LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Schools across Michigan are recruiting 562 mental and physical health professionals, the governor announced this week as experts said the increase is needed after years of understaffing and overburdening schools.
Summary
- LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Schools across Michigan are recruiting 562 mental and physical health professionals, the governor announced this week as experts said the increase is needed after years of understaffing and overburdening schools.
- “The pandemic reminded us that school-based mental and physical health professionals are not luxuries,” Whitmer said in a news release.
- Michigan has been severely lacking in hiring and retaining mental health support staff for the last decade, said Terri Tchorzynski, president of the Michigan School Counselor Association.
- Prior to the pandemic, Tchorzynski said she saw an increase in recent years of student mental health needs, specifically in the areas of depression, anxiety and panic attacks.
- The group works with schools to create mental health programs.