After reports this week surfaced about the alarming rate of increased mental health challenges that children face, and an increase in children harming themselves up to and including suicide, the Los Angeles County is providing funding to address the mental health crisis in schools.
Ironically, I just completed a piece on the very same topic for La Comadre a few days ago. I am happy to hear that the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors took a hard look at the issue as well and is taking bold action to approve $17.4 million in funding for mental health resources at Los Angeles Unified School District and Los Angeles County Office of Education campuses. That is great for the kids of LAUSD and LACOE! But what about the rest of the state? This epidemic is widespread, and we need this kind of commitment to resources from all counties across the state.
I want to urge this network to reach out to their County Board of Supervisors to provide funding for the schools in their counties to help address this very real and growing issue. Wherever you are in the state of California, you can call or email your Board of Supervisors and urge them to allocate funds and work with schools in their counties to provide resources to implement both intervention and prevention programs.
I want to applaud the LA County BOS for its swift action in providing this funding for the children of their communities. It is truly refreshing to see this kind of leadership step up and address this mental health crisis that our kids are experiencing.