News Mashup for June 2021
School Counselors, Not Cops
In the June 18 issue of EdSource investigative reporter John Fensterwald examines the recent California Department of Education (CDE) ruling citing the San Bernardino County Office of Education for lax oversight of Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) benefits, compromising programs serving low-income, English learners, and foster youth. Particularly contentious was channeling of LCFF monies toward school security and law enforcement. The complaint argued that research shows such measures to be counterproductive and divert much needed funds from counseling and wellness centers of proven, direct benefit to high-need students.
Enacted in 2013, LCFF aims to close the academic achievement gap between disadvantaged students and their more privileged peers. LCFF expenditure targets for school districts derive from a complex calculation incorporating grade span-specific base grants for each student enrolled, supplemental funds for each high-need student (English learners, low-income, and foster youth), and concentration funds for school districts in which the number of high-need students is 55% or more of the school population.
Education reform and civil rights groups have filed numerous complaints with state and county education officials in recent years, arguing misuse of LCFF monies and little oversight of the required Local Control and Accountability Plans (LCAPs), which describe how a district intends to meet annual goals pursuant to LCFF. Writing for CalMatters on June 22, Dan Walters predicts that the “San Bernardino case opens a new avenue for education reformers to challenge the adequacy of LCAPs throughout the state…[and]…puts county superintendents on notice that they must do more than rubberstamp LCAPs.” Clink on the links below to learn more.
Dan Walters. June 22, 2021. Pushing California schools to help at-risk kids. CalMatters. Retrieved June 24, 2021 from. https://calmatters.org/commentary/2021/06/california-academic-achievement-gap-lcff/?mc_cid=2bd1e0cba1&mc_eid=b6b08d977d.
John Fensterwald. June 18, 2021. State orders stricter county oversight of districts' spending for low-income kids, English learners. EdSource. Retrieved June 21, 2021 from https://edsource.org/2021/state-orders-stricter-county-oversight-of-districts-spending-for-low-income-kids-english-learners/656621?mc_cid=1e640ab01e&mc_eid=b6b08d977d.
John Fensterwald. June 9, 2021. Little action on building state website to track districts’ spending. EdSource. Retrieved June 13, 2021 from https://edsource.org/2021/little-action-on-building-state-website-to-track-districts-spending/656188?mc_cid=1c10ec7333&mc_eid=b6b08d977d.
John Fensterwald. February 9, 2021. Gov. Newsom calls for closing big ‘loophole’ in school funding for high-needs students. Retrieved June 21, 2021 from https://edsource.org/2021/gov-newsom-calls-for-closing-big-loophole-in-school-funding-for-high-needs-students/648406.
Young Minds Advocacy Staff. February 2021. Governor Newsom’s K-12 “Trailer Bill” Seeks to Close Loophole Diverting Funding for High Needs Students. YMA News Mashup. Available at https://www.ymadvocacy.org/mashup/blog-post-title-four-wfejr-bkbbe-ayh5z-jehgg-6cabk-cb3sa-e3hn5-8ahaz.
Nicole Gon Ochi, Victor Leung, Ariana Rodriguez, and Jessica Cobb. February 2020. School Districts are Cheating High-Need Students by Funding Law Enforcement. American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, Public Advocates Inc., and Gente Organizada. Retrieved June 21, 2021 from https://www.aclusocal.org/sites/default/files/aclu_socal_right-to-resources.pdf.
John Fensterwald. April 4, 2017. Long Beach Unified accused of underfunding 'high-needs' students. EdSource. Retrieved June 21, 2021 from https://edsource.org/2017/long-beach-unified-accused-of-underfunding-high-needs-students/579864.
John Fensterwald. June 1, 2016. State officials find LA Unified shortchanged students. EdSource. Retrieved June 21, 2021 from https://edsource.org/2016/state-officials-find-la-unified-shortchanged-students/565100.
Telehealth for Mental Health Here to Stay
As the waitlist for in-person mental health services ballooned during the pandemic, virtual mental health services became a more acceptable and available option, aided in part by updated policies, loosened restrictions, and funding from The White House, The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and other federal and state agencies. A new opinion poll sponsored by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) shows the perceived ease and quality of telehealth services improved over the last year, with 59% of respondents amenable to using telehealth services for their mental healthcare, up from 49% of those polled in 2020. Telehealth is particularly attractive to youth, with 66% of 18 to 29-years-old respondents saying they would use virtual services compared to 36% of those age 65 and older. In conversation with reporter Jolynn Tumolo of the Psych Congress Network, APA President Vivian Pender contends that “The quick pivot to providing telehealth services at the start of the pandemic was vital to providing continued access to care, and this poll shows the important potential role for telehealth going forward.” In a June 24 interview with Washington Post reporter Stead Sellars, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra expressed support for making temporary telehealth provisions permanent, post-pandemic. Click on the links below to learn more.
Pauline Anderson. June 3, 2021. Americans want telehealth to stay, national poll shows. Medscape. Retrieved June 11, 2021 from https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/952428?src=WNL_mdpls_210604_mscpedit_wir&uac=409113PG&spon=17&impID=3420821&faf=1
Hannah Mitchell. June 4, 2021. 43% of Americans want to use telehealth after the pandemic, survey finds. Becker’s Hospital Review. Retrieved June 11, 2021 from https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/telehealth/43-of-americans-want-to-use-telehealth-after-the-pandemic-survey-finds.html.
American Psychiatric Association (APA). New nationwide poll shows an increased popularity for telehealth services. May 27, 2021. APA. Retrieved June 11, 2021 from https://www.psychiatry.org/newsroom/news-releases/New-Nationwide-Poll-Shows-an-Increased-Popularity-for-Telehealth-Services.
Jolynn Tumolo. June 4, 2021. More than half of US adults would use telehealth for mental health care. Psychiatry & Behavioral Health Learning Network Retrieved June 11, 2021 from https://www.psychcongress.com/article/more-half-us-adults-would-use-telehealth-mental-health-care.
Jackie Drees. June 25, 2021. HHS 'absolutely supportive' of permanent telehealth provisions after pandemic, Secretary Xavier Becerra says. Becker’s Hospital Review. Retrieved June 25, 2021 from https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/telehealth/hhs-absolutely-supportive-of-permanent-telehealth-provisions-after-pandemic-secretary-xavier-becerra-says.html.
Martha Bebinger. June 25, 2021. No Vacancy: How a shortage of mental health beds keeps kids trapped inside ERs. Kaiser Health Network. Retrieved July1, 2021 from https://khn.org/news/article/children-teens-emergency-room-boarding-mental-health/.
Stead Sellars. (2021, June 24) Digital health with Xavier Becerra, John Brownstein, Phd, Tufia C. Haddad, MD, And Jack Resneck Jr., MD. [radio broadcast transcript] Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/washington-post-live/2021/06/24/transcript-digital-health-with-xavier-becerra-john-brownstein-phd-tufia-c-haddad-md-jack-resneck-jr-md/.
Pandemic Generation
June 21st marked the start of Pandemic Generation, a multiday series aired by Boston’s NPR station WBUR examining the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of young people and the systems of care they rely on. Woven throughout the series are stories of hope and healing; how the experience, though traumatic, offer opportunities for personal growth, more resilient families, and positive transformation of youth-serving institutions. Browse the series using the links below.
Lynn Jolicoeur. June 21, 2021. The pandemic left more kids feeling suicidal. One Mass. teen found her way out of the dark. National Public Radio. WBUR, Boston. Retrieved June 25, 2021 from https://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2021/06/21/massachusetts-suicidal-thoughts-kids-children-covid.
Carrie Jung. June 21, 2021. Pandemic school year anxieties: in Chelsea, counselors navigate rise in mental health needs. National Public Radio. WBUR, Boston. Retrieved June 25,2021 from https://www.wbur.org/edify/2021/06/21/massachusetts-students-mental-health-pandemic-counselors.
Josephine Almond. June 22, 2021. I’m 14. This pandemic year felt like ‘a life preserved in amber’. National Public Radio. WBUR, Boston. Retrieved June 25, 2021 from https://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2021/06/22/covid-19-pandemic-school-year-josephine-almond.
Lisa Mullins, Lynn Jolicoeur, Hannah Chanatry, and Laney Ruckstuhl. June 22, 2021. How to build resilience in kids as they emerge from trauma. National Public Radio. WBUR, Boston. Retrieved June 25,2021 from https://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2021/06/22/resiliency-children-mental-health-pandemic.
Martha Bebinger. June 22, 2021. Wait lists for children's mental health services ballooned during COVID. National Public Radio. WBUR, Boston. Retrieved June 24, 2021 from https://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2021/06/22/massachusetts-long-waits-mental-health-children-er-visits.
Deborah Becker. June 23, 2021. Most kids bounce back after disasters. Researchers want to know if COVID will be different. National Public Radio. WBUR, Boston. Retrieved June 25, 2021 from https://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2021/06/23/harvard-psychologist-mclaughlin-children-mental-health-coronavirus.
Lynn Jolicoeur and Lisa Mullins. June 23, 2021. Zoom therapy and not enough beds: how the pandemic affected kids' access to mental health care. National Public Radio. WBUR, Boston. Retrieved June 25, 2021 from https://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2021/06/23/pandemic-kids-access-mental-health-care.
Megan Devine. June, 24, 2021. You can't outrun pandemic grief. National Public Radio. WBUR, Boston. Retrieved June25, 2021 from https://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2021/06/24/confronting-covid-19-pandemic-related-grief-megan-devine.
Deborah Becker. June 24, 2021. 'We can talk about this': kids benefit when parents open up about mental health struggles. National Public Radio. WBUR, Boston. Retrieved June 25, 2021 from https://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2021/06/24/caregivers-teens-kids-pandemic-wellness-therapy.
Angus Chen. June 25, 2021. COVID was hard on youths, but it may have spurred 'post-traumatic growth’. National Public Radio. WBUR, Boston. Retrieved June 25, 2021 from https://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2021/06/25/kids-post-traumatic-growth-pandemic-coronavirus.
Lynn Jolicoeur and Lisa Mullins. June 25, 2021. How COVID isolation, loss and racism deepened crises for children of color. National Public Radio. WBUR, Boston. Retrieved June 25, 2021 from https://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2021/06/25/boston-kids-of-color-mental-health-pandemic.
Lisa Creamer and Elisabeth Harrison. June 28, 2021. In their own words: kids reflect on COVID-19 in letters, poetry and artwork. National Public Radio. WBUR, Boston. Retrieved July 1, 2021 from https://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2021/06/28/children-teens-coronavirus-pandemic-generation-writings.
More Stories in June: Kids in mental health crisis can languish for days inside ERs National Public Radio KQED —6.23.2021; California must renew efforts to keep families in crisis together CalMatters — 6.10.2021; For kids' sake, don't cut nonprofits out of efforts to recover from pandemic EdSource — 6.22.2021; What President Biden’s Fiscal Year 2022 budget means for our Nation’s children and families Children’s Defense Fund — 6.4.2021; Special ed and high-needs students get windfall in budget deal CalMatters — 6.29.2021. Lawmakers, Newsom cut deal on state budget: Record spending on pre-K through college EdSource — 6.26.2021
