As the districts of public schools prepare for a new school year, there are concerns about the decreasing resources arising out of federal funding cuts, many states seem to be an alarm about grants for mental health consultants and social workers.
Andrea Tarsy, one of the 19 mental health workers serving 6,500 students in the rural Northwest Connectic district, may soon be out of the job.
“Without supporting staff in the building, students are unable to achieve mental health services that they need,” said Tarsi, who has been working in the district for the last three years. “And when it comes to crisis, it is a safety issue for everyone not having a proper employee in the building.”
In April, the Trump administration suddenly shut down millions of dollars in mental health grants designed to help students, citing issues of diversity, equity and inclusion. The Education Department stated in a statement to CBS News that it found that “grant recipients used funds to implement breed-based tasks such as recruiting quota.”
Jonathan Costa is the Executive Director of ED Advance, who provides services to 31 school districts in Connecticut. He told CBS News: “hired what we found the best. And I do not even know how to say. I mean, we did not hire any counselor of color.”
He said that he was stunned to suspend the grant.
“If you are in a small public school district and do not have a full -time consultant or social worker, then your only option to get mental health care is to seek help from a private provider, and very few of them are available,” Costa said.
A CBS news analysis of the Education Department found a serious shortage of nationwide child mental health professionals. The recommended counselor-to-students in all the 50 states are reduced by the ratio, especially in rural areas.
Education Department spokesman Maddy Bidmanman told CBS News that it would review the applications based on detailed plans to the Trump administration to meet the unique mental health requirements of the Trump administration and review the applications based on detailed plans to get high quality mental health professionals in K -12 schools. “Costa says that her district will again have to re -implement with other applicants. The department is being sued by 16 states including connecticuts on the cuts.
Costa says that if they lose the grant, all 19 employees may be hired. It is a problem that many school districts across the country have shared with CBS News.
“People deal with trauma in their lives, and when this happens, they need to talk to someone,” Costa said. “They need support. And I see every day how our adults help these children in these situations.”
