Young people's mental health has worsened nationwide since the pandemic began, and Ohio is no exception.
A 2022 survey found that one-third of Ohio students reported suffering from an anxiety disorder, and more than 100,000 high school students reported experiencing depression.
But there is a silver lining: Ohio has more school-based mental health resources than it did seven years ago. The number of partnerships between community behavioral health centers and schools has more than doubled since 2017, according to the Ohio Council of Behavioral Health and Family Service Providers. Last year alone, the state saw a roughly 20% increase in the number of schools offering such services.
It's a step in the right direction, said Theresa Lampl, the council's executive director.
“Kids spend a lot of their time in school,” Lampl said, “so this is a great place to meet them where they are and provide services, connect with parents and meet their needs.”
More options for care
Community behavioral health centers typically provide mental health and substance use services to people regardless of their ability to pay. Last school year, more than 3,000 Ohio schools enlisted the help of the centers to provide counseling, preventative screenings and crisis intervention in the classroom. Lampl said they have also developed programs to teach students coping skills.
“They help create the culture and work with schools to ensure students have the social-emotional learning skills to be successful academically,” she said.
This increased collaboration is driven in large part by growing awareness of declining mental health among children. The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked a statewide focus on strengthening mental health services for students, said Cricket Meehan, director of the Ohio Center of Excellence for School-Based Prevention and Early Intervention.
“There's a lot of attention now being paid to mental health issues in schools,” Meehan said. “Because of that focus, we're seeing a lot more collaborative partnerships emerge, which is exactly what needs to happen.”
State investments in school-based care
Ohio has seen a surge in investments in student mental health since 2020. Last year, the state Legislature created the Student Wellness Fund to help schools provide wraparound services, and Meehan said the state has used COVID relief funds to study how best to provide mental health care in schools.
She said adding staff to schools who can act as liaisons between classrooms and local mental health services has been a big success.
“The education community and the mental health and behavioral health community don't necessarily speak the same language,” Meehan said.
Cricket Meehan talks about statewide K-12 mental health efforts.
The state has also been pushing for more on-site care options: Over the past two years, Gov. Mike DeWine has announced tens of millions of dollars in funding for new or expanded school health centers that bring a range of medical professionals to schools.
Workforce challenges
Despite the increased attention to youth mental health, Lampl said accessing care remains a challenge for many young people in Ohio. There aren't enough mental health professionals to meet the demand, he said.
Her organization's report found that the number of full-time employee vacancies at local behavioral health centers increased by 11% from last school year to the year before, potentially hindering the centers' ability to fill gaps in Ohio schools.
“There are long wait times to access mental health care, so unfortunately, by the time someone does get care, their symptoms are likely to have worsened considerably,” Lampl said.
She hopes that having more mental health professionals working with schools will increase their awareness and encourage young people to go into the field.
“This is life-changing, life-saving work,” she said.
