On the recordSeptember 21, 2022
I thank the ever-amazing partner in good trouble, Congressman Bowman, for hosting this Special Order hour on one of the most critical issues facing our Nation, youth mental health. As a mother of two young boys, I know that there are few people who see this mental health crisis amongst our children quite like our teachers and our educators. They are on the front lines of it every single day, and it is in no way an exaggeration to say America's teachers are the ones saving lives in the face of a tidal wave of trauma and grief brought about by many crises impacting our young people today. From COVID-19 to schools turning into war zones, severe economic hardship, and an education system that continues to be underfunded for a number of issues that, again, our kids are dealing with, we are seeing that trauma is at the center of it. I know according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 57.8 percent of Michiganders from the age of 12 to 17 who have experienced depression did not receive any care in the last year, and high school students with depression are more than two times more likely to drop out than their peers. These are just a few of the compounding traumas impacting our young people today. These traumas have stolen our children's sense of safety and our children's support systems. So, the fact that the rates of youth in mental health distress have skyrocketed should be a surprise to no one, especially not anyone in this body.…
