Mich. lawmakers introduce bill to draw mental health professionals to schools

Apr. 22—TRAVERSE CITY — Northern Michigan educators hope a new bill circulating in the state legislature will encourage more mental health professionals to seek careers in schools, aiding a critical shortage that has taken shape in recent years across the state.

On April 14, state Rep. Bronna Kahle, R-Adrian, and state Sen. Curt VanderWall, R-Ludington, introduced identical bills in the state House and Senate meant to establish a system to encourage social workers, counselors and psychologists to work in schools.

If passed, the legislation would establish the Student Mental Health Apprenticeship for Retention and Training (SMART) program, which would provide tuition assistance to individuals seeking certifications in mental health professions as long as they commit to staying with the districts they service after they are certified and complete master's level educational requirements.

The SMART program would be run and funded by the Michigan Department of Education. The tuition assistance would be doled out in the form of a stipend for the recipient's work in an internship with a public school. Recipients would be paid $25 per hour for up to 20 hours per week over a 30-week period, or a lump sum amount equal to $15,000 after the 30-week internship, according to the text of the bill.

With a student-to-school counselor ratio of 671 to 1, Michigan ranks second to last among U.S. states and territories for having counselors available to students, according to a 2019-20 American School Counselor Association report, the most recent numbers available. The American School Counselor Association recommends a ratio of 250:1.

"Now more than ever, this legislation is needed to help encourage those that are close to finishing up their certifications and their master's level educational requirements to be able to provide support for these kids in the schools," Kahle said. "I guess, in a nutshell, this bill will create that pipeline that we desperately need from our Michigan universities."

Now, such solutions seem even more critical as the pool of candidates for mental health support positions in schools has thinned along with a growing need during the pandemic. Sheri Conner, a school social worker with Northwest Education Services (North Ed) and the region president for the Michigan Association of School Social Workers, said her caseload grew about 15 to 20 percent this year, even with added staff in her office.

The SMART Plan is going to be "really helpful" when it comes to encouraging more social workers into careers in schools, especially because, with more course requirements and certifications, it can be more expensive to become a school social worker, Conner said.

Along with encouraging more people to work in schools, Conner said she also hopes there is a push to get more certified people to work in rural areas and places like the Traverse City region, where there is not a major university nearby to draw recent graduates from.

"If a Traverse City High School student said, 'I'm going to go to U of M, and I'm going to get my degree,' and then they move back, that's awesome," Conner said. "But that doesn't often happen."

Casey Petz, superintendent of Suttons Bay Schools, said it's relieving to see state legislators pay attention to this issue and write bills that address the root of the problem, especially now that he is seeing more students reaching for mental health supports and more difficulty in hiring and retaining school social workers, psychologists and counselors.

What was once a two to four week process has turned into a months-long ordeal waiting on qualified applicants to apply to job postings, Petz said. The SMART Plan is part of an overall comprehensive solution that is need to be able to sustainably and robustly fund and support these positions, he said.

Stephanie Long, superintendent of Leland Public School, said her district has been "incredibly lucky" to receive COVID funding and find qualified candidates to fill positions at their school. Leland recently hired a behavioral interventionist and a school psychologist to act as the district's social worker and officials will soon hire another guidance counselor to work alongside the one counselor the 400-student school had.

But Long is aware that her district is an outlier and that many of those positions are funded by temporary grants.

The SMART Plan is a great first step to encouraging people into the profession but another key aspect of addressing the shortage of counselors, social workers and psychologists in schools is making sure these positions are paid well and with consistent, sustainable funding, Long said.

Carol Greilick, North Ed Assistant Superintendent of Special Education, said the SMART Plan is "a great step" toward encouraging more young people — some who may be reticent to take on debt or see the work in schools as daunting — to take on these positions in schools.

"I think it's the incredible need that many students face that make the field of education really overwhelming," Greilick said. "And at the same time, really rewarding."

Along with tuition assistance, Conner said limits to the number of cases school social workers can take on and more guidelines that set consistent expectations across school districts would also help draw people into the profession.

Despite the current problems, Conner said she is hopeful about the future. The recent focus on this issue in legislation is encouraging. If what has been proposed passes, she thinks there will be a shift.

"I think we'll start to see a shift but part of that is seeing that we have to help everybody around us," Conner said. "There's a lot of burnout happening, a lot of teachers are exhausted, admin's exhausted. So trying to help everybody can be a little daunting. But it's worth it."

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