In Nebraska, it is training on trauma to support Native American students. In Arizona, it is an effort to extend existing school health services. In a Texas region with high suicide rates, this is a program to increase the number of mental health providers.
It is among the school mental health programs that could be on blocking thanks to the financing cuts of the Ministry of Education.
The narrowing or loss of these programs could be particularly important for school districts in rural areas, where mental health resources are rarer and the need is higher than in urban centers.
Many parts of the country are Mental health care “deserts”. If the schools of these communities do not provide this type of support, it is unlikely that children can get it elsewhere, explains David Mr. Ardrey, acting executive director of the National Rural Education Association.
“Many mental health services that existed in rural areas, they had already disappeared, either under a commercial model (this) did not make sense, or they left because federal money went elsewhere,” he said.
Cut at a difficult time
In a letter sent last weekAn official of the Ministry of Education said that subsidies would be dismissed at the end of their financing cycle unless the beneficiaries appeal. This decision is widely credited with the Trump administration conduct With the fact that many of the subsidies have mentioned growing diversity among mental health professionals.
Almost $ 1 billion financing infusion For mental health services and mental health care providers from kindergarten to 12th year began in 2022, the same year that a panel of medical experts made Unprecedented recommendation Primary care physicians exceed all children aged 8 and over for anxiety.
The Ministry of Education's decision to reduce the flow of mental health subsidies has repercussions throughout the country, but they can reach particularly harsh rural schools.
Ardrey speculates that certain rural districts will have to interrupt the programs supported by federal subsidies, provided that the calls are not approved, until they can replace this funding.
He underlines that the time of the decision of the Ministry of Education puts the districts in a difficult position. School districts are negotiating or have signed contracts for services for the next fiscal year.
“Some agreements have already been concluded,” says Ardrey. “So who will be forced to pay for that? Who will get stuck with this bill, if you want? And the districts are those that are put in this.”
Rare resources
The country's districts are already faced with a shortage of school psychologists and other approved mental health professionals who are qualified to work in schools from 12th year. It is a profession where training takes years and too few people enter the field each year.
In Nevada, for example, a 2023 Analysis have found that state preparation programs for mental health professionals only obtained 12 people each year in a shortage of nearly 2,900 school health professionals.
The grant programs reduced by the Ministry of Education have been created to help schools and universities increase the number of approved mental health agents.
For example, in Arizona, Cochise Educational Service Agency received a $ 2.7 million five -year subsidy To increase the number of mental health providers in its rural district: “With only twelve suppliers for thirty-eight schools and 9,656 students, the endowment levels are insufficient, which has led to many students suffering silently.”
Meanwhile, Winnebago public schools and the Umoⁿhoⁿ nation public school in Nebraska received nearly a million dollars in 2024 to increase mental health services for Amerindian students.
Even if there were many qualified care providers, with their tight budgets, rural schools often find themselves to choose between hiring an advisor or other type of staff member.
“If I have an advisor, do I have someone who is really a type of mental health, or someone who supports students with their classrooms and with college preparation?” Said Ardrey. “So, often, districts must combine workloads in other administrative functions.”
Rural schools are also faced with other challenges to attract mental health professionals, difficulties that are out of the hands of school officials. Any shortage of employees – teachers, bus drivers, advisers, social workers – will be worse because of their small populations.
“And then reality is in our rural communities, there is A shortage of housing“Said Ardrey.” So if you try to hire a new teacher and really want them to live in your community, but you really don't have enough accommodation or enough high quality accommodation, it's difficult. “
He says that if the rural districts plan to combat the potential loss of these federal funds, for the moment, it will probably be added to the long list of tasks that maintain schools on the move.
“I don't want to say that in a casual way, but I think there is so much spaghetti on the wall at the moment that have an impact on our schools, they take them one at a time and try to understand the next one,” says Ardrey. “I think that the important part to be highlighted at the moment, no matter what is happening at the federal level with federal funding flows: our schools are open every day and people will work every day.”
