September 19, 2019 3:30 a.m.
Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley and Congresswoman Katherine Clark of Massachusetts introduced legislation on Wednesday they say would put mental health care in the reach of every student in America.
The legislation is called the Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Act. A release from Merkley said the bill would help fill the critical unmet need for school-based mental health services providers in elementary and secondary schools.
Merkley said as he meets with educators from across Oregon, one of the top concerns he hears is that schools are not receiving the funding they need to deliver the counseling services “that students deserve”. He said that is putting the lives of children at risk.
The release said the recommended student-to-counselor ratio is 250 students per counselor, but currently the national average is 455 students per counselor, and the average continues to rise. For school psychologists the recommended ratio is 500 to 700 students per provider. It is 250 to 1 for school social workers.
The release said mental illness affects 20 percent of American youth. Approximately half of all lifetime cases of mental illness begin by age 14 and more than a third of students 14 and older with mental illness drop out of school. The release said 90 percent of youth who die by suicide had a mental illness.
Merkley’s release said youth with access to mental health service providers in their schools are 10 times more likely to seek care than youth without access.
The legislation would establish grants to states to help ensure that every school can meet the recommended counselor-to-student ratios. It is endorsed by groups like the National Education Association, the National Association of School Psychologists and the American Psychological Association.