Hello!
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect families across Texas, children are showing increasing signs of distress, anxiety, grief, depression, and thoughts of suicide. These emotional reactions not only impact children’s health and well-being, but their education, too.
The student mental health and school safety laws passed in 2019 by the Texas Legislature can help prevent and address learning loss stemming from mental health concerns and help students heal from trauma.
However, it will take additional action from the Texas Legislature in 2021 to help school districts turn those laws into the successful practices that protect students from the harmful and long-lasting impacts of the pandemic on their education and well-being.
I encourage you to read the policy brief to learn more about this challenge and what state policymakers can do. We're grateful to Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc. for their financial support of this publication.
I look forward to working with you to ensure that Texas schools have the resources they need to support the mental health of their students!
Sincerely,
Josette Saxton
Director of Mental Health Policy
