The final bill from a trio of legislation aiming to increase mental health providers in Delaware schools is signed into law.
House Speaker Valerie Longhurst’s (D-Bear) legislation increases the ratio of full-time school counselors and social workers to one for every 250 high school students, as well as funding to hire one full-time school psychologist for every 700 high school students.
The bill builds upon Longhurst’s previous legislation establishing the same ratios in Delaware’s elementary and middle schools.
She explains one in five students suffer from a mental health disorder and youth with access to mental health services in school-based health centers are 10 times more likely to seek care for mental health than youth without access.
“Before kids go out into the world— if they're dealing with some mental health issues, at least somebody has been able to address them in the school and they've been able to coach them throughout the school year, whether they're a freshman, sophomore, junior, senior," Longhurst said.
According to 2023 data from national mental health advocacy organization Inseparable, Delaware has only one school counselor for every 2,547 students and one school social worker for every 382 students.
Inseparable’s Chief Advocacy Officer Angela Kimball, who helped craft the legislation, says the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the youth mental health crisis, and the problem is continuing to grow.
“We're still seeing students struggle all across the country really at levels that have not ever been seen before, and suicide is still the second highest cause of death for youth ages 10 to 24 — and what's really alarming is we're starting to see increases in younger children," Kimball said.
Longhurst says the bill providing funding for more mental health providers in K-5 schools is now fully implemented, while the process in middle schools is still underway.
Hiring more providers for high school students will be phased-in over the next three years and is expected to cost close to $23 million for fiscal year 24 and reach close to $34 million by fiscal year 2026.
Carney also signed a bill that charges the state's Department of Health and Social Services to apply to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for a State Plan Amendment that would allow for reimbursement of school-based medically necessary behavioral health services without documentation of an Individualized Educational Program (IEP) or Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) documentation.
