The COVID-19 pandemic has been a traumatic experience for our youth, and the isolation, toxic stress, loss, and instability it has caused have led to persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, an increase in suicidality, and overall poor mental health. It is imperative that schools support students’ mental health as it is the one place that nearly all youth in our country are served regularly.
The Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice (CTIPP) is encouraging individuals, organizations, and coalitions to urge Congress to support the mental well-being of our nation’s youth by increasing the available workforce and helping districts support increased positions to improve access to services.
Specifically, we’re asking Congress to:
- Adopt a trauma-informed approach, so that mental health professionals can help schools undertake a shift to recognize, understand, and address the learning needs and wellbeing of children impacted by trauma
- Provide $1 billion for the Safe Schools National Activities Program to support the School-Based Mental Health Professionals Demonstration Grant and the School-Based Mental Health Services Program (consistent with the President’s budget request)
- Divide that $1 billion between the programs to provide continuation grants to existing grantees and support new competitions so that even more schools can benefit from these programs
Want your Member of Congress to support this effort? Sign our petition by April 20, 2022, to join this letter to Congress – and then utilize our talking points to call your Member.
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