By: Peyton Mills
LONDON, Ky. (May 11, 2023)
Last Thursday, Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, Rep. Timmy Truett, and Rep. Tom Smith — alongside local students and educational leaders in London, Kentucky — gathered to announce that the South-Central Educational Cooperative (SESC) had been selected by the U.S. Department of Education to receive $6 million over five years to improve long-term access to high-quality, school-based mental health resources for over 16,200 students. This funding was provided by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which sought to advance President Biden’s Mental Health Strategy by investing in communities and thereby allowing them to hire and train thousands of mental health professionals.
A former teacher herself, Lt. Gov. Coleman understands the mental health crisis facing students today. “In our education-first administration, Kentucky’s students and their well-being remain top of mind,” she reiterated on Thursday. “Now is the time to invest heavily in our students — beyond the tangible objects like facilities and books.”
Indeed, Lt. Gov. Coleman has been doing just that in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding that COVID not only introduced unseen issues but also “exacerbated old ones,” as she said last year while discussing student mental health recommendations, Coleman partnered with several Kentucky educational and behavioral institutions to develop and host ten Student Mental Health Action Summits across the Commonwealth during the fall of 2021.
These summits encouraged hundreds of students to discuss their personal mental health challenges and their mental health needs at educational institutions. They also helped to develop a list of recommendations for Kentucky lawmakers, which included expanding mental health services, allowing excused mental health absences, and increasing mental health awareness and education, among others. A comprehensive list can be found here.
The funding the SESC received, and the subsequent creation of the ACCESS Program, is a clear commitment to taking students’ concerns seriously. Kay Dixon, the executive director of SESC, said, “SESC is excited to receive funds that not only allow us to continue our support to schools and districts in the area of social and emotional learning but provides us with additional resources to allow a laser focus on improvement of mental health within our region.”
Local educators are in agreement. “The mental health grant that SESC received, and the funding associated with the grant, will be revolutionary for our region of the state,” said superintendent of Rockcastle County Schools Carrie Ballinger. “This grant will allow the member districts of SESC to address the mental health needs of our students head on and provide them the services and support they deserve and need.”
Prior to the pandemic, a Kentucky Youth Risk Behavior Survey showed that 30% of Kentucky high school students reported feeling sad or hopeless enough to halt usual activities — a figure that is alarming given the suspected underreporting of mental health issues. The same survey found 57% of students between the ages of 12-17 did not receive mental healthcare for major depressive episodes. Between 2019 and 2020, the number of children diagnosed with behavioral or conduct issues increased by 21%, while mental healthcare use did not increase.
The picture is not all bleak, however: a Coping with Covid 19 Student Survey in May of 2020 found that students reported feeling more grateful, less worthless, and more interested in seeking out mental healthcare. And the SESC and its ACCESS Program are rising to the occasion to provide for such needs.
