolina on 15 indicators of child health in the state.

This year the report card鈥檚 focus issue was children鈥檚 mental health. North Carolina scored an 鈥淔鈥� in mental health, showing a serious decline for students in the wake of the pandemic.

鈥淗omicide and suicide are the only causes of child death that are increasing in North Carolina,鈥� the report states.

Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for 社区黑料 Newsletter

Post pandemic, 10.2% of high school students who attempted suicide were reported, according to NC Child, a 23.2% increase from baseline. Adolescents ages 12-17 with major depressive episodes similarly increased by 25.8%.

The report says the trends are “deeply troubling.鈥�

Erica Palmer Smith, the executive director of NC child, called the mental health data, 鈥渆specially concerning,鈥� in an accompanying press release.

For the past 20 years, NC Child has partnered with the (NCIOM) to release a report card every one to two years. By continually tracking data, they鈥檝e been able to document the changes to children鈥檚 health through the pandemic.

The 15 tracked indicators are grouped into four categories: secure homes and neighborhoods, access to care, healthy births, and health risk factors. Scores are calculated by comparing the state鈥檚 yearly performance, disparities by race and ethnicity, and aspiration standards.

Mental health findings

鈥淟ong before pandemic school closures across the nation, clinicians were already seeing alarming trends across many indicators of child and adolescent mental health,鈥� the report states. 鈥淢ore than one in 10 children ages 3-17 in North Carolina had a diagnosis of depression or anxiety in 2020 – a 49% increase from 2016.鈥�

The report finds that children who experience discrimination are disproportionately impacted, reporting worse mental health than their counterparts.

鈥淟GBTQ+ students are more than three times more likely to consider or attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers,” the report says.

Students of different races experience disparity as well 鈥� Hispanic or Latinx high school students reported the highest rates of attempted suicide within the past year, at 13.3%. That number was 12.5% for white high school students and 11.8% for African American or Black students.

Health trends

When the mental health risks to students during the pandemic became apparent in 2020, the (DPI) updated their to include mental health training and a suicide risk protocol.

Despite this, NC Child’s 2023 report mirrors many of their findings in . Mental health, birth outcomes, and housing and economic security all received “F” grades in both years.

This year’s report contains other worrying trends, including an 18.3% decrease in literacy rate among third grade students and a 9.12% increase in children between ages 10-17 who are overweight or obese. Again, massive disparities exist between ethnic and racial groups.

鈥淣ationally and in North Carolina, the data show a marked impact from the first two years of the pandemic, as students from low-income communities often had reduced access to online learning and enrichment activities during school closures and the shift to virtual classrooms,鈥� the report states.

But the report contained sparse positive trends as well. Insurance coverage for children in N.C. remains high at 94.5%, and children who live in high-poverty neighborhoods has decreased 11.1%.

Talking about the issues is part of the solution. 鈥淚ncreased attention can also mean decreased stigma, allowing our children and families to seek out the help they need with far less fear of retribution,鈥� the report states.

The document advocates for expanding mental health care access and making guns and prescription drugs more difficult to access as pathways towards healthier students.

鈥淎ll of our children deserve the chance to thrive, regardless of whether they live in a rural or urban area, their race, gender, or how much money their parents make,鈥� said Smith in the press release.

This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

As new data show a troubling increase in poor mental health and risk of suicide in teens, the U.S. Department of Education has announced millions in grants for seven Florida school districts as part of a five-year plan to invest $1 billion into mental health services.

With a turbulent education environment left over from the COVID-19 pandemic among other stresses, kids have struggled and federal, state and local school officials are trying to respond.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released a report called the Youth Risk Behavior Survey that shows an increase in poor mental health and suicide risk among the nation鈥檚 youth from 2011 to 2021.

Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for 社区黑料 Newsletter

The report is released every two years and relays data collected through a survey of public, Roman Catholic, and other non-public high schools. In 2021, 17,232 questionnaires from 152 schools were used to compile the most recent data.

According to the CDC, 42 percent of students in 2021 reported experiencing 鈥減ersistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness,鈥� up from 37 percent in 2019, before the COVID pandemic.

Seventy-eight percent of LGBQ+ students felt 鈥渟o sad or hopeless almost every day for at least two weeks in a row that they stopped doing their usual activities,鈥� compared to 50 percent of heterosexual students who answered the same. The report does not explicitly provide data on the experiences of transgender students.

While the DeSantis administration bills itself as supportive of mental health initiatives, many for their families. They cite听legislation plus administrative policies

Another worrying data point from the CDC study looks at the percent of students who considered suicide in 2021. That data found that 22 percent of students seriously considered attempting suicide in 2021, an increase from 19 percent in 2019.

When broken down by sex, 30 percent of female students answered that they seriously considered attempting suicide, compared to 14 percent of male students who answered the same.

Attempts at suicide increased from 9 percent of students in 2019 to 10 percent in 2021. In 2021, 13 percent of the female respondents and 7 percent of male respondents said that they had attempted suicide during the past year.

Safer Communities Act

According to a Thursday press release, the grant money is part the federal Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which President Joe Biden signed in June. Local or state education agencies had to apply for the grant funds.

For Florida, seven counties will receive between $500,000 and $3 million towards hiring mental health professionals from what鈥檚 called the School-Based Mental Health Services Grant.

According to a Thursday press release from the Department of Education:

鈥淭hese funds increase the number of听school psychologists, counselors, and other mental health professionals serving our students through recruitment and retention efforts, the promotion听of听re-specialization and professional retraining听of听existing mental health providers, and through efforts to increase the diversity and cultural and linguistic competency听of school-based mental health services providers.鈥�

In addition, three Florida state universities will receive federal grants to 鈥渢rain school-based mental health services providers for employment in schools and local educational agencies,鈥� the press release reports 鈥� $1.2 million for Florida International University, $868,338 for the University of Florida, and $446,308 for University of South Florida.

Just this week, some Florida representatives discussed the effects of technology and social media on students and whether they play a part in the decline of mental health during a House Education and Employment committee meeting.

In addition, First Lady Casey DeSantis has led an initiative to help boost the mental health of students, through a program called Hope Ambassadors. These are clubs that aim to create a kind and compassionate learning environment at schools through student-led mentorship and community service.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Diane Rado for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on and .

The Brave Room at Indian Hill Elementary School in Cincinnati has pillow chairs, a mini Zen garden and soft lighting. Every day, students stop in 鈥� some for a few minutes, others for a full class period 鈥� to use fidget toys, coloring books and kinetic sand, or just chill out. 

“Our goal is that they use the room and then return to their academics more settled, ” school counselor Sarah Kellett said. 

The Brave Room is named after the school鈥檚 athletic team, the Indian Hill Braves, and its name aligns with the term 鈥�,鈥� or inclusive learning environments. Schools and afterschool programs nationally are adding similar rooms under various names 鈥� calming rooms, zen dens, peace rooms 鈥� as another way for students to address their mental and emotional well-being. Proponents of calming rooms say they offer young people a safe, quiet space to reflect on and regulate their emotions.

Calming rooms can be “really powerful” for children, said Robert Dillon, a former public educator turned author.

“Most human beings need opportunities to reflect and recalibrate,” said Dillon, who worked in education for 25 years, including as an English teacher and a middle school principal. 

The calming room concept has existed for decades, noted Dillon, but in recent years he’s seen more and more schools and afterschool programs create mediative sanctuaries for children to process their feelings, cool off or re-calibrate before returning to class. 

Students use calming rooms, which are typically voluntary and open to all students, when they are feeling anxious, agitated or just need some alone time to regroup. Some schools have sign-up sheets or a pass for the calming room and teachers can encourage students to go to a room. Some schools may have a therapist, school counselor or staff in the room or nearby. 

Some schools nationally have long sent students, particularly those with disabilities, to rooms with similar names 鈥� , , 鈥� and barred them from leaving, . The practice has been in some states. But the calming rooms that Dillon and the others are talking about are different: Proponents say they are grounded in the science of social-emotional learning and students are never forced to go to or stay in them.

The reasons for the rise in calming rooms are a result of many factors, including challenges posed by the pandemic 鈥� the loss of learning and social isolation as the result of closures and remote learning that occurred in many cities 鈥� and the ubiquity of social media. 

“We are in a noisy society 鈥� mentally noisy, emotionally noisy 鈥� and I think these calming spaces are pushing back against the everyday tech noise,” Dillon said. 

In the aftermath of the pandemic, where the ramifications are still playing out inside and outside of educational settings, , activities and teachings, including calming rooms, that support a child’s mental well-being have become priorities for schools and programs.

“We’re in a mental health crisis right now and things are a little scary at times,” said Brooke Unrath, director of social-emotional learning at the Boys and Girls Club in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

The Green Bay Boys and Girls Club opened its first of two calming rooms in 2017. Zen dens, as they are called there, are outfitted with bean bag chairs and instructions on how to calm down and regulate emotions. Students who use the zen den can also get one-on-one support from Unrath, who is a licensed clinical social worker. 

Since students returned to school after COVID-19 closures, Unrath is seeing more students who report heightened feelings of anxiety and depression, including suicidal thoughts.

The number of kids reporting suicidal ideations is at an “astronomical amount per week,” Unrath said. Before the pandemic, maybe she would get one or two kids a month who were contemplating suicide. This school year, she gets one or two a week. 

“There are 7-year-olds coming into my office sharing that they want to kill themselves,” Unrath said, “and that is it’s hard to swallow.”

To address the increase in mental health concerns, the club has added calming corners in every program facility, which have toolkits that include fidget spinners and noise-canceling headphones, in addition to the zen dens. 

As one of the first clubs to have a zen den, a growing number of Boys and Girls Clubs around the country 鈥� from Chicago to Atlanta to South Dakota 鈥� have reached out to Unrath for advice on creating their own calming rooms. She’s also seen calming rooms begin to pop up in nearby school districts. The trend began before the pandemic, she said, but has gained momentum since, which she attributes to the increase in pandemic-related anxiety and depression and to cyberbullying.

“The importance of is moving up the priority pecking order, going from a few educators to systemic in nature,” Dillon said. 

The design and experience of calming rooms today are far better and thought out than a decade ago when teachers might throw a beanbag or pop-up tent in a corner of the classroom but rarely taught kids how to use those spaces.

Even as calming rooms are gaining popularity, educators still face several barriers to creating them in their school or program setting. The rooms cost money to set up and design, require space and need buy-in from the school or program leaders and staff, said Dillon. 

Done right, calming rooms that follow current best practices like those with designated spaces and clear instructions on how to use the calming room are more likely to help struggling kids and give credibility to education, but, he cautioned, those “done poorly” evoke negative impressions of a “fad, a one-off, something that’s silly.”

At Indian Hill Elementary, Kellett said it’s extremely important calming rooms are “not a space that is ever punitive.” When students return to class after a visit to the brave room, the teachers’ protocol is to welcome the student back.

Calming rooms can also be used to take the emotional temperature of the school. For example, Indian Hill discovered a noticeable increase in calming room visits after recess. Kids were likely riled up after playtime and needed some adjustments before returning to studies, Kellett said. 

Some teachers began instituting a quiet time with music after recess to soften the energy level. 

“Students coming in from recess would have that natural time to get out some last wiggles or calm down and then enter the classroom,” Kellett said. 

Since the school opened the Brave room nearly four years ago with a $1,000 grant, Kellett said she’s seen the calming room trend extend not only to nearby school districts but also into the student’s homes.

“Several students try to create their own calming space within their homes,” Kellett said. “They see the benefit of taking a break or cooling down and honoring their emotions.”

is an independent, nonprofit news organization covering issues related to children and young people. Youth Today is published by the Center for Sustainable Journalism. 

Besides running the school of 550 students, Adelman-Cannon is also serving as the sixth-grade English teacher 鈥� missing out on hours of sleep and time with her family after a long day at the International School of Louisiana, Uptown Campus.

She鈥檚 doing double duty because finding new, qualified teachers for her middle school has been a 鈥渘ightmare,鈥� she said.

鈥淏y no means do I want to valorize it 鈥� I’m doing it because it’s in the best interest of my kids,鈥� she said, 鈥渂ut boy, I really wish I had an amazing sixth-grade English 鈥� teacher so I could just be a principal.鈥�

As educators leave the profession from what Adelman-Cannon suspects is burnout and pressure on teachers accelerated by the pandemic, she has struggled to find a qualified English teacher with experience.

鈥淚 think teachers are exhausted. They are also traumatized, to some extent, from the pandemic,鈥� she said, adding she needed a sixth-grade English teacher who was certified and experienced. 

鈥淚 just couldn’t find (one),鈥� Adelman-Cannon said. 鈥淵ou could always find ELA teachers. But not anymore.鈥�

Across the country, educators say the new normal in schools is taking a toll: Canceled classes because of teacher shortages. Students are late to school because of bus driver shortages. Cafeterias serving meals on repeat because of inflation and supply shortages. Students and staff are depressed. 

There鈥檚 no doubt Adelman-Cannon loves her students and the class time she鈥檚 getting with them. But doing two jobs is far from ideal. As a teacher, she wishes she had a planning period. She wishes she could be pulling students aside after class for remediation.

But she can鈥檛. She鈥檚 the principal.

Being in the classroom has also allowed her to witness some alarming behavior: Her students fall asleep in class, even during usually-engaging group activities. She鈥檚 also seen them talking to themselves. 

鈥淚 have kids sleeping in my class, like so much more than I’ve ever had,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey’ll be right inside a fishbowl discussion, right with me in a discussion, with their heads down, asleep.

鈥淚’m not a mental health professional. I think there’s some depression,鈥� she said. 鈥淧utting your head down sleeping, not caring, no, like, no perseverance, to the point of not doing any [work], just not doing it. Those are the behaviors of concern.鈥�

She believes these are behaviors students picked up while learning remotely that will take time to unlearn. Many seem to have forgotten they鈥檙e back in a classroom, surrounded by peers and educators. 

鈥淚 see them, like talk to themselves and I鈥檓 like, 鈥榳e can hear you. You’re not by yourself. You’re not saying that in your head.鈥� There鈥檚 a lot of resocialization going on.鈥�

Beyond sleeping in class, Adelman-Cannon鈥檚 students aren鈥檛 turning in their assignments at alarming rates. She鈥檚 concerned she鈥檒l have to fail many more than she ever has.

鈥淚 can reteach skills, I can scaffold skills, I can change the book, but I can鈥檛 change that desire if there’s no motivation,鈥� she said.

She feels as though she鈥檚 out of tricks and tools for engaging students. No incentives 鈥� not even parties in the principal鈥檚 office 鈥� seem to be working.

But Adelman-Cannon, who has been a principal for 25 years, is certain the school will adjust and recover from the pandemic. Much of this optimism comes from teaching through another crisis: Hurricane Katrina. 

鈥淚 knew I could get through the pandemic and I could get through this time because I’ve been through Katrina,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 have lost everything. I have rebuilt my educational teaching world 鈥� rebuilt a school post Katrina 鈥� I know it is hard, but I know I can do it now because I did it before.鈥�

She believes the school is once again weathering the storm. The staff who are there, she said, are committed and bullish.

鈥淭hey are seeing successes, it does feel more normal, and they are now able to see some of the rewards,鈥� she said.

One of their biggest successes this year, Adelman-Cannon believes, is the school鈥檚 commitment to students鈥� mental health. 

鈥淲e can’t learn anything if we are not healthy and our children are really in need of therapy 鈥� like all of them,鈥� Adelman-Cannon said. 鈥淚 wish I could give every child a therapist.鈥�

She did the next best thing by hiring a social worker and a licensed counselor. She hopes this will help her kids pull through. 

鈥淚 have 100% faith in my teachers and our parents and our kids. We’re gonna come out the other end, better, stronger, more flexible thinkers,鈥� she said. 鈥淲ith the greater ability to handle all the challenges that life throws at us and we’re gonna get there together.鈥�

Early in his first quarter at the University of California-Davis, Ryan Manriquez realized he needed help. A combination of pressures 鈥� avoiding COVID-19, enduring a breakup, dealing with a disability, trying to keep up with a tough slate of classes 鈥� hit him hard.

鈥淚 felt the impact right away,鈥� said Manriquez, 21.

After learning of UC-Davis鈥� free counseling services, Manriquez showed up at the student health center and lined up an emergency Zoom session the same day. He was referred to other resources within days and eventually settled into weekly group therapy.

Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for 社区黑料 Newsletter

That was September 2020. Manriquez, now president of the student union, considers himself lucky. It can take up to a month to get a counseling appointment, he said, and that鈥檚 鈥渁t a school that鈥檚 trying really hard to make services available.鈥�

Across the country, college students are seeking mental health therapy on campus in droves, part of a 15-year upswing that has spiked during the pandemic. U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy in December noting the increasing number of by young people.

Colleges and universities are struggling to keep up with the demand for mental health services. Amid a nationwide shortage of mental health professionals, they are competing with hospital systems, private practices, and the burgeoning telehealth industry to recruit and retain counselors. Too often, campus officials say, they lose.

At UC-Davis, Dr. Cory Vu, an associate vice chancellor, said the campus is competing with eight other UC system universities, 23 California State universities, and multiple other health systems and practices as it tries to add 10 counselors to its roster of 34.

鈥淓very college campus is looking for counselors, but so is every other health entity, public and private,鈥� he said.

According to data compiled by KFF, more than live in areas with a documented shortage of mental health care professionals. Roughly were working in the U.S. in 2020, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The KFF data indicates that more than 6,500 additional psychiatrists are needed to eliminate the shortfall.

On campuses, years of public awareness campaigns have led to more students examining their mental health and trying to access school services.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 a very good thing,鈥� said Jamie Davidson, associate vice president for student wellness at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. The problem is 鈥渨e don鈥檛 have enough staff to deal with everyone who needs help.鈥�

About three years ago, administrators at the University of Southern California decided to respond aggressively to the skyrocketing demand for student mental health services. Since then, 鈥渨e鈥檝e gone from 30 mental health counselors to 65,鈥� said Dr. Sarah Van Orman, the university鈥檚 chief medical officer for student health.

The result?

鈥淲e鈥檙e still overwhelmed,鈥� Van Orman said.

Van Orman, past president of the American College Health Association, said the severity of college students鈥� distress is rising. More and more students come in with 鈥渁ctive suicidal ideation, who are in crisis, with such severe distress that they are not functioning,鈥� Van Orman said.

For counselors, 鈥渢his is like working in a psychiatric ER.鈥�

As a result, wait times routinely stretch into weeks for students with nonemergency needs like help dealing with class-related stress or the transition to college. Professionals at campus counseling centers, meanwhile, have seen both their workloads and the serious nature of individual cases rise dramatically, prompting some to seek employment elsewhere.

鈥淭his is an epidemic in its own right,鈥� Van Orman said, 鈥渁nd it has exploded over the last two years to the point that it is not manageable for many of our campuses 鈥� and, ultimately, our students.鈥�

The pandemic has exacerbated the challenges students face, said UNLV鈥檚 Davidson. Lockdown measures leave them feeling isolated and disconnected, unable to establish crucial relationships and develop the sense of self that normally comes with campus life. They also lose out on professional opportunities like internships and fall behind on self-care like going to the gym.

by the Center for Collegiate Mental Health at Pennsylvania State University found that among 43,000 students who sought help last fall at 137 campus counseling centers, 72% said the pandemic had negatively affected their mental health. An of 33,000 students last fall found that half of them 鈥渟creened positive for depression and/or anxiety,鈥� according to Boston University researcher Sarah Ketchen Lipson.

Even before the pandemic, university counseling center staff members were overwhelmed, Northwestern University staff psychiatrist Bettina Bohle-Frankel to The New York Times. 鈥淣ow, overburdened, underpaid and burned out, many therapists are leaving college counseling centers for less stressful work and better pay. Many are doing so to protect their own mental health.鈥�

On average, a counselor position at UC-Davis requiring a master鈥檚 or doctorate degree pays $150,000 a year in salary and benefits, but compensation can vary widely based on experience, Vu said. Even at that rate, Vu said, 鈥渨e sometimes cannot compete with Kaiser [Permanente], other hospital settings, or private practice.鈥�

Tatyana Foltz, a licensed clinical social worker in San Jose, California, spent three years as a mental health services case manager at Santa Clara University.

鈥淚 absolutely enjoyed working with the college students 鈥� they鈥檙e intelligent, dynamic, and complex, and they are working things out,鈥� Foltz said.

But she left the university a few years ago, lured by the flexibility of private practice and frustrated by a campus system that Foltz felt did not reflect the diverse needs of its students.

Foltz returned to campus in December to support Santa Clara students as they protested what they said were inadequate services on campus, including insufficient numbers of diverse counselors representing Black, Indigenous, and LGBTQ+ communities and other people of color. The protests followed the deaths of three students during the fall quarter, two by suicide.

鈥淚t should not be taking student deaths to get us better mental health resources,鈥� said junior Megan Wu, one of the rally鈥檚 organizers. After the rally, the chair of Santa Clara鈥檚 board of trustees pledged several million dollars in new funding for campus counseling.

Replacing therapists who leave universities is difficult, Davidson said. UNLV currently has funding for eight new counselors, but the salaries it can offer are limiting in a competitive hiring market.

Universities are getting creative in their attempts to spread mental health resources around on their campuses, however. UC-Davis embeds counselors in like the Cross-Cultural Center and the LGBTQIA Resource Center. Stanford University鈥檚 offers anonymous counseling 24/7 to students who are more comfortable speaking with a trained fellow student.

Mental health services that can be accessed online or by phone, which many schools did not offer before the pandemic, may become a lifeline for colleges and universities. Students often prefer remote to on-site counseling, Davidson said, and campuses likely will begin offering their counselors the option to work remotely as well 鈥� something that private practices and some medical systems have done for years.

鈥淵ou have to work hard and also smart,鈥� Foltz said. 鈥淵ou need numbers, but you also need the right mix of counselors. There is a constant need to have culturally competent staff members on a university campus.鈥�

This story was produced by , which publishes , an editorially independent service of the .

(Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Daily Montanan maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Darrell Ehrlick for questions: info@dailymontanan.com. Follow Daily Montanan on and .