From www.tennessean.com
On one of his more challenging days,
Johnathan refused to get on the school bus.
He threw chairs and ran away from the
teachers, fleeing to hide under a table at his elementary school.
He lay there, curled up and crying when his
mom was called to come and pick him up. And when Shaunqueen Leatherman arrived,
worried and stressed, her son was asleep on the floor in that same spot.
His mother and grandma, who works as a
teaching assistant in Metro Nashville Schools, asked for help from the school
and were connected with a school-based therapist.
For a year, Johnathan's behavior underwent a
"dramatic change," Leatherman says. He saw Laurie Jackson, a
therapist from Centerstone who worked full time at Rosebank Elementary. He
learned calm-down techniques. And if he was having a particularly tough day, he
had someone nearby at school who understood him well enough to help.
"It was nice having someone who knew him
mentally being right there," Leatherman says.
But this year, Johnathan changed Metro
Nashville schools, and there is no longer a full-time therapist there to work
with him. The 7-year-old's behavior is escalating again. He's becoming more
jittery, and more wild, his mom says, leaving Leatherman — who is raising three
kids on her own — to worry again about the mental wellness of her son.
"It's more difficult now because he
doesn’t have that person to talk to every day," she says.
Johnathan is just one example of a
significant and persistent need in Tennessee schools.
School-based therapy gives kids direct access
to treatment, addressing behavior that may be disruptive or dangerous — often
in the moments when a child needs it most.
But as the mental health needs of
students reach unprecedented levels and fears about school and community
violence escalate, experts say Tennessee schools have an inadequate number of
psychological staff.
And that is a big problem.
Few districts meet recommendations
More than 265,500 kids in Tennessee ages 2 to
17 have been diagnosed with a mental health issue, according to estimates by
the state Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse.
Approximately 62,000 adolescents ages 12 to
17 have had a major depressive episode in the past year.
And very few districts in the state meet the
recommended national guidelines of having one psychologist for every 1,000
students. This year some Middle Tennessee school districts cut funding for
school psychologists; others simply don't have money in their budgets to hire
enough to meet the student needs.
The National Association of School
Psychologists recommends a ratio of no more than 1,000 students per school
psychologist, in general, and no more than 500 to 700 students per school
psychologist when more comprehensive and preventive services are being
provided.
Most Tennessee school districts do not meet
these standards.
In Dickson County, only four psychologists
serve 8,400 students. In Sumner County, there are 21 school psychologists
for 29,331 students; each psychologist serves two or more schools depending on
the size of the school.
The Basic Education Program — the formula by
which Tennessee calculates required funding for school needs such as
psychologists, books and teacher pay — uses a ratio of one psychologist for
every 2,500.
Statewide, schools employed 540 psychological
personnel during the 2016-2017 school year, an average of one for every 1,784
students, according to the Department of Education's annual statistical report.
"We’ve seen shortages for a long
time," says Kathy Cowan, communications director for the National
Association of School Psychologists.
"Up until recently, many schools didn’t
understand the importance of mental health in how it affects the school’s
climate and how it interacts with safety."
Outside help for students
School systems across Tennessee have sought
to address this gap, bringing in nonprofit organizations that provide their own
mental health therapists to support students and stem behaviors that could be
precursors to serious mental health issues. Those therapists often are funded
through grants, TennCare or by billing a family's personal insurance.
Meanwhile, new statewide requirements go into
effect this school year that require school counselors to spend 80
percent of their time one on one with students instead of proctoring exams,
working cafeteria shifts or doing other administrative duties.
The goal is to alleviate some of the burdens
on school psychologists who struggle to serve the mental health needs of
hundreds of students.
"It provides a personal protection
factor for many young men and women," says Rodger Dinwiddie, CEO of STARS,
a nonprofit organization addressing bullying, substance abuse and youth
violence. STARS has 60 school-based therapists in seven Middle Tennessee
counties.
"If nothing else, being there where
young people are is probably the most important ingredient — because many don't
have access to services outside those hallways."
With the increased understanding of adverse
childhood experiences, including trauma or abuse, additional social
media stressers stressors such as bullying and
challenges in accessing mental health resources, early intervention and support
for kids and teenagers are paramount.
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