It’s time to Pass Counselors Not Criminalization Act
[ [link removed] ]Take Action Now
[ [link removed] ]TAKE ACTION
Dear Friend,
Now more than ever, young people, and specifically school-aged children,
need support. As our country experiences an urgent youth mental health
crisis the data shows that more than one in three high school students
have said they experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness,
and one in five students seriously considered suicide.
Emergency rooms across the country also saw a significant increase in the
number of ER visits for mental health reasons in young people.
While this crisis isn’t new, a persistent lack of investments in
school-based mental health resources, on top of the pandemic, has made it
exponentially worse.
[ [link removed] ]Young people in America deserve better. Tell Congress: Pass the
Counseling Not Criminalization Act.
Young people who experience anxiety, depression, and worse, are struggling
with mental health challenges, can be incredibly overwhelming for parents
and educators to navigate.
School counselors, nurses, social workers, and school psychologists are
often the first to see children who are sick, stressed, or traumatized —
particularly in low-income school districts.
[ [link removed] ]Putting kids first means counselors, nurses, and social workers. Tell
Congress to support the Counseling Not Criminalization Act.
The benefits of investing in mental health services in schools go above
and beyond the immediate support that children and young people get when
engaged in these services. Schools with these services and supports see
better attendance rates, better academic achievement, and higher
graduation rates as well as lower rates of suspension, expulsion, and
other disciplinary incidents.
Support and safety go hand and hand and too many of our schools lack the
resources to provide meaningful support facilitated by trained mental
health professionals.
[ [link removed] ]TAKE ACTION: Our schools need more counselors, nurses, social workers,
and educators who have the training to effectively support students, NOT
more cops. Tell Congress to ACT NOW!
The benefits of investing in school mental health support are clear, so
clear that it would make sense for school boards, principals, government
leaders, and elected officials to use every available resource to increase
access to school-based health and mental health professionals.
Instead, what is happening is funding for police in schools has been on
the rise on top of a national youth mental health crisis, all while
schools face critical shortages of counselors, nurses, psychologists,
social workers, and teachers.
Even schools offering some mental health services are still terribly
understaffed.
Nationally it is recommended that schools have at least one counselor and
one social worker for every 250 students, at least one nurse per 750
students, and one psychologist for every 700 students.
These staffing recommendations are a minimum requirement.
90 percent of students are in schools that don’t meet these standards, and
in those schools with a significant lack of health and mental health
support staff, law enforcement presence is increasing.
We too often assume that the presence of police in schools is synonymous
with safety. Studies show it is NOT. And like the police outside of
school, data increasingly shows that police in schools disproportionately
target Black children, students living with disabilities, and LGBTQ
students, pushing them into the juvenile and criminal justice system. [1]
[ [link removed] ]SIGN ON WITH US: The time for change is NOW! Tell Congress to support
the Counseling Not Criminalization Act.
The physical, social, and emotional health of children in schools is
critical to success and safety. Yet, 1.7 million students are in schools
with police but no counselors and 10 million students are in schools with
police but no social workers, and 14 million students are in schools with
police but no counselor, nurse, psychologist, or social worker. Many
states reported two to three times as many police officers in schools as
social workers, and five states reported more police officers in schools
than nurses. This is unacceptable. [2]
Even more horrifying is that from 2013 to 2018, over 300,000 children
under the age of 12 were arrested in the US. [3] The stories are
heartbreaking. A six-year-old in Orlando had a temper tantrum and was
placed in handcuffs and driven to a juvenile detention facility. A high
school student's body slammed down to the ground after asking if he could
call his grandmother to pick him up.
[ [link removed] ]Tell Congress to stand up for students and invest in counselors,
nurses, and social workers, NOT cops!
Research consistently demonstrates that the presence of police in schools
serves as an entry point to the school-to-prison pipeline and
disproportionately harms Black, Indigenous, and Latinx students; students
with disabilities; and marginalized students. Study after study shows
virtually no gains from having police in schools. [4] There are measurable
ways to increase school safety that don’t promote the school-to-prison
pipeline and have been proven to be successful.
These measures include restorative approaches, more mental health staff
and counselors, social-emotional learning, and trauma-informed care in our
schools. The presence of school-based mental health providers doesn't just
improve outcomes for students, it can also improve overall school safety.
The [ [link removed] ]Counseling Not Criminalization Act is an important step towards
shifting resources away from practices that harm and push kids out of
school into what helps students thrive, keeps schools safe, and ends the
criminalization of kids in schools. The bill includes:
* A prohibition on the use of federal funds for police in schools in
addition to supporting school districts in transitioning away from
police in schools.
* The establishment of a $5 billion grant program for school districts
to replace law enforcement in schools with personnel and services that
support mental health and trauma-informed services, as well as reforms
to school safety and disciplinary policies with evidence-based
practices.
* Districts must ensure that they will terminate any existing contract
with local law enforcement by the time they receive grant funding and
cannot establish a new contract throughout the grant. The grants can
be used for hiring or training school counselors, school
psychologists, nurses, social workers, or other specialists with
expertise in school climate and behavior.
* The Implementation of school-wide positive behavioral interventions
and supports, or other trauma-informed services.
* The provision of professional development to educators to prevent,
mitigate, and provide services to students to reduce the effects of
trauma and foster safe and stable learning environments.
[ [link removed] ]Together we can END the criminalization of kids in schools and create
cultures of care, safety, and support. Tell Congress to support the
Counseling Not Criminalization Act!
Thanks for all you do,
--Beatriz, Kelsey, Monifa, Kristin, and the whole MomsRising.org &
MamásConPoder Team
[ [link removed] ]P.S. –It’s time for Congress to address systemic problematic policing
tactics. Tell Congress to pass the People’s Response Act.
References:
[1] [ [link removed] ]THE FUTURE OF SCHOOLING: NO COPS, MORE COUNSELORS
[2][3] [ [link removed] ]More than 30,000 children under age 10 have been arrested in
the US since 2013: FBI
[4] [ [link removed] ]Study links school safety to achievement, relationships
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