Plan laid to hire mental health care workers for Stanislaus schools, with focus on Latinos
Modesto BeeSep 15, 2021
Sep. 15—Spanish speakers soon will be placed in Stanislaus County schools as mental health care outreach workers and clinicians to fill what local officials and numerous reports call an urgent service gap.
With anticipated federal budget approval at the end of September, Community Project Funding will allow
The county
Promotoras are outreach workers with roots within the Latino immigrant community who serve as liaisons to social services organizations. Some promotoras are paid workers, while others are volunteers who provide basic health care information.
The new hires will specialize in caring for underserved Latino youth through the
Harder, who requested the federal funding, said in a video meeting with promotoras on
"We're putting folks in school districts who can deliver mental health care to our students," he said.
Talking in late March with Harder about plans for education funds in the
Although the shortage in health care workers predates the pandemic, the effort comes as researchers share concern over rising mental health problems among youth during the pandemic.
In 2020, the
But even before the pandemic, mental health was poor among youth. More than 1 in 10 children, ages 12 to 17, had anxiety and/or depression, according to a report by the
Further, while suicide is the 10th leading cause of deaths in the
And it remains a concern given that solitary substance abuse, as opposed to social use, has increased among youth during the pandemic, leading to poorer mental health, KFF reports. Harder's office said Latinos have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic and his staff hopes that through this early intervention, individuals will seek treatment before their mental health problems become more severe.
"I'm so excited to do everything that I can to support the leadership of the promotoras and make sure that (promotoras) are given all the support and resources they need," Harder said.
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