Over the last two years, governors across the country have increasingly recognized the need to prioritize safe and supportive schools. In the National Academy for State Health Policy’s (NASHP) review of 2020 state of the state addresses, eight governors have already identified school safety as a priority. This blog highlights actions states have taken to date to improve and expand mental health services in their schools.

In the 20 years since the Columbine High School shooting, more than 236,000 children have experienced gun violence at school. Last year alone, about 6 percent of students were threatened on school property with a weapon. Some students skip school because they feel unsafe. With a rise in teen anxiety, depression, and suicide, there is increased public demand for comprehensive approaches to promote emotional well-being in schools.

Gun Legislation: Another Piece of the Puzzle

Recent data shows that New York has the lowest rate of suicide in the country, including its school-age population. Experts attribute these low rates to a number of factors, including New York’s strong gun control legislation.

School safety is a social determinant of health that goes beyond physical safety. Children who attend schools with fewer health resources and more violence are more likely to experience worsened physical and mental health, which can impact their learning and future success compared to students who attend schools with more resources and less violence.

State leaders are leveraging the momentum of support for safer schools by implementing policy changes to make school environments safer and more supportive. Ensuring that students experience good physical and mental health at school requires coordinated action at the local, state, and federal levels – and this work is advancing on many fronts.

In their 2019 state of the state and inaugural addresses, 21 governors described efforts, which ranged from increased spending, legislation, and executive orders, to make schools safe and supportive:

Budgeting

South Carolina’s 2019-2020 state budget included $10 million to hire resource officers to patrol schools and $2.2 million to hire mental health counselors in all school districts with the goal of placing at least one mental health counselor in every school by 2022. Some counties have achieved that goal, while more rural counties are working to recruit mental health professionals to their districts.

The Wisconsin 2019-2021 state budget doubled funding for the School-Based Mental Health Services Grants Program (increasing it to $6.5 million), which will be distributed to 120 public school districts for expenses related to counseling and other supports for student mental health. Due to a combination of few mental health providers and strict state school licensing requirements, many students are still not receiving adequate services. In 2020, Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction plans to review their administrative rules on licensure.

Legislation

Colorado bill SB 19-010 expanded the existing Behavioral Health Care Professional Matching Grant Program (§ 22-96-103), also known as the School Health Professional Grant Program, by allowing grant funds to be used for school behavioral health care services, including screenings, counseling, therapy, referrals to community organizations, and training for students and staff.

Florida passed SB 7030: Implementation of Legislative Recommendations of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission, which requires: that sheriffs establish an Office of Safe Schools to provide annual training for specified personnel, a school guardian program, and a partnership between district school boards, district superintendents, and security agencies to assign safe-school officers, among other security measures. As Florida’s 2020 legislative session begins, there is an increased emphasis to protect students in schools. The Senate Committee on Infrastructure and Security passed SB 70, which requires panic buttons to be installed in all public schools, including charter schools, and be accessible to all administrators, teachers, and staff.

Colorado’s Interim Legislative Committee on School Safety

Colorado’s 2020 legislative session kicked off with a focus on mental health. One bill calls for health insurance plans to cover annual 60-minute mental health check-ups for children. The idea was sparked by conversations with school officials, parents, and children during before the legislature’s Interim Committee on School Safety.

Kentucky passed SB 1: School Safety and Resiliency Act, which sets a goals to hire more resource officers and mental health staff at schools, mandates suicide prevention training for staff, creates a new school security marshal position, and requires all districts to restrict access to each school building by July 2022. Building on this momentum, Kentucky legislators this year introduced SB 8, with the goal of increasing security presence within schools and increasing funding to hire at least one mental health professional per school.

In Michigan, Section 388.1631n of the State School Aid Act of 1979 supports the presence of licensed behavioral health providers in schools. It was amended by HB 4242 to increase aid to public school districts in the state for this purpose. In 2020, the University of Michigan will begin its partnership with the city of Detroit to implement the Transforming Research into Action to Improve the Lives of Students (TRAILS) program to expand access to mental health in schools, after successful implementation in another Michigan county.

Texas passed HB 18, which requires school districts to offer mental health and suicide prevention curricula alongside physical health curricula. The legislation encourages schools to partner with local mental health authorities for content and promotes training and resources around mental health and grief counseling in schools. Texas also passed SB 11, which created a school safety allotment per student to make safety improvements within the school and established the Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium. In the new year, the state is expanding this consortium by funding the West Texas regional hub of the Child Psychiatry Access Network at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso.

Utah passed HB 373, which approved $26 million for hiring additional school counselors, psychologists, social workers, and school nurses, and provided funds to improve partnerships with local mental health authorities. A 2019 survey requested by the Utah School Superintendents Association found that the state had also made significant progress investing in safety measures to protect students and teachers.

Executive Orders

In New Hampshire, Executive Order 2019-03 established the Statewide Oversight Commission on Mental Health Workforce Development, a 10-year commission charged to develop a plan to address the shortage and high turnover rate of mental health professionals in the state.

Other Strategies

The Indiana School Safety Hub is a comprehensive resource center highlighting state mental health services, equipment and technology, and policy considerations needed to keep students safe. This School Safety Hub is part of the state’s strategy to consolidate information and streamline safety-related resources to communities across Indiana.

The office of Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, along with the Vermont-National Education Association and Vermont Agency of Education, launched a “See Something, Say Something” PSA contest for videos promoting awareness and reporting of school safety threats across the state.

The Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General developed Safe2Say Something, an online platform with resources that teach people how to recognize warning signs and signals of young people who might be in danger of harming themselves and or others.

Clearly, school safety is a complex puzzle that requires numerous solutions. These state strategies build on years of ongoing, collaborative work and continue to highlight the need for state policymakers to work to ensure students can learn in a safe school environment that supports their mental and physical well-being. As more governors share their 2020 priorities in the weeks ahead, more initiatives to bolster school safety and supports are expected to be presented.

This project was produced in partnership with the de Beaumont Foundation. The authors would also like to thank Kerri Nickerson and Elly Stout at the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, and Jill Rosenthal, Amy Clary, and Trish Riley at NASHP for their review.