Mental health task force still searching for K-12 solutions

Schools and Wyoming’s students may get some mental health help when the Legislature meets next year. But what that could look like is still unclear as lawmakers continue to mull state action to address youth mental health in Wyoming schools.

Lawmakers and state officials on the Legislature’s Mental Health and Vulnerable Adult Task Force gathered Thursday in Cheyenne to discuss a funding proposal that would give schools extra money for counselors, nurses and other support staff. Their response was lukewarm, advancing the draft bill while acknowledging that it has little chance of passing the Legislature. Those on the panel broadly agreed that the state needs to take action to improve mental health care access and services for K-12 students. But they hesitated over the mechanics of how schools should do that and the degree to which the state should fund and direct the work.

“This bill is a big bill. It’s a big ask, and it’s complicated,” said Sen. Tara Nethercott, R-Cheyenne, a task force member and the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “For now, I intend to vote aye to continue to have this discussion recognizing that this will not be the bill draft that goes to the Legislature.”

When House and Senate leaders established the Mental Health and Vulnerable Adults Task Force in March, they charged the group with studying mental health in Wyoming’s K-12 schools. The central question the task force set out to answer: What role should schools play in addressing Wyoming’s youth mental health issues?

Despite the views of some parents and lawmakers, who contend that schools should avoid social and emotional learning and mental health intervention leaving them to parents, the panel seemed to find some consensus that schools are an important pillar in the state’s youth mental health infrastructure. The members outlined tentative expectations for schools that they intervene in emergencies, identify and screen students with mental health concerns, make referrals to outside treatment services, and monitor students.

“If we are not providing supports for them, their academics are likely to suffer,” said Laurel Ballard, innovation officer for the Wyoming Department of Education. “If I’m really struggling with my mental health, I may not be focusing on my math or my reading and I’m not able to work and learn as the teacher may hope. By giving me the help and support then I’m better able to take care of the academic content.”

Though there was agreement that schools have a part to play in youth mental health, lawmakers struggled to outline a clear vision both for Wyoming schools and for state action. Their discussion often raised more questions than answers. Nethercott expressed concern that the state and districts were missing students who needed help but might not show it at school. Growing up in Wyoming, the students she knew who committed suicide were high performing and didn’t show clear signs of mental health concerns, Nethercott said.

“I don’t think we have accurately identified the population we’re trying to target,” she said. “Nor have we heard meaningful feedback from the schools, primarily the teachers, about what type of services they think would be helpful within the school system itself.”

The wariness of lawmakers was evident as the task force weighed a draft bill that would increase funding for mental health staff in school districts over the next two school years. Under the proposal, the state would pay districts an additional $15.8 million annually to hire roughly 185 new school counselors, nurses and other support staff. It would nearly double funding for school counselors and establish direct funding for school nurses and elementary counselors for the first time, according to a Legislative Service Office report.

The move would align the state with the 2020 recommendation of Picus Odden & Associates, the Legislature’s school finance recalibration consultants, which advised lawmakers to adjust the number of mental health staff school districts receive under the state’s K-12 funding model.

Those who testified said the situation was urgent. They spoke of overworked counselors and nurses caring for more children than they can handle, with some students and families falling through the cracks as a result. They advocated for money to hire more staff and shore up mental health supports in schools. But for lawmakers their calls did little to answer underlying questions about the extent to which schools should manage student mental health and the degree to which the state should pay for that care.

The issue of paying for more mental health services was a concern for a number of those on the panel after the Joint Education Committee recommended a day earlier adding $68 million to the state’s education budget to help Wyoming’s schools keep pace with inflation.

“There’s two fair arguments. One is the increased cost,” said Rep. Lloyd Larsen, R-Lander, a co-chair of the Mental Health and Vulnerable Adult Task Force. “And one is the unquestionable concern that we hear from our constituents on mental health challenges. I think we’re going to have to seriously weigh those.”

The hesitation of some task force members was met with optimism from others who pointed to Project AWARE, a federally funded mental health initiative being trialed by the Department of Education, as a potential model. Under Project Aware, schools receive funding and support to expand mental health access for all students ranging from the general student population to those who are most at risk. The initiative aims to remove barriers for students and families, better coordinating mental health care on and off campus.

Korin Schmidt, the director of the Wyoming Department of Family Services, said that the issue of access is central to the questions the task force is attempting to answer. Catching mental health concerns early and receiving immediate care in schools can help prevent larger problems down the road for students and families, she said.

“What we see in our system is that we receive a lot of children and families when they’re in crisis and they’re beyond that point of a smaller, less intensive intervention,” Schmidt said. “As we talk about pay – which I think is important – and who’s responsible, also recognize though that at some point the system may end up paying for those families anyway.”

The panel ultimately decided to advance the counselor funding proposal as a way to continue the Legislature’s conversation around K-12 mental health in schools. But their vote came with caution.

“I’m not 100% convinced that we’re where we need to be or should be,” Larsen said.

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