Sept 5, 2018, Munster, IN, NWI Times: Portage schools open proposals for mental health providers for students https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/portage-schools-open-proposals-for-mental-health-providers-for-students/article_c3e85f35-d393-5566-85a0-9724f35e0572.html PORTAGE — The Portage Township Schools board took its next step in providing comprehensive mental and behavioral health care services to students this past week. The board opened requests for proposals from two area counseling services. The proposals from Porter-Starke Services of Valparaiso and Crown Counseling of Crown Point where taken under advisement. A contract is expected to be awarded at a meeting next month. Superintendent Amanda Alaniz said the effort to bring counseling services to students and families is part of the district's seven-part school safety plan introduced in June…. "They said they wanted mental health services for themselves or their peers," said Alaniz. Alaniz said the chosen provider would offer clinical assessments, individual and family therapy, medication management, on-site training and consultations and day treatment as an alternative to suspension or expulsion. The proposals did not include a cost to the school district. Alaniz said the provider would bill the student's insurance company to cover the costs. In the case of a student not having insurance, the school district would pick up the cost for the services.
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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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