Special state funding for mental health staff at Michigan public schools during the pandemic is ending this year, leaving schools scrambling to find ways to keep such professionals.
The $240 million grant started in 2021 as students coped with challenges, from virtual learning and cancelled sports to losing a loved one to COVID. Now, districts are seeking alternatives.
Dr. Diane Golzynski with the Michigan Department of Education says the options include a program known as “SMART” — the School Mental Health Apprenticeship Program — to encourage people to choose mental health careers by giving them financial support.
“To pay folks who need to do their supervised practice internships in order to go into this to pay folks who need to do their supervised practice internships in order to go into this field,” Golzynski said. “It’s to give them a small wage so that they can actually do that.”
Golzynski says districts can also apply for Medicaid matching funds for all their work that is eligible, and then use those dollars to keep mental health providers in schools.
