Dear OSPA Members and Friends of OSPA,
I hope that each of you were able to enjoy some well-deserved rest and relaxation over winter break and had the opportunity to enjoy time with loved ones for the holidays. As we enter the second half of the school year, there continues to be an emphasis on the importance of caring for the mental health needs of our students, and I truly appreciate the work each of you do every day in pursuance of this goal.
This fall I had the opportunity to attend a meeting hosted by the Department of Education in which representatives from National Association of School Psychologists, the School Social Work Association of America, National Association of School Nurses, and American School Counselor Association met virtually with the Secretary of Education, Dr. Miguel Cardona. The purpose of the meeting was to share what the Department is doing related to the start of the 2021-2022 school year, as well as an opportunity for the participating associations to share ideas and challenges with Secretary Cardona and Department leadership. Secretary Cardona expressed a great deal of gratitude for the support provided by practitioners during the pandemic and values the work being done to improve education at the ground level. He expressed concern for the expanding mental health needs of school aged children and emphasized that increasing the number of mental health professionals in schools is a necessity to improve social-emotional well-being for students. Practitioners expressed a need for preventative, holistic mental health and social emotional supports at tier one. The negative impact of professional shortages on school mental health services and the need for funding do address these shortages was also emphasized. Ohio’s school psychology internship funding program was highlighted as a successful example of funds being utilized to address shortages by supporting graduate programs and ultimately improving outcomes for students
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