H.B. 5001, An Act Concerning Children’s Mental Health

School counselors, nurses, social workers, psychologists, and psychiatrists are the right people to address the multitude of issues facing our young people. Schools with such services see improved attendance rates, better academic achievement, and higher graduation rates, as well as lower levels of suspension, expulsion, and other discipline. School-based mental healthcare improves outcomes for individual students and makes the entire school community safer. In contrast, police presence in schools is not evidentiarily linked to safer schools. In fact, police on K-12 campuses cause harm, rather than alleviate it. Students in Connecticut schools are better served by access to mental health professionals than by an increased police presence in schools with an expanded role in mental health. As such, the ACLU-CT recommends that this Committee amend section 23 of HB 5001 to reduce the role of school resource officers in schools.

We also encourage this Committee to consider amending the language of this bill to ensure representation of directly impacted persons and families on the Children’s Behavioral Health Plan Implementation Advisory Board. People with lived experience have expertise that is incredibly valuable in determining the current needs of Connecticut’s children. Rather than including systems that perpetuate harm towards youth, like the Department of Corrections, this bill should bolster the advisory board representation of the very people our mental health system is intended to serve.

We want to commend the Committee for including many excellent provisions in this bill. For example, it is vital to address the state’s shortage of child psychiatrists and other mental health providers, while also supporting increased representation of racial and ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+ folks, and multilingual people. Increasing the number of mental health services offered in school and addressing the financial barrier to receiving mental health care that so many families in Connecticut face.