May 14, 2021
After a year marked by anxiety and isolation for many young people, Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed a windfall for youth mental health services in California on Friday.
In his updates to his proposed 2021-22 budget, Newsom increased funding for school and community counseling programs that will make therapy and other mental health services available to every Californian under age 26, he said.
“The (budget revision) proposes a statewide and comprehensive transformation of the behavioral health system for all Californians age 25 and younger changing the life trajectory of children so that they can grow up to be healthier, both physically and mentally,” according to Newsom’s budget summary.
This is a STOCK PHOTO. No location or date available.
Credit: Allison Shelley for American Education
This is a STOCK PHOTO. No location or date available.
April 15, 2021
The best way schools can help students catch up academically after a year of distance learning is to ensure they feel relaxed, safe and connected to their friends and teachers as they return to the classroom.
A year after the pandemic forced school districts to close campuses, students across California are beginning to return to the classroom at least a few days a week. But their experiences during the pandemic and their needs upon returning to school academically, as well as emotionally have varied greatly.
March 16, 2021
As students begin returning to the classroom as the pandemic eases, schools are bracing for an onslaught of serious mental health conditions that, for some students, may take years to overcome.
In the year that campuses were closed due to Covid-19, students experienced waves of loneliness, fear, upheaval and grief. Some lost loved ones, others saw their parents lose their jobs and their families sink into poverty. Nearly all experienced a degree of depression from being apart from their friends and missing important milestones like proms, graduations and being on campus as college freshmen. Even students who thrived with distance learning endured periods of frustration and sadness.
Goldie Hawn, Ava DuVernay join coalition to support mental health in California schools
KABC Actress Goldie Hawn, director Ava DuVernay and NBA star Kevin Love are among public figures joining a California school-based effort to tackle youth depression and suicide rates that have been magnified by the pandemic. We have a job to do, and it s a beautiful job, but I don t think we can turn a blind eye to the next generation because they will shape the world, said Hawn, whose own program, MindUP is a partner, which encourages curriculum focused on neuroscience. Know your brain. Why aren t we teaching brain science in the classroom? We ask them to use their brain, we depend on that, and we don t teach them how their brain works, she said.