As part of the Legislature’s ongoing effort to improve mental health services to K-12 students, lawmakers are considering setting aside $15 million a year to fund a pilot program to help schools hire their own specialists.
AB 254 by Assemblyman Tony Thurmond, D-Richmond, is intended to close gaps in the ‘whole child’ approach to education.
“Given the inextricable relationship between education and health, if the State of California seeks to lead in education we must also focus on the provision of healthcare,” Thurmond said in a statement. “School-based health improves student academic achievement, increases attendance, reduces dropout rates, improves behavior, and promotes parent engagement.”
Concerns over the lack of mental health services that were available to many K-12 students—especially those in low-income neighborhoods—prompted lawmakers five years ago to give local educational agencies authority over funding for diagnostic and intervention services that previously had been managed by county mental health agencies.
To continue reading this article by Tom Chorneau, go to: https://cabinetreport.com/huma...l-health-specialists
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