Advocates say more is needed.
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988 bill
A handful of bills that could impact kids’ mental health are pending in the lame duck Ohio legislative session. However, several sponsored by local lawmakers are still in committee and the session ends at the end of December.
House Bill 571 — sponsored by state Rep. Andrea White, R-Kettering — would require schools and higher education institutions to include the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline telephone number, 988, on student identification cards, student planners and electronic portals.
The bill was introduced in June of this year in the Behavioral Health House Committee.
“As you are no doubt aware, in recent years there has been a substantial increase in mental health needs in Ohio, especially for our student population both in the K-12 and post-secondary spaces,” White said in her testimony.
Strong Foundations Act
White is also cosponsor of House Bill 7, which is currently in the Ohio Senate Finance Committee after passing the House. It includes a number of provisions aimed at supporting Ohio’s youth, even before birth. The bill is called the Strong Foundations Act.
For mental health providers, H.B. 7 would allow use of age-appropriate Medicaid codes. It would also appropriate $5 million in fiscal year 2024 and $3 million in fiscal year 2025 to support stable housing initiatives for pregnant mothers and to improve maternal and infant health outcomes.
H.B. 7 also requires the Ohio Department of Health determine if changes could be made to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) enrollment and benefit distribution processes. The bill would appropriate $2 million over two fiscal years to modernize Ohio’s WIC system.
Mental health days
Ohio House Bill 38 — sponsored by state Rep. Willis Blackshear Jr., D-Dayton — proposes students get three mental health days that they can use during the school year, though his bill appears unlikely to make it out of its committee before the end of this legislative session.
The bill is about connecting students to the resources they need to address their mental health, Blackshear said in testimony.
“The reality is that many students in our schools face a number of stressors that can lead to a mental health crisis,” Blackshear said. “From financial stress, to social anxiety, to preexisting mental health conditions there are a plethora of reasons why a student may have a serious mental health concern that requires intervention.”
The excused mental health absences would not count against truancy regulations already in place, but the bill would allow school districts to maintain local control if there were districts that did not want to implement this measure.
“If a school district has an issue with chronic absenteeism or lacks the resources to be able to refer students to appropriate mental health supports, then they may choose not to implement this policy,” Blackshear said.
What advocates want
Investing in the youngest Ohioans can help build a foundation for mental wellness, said Brittany Boulton, vice president of the nonpartisan advocacy group Groundwork Ohio.
“We know that 80% of brain growth takes place by age three, and 90% by age five,” Boulton said. “A baby’s brain is just forming more than a million neural connections every single second.”
Young children are really susceptible to influences from caregivers and environmental factors, she said. Adverse childhood experiences or forms of childhood trauma like poverty, neglect and abuse can disrupt their development from a young age.
“Research shows that early prevention efforts such as quality childcare and home visiting programs can yield really high returns because they improve educational outcomes, they reduce behavioral issues and avoid more expensive crisis interventions later on in life,” Boulton said.
If poor mental health doesn’t get addressed, it can affect a child’s performance in school and into adulthood.
“Child mental health issues tend to continue into adulthood, which has implications in terms of employment and how well the person can function,” said Becky Carroll, director of policy research and analysis at the Health Policy Institute of Ohio.
About half of all mental health conditions begin by the mid-teen years and three-quarters begin by the mid-twenties and often continue into adulthood, according to the Health Policy Institute of Ohio’s data brief on mental health conditions among Ohio children released this month.
Protective factors, which are positive experiences, resources and assets that can buffer children and families against the harmful effects of adverse childhood experiences and trauma, are something that can help.
“There are really lots of opportunities for different entities such as schools (and) the broader government to intervene and do some great things to promote those protective factors, which teach coping skills and allows kids to just deal with things in healthier ways,” Carroll said.
Recently passed legislation
Ohio law now requires school districts to have a policy around having cellphones out during class time by the beginning of next school year.
The law encouraged, but did not require, local districts and schools to eliminate cellphone use during the school day. Although the law did not require implementation until next school year, many districts have already begun implementation. Local superintendents who have limited or banned phones in high school and middle school say it’s been a success.
According to a recent Ohio Department of Education and Workforce survey that included 599 traditional districts, 336 charter schools, eight independent STEM schools and 49 joint vocational school districts, about 61% of those schools have adopted formal policies.
Of those who responded, about 41% said cellphone use is not allowed at all during the school day. About 45% said cellphone use is limited to select times of the school day. The remaining 14% said the extent of cellphone use restriction has not yet been determined as the district is still considering what the policy will say.
Another major piece of passed legislation was a $10 million investment in a new, state-run mental health hospital in the Dayton area, adding about 200 beds for patients.
There are no details yet about where the hospital will go, when it would open or how much it would cost.
“Over the past six years we’ve made great strides in realizing our dream, our dream of building our statewide system of mental health care,” said Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who pushed for the extra $10 million. “We’ve got a ways to go, but we’ve made great progress.”
