(UK) Gov.UK: $42M (US) for 600 school psychologists to "meet increasing demand for services"

Mar 20, 2019, Gov.UK: Multi-million pound fund to train more educational psychologists in schools https://www.gov.uk/government/news/multi-million-pound-fund-to-train-more-educational-psychologists-in-schools Thousands of children across England will benefit from mental health and special needs support, as funding worth £31.6 [$42M US dollars] million is announced to train more Educational Psychologists. The Department for Education has today (20 March) outlined plans to support more young people with additional educational needs by launching a procurement exercise for experts to come forward and kickstart specialist training for more Educational Psychologists. The multi-million pound fund will see over 600 Educational Psychologist trainees receive free tuition and grants. It follows the Education Secretary’s announcement in December last year to expand funding to increase the cohort of Education Psychologists from 160 to 206 each year. At the same time he announced an additional £350 million [$463M US] for high needs. … We said that we would train more Educational Psychologists to help meet increasing demand for their services – and today we are confirming funding over £30 million to make this happen. We are launching three new training rounds from 2020 which will see over 600 psychologists trained. … To make sure every child is able to learn in the most effective way, Educational Psychologists are critical in identifying special educational needs and are required to contribute to a young person’s Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). They also provide tailored support and outreach to teachers and families, through new support strategies when the complex needs of a child are not being met. … … We know that there is an ever-growing demand for our services, including contributing to an increasing number of Education, Health and Care Plans as well as providing specialist support for a wide range of children and young people with SEND and advice on mental health and wellbeing. A recent survey of our members indicated that over 85% of respondents had seen their workload increase significantly over the past 5 years…. Increasing recruitment forms part of wider efforts to promote children’s mental wellbeing, as Educational Psychologists play a pivotal role in mental health provision in schools and will play a key role in supporting the new mental health support teams being introduced in 25 trailblazer areas. …