Rural schools feel the pinch from Trump administration’s cuts to mental health grants

By ANNIE MA AP Training Writer WASHINGTON AP In parts of rural upstate New York schools have more than students for every mental vitality provider In a far-flung region with little constituents transportation those minimal school counselors often are the only mental vitality professionals available to students Hennessey Lustica has been overseeing grant-funded efforts to train and hire more school psychologists counselors and social workers in the Finger Lakes region but those efforts may soon come to end a casualty of the Trump administration s decision to cancel school mental strength grants around the country Cutting this funding is just going to devastate kids commented Lustica project director of the Wellness Workforce Collaborative in the Seneca Falls Central School District The workforce that we re evolving just in my school districts it s over kids that are going to be impacted by this and not have the mental soundness assistance that they need The billion in grants for school-based mental soundness programs were part of a sweeping gun violence bill signed by President Joe Biden in in response to the school shooting in Uvalde Texas The grants were meant to help schools hire more psychologists counselors and other mental medical workers especially in rural areas Under the Biden administration the department prioritized applicants who proved how they would increase the number of providers from diverse backgrounds or from communities directly served by the school district But President Donald Trump s administration took issue with aspects of the grant programs that touched on race saying they were harmful to students We owe it to American families to ensure that taxpayer dollars are supporting evidence-based practices that are truly focused on improving students mental fitness Mentoring Department spokesperson Madi Biedermann disclosed Hennessey Lustica poses for a portrait Thursday June in Newark N Y AP Photo Lauren Petracca Hennessey Lustica poses for a portrait Thursday June in Newark N Y AP Photo Lauren Petracca Hennessey Lustica poses for a portrait Thursday June in Newark N Y AP Photo Lauren Petracca Show Caption of Hennessey Lustica poses for a portrait Thursday June in Newark N Y AP Photo Lauren Petracca Expand School districts around the US cut off training and retention programs Lustica learned of her grant s cancellation in April in a two-page letter from the Schooling Department which announced the ruling body revealed that her work violated civil rights law It did not specify how Lustica is planning to appeal the decision She rejected the letter s characterization of her work saying she and her colleagues abide by a code of ethics that honors each person s individuality regardless of race gender or identity The rhetoric is just false Lustica noted I don t know how else to say it I think if you looked at these programs and looked at the impact that these programs have in our rural school districts and the stories that kids will tell you about the mental strength professionals that are in their schools it has helped them because of this plan The grants supported programs in districts across the country In California West Contra Costa Unified School District will lose nearly million in funding In Alabama Birmingham City Schools was notified it would not receive the rest of a million grant it was using to train hire and retain mental wellness staff In Wisconsin the state s Department of Masses Instruction will lose million allocated for the next four years The state had used the money to boost retention and expand programs to encourage high schoolers to pursue careers in school-based mental physical condition At a time when communities are urgently asking for help serving mental soundness demands this decision is indefensible state superintendent Jill Underly disclosed in a declaration In latest House and Senate hearings Democrats pressed Instruction Secretary Linda McMahon on the end of the grants and the impact on students McMahon notified them mental soundness is a priority and the grants would be rebid and reissued Anyone who works or spends time with kids knows these grants were funding desperately needed access to mental wellbeing care services American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten reported in a report Canceling the funding now is a cruel reckless act that puts millions of children at hazard Grant programs put more mental medical specialists in schools The strains on youth mental robustness are acute in numerous rural school districts In one upstate New York district half the students have had to move due to economic hardship in the last five years creating instability that can affect their mental strength Lustica announced In a survey of students from sixth through th grade in one county nearly half communicated feeling sad or depressed the bulk of the time one in three reported their lives lacked clear purpose or meaning We ve got huge amounts of depression huge amounts of anxiety lots of trauma and not enough providers Lustica explained School is the place where kids are getting a lot of the services they need Related Articles Supreme Court says parents can pull their kids from inhabitants school lessons using LGBTQ books Supreme Court OKs fee that subsidizes phone internet services in schools libraries and rural areas Trump administration to investigate University of California s hiring practices College graduates face toughest job domain in more than a decade as hiring slows Trump admin puts California on the clock over its stand on transgender athletes in sports Selected families in the region are unable to afford private counseling or are unable to get their children to appointments given transportation challenges announced Danielle Legg a graduate apprentice who did an internship as a school social worker with funding from the grant project Their access to mental healthcare care truly is limited to when they re in school and there s a provider there that can see them and it s vital Legg declared In the past three years students completed their mental healthcare training through the scheme Lustica oversees and of them were hired into shortage areas she noted The initiative that offered training to graduate students at schools helped address staffing demands and inspired a great number of to pursue careers in educational settings stated Susan McGowan a school social worker who supervised graduate students in Geneva City School District It just feels to me really catastrophic McGowan noted of the grant cancellation These positions are tough to fill so when you get grad students who are willing to work hand in hand with other professionals in their building you re really building your quota as far as staffing goes and you re supporting teachers The Associated Press development coverage receives financial aid from multiple private foundations AP is solely responsible for all content Find AP s standards for working with 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