SALT LAKE CITY – Utah has been cited as one of 11 U.S. states where mental health support of African-American and Hispanic students has been shrinking in recent years.
That’s the conclusion of a nationwide study by Legacy Healing Centers that found that the per capita availability of mental health support staff for those disadvantaged students in Utah declined by nearly 20 percent between 2017 and 2022.
Data from the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) on public school enrollment and mental health staffing revealed that
Utah and ten other states recorded wellness services that shrank between a staggering 60 percent in Alabama and 4.35 percent in Iowa.
“For many of these kids, school is the only place where they can realistically access help,” according to Dr. Ash Bhatt, a physician at Legacy Healing Center. “When those resources are missing, there really isn’t a backup plan.”
Bhatt says the decline in mental health support in these states highlights a troubling pattern where that support is shrinking in areas that already face barriers to care, including budget limitations, workforce shortages and challenges associated with recruiting and retaining qualified mental health professionals.
Bhatt’s views are supported by experts from organizations like the American Psychological Association and the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
Nationally, those experts report that youth are struggling with thoughts of suicide and interpersonal violence such as bullying, dating violence and sexual assault.
Here in Utah, those problems are particularly acute in rural areas where mental health support is often hard-to-find.
“Young people are faced with varying pressures to use substances and must navigate a complex digital world all while maintaining their mental health and well being,” said Heidi Duston, prevention administrator with the Utah Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).
“Data (from Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) released annually by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) helps us understand what’s happening to cause these issues, identify and address specific risk factors and develop interventions that help families and youth feel supported, safe and able to thrive,” she added.
The Legacy Healing Center study indicates that African-American and Hispanic student are among those most affected, because they are often obliged to rely on school services that are already stretched.
“When support (for these students) isn’t available early,” Bhatt explains, “small issues can turn into much bigger ones.
“Anxiety, depression and even behavioral challenges can go unnoticed or be misunderstood, which can impact not just academic performance but long-term well-being.
In addition to Utah, the other ten states found to have shrinking mental health support for students of color are Alabama (down nearly 60 percent), Illinois (down 52 percent), Tennessee (down 17.5 percent), Maine (down 16 percent), Montana (down nearly 13 percent), South Dakota (down 10 percent), Rhode Island (down 8.4 percent), North Dakota (down 7.83 percent), Louisiana (down nearly 5 percent) and Iowa (down 4.35 percent).
Additional information about the Legacy Healing Center study can be found by going online to https://www.legacyhealingnj.com/
Based in New Jersey, Legacy Healing Center is an award-winning rehabilitation facility that assists patients with personalized addiction treatment and compassionate care.