As Pa. schools struggle with student mental health needs, lawmakers look to remove barriers
Patriot-NewsAug 25, 2021
A recognition that students’ mental health needs have been exacerbated by COVID-19-related issues prompted state lawmakers on Wednesday to focus attention on finding ways to help schools meet that need.
The House Children & Youth and Education committes held a joint hearing to hear about barriers that stand in the way of ensuring students receive that help.
“It’s essential to know how schools identify and assist a student with mental health needs, and discuss how those services are funded,” said
Among those who testified was West Shore School District Superintendent
“We still have [insurance] providers and carriers that will not pay and cover services that occur in a school-based setting,” Stoltz said. “You talk about barriers that still exist today. That is a real and existing barrier that if we could remove, we’d love to do it.”
Failing to do so creates additional barriers including getting students to appointments with mental health service providers outside the school building and disrupting a student’s education to go to those appointments.
“We task our schools with almost parenting our students,” he said.
To layer the cost of providing mental health services to services on top of everything else they do because insurance companies won’t pay for school-based mental health services, Sonney said, “that’s what needs to change.”
They include receiving a
Smith said the department is urging school districts to direct some of the federal aid they received to hire more mental health consultants and staff to help students return to in-person education.
Rep.
Smith said districts have until
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