A new wave of federal funding is poised to expand access to trained school psychologists in K-12 schools located in underserved communities.
As part of a broader effort by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) under the Biden administration, the goal is to address the shortage of mental health professionals and improve student wellbeing in high-need areas.
The William & Mary School of Education’s School Psychology Program was recently awarded a $3 million grant through the ED Mental Health Service Professional Demonstration (MHSP) program. Over the next five years, the initiative, Project TEAMS (Training Empowered Advocates for Mental Health in Schools), will create a sustainable pipeline of diverse, highly trained school psychologists.
The project will focus on K-12 districts in Virginia, a state that has a ratio of one psychologist for every 1,219 students — far above the recommended ratio of one per 500, according to the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP).
“Even before the [COVID-19] pandemic, the surgeon general had declared a national mental health crisis among youth. When the pandemic happened, it just made everything worse,” says Leandra Parris, PhD, associate dean, director of inclusive excellence, associate professor of school psychology, and principal investigator for Project TEAMS. “We have a massive mental health crisis that’s impacting students’ ability to succeed, but we don’t have enough people to mitigate or prevent harm.”
Project TEAMS addresses three key areas: providing targeted mental health assistance for students, recruiting and retaining a cohort of school psychologists representative of the populations they will serve, and strengthening the local mental health workforce. The effort will emphasize trauma-informed, multi tiered practices to support students at all levels, from prevention to intervention. By expanding access to emotional support, the objective is to reduce the impact of the crisis on K-12 students’ academic and personal success.
William & Mary students in the program will gain critical hands-on experience through internships and practicum placements in local schools. The initiative will also collaborate with Minority-Serving Institutions and historically Black colleges and universities in Virginia, including Hampton University, Norfolk State University, and Old Dominion University, to recruit and retain diverse school psychologists.
A similar campaign funded by a $3.6 million MHSP grant is underway at Georgia State University (GSU), where Catherine Perkins, PhD, a clinical professor in the College of Education & Human Development, is leading the effort to expand school based mental health services (SBMH) in the metro Atlanta area.
The GSU-EQUIP (Expanding Quality SBMH Services for Underserved Populations with Inclusive Practices) program’s goal is to increase access to emotional support services and diversify the pool of school psychologists in Georgia’s needier districts. Compared to Virginia, Georgia has even fewer mental health professionals, with only one per every 2,077 students, according to NASP.
“What we know is that there is a documented shortage of school psychologists in Georgia and nationwide,” Perkins says. “We also know that the demographics of our profession do not represent the diversity of our K-12 students. With this grant, we will be able to address these challenges by increasing the number and diversity of school psychology students.”
GSU-EQUIP will provide three years of funding for graduate students in GSU’s School Psychology master’s and doctoral programs, including tuition waivers, book fees, conference travel, and childcare expenses, significantly reducing financial barriers for students from underrepresented groups. GSU will partner with local districts, including those in Paulding and Gwinnett Counties, to offer practicum and internship opportunities focused on culture-specific, evidence based mental health interventions.
Both the William & Mary and GSU projects will engage in community outreach to ensure their initiatives meet the needs of K-12 students and schools.
At William & Mary, the C.A.R.E. Lab, an interdisciplinary center focused on addressing mental health disparities, will serve as a model for community engagement. GSU’s team will work closely with local communities to establish long-term partnerships that enhance both student emotional support and the professional development of school psychologists.
“Our work is deeply rooted in the community,” Parris says. “We are committed to training school psychologists who understand the real needs of classrooms and who feel equipped and motivated to stay in these communities and provide the mental health support that students desperately need.”
These initiatives are poised to bring lasting change to the mental health landscape of elementary and secondary schools. By building a more representative and well-trained workforce of school psychologists, both programs are designed to ensure that K-12 students in underserved communities receive the support they need to thrive. William & Mary and GSU are playing a key role in reshaping how these schools address the mental health crisis, helping to create a more supportive environment for students in need.
