The Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE) officials announced this morning that they are teaming up with school-based telehealth company Hazel Health to make virtual therapy available to the county’s 1.3 million students in public K-12 schools.
What many experts call a youth mental health crisis has come to the forefront in recent years, with the U.S. Surgeon General pointing to climate change, racial injustice, income inequality — and now COVID-19 — as well as other factors, all of which have had a “devastating” effect on young people’s mental health.
According to Governor Newsom’s Master Plan for Kids’ Mental Health, in California, “66 percent of kids with depression do not receive treatment.”
LA County Superintendent of Schools Debra Duardo told a press conference at Benjamin O. Davis Middle School Thursday that the need for these services have always existed but have become more necessary since the pandemic.
“We also know that there has been other societal challenges, such asthe violence we saw last week and these are things that our children have to learn how to cope with as they continue their education,” Duardo said.
How It Will Work
California is seeing an influx of money meant to help address the youth mental health crisis. L.A. Care Health Plan and Health Net have set aside up to $24 million over the next two years for the telehealth services. That funding comes from the state’sStudent Behavioral Health Incentive Program.
Local school districts will be able to opt-in to Hazel Health’s virtual therapy services. The Los Angeles Unified School District as well as the Compton School District have already signed on for the program. Benjamin O. Davis Middle School has been offering the virtual mental health services…
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