SOUTH WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. — Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said Wednesday he wants to invest $500 million in mental health funding for schools over the next five years and up to $60 million in dollars per year in county mental funding by 2027-2028.
During a visit to Parkland High School to highlight some funding proposals in its budget, Shapiro sat down with students from Dieruff and William Allen High Schools in the Parkland and Allentown School District to discuss welfare. emotional and mental illness.
Governor Shapiro hosted a roundtable with students from the Parkland and Allentown school districts. They discussed how to help teens in crisis. Shapiro has received complaints and suggestions about the Safe2Say tipping system.
He also sought student feedback on Safe2Say Something, the tip-reporting system where students can anonymously report threats he created as attorney general.
Shapiro said he wanted to come and listen to students in the Lehigh Valley area to make sure he put mental health funding in the areas that would help kids the most.
Also in attendance were State Representative Mike Schlossberg, D-Lehigh, and State Senator Jarrett Coleman, R-Lehigh.
“I think this issue transcends party lines and the silly politics that often divide us,” Shapiro said. “And what we’re focused on are common sense solutions to an urgent problem that we have to fight right now.”
‘You’re fine… come back to it’
Parkland High principal Nate Davidson said the school has counselors and crisis teams to help students in psychological emergencies.
“We are constantly told that our hospitals do not have enough psychiatric beds, that there are not enough therapists and psychiatrists, that the waiting lists are too long and that health insurance does not cover student therapy.
Nate Davidson, Principal of Parkland High School
“We are incredibly fortunate to have all of these resources available to our students,” Davidson said. “But our needs are constant and growing.
“We are constantly told that our hospitals do not have enough psychiatric beds, that there are not enough therapists and psychiatrists, that the waiting lists are too long and that health insurance does not cover student therapy.
In order to protect the privacy of the students who participated in the roundtable, they have not been publicly identified. Media were allowed in near the end of the conversation.
Most young people said they would talk to their parents if they were in crisis. But an Allentown student said many of them come from immigrant families who have endured wars and other struggles and would view mental illness as “tiny”.
“It’s okay…get over it,” she said, these parents were saying.
Reporting system questioned, supported
Some students said that Safe2Say is abused by some students who call false reports so that the school is canceled.
Shapiro said the Safe2Say system is only abused about 1% of the time.
“We’re going to keep funding the system sure to actually say increased funding for this, it’s working.”
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro
“We’re going to keep funding the system sure to actually say increased funding for it, it’s working,” he said.
“I know the Attorney General’s office is working with local prosecutors to make sure that young people or others are held accountable if they post a false report, a bogus report, on Safe2Say. We must protect the integrity of this platform.
Some students said it would be helpful if the app connected students in crisis with a therapist instead of having to wait to try and see one at the office.
A Parkland student also said teachers need more training on how to deal with students’ mental health issues. She said mental health-related content was censored in the school newspaper.
Budget negotiations continue as state lawmakers work to finalize next year’s budget.
