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Governor renews proposal for mental health trust fund




Marie Williams

Marie Williams

Gov. Bill Lee recently re-introduced the mental health trust fund in a renewed proposal to assist K-12 families who face significant mental health issues in the wake of COVID-19.

The proposal would allocate $250 million in available funds to create strong mental health services for school-aged students through a systemwide, evidence-based approach.

“The mental health of all Tennessee students is essential to their safety, education and success beyond the classroom,” said Lee. “While my administration proposed these critical mental health supports last year, we now have the available funding and a greater need than ever before to ensure our students have access to mental health resources. I thank the members of the General Assembly for their partnership in this important effort.”

“We know the earlier we can intervene, the better outcomes are for children and families,” said TDMHSAS Commissioner Marie Williams. “The services that will be funded by this investment will allow us to increase the services available from community mental health providers and schools, preventing children from entering mental health crisis situations and ending up in an emergency room.”

 

 

Services supported by the Mental Health Trust Fund would include:

• direct clinical services in schools.

• mental health awareness and promotion.

• suicide prevention and postvention strategies.

• trauma-informed programs and practices.

• violence and bullying prevention.

• Project Basic, which includes mental health supports.

There is a significant need for strong K-12 mental health supports:

• nationally, one in five children has a mental health diagnosis in any given year.

• more than 60% of children who receive mental health services do so through their school.

• youth mental health has worsened in the last decade. From 2014-2019, the prevalence of major depressive episode in Tennessee youth 12-17 increased from 9.1%.

• the approximate prevalence of any mental illness in the past year among Tennessee youth is about 300,000.

• in January, Tennessee ranked 28th in overall mental health and 34th overall in youth mental health.

• school closures during COVID-19 limited students’ access to mental health services and caused a pause in critical mental health reporting.

• recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports showed a notable uptick nationally in emergency department visits for children struggling with mental health issues.

The Lee administration addressed mental health, including:

• behavioral health safety net for children, which provides mental health supports for uninsured children 3-17 that started in September.

• school-based behavioral health liaison expansion, an expanded proven program, to all 95 counties.

• the Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network, which expanded regional directors to increase coverage and boosted training in suicide prevention.

• youth and young adult mental health awareness and promotion, which granted funding to three separate programs that reached more than 11,000 people.

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