July 6, 2018, Treasure Coast (FL) Newspapers: State money will put more social workers, mental-health programming into Treasure Coast schools https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/education/2018/07/06/treasure-coast-schools-get-almost-2-m-mental-health/734975002/ About half the $1.9 million lawmakers are sending to Treasure Coast school districts for mental-health services — in response to the Parkland shooting — is earmarked for hiring additional school social workers. Districts here are poised to double the number of social workers serving the area's 76,000 students by adding five each in Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties…. The same new law that calls for an armed guard in every Florida public school obligates school districts to create a comprehensive mental-health plan. The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act also gives schools $69.2 million to expand their scope of student mental-health care….Each school district will receive an initial $100,000, then more based on enrollment. Before 2018-19, there was no money from the state specifically for mental health…. Jeffrey Shearer, a licensed social worker and executive director of Tykes & Teens, a child-focused mental-health organization in Palm City, said he agrees with how Treasure Coast school districts are approaching their mental-health plans. In particular, adding 15 social workers should go a long way, he said…. They step in when students are referred for problems with attendance or behavior and provide mental-health counseling. Social workers also provide a bridge between students and their families and services in the community. They can refer students to longer-term care, and assist with decisions under the state Baker Act, where individuals can be involuntarily admitted for mental-health evaluations…. “To actually put funds out there is a tremendous effort for schools to be able to address the mental-health needs of children,” Tomlinson said.
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Childhood Lost
Children today are noticeably different from previous generations, and the proof is in the news coverage we see every day. This site shows you what’s happening in schools around the world. Children are increasingly disabled and chronically ill, and the education system has to accommodate them. Things we've long associated with autism, like sensory issues, repetitive behaviors, anxiety and lack of social skills, are now problems affecting mainstream students. Blame is predictably placed on bad parenting (otherwise known as trauma from home).
Addressing mental health needs is as important as academics for modern educators. This is an unrecognized disaster. The stories here are about children who can’t learn or behave like children have always been expected to. What childhood has become is a chilling portent for the future of mankind.
Anne Dachel, Media editor, Age of Autism
http://www.ageofautism.com/media/
(John Dachel, Tech. assist.)
What will happen in another 4 years? How can we go on like this? This is a national (and international) problem of monumental proportions. We have an entire new class of children who cannot be accommodated by the system: many are manifestly neurologically impaired. Meanwhile, the government and the medical profession sleep on regardless.
John Stone,
UK media editor, Age of Autism
The generation of American children born after 1990 are arguably the sickest generation in the history of our country.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
It seemed to me that with rising autism prevalence, you’d also see rising autism costs to society, and it turns out, the costs are catastrophic.
They calculated that in 2015 autism cost the United States $268 billion and they projected that if autism continues at its current rate, we’re looking at one trillion dollars a year in autism costs by 2025, so within five years.
Toby Rogers, PhD, Political economist
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