A previous blog highlighted what a school psychologist is, in a nutshell. The school psychologist job is so vast and complex, with a range of possibilities, it is difficult to describe within the context of one blog. Given that this is National School Psychology Week, this blog is dedicated to explaining the importance of school psychologists.
Importance of school psychologists
Understanding what school psychology is and what a school psychologist does is important for parents and educators alike. School psychologists are an invaluable resource that many people do not know exist. In addition, highlighting the important role school psychologists play in education also raises awareness about the shortage of school psychologists, the size of their caseloads, and the need for more funding and support to hire competent school psychologists.
Shortage
The shortage of staff to meet the mental health needs of students exists across professions: school psychologists, social workers, school counselors, and school nurses are just a few of the groups with their hands tied due to oversized caseloads that limit what they are actually able to do for students. These professionals are often referred to as school-based mental health providers (SBMH providers).
Recommended ratios
The recommended ratios for staff supporting mental health needs are:
- School psychologists: 1 for every 500 to 700 students enrolled
- Social workers: 1 for every 250 students
- School counselors: 1 for every 250 students
- School nurses: 1 for every 750 healthy students
National averages
- School psychologists: 1 for every 1,526 students (lowest was 410 students and highest was 6,389 students)
- Social workers: 1 for every 2,106 students (lowest was 365 students and highest was 8,973 students)
- School counselors: as of the 2018-2019 school year, the national ratio was 1 for every 430 students (lowest was 207 students and highest was 758 students)
- School nurses: 1 for every 936 students (lowest was 324 students and highest was 4,479 students)
Compared to police
According to the ACLU, there are:
- 1.7 million students in schools with police but no counselors
- 3 million students in schools with police but no nurses
- 6 million students in schools with police but no school psychologists
- 10 million students in schools with police but no social workers
- 14 million students in schools with police but no counselor, nurse, psychologist, or social worker
As a school psychologist, I have had the honor of working with many great School Resource Officers (SROs). They have been invaluable. However, the disparity between police in schools and SBMH providers is striking. Furthermore, it makes the job of police infinitely harder to not have the support of trained mental health professionals. Together we make a great team. We need more great teams.
What the shortage means
Data from the ACLU indicates 90% of students attend public schools that do not meet the recommended ratios. The shortage of SBMH providers impacts students, families, district personnel, and the existing SBMH providers in a multitude of ways. Additional staff supporting mental health needs of students has led to increased graduation rates, decreased rates of expulsion, decreased student marginalization, and much more. A shortage of SBMH providers can cause the existing SBMH providers to be spread too thin and burn out.
Why we need SBMH providers
- 1 in 5 children and adolescents experience a mental health problem per year
- Approximately 50% of lifetime mental illness begins by age 14
- Suicide was the second leading cause of death for people ages 10-34 in 2018 (only accidents ranked higher)
- Approximately 54% of people who died by suicide were not diagnosed with a mental health problem
- Access to mental healthcare is an effective preventative strategy
- Data collected in 2016 indicated, 16.5% of children (7.7 million) ages 6-17 had at least 1 diagnosed mental health disorder
- 49.4% of these youth did not receive treatment from a mental health professional
- Approximately 60% of students do not receive treatment due to stigma and lack of access
- Of those who do get treatment, nearly two thirds get their treatment only in schools
- Mental health problems are increasing throughout the US
- Treating the mental health of students is key to learning as education is not only academic but also social, emotional, and behavioral
Next steps
There are many directions to go from here including advocacy, increased funding, and the passing of legislation supporting mental health. An additional direction is to build up the community supports to provide wraparound services for students in and out of schools. While public schools need an influx of resources to meet the mental health needs of students, they also need the support of outside agencies. These outside agencies can be utilized through a variety of modalities (e.g., consult, contract work, etc.) to help provide mental health services such as therapy, risk assessments, treatment centers, behavior interventions, social skills training, and assessment. Representatives of these outside agencies can then attend service plan meetings (i.e., IEP, Section 504) to provide continuity of services across settings. The involvement of outside practitioners and agencies has been shown to have significant positive effects on feelings of collaboration and relationships with school staff.
Gray Area
Gray Area was built around the notion of bridging the gap between services in and out of school to help parents navigate the systems in all settings and breakdown barriers to support. The goal is to work with districts, families, and community resources to provide children with the supports to meet their mental health needs. Gray Area is constantly looking for additional businesses, professionals, families, and districts trying to bridge the gap. Please reach out to us if you would like to be part of our network of resources. We would love to work with you.
Summary
The second week in November is National School Psychology Week (NSPW). Given that, it is important to highlight why school psychologists are so important. There is a shortage of school psychologists and other school-based mental health (SBMH) providers which results in reduced access to mental health supports for students as well as increased provider burnout. Access to mental health supports in schools has been shown to have a multitude of positive effects on students. Increased funding, advocacy, and legislation as well as relationships with community resources for wraparound services could be beneficial for school-based mental health services. Understanding the crucial role school psychologists and other SBMH providers is the first step for meeting the mental health needs of students. There is no better time to take this step than National School Psychology Week. Thank you school psychologists and SBMH providers everywhere for what you do for students. Public education is infinitely better because you all are in it.