New scholar psychological well being providers out there for faculties statewide

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) – A brand new program to higher help scholar psychological well being launches Monday after a current assessment of the state’s psychological well being providers in faculties discovered that solely half of the state’s faculties had psychological well being providers.

Earlier this 12 months Governor Henry McMaster directed the South Carolina Division of Well being and Human Companies to guage psychological well being providers in faculties statewide.

Jeff Leieritz with SCDHHS says after their assessment they discovered that solely half the state faculties have psychological well being providers.

Over the previous couple of years with the pandemic, there was an elevated want for psychological well being providers for teenagers, however there’s been a decreased provide of counselors.

Beginning Monday, faculties throughout the state can choose up a brand new program to higher help scholar psychological well being.

Psychology college on the College of South Carolina acquired a $3.2 million grant from SCDHHS to create the SC Faculty Behavioral Well being Academy.

Mark Weist with UofSC says SBHA will present schooling for college districts, psychological well being suppliers, and youth-serving businesses throughout the state via on-line and in-person studying.

“There’s no different state that’s doing this sort of work to type of rise the tide of psychological well being for all, enhance scholar and household functioning, but additionally scale back obstacles for scholar studying,” Weist says.

The SBHA will prepare these enrolled in creating protected faculties, responding to crises, and science-based approaches to counseling.

Leieritz says their aim is to chop the ratio in half for school-based psychological well being suppliers out there from 1 and 1,300 to 1 and 650.

“The first method that we need to do that’s via rising the quantity of funding out there to have the ability to present counselors in faculties the pliability to have the ability to rent their very own counselors, proceed with a DMH counselor, rent a non-public counselor, or do a mixture of these issues,” Leieritz says.

For now, this program has two years of funding, however Leieritz and Weist imagine this program will be sustainable in the long term.

Leaders with UofSC and SCDHHS say they’ve reached out to highschool districts throughout the state to choose up this program, however should you’re enthusiastic about studying extra click on here.

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