2022_09_New_Jersey_Monthly

from him being a loner to being a leader, and when he saw someone
sitting by himself, he went up to them and got them to play a
game.” The boy, who is now thriving socially and academically,
credited the program with changing his life.
“He was able to reach other students who were the loner or
the quirky one, who he identified with, and he brought them out
of their shell and comfort zone,” Foster says.
Tabitha Rice, librarian and media specialist at Bloomfield
Middle School, says the library's lunchtime activities can be a
haven for students who don't want to spend the period in the
cafeteria. “We tend to get loners and kids who need community,”
she explains. “We do projects such as arts and crafts, we have a
Lego wall, we’ve melted down Jolly Ranchers and made roses
with them, and we do STEM [activities]. It’s so every kid has a
safe place that’s comfortable for them.”
In September, the Maurice River Township School District
staff will be trained in suicide prevention and how to identify
and handle trauma in children. “Coming out of this pandemic, we
saw that the mental health needs of the kids were exacerbated,”
says Jeremy Cohen, the chief school administrator of the district.
“These kids have lost so many social skills over the pandemic.
We’re seeing the mental health needs in [even] younger kids. I
have pre-K and kindergarten kids who have some severe mental
health needs. Parents don’t know where to go for help, so right
now, they’re turning to the schools.”
The district formed a partnership last year with Rowan
College, which has a Social Emotional Learning program
that trains staff and provides counseling to students on a
monthly basis. For the first time, all district teachers became certified
in Youth Mental Health First Aid, and four employees received
their certification in the Nurtured Heart Approach, which stresses
building children’s self-esteem. The district is also one of hundreds
across the country that works with Care Solace, a California-based
company launched in 2020 that connects schools and families with
local and online mental health resources.
“Having these programs run parallel to one another has been
phenomenal,” Cohen says. “In Cumberland County, there aren’t
many community-based mental health programs.”
Like other school administrators, Cohen says the pandemic
emotionally drained teachers and other staff members. “It wasn’t
just the kids. The mental health needs of the staff were magnified
by 1,000—they hadn’t been around the kids,” he says. “The needs
of these kids and the staff have still been rising. We won’t see the
full toll for another year or two.”
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported
that pre-pandemic, one in five children ages 3–7 had a mental,
emotional, developmental or behavioral disorder. And yet, the
American Academy of Pediatrics said in a 2019 report, few got
the services they critically needed for their disorders—which,
it noted, “could jeopardize their health long into adulthood”—
because of barriers such as stigma, a shortage of mental health
providers, and affordability.
High school students who revealed feeling hopelessness soared
by 40 percent between 2009 and 2019, with 19 percent considering
suicide and 16 percent having made a plan to carry it out. In
2020, more than 6,600 people ages 10–24 died by suicide.
In December, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy sounded
the alarm, issuing an advisory on the mental health crisis among
youth. Murthy said the pandemic had intensified existing problems
among youth of isolation, financial hardship, bullying and anxiety.
His warning followed a move in October by three groups—the
American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the Children’s Hospital Association—to
declare a national state of emergency in children’s
mental health. The declaration emphasized the important ability
of schools to detect and monitor signs of mental illness and
provide resources that can improve mental health. The coalition
recommended, among other things, increased implementation
and funding for school-based mental health care and boosting
suicide-prevention programs in schools and other settings.
A
report in June by the New Jersey Hospital Association
revealed that mental illness in youth is driving an increase
in inpatient admissions. NJHA said depression was the
leading diagnosis among youth ages 12–17. Between 2019 and 2021,
the organization noted that hospitalization due to self-harm jumped
95 percent, and admissions due to anxiety rose 54 percent.
“We are witnessing the extended impact of the pandemic on the
demand for mental health services,” says Cathy Bennett, NJHA
president and CEO. “The emergency department is very often the
first point of contact for youths in mental health crisis, but now we
see that journey continuing into inpatient care in our hospitals.”
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report in April
reported that young people who felt close to people at school—
whether in-person or virtually—experienced better mental health
than those who did not. Making students comfortable about
confiding in someone at school, be it a classmate, a teacher or another
staff member, has become a pillar of mental wellness at the
Greater Egg Harbor Regional High School District, says Reina.
The area has seen suicide attempts by high school and middle
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