Mental health reporting informs state education policy discussions

After reading the newsroom’s solutions-oriented series about new approaches to providing mental health support to children (https://www.idahoednews.org/featured-series/mental-health-in-schools/), Eric Studebaker, director of student engagement and safety coordination at the Idaho State Department of Education, invited a school district employee who had been featured in the reporting to speak to a group of stakeholders. This group, in turn, made recommendations for improving access to mental health in schools that the Department of Education is now considering.