{"id":715204,"date":"2023-09-22T10:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-22T14:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/?post_type=article&#038;p=715204"},"modified":"2023-09-22T08:53:09","modified_gmt":"2023-09-22T12:53:09","slug":"md-officials-want-to-boost-schools-behavioral-health-services-with-120m-grant","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/article\/md-officials-want-to-boost-schools-behavioral-health-services-with-120m-grant\/","title":{"rendered":"Maryland Officials Want to Boost Schools\u2019 Behavioral Health Services With $120M"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>To help combat the increasing mental health challenges among some of Maryland\u2019s youngest residents, school-aged kids and teenagers, legislative and health officials are promoting a new state grant opportunity that carves out $120 million in state funds to bolster access to behavioral health services in public schools.<\/p>\n<p>At a press conference Tuesday, Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore) said that the $120 million grant funding is a \u201chistoric investment\u201d in the mental health and well-being of Maryland students, as kids today face a barrage of new stressors that previous generations were less exposed to.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSocial media influences and the pandemic\u2019s effect on learning and socialization have had a major impact on our children,\u201d Ferguson said. \u201cI think I speak for every single person up here when I say that our paramount concerns are our young Marylanders\u2019 mental well-being and overall success.\u201d<\/p>\n<span class=\"cta_snippet\"><hr><p><em>Get stories like these delivered straight to your inbox. <\/em><a class=\"arrow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/about\/newsletters\/?utm_source=website&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=top&utm_id=newsletter\"><strong>Sign up for The 74 Newsletter<\/strong><\/a><\/p><hr><\/span>\n<p>He was joined by Health Secretary Dr. Laura Herrera Scott, Sen. Katie Fry Hester (D-Howard and Montgomery), Del. Eric Ebersole (D-Baltimore) and members of the Consortium on Coordinated Community Supports, a state agency tasked with improving behavioral services in schools.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven before the COVID-19 pandemic, we knew we had a crisis brewing in behavioral health,\u201d Hester said. \u201cIn addition to the pressures of good grades and getting into good colleges, there\u2019s even more. There\u2019s also the fear of bomb threats and mass shootings. There\u2019s the complex links to behavioral health and social media algorithms. It is a lot for our children to deal with.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"inline_story shortcode simple\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/article\/15-key-takeaways-from-more-than-3000-gen-z-on-their-struggling-lives-future\/\"><figure style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/gen-z-survey-animate-banner-2.gif);\"><\/figure><div><span class=\"sans related_tag\">Related<\/span><h4 class=\"sans\">15 Key Takeaways From More Than 3,000 Gen Zers on Their \u2018Struggling\u2019 Lives &#038; Future<\/h4><\/div><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>State Superintendent Mohammed Choudhury was also slated to speak at the press conference, but could not attend due to \u201cpersonal reasons\u201d according to the senate president\u2019s office. Choudhury announced Friday that he would&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.marylandmatters.org\/2023\/09\/15\/maryland-public-schools-superintendent-chooses-not-to-return\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">no longer seek a second term<\/a>&nbsp;as the state superintendent.<\/p>\n<p>The $120 million comes from the Blueprint for Maryland\u2019s Future Fund, which provides funding for the state\u2019s ongoing education reform effort. Grant applications will be evaluated by the Maryland Consortium on Coordinated Community Supports.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"inline_story shortcode simple\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/article\/the-shakespearean-rise-and-fall-of-md-schools-superintendent-mohammed-choudhury\/\"><figure style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Choudhury-1000x563-1.png);\"><\/figure><div><span class=\"sans related_tag\">Related<\/span><h4 class=\"sans\">The Shakespearean Rise and Fall of Md. Schools Superintendent Mohammed Choudhury<\/h4><\/div><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>The consortium is calling for proposals from behavioral health services providers, to partner with school districts and expand access to services within schools. The grant funds may be used to bolster existing school-based behavioral health programs or provide new service access points within schools. The deadline for applications is Oct. 11, and grant funds are expected to be distributed in December.<\/p>\n<p>Behavioral health service providers will be expected to coordinate with local school districts and align with the districts\u2019 priorities. Each application is required to have a letter of support from a school district.<\/p>\n<p>The scope of how the money may be used is quite broad, but Herrera Scott provided a few examples:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can imagine community-based organizations that provide behavioral health services providing those services in the schools as one. You can imagine training and education that we do for teachers to do more screening in the school. That could be another,\u201d she said. \u201cSo there\u2019s a variety of ways that, in partnership with these schools, those services can be provided.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Herrera Scott said part of the goal is to meet students where they already are.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAccessing services outside of school is problematic for many families,\u201d she said. \u201cEspecially for families who don\u2019t have a lot of leave to take time off to get their kids to different activities\u2026So this will help solve some of those conflicts that make it difficult to get kids to services.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ferguson has been at the helm of some recent behavioral health initiatives in Maryland. This past legislative session, he helped push through a package of bills backed by a bipartisan group of senators and aimed at improving the state\u2019s mental health care programs and developing a network of community behavioral health clinics throughout the state, among other initiatives.<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, Ferguson, a former public school teacher, recalled how improving mental health services in schools can set up students to be better prepared to learn.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI used to serve in the Baltimore City public schools as a high school teacher for 9th, 10th and 11th graders,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd what was clear is that when mental health issues were hitting a child or there was something happening outside of school, it was impossible inside the classroom. And so the key here is building that foundation of strong young people, both mentally and physically so they can be their best selves.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>To help combat the increasing mental health challenges among some of Maryland\u2019s youngest residents, school-aged kids and teenagers, legislative and health officials are promoting a new state grant opportunity that carves out $120 million in state funds to bolster access to behavioral health services in public schools. At a press conference Tuesday, Senate President Bill [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":715207,"menu_order":0,"template":"","categories":[190],"tags":[1103,965,1211,1154,1630,1174],"series":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/715204"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/715204\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":715248,"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/715204\/revisions\/715248"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/715207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=715204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=715204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=715204"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=715204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}