Article archive / September 2020
Originally published: . Volume 11, No. 9. Source pages: 8.
LSU Social Work Awarded $2.5 Million to Expand Mental Health Services in Schools
LSU News reported in August that the School of Social Work has been awarded a 5-year, $2.5 million grant from the Louisiana Department of Education aimed to expand and strengthen the state’s school-based mental health workforce.
The project will …"provide enhanced mental health services to students in high-need K-12 schools, help build the school-based mental health workforce to provide students with multi-tiered systems of support, and improve school culture and climate to better prepare students for employment, responsible citizenship, and fulfilling lives," said the LSU News report.
Focus will include schools in 12 Local Education Authorities in southeast and central Louisiana, and expand evidence-based interventions by providing professional development and technical assistance for schools. Practicing school social workers will be recruited to serve as field supervisors and receive free continuing education training and a stipend.
According to the announcement, "In 2016, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services projected significant shortages for behavioral health practitioners, estimating a lack of 16,940 mental health and substance abuse social workers, 8,220 clinical counseling and school psychologists, and 13,740 school
counselors. While some of these projections include practitioners who work with both adults and children, they indicate substantial gaps in behavioral health services for children and adolescents, especially in schools."
"During the 2015-2016 school year, the National Center for Education Statistics collected civil rights data that suggest a shortage of mental health professionals who provide services to at-risk students in U.S. public schools. While the national student-to-psychologist ratio was below the recommended ratio, student-to-counselor, student-to- social worker, and student-to-nurse ratios fell far behind best practices established by professional organizations.
"Most notably, the national student- to-social worker ratio was 2,160:1, as compared to the 250:1 recommended by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW). According to LDOE data for the 2018-2019 school year, there were 561 social workers employed by local education agencies across the state of Louisiana, amounting to about half (52.2%) of the mental health workforce in schools. With 716,293 students enrolled in Louisiana public schools, this indicates a 1,277:1 student-to-social worker ratio, which is over five times the ratio recommended by NASW."
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