Arizona has the worst student-to-counselor ratio in the nation — 753-to-1. Research shows that school counselors and other school-based behavioral health providers improve graduation and student achievement rates, reduce disciplinary problems, reduce racial disparitites in both achievement and discipline, and help prevent suicide.
This is worrying. 25 percent of students attend a school that have police presence on campus but lack either a counselor, social worker, psychologist, and/or nurse. We can begin to take step to fix this. Grant funding will soon be made available for schools that will allow them to apply for school-based behavioral health professionals. On September 16th, the application process opens and we are urging school boards and superintendents to apply for school counselors, social workers, and psycholgists for their schools. Read the letter we sent to several school districts across Arizona.
Want to know where your school stands? Send a letter to your school district asking them how they will increase student support services that will allow them to thrive in class and beyond. Join our efforts and urge them to increase the amount of school-based behavioral health providers available. Download a copy of the letter to mail it to your school district or send it through an email.
Don't know your school district? Find a list here.
Read more about the importance of school-based behavioral health providers here.
