Michelle Bowman: “I thank Mrs. Watson Coleman for her leadership and her voice in this important matter. Madam Speaker, I want to talk…”

“I thank Mrs. Watson Coleman for her leadership and her voice in this important matter. Madam Speaker, I want to talk briefly before yielding to Representative Carter from New Orleans. I want to speak briefly about the role of schools in addressing the issue of mental health. Our schools play an essential role in supporting positive mental health for our youth. In order to serve the whole child, we cannot limit our Federal support to only academic outcomes. Children are much more likely to receive mental health services in the school than anywhere else, but the problem is that too few of our schools have enough mental health professionals on staff, including psychologists, social workers, and counselors. The ratio of students to school psychologists is roughly 1400 to 1. Just this year I hosted a town hall with students in my district who shared how hard it was for them to meet with a counselor or mental health professional at school. The students with more access to mental health resources went to schools in wealthier parts of my district. As a former principal, I know firsthand how important it is that the schools have the resources to employ mental health professionals. More than 14 million students attend a school with police officers or school resource officers, but no counselors, nurses, psychologists, or social workers on staff.…”