In approving the state’s education budget early Friday morning, the GOP legislature and Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer also added investment in school safety measures and the teacher pension system, thanks to unexpectedly high state revenues this year.
Mental health in Michigan
Posted inTalent & Education
As youth mental health crisis rages, Michigan schools work to bolster students’ sense of connection
The pandemic intensified a long-festering youth mental health crisis and left schools searching for answers. In Michigan, 600 schools have adopted a social-emotional learning curriculum known as TRAILS – Transforming Research into Action to Improve the lives of students. It is poised to grow further – if the Legislature approves $150 million in new funding.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Suicide stalks rural Michigan
The 15 Michigan counties with the highest suicide rates from 2005 through 2020 were all rural. Experts point to isolation, job loss and lack of mental health care as key contributors to rural despair.
Posted inTalent & Education
One way to address student mental health in Michigan? Bring the clinic to school.
School-based health centers allow students to access therapy, a medical checkup, or a dental appointment a short walk from their classrooms.
Posted inTalent & Education
Advocates press Michigan for $25M to open 100 school health centers
The pandemic exacerbated a slow-burning mental health crisis in Michigan’s schools. Whitmer wants to open 40 centers to help. Advocates say that’s not enough.
Posted inTalent & Education
Is federal COVID cash enough to solve Michigan school mental health crisis?
An unprecedented $6 billion in federal COVID relief money has come to Michigan to help schools, with mental-health support one of its pillars. It’s a lot of money, but young students will need a lot of help.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Sides drawn on plan to privatize Michigan mental-health system
Some argue the state should shift responsibility of managing care and costs to Michigan’s for-profit insurers; others say money motives of insurance companies would cut into care for the most vulnerable.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan doctors found a huge spike in eating disorders during COVID
At Michigan Medicine, hospitalizations of young people, nearly all female, more than doubled. Possible links to the pandemic were also noted at Beaumont Health in metro Detroit and at a children’s hospital in Grand Rapids.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Latest effort to reform Michigan’s mental-health system finds critics
Two GOP lawmakers say their plans cut bureaucracy and save millions of dollars. Some worry, though, that any reform that shifts care to the private sector or distant agencies will compromise vulnerable patients.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan teens' anxiety increased during COVID. Resources to help did not.
Experts already recognize that treating severe mental illness among young people is a problem in the state. But kids showing signs of pandemic-related isolation, depression and other conditions also struggle to find help.