By Catherine Gonzalez
Features Editor
Over the past few months, the New Jersey state government has taken steps to provide better mental health services in both K-12 and higher education institutions to combat the current youth mental health crisis.
Currently in progress for the benefit of grade school students are a 5-year grant program, known as the School-Based Mental Health Grant Program (SBMH), run by the New Jersey Department of Education (DOE) and a regional model, known as the New Jersey Statewide Student Support Service Network, run by the Department of Children and Families.
According to the DOE, “[t]he intent of the…(SBMH) Grant Program is to support eligible LEAs [Local Educational Agency] in the recruitment, placement, hiring and retention of school-based mental health professionals.”
With the SBMH Grant Program, the DOE plans on supporting mental health professionals in public schools by providing them with training from LEAs. They also plan on supporting marginalized students by increasing the amount of diversity among mental health professionals in schools, which a 2022 report from the New Jersey Policy Perspective think tank confirms as an increasing realm for improvement.
The New Jersey Statewide Student Support Service Network intends to update the current school-based youth services program, first implemented in the late 1980s, by making mental health services more accessible to students. This accessibility would become possible through the creation of 15 “hubs” throughout the state, each staffed with three to ten licensed clinicians per region.
In addition to these changes, a future educator at the College, Ben Fanta, believes that systemic changes should be made to prevent students from being forced to work so hard.
“Everyone must be given more autonomy over their lives, even as children–especially as children,” said Fanta, a senior elementary education, special education and iSTEM major.
Governor Murphy addressed the mental health crisis in colleges and universities by contracting with Uwill, a mental health and wellness platform, which will offer students 24/7 access to virtual mental health services with mental health professionals at no cost.
“As leaders, one of the most important and sacred responsibilities is protecting the health and well-being of our kids, and for far too long, mental health and well-being of our young people has been overlooked, and the consequences are impossible to miss,” said Governor Murphy. “From small towns to big cities, America’s youth mental health crisis is playing out in homes, schools, hospitals and beyond.”
Despite the current crisis, mental health care has recently been given increasing recognition and validation.
Senior English major Reece Danzis noted, “I think that mental health services have improved immensely in the past few decades, at least compared to what they were, and even though there’s definitely still stigma, I’m incredibly grateful to live in a world where that stigma is nothing like it used to be.”
This direct partnership with Uwill makes New Jersey the first state in the nation to create a statewide system that provides students in both public and private higher education institutions with comprehensive tele-mental health services.
