In 2023, the Maine Department of Education received $9 million in funding through the bipartisan Safer Communities for Schools Act to improve access to mental health care for students.
Two years after the program began, mental health professionals have been hired in all selected districts, but administrators say they are unsure how they will be able to maintain services when the money runs out.
Only two of nine districts have been able to hire a mental health professional in every school on a daily basis, and administrators say it’s still difficult to find providers willing to work in remote parts of the state.
“School counselors and general education social workers are definitely areas where we are lacking,” said Karen Paquette, assistant superintendent of Lewiston Public Schools, which received the most funding from districts.
The nine districts selected to receive the funding cover the state, from the towns of Franklin and Jay in western Maine to Leurre Isle in the north and Lubec in the east.
Districts received annual grants ranging from $63,208 to $248,644 depending on the size of the student population. Districts receiving the money were identified as having “high need” because they had low student-to-mental health provider ratios compared to the rest of the state and country.
The money, some of which has already been distributed, will be split between funding to support new and existing staff ($5 million) and funding for provider retention and recruitment efforts ($4 million), according to the Maine Department of Education.
So far, $2 million has been distributed to districts identified as having the fewest school-based mental health providers in the state.
Mark Hatch, assistant superintendent of Regional School Unit (RSU) 54, has seen area families struggle to get counseling for their children. His district covers rural communities in southern Somerset County, including Norridgewock and Skowhegan, where many practices are already at capacity with clients and long wait lists bog down the system.
“There aren’t a lot of places to go for advice,” Hatch said. “It may take months and months before you (can) access someone who has openings for these supports. »
Money comes as students are having more and more trouble with mental health problems.
In 2023, nearly one in five high school students in the state reported seriously considering suicide in the past year, compared to one in six students before the pandemic, according to the Maine Integrated Health Survey . The pandemic exacerbated mental health problems among students and adults alike.
In Lewiston, last fall’s mass shooting added another layer pressure on students.
“We have to find ways to support them for that,” Paquette said.
In Lubec, RSU 85 used the new funds to hire its first school counselor. In Aroostook County, RSU 79 was able to hire clinicians at each of its six elementary and middle schools and technical schools.
“Since we are a rural community with an overburdened mental health system, our schools are often the only place (where) students receive mental health support,” said Jennifer Bourassa, director of curriculum at RSU 79 , in an email.
Administrators said the new counselors in their schools have helped serve more students and reduce waiting lists for services. According to the grant’s annual performance reports, school providers reported feeling more supported by their administrators, which they hope will allow them to keep their jobs.
The $4 million that will be dedicated to retention efforts will be used to provide professional development opportunities for current providers as well as scholarships for graduate students from University of Maine schools who wish to pursue the positions and clinical supervision current providers, according to performance reports completed by the districts.
“(The funding has) increased (districts’) capacity to provide services to students within their schools and communities, which has had a huge overall impact for them,” said Bethany Cunningham, who coordinates the grant for the ‘State.
“One less weight for them”
District administrators like Paquette and Hatch say they have seen a growing demand for mental health support in their schools. Waiting lists for counseling are long and intimidating, and it is difficult to find a mental health professional on campus with enough time to work with students.
Libby Wright, director of youth education for the National Alliance for Mental Illness in Maine, said it is important that students have easy access to providers and consistent access to mental health services in the community. schooling and early intervention is linked to improved student achievement, socio-emotional aspects. growth and general well-being.
“If we tell them to reach out and ask for help when they need it and they don’t have anyone available to have those conversations, that could actually cause even more harm,” said Wright. “They need readily available resources to have these conversations.”
Parents of children attending RSU 54 schools are excited to benefit from the new providers at the school, Superintendent Hatch said.
“It took a weight off their shoulders.”
Jamie Pratt, associate dean of the School of Education and Human Development at the University of Southern Maine, said school-based mental health services have many benefits.
“(The students are) in school. We need to meet them where they are,” Pratt said. “When services are available in schools, you remove a lot of barriers (and) there is generally less stigma.” »
Last year, Pratt dedicated a research project to understanding the job satisfaction of many psychologists across the state and found that providers with more responsibilities had less time to establish comprehensive prevention-based approaches than areas where the student/advisor ratio was lower.
Pratt said the most effective counseling methods — like consistent check-ins and support — are pushed aside when providers are removed and tasked with other tasks, such as test proctoring and administrative work for the school .
“(School-based providers are) focusing more on psychoeducational assessment work,” Pratt said. “They don’t have the flexibility to engage more in this prevention-focused, school-wide mental health promotion, intervention and support.”
The state Legislature has considered several bills aimed at improving student mental health and increasing the number of clinicians in schools in recent years, including LD 2002, which would have enshrined $2.7 million over two years to social workers and family therapists in schools. The bill was approved but ultimately unfunded and will be carried over to the next session in January.
Pratt said providers can only address certain behaviors in advance when they have time to implement prevention-based approaches, which is more effective than a solely reactive approach.
“These ratios are really necessary to provide a comprehensive approach,” Dr. Pratt said.
Sweetser, an agency that hires providers directly into schools, also offers additional on-campus counseling services for students interested in additional support. Last year, the nonprofit had 80 clinicians across 25 districts. That number was cut by more than half this year, to 29 clinicians, spokesman Justin Chenette said after the program. recorded a deficit of more than a million dollars.
“This program needs a financial overhaul or it will not survive,” Chenette said, adding that there are currently 76 students on the waiting list for services. “That’s 76 kids who aren’t getting what they need and what their families need.”
Increase the pipeline
One goal of the grant program — known by the acronym “EASE” for Expanding Access in School Environments — is to create reliable career pathways that keep educators in their communities, said Megan Welter, who is an associate commissioner at education.
“The state of Maine is very rural and very large,” Welter said. “Schools can be extremely disparate and very, very geographically dispersed. »
In addition to EASE funds, the University of Southern Maine also received a five-year program, $1.6 million grant support rural school psychologists through a “personal development” approach by providing scholarships and specialized training opportunities for psychologists in rural communities.
The grant will provide tuition reimbursement and stipends to support the preparation of 22 graduate students for state credentialing as a school psychologist. It will also support 15 current educators from rural areas through an online residency program allowing them to complete courses by practicing in their own schools.
The time and cost required to obtain a master’s degree in this field, which is a necessary requirement for providing school-based mental health services, can be a barrier for many of those interested in the field and may prevent filling positions in rural towns with credentials. more difficult suppliers.
At the national level, Senator Angus King co-sponsored the federal Primary and Secondary School Advising Act, which would support school providers across the country through a five-year renewable grant program.
Paquette, of Lewiston, said trying to keep providers adequately funded is a “constant battle” because losing the subsidy will mean financial responsibility for the new positions will be placed on the local budget.
“It takes a lot of time,” Paquette said. “It would certainly help if there were ongoing funds to support the mental health of our students and staff. »
The big question will be whether recipients will keep their jobs once the subsidies run out.
“Being able to keep these providers in place and ensure consistency of these student services beyond the life of the grant would be a huge success for us,” Welter said.