All Madison elementary students should get mental health tests

Matthew DeFour

The Madison School District should screen all elementary school students for mental health problems and develop school-based mental health clinics for older students, according to a district task force.

The Mental Health Task Force said in a report to the School Board on Monday that dwindling community resources, poor communication between service providers and school psychologists, and minority students not accessing mental health services to the same degree as their white peers are problems that need to be addressed.

"These are huge issues," district chief of staff Steve Hartley said. "The president is talking about it. The governor is talking about it."

The report comes as mental health has taken on greater prominence in the wake of the mass shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. Gov. Scott Walker has proposed a $30 million increase for spending on mental health services in his 2013-15 budget.

The report includes seven recommendations of a mental health task force formed nearly two years ago by former superintendent Dan Nerad.

Wow.

As an aside, it is quite fascinating that DeFour's article lacks any links, much less to the report (255K PDF). What year is it?

Posted by Jim Zellmer at February 27, 2013 1:06 AM
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