School Mental Health And Safety Funding Announced By Bucks Lawmaker

BUCKS COUNTY, Pa. — Thousands of dollars are available to Pennsylvania school districts for safety and security and for student mental health training if they apply for the funding before the end of this month.

State Sen. Steve Santarsiero (D-10) joined Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie, Sandy Hook Promise Founder and CEO Mark Barden and leaders of the Pennsbury School District at a press conference on Thursday in Lower Makefield to announce the funding, which will pay for many of the initiatives included in Santarsiero’s Safety And Violence Education for Students (SAVE Students) Act introduced in June.

“In this year’s budget we were able to get many aspects of the SAVE Students Act passed, and most importantly, funded,” said Santarsiero.

“And we are here today to point out the importance of supporting student mental health in our schools and to make them safer and to make sure that word gets out that the budget has included grant money and to encourage every eligible district to go out and apply for it,” said Santarsiero.

The new state budget sets aside $190 million for school mental health and safety available for the 2022-23 school year through the Office of Research, Evaluation and Strategic Policy Development of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency .

Under the budget, districts that apply would get a base grant of $100,000 for safety and security improvements and another $100,000 for mental health programs and training. In addition, districts would receive an additional amount based on population.

Each Intermediate Unit and charter school would also get $140,000 ($70,000 for safety and security and $70,000 for mental health) if they apply.

If a school district, charter school or I.U. does not apply, their shares would be reallocated to the districts that do apply.

“I suspect that most, if not all the 500 school districts across the commonwealth will apply for this,” said Santarsiero.

When they do apply, they will need to indicate which of the broad categories of programs they are looking to use the money for. There are about 30 of them, said Santarsiero, including things like training on signs of anxiety and self harm (suicide prevention), coordination of local and community mental health services, partnerships with nonprofits like NOVA and money for mental health staff.

“It also includes the development of violence prevention programs, another aspect of the SAVE Students Act that has now been adopted here in Pennsylvania for those schools that avail themselves of this funding,” said Santarsiero.

Santarsiero’s bill would have mandated statewide training on suicide prevention and awareness, both for students and for school personnel; violence prevention, to enable both students and school personnel to identify potential problems before they spiral out of control; and social inclusion - making sure that every child is included in some kind of group.

“Our work is not done,” he said. “We really do need to have these programs across the Commonwealth. I feel pretty confident that districts like Pennsbury, when they apply for the money and receive the grant, will do the right thing to make their districts safer. I would like it if we had a more more uniform approach across the Commonwealth spearheaded by PDE,” he said referring to the SAVE Students Act.

The effort to mandate the training has been advocated for by Sandy Hook Promise, a nonprofit group based in Newtown, Conn., and led by several family members whose loved ones were killed in the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Holding up a photo of his son, Daniel, who was seven when he was shot to death at Sandy Hook, Mark Barden said he made a promise to his son and to his surviving children that he would work to prevent gun violence from taking any more lives in the nation’s schools.

“We have learned that almost every act of violence is precipitated by warning signs. People just don’t wake up and do that,” said Barden. “What we do at Sandy Hook Promise is we train students on how to look for those warning signs, how to identify them and then empower them through training to connect that individual or themselves to a trusted adult who can get them to the appropriate services before it becomes more serious. In addition to addressing social isolation we know that chronic sustained social isolation can be a contributing factor to someone lashing out in violence.

“What the SAVE Students Act does is it provides services and training for all of that,” said Barden. “But it’s only as good as the funding that can help us implement it properly and effectively. All of this together is working literally not only to save lives, but to stop acts of violence, to prevent suicide, but also to foster a more connected culture.”

And it’s having an effect, he said, noting that nine credible school shootings have now been averted by students trained to know the signs and got help.

“Hundreds of suicides have been prevented by students trained in this program. This works,” he said. “And I want to thank Senator Santarsiero and others who have been working tirelessly, relentlessly to get this lifesaving legislation across the finish line.”

Dr. Deb Carrera, the executive deputy director of the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), called the $200 million allocation “an historic investment” that “is going to make a difference.

“The funding that was allocated this year is going to go a long way to support the mental and emotional health of our students, our teachers and our school communities,” she said. “It’s going to help districts to direct resources strategically and intentionally. These are evidence-based programs that are being implemented. And it’s going to help us do something very simple - look after one another and build networks of support to continue this work.”

Pennsbury School District Superintendent Dr. Thomas Smith, joined by board member Linda Palsky and Pennsbury Education Association President Nicole Peirce, said they are “standing united in support of this effort.

“Students are facing challenges we never did and at younger ages than ever before. In recent years school administrators have taken on an ever increasing level of responsibility assisting students as they face these challenges,” said Smith. “Teachers have now become therapists, councilors, security guards. And these changes are most notable in the area of student mental health.

“We need more support in this and we wholeheartedly support Sen. Santarsiero’s bill and his efforts and the efforts of PDE,” said Smith.

“As a school district we continue to focus our resources on the social and emotional aspects of our students' lives. Our programming includes a variety of approaches relevant to specific age groups. But these practices need to be expanded and need to include students at more age levels and a wider breadth of programming,” said Smith.

“Bucks County is a wonderful place to live, raise a family and to work, but we’re not immune to mental health and psychological issues that plague any community,” Smith continued. “We continue to see an alarming number of students and young adults in our community referred to mental health services, sent to crisis centers or hospitalized for self harming acts or ideations. The efforts promoted by our district cannot end when the school doors close.

“The importance of talking and learning about mental health must permeate throughout our lives. We must remove the stigma, support our families and support our students,” he said. “This bill does that. We wholeheartedly support all these efforts and we know that by working together we can truly support our students and make a difference in their lives.”

Also addressing the press conference and lending their support to the effort were Bucks County Commissioners Chair Bob Harvie, State Senator Sharif Street of Philadelphia and Mary Worthington, director of prevention and training at NOVA Bucks County.