Schools screen vision and hearing, so why not mental health? While funding is available, most Utah schools do not take part in a program to provide mental health screenings.
SOUTH JORDAN – On a recent day at Bingham High School, students brainstormed ways to get the word out: Their school has a new mental health room.
About 40 Utah teens die by suicide each year. Equally concerning is the number who are thinking about suicide.Student Health and Risk Prevention — or SHARP — surveys administered every two years, show 20% of 10th graders have seriously considered suicide. Nearly as many, 18%, actually made a plan. "For decades, schools have screened for vision issues, hearing issues," he said. "But for mental health issues, which is the No. 1 cause of death for children in Utah, which is suicide, we didn't do anything for a long time."
So few districts applied that a new law passed in 2023 imposes a deadline of July 1 for districts to report whether they're in or they're out.Troy Slaymaker wishes these kinds of screenings had been available for his family."I'd give anything to have my boys back, anything," said the South Jordan father.He knew there were issues but didn't realize how serious or know what to do.
We asked districts why they don't take part. The Davis School District said it has long offered student and family mental health screening events and already has resources working together in what they call a "triage system" to identify problems and then determine how to help the student. "We're hesitant to implement mental health screenings right now because we're already doing so much in this area," he said.The Jordan School District does all the things the state asks with screenings but didn't apply for funding. Leaders say screenings have saved lives by getting families resources and starting difficult discussions.
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