New state office aims to address mental health, behavioral challenges facing Virginia students augustafreepress.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from augustafreepress.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The Office of Behavioral Health and Wellness will work to help schools address the rise in mental health and behavioral challenges with students post-pandemic.
Virginia leaders think it might be time for a more holistic approach. A new statewide project, the Virginia Partnership for School Mental Health, aims to strengthen school mental health services through two major pathways: by building a pipeline of graduate student trainees to high-need school divisions, and by creating an inter-professional network of school mental health practitioners.
Funded by a five-year, $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education, the partnership between the Virginia Department of Education and the University of Virginia’s School of Education and Human Development was announced last year.
Now, after eight months meeting with providers on the ground, identifying mental health needs and refining the project structure, the first efforts are underway to turn a fragmented system into a robust network of mental health services.