Take a peek inside public school mental health plans

Will elected officials and media report on exactly what is inside the Florida public school "mental health" plans currently under review by school boards across the state? And how thoroughly do parents of school-age children read the darn plans before they sign consent forms associated with registering or in some cases, re-registering their kids?

County Examiner took a peek inside the mental health plans for two public school districts in Florida. 

Collier County

While requiring informed parental consent, on page 10 of this plan document Collier County public schools disclose all children ages 3-5 enrolled in a District operated pre-kindergarten program are subject to "universal mental health screenings. 

Should a child be determined by an outside agency as struggling with a stressful life-event, page 11 of the plan reveals the opportunity for an outside agency to file a "Handle With Care" alert with the school, resulting in reduced homework.

Manatee County

As part of their mental health plan, the Manatee County Public School District reveals the "It's Your Choice Program" Teen Pregnancy Prevention Grant is beginning the ninth year of implementation during the 2018-19 school year, annually serving over 3,000 students in higher risk Manatee County zip codes. 

"Thus far, over 25,000 students have been served by this program. "it’s yoUR choice" provides a continuum of services designed to prevent teen pregnancy and reduce repeat teen births for students attending five traditional middle schools, four traditional high schools two alternative schools, and the TAPP (Teenage Parenting Program) program. One aspect of this program is counseling to help young girls maintain strong mental health in order to break the cycle of teen pregnancy

County Examiner previously reported the development and existence of a Mental Health Allocation Plan is a requirement of a comprehensive Florida statute addressing school safety. We reported on the expansion of the Lee County Public School District which included the addition of (4) school psychologists and six licensed mental health professionals bringing the total plan cost to over $2 million for the 2019-2020 school year.

School districts are receiving grant and other monies for serving ever increasing numbers of students with teen pregnancies and performing more & more mental health screenings. Let that sink in for a bit.

See where this is heading and why reading these plans before signing any parental consent forms is important?