Addressing the Mental Health Crisis in Schools

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., March 13, 2019 (Newswire.com) - 1 in 5 public school students are diagnosed with mental health disorder, according to the CDC. The increasing diagnosis rate demonstrates the growing need for mental health support for students in schools across the U.S. Educators and other school staff engage with students almost every day and often see the impact of these needs in the form of behavioral changes in the classroom, decreased learning gains, and heightened safety concerns. Districts across the country are working to provide additional training to staff in these areas, in addition to the need for counselors and school psychologists. One organization working to close this knowledge gap is the International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES), which provides evidence-based training as well as professional certification in mental health and other cognitive disorders.

IBCCES recently unveiled an online training and certification program designed specifically to help educators and school staff identify and support students who may be struggling with anxiety, depression, or other disorders with ever-increasing diagnosis rates. A 2018 survey conducted by IBCCES revealed 71% of school administrators listed mental health issues as the number one need for staff training.

The Student Mental Health Specialist (SMHS) certification was developed by IBCCES to help educators and school staff understand common mental health and cognitive disorders in order to identify students who may be struggling with these issues and point them to needed resources, as well as understand how to work with students with these varying needs in a classroom setting. The SMHS certificate program provides training in the top areas of need: Anxiety, depression, suicide prevention, Oppositional Defiance Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, traumatic brain injury, and ADHD.

“Many of our partners in education tell us that the mental health crisis in schools is their top priority. The lack of teacher training leads to low teacher confidence and increased incidents among the students. In turn, this all leads to higher teacher turn over and lower academic gains in many students,” said Myron Pincomb, IBCCES Board Chairman. “We are excited to work with several of the leading mental health experts  to create a teacher-focused certification program that will allow educators to have the tools they need to eliminate this crisis in their classrooms.”

For almost 20 years, IBCCES has been the industry leader in certification and training for healthcare, education and corporate professionals around the globe. IBCCES works with its advisory board to provide a range of professional training and credentialing programs – the board includes experts in neurology, psychology, behavior therapy, school administration, and other specialties.

Interested schools or districts can learn more about the programs at ibcces.org.

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About IBCCES

Delivering The Global Standard For Training and Certification in The Field of Cognitive Disorders - IBCCES provides a series of certifications that empower professionals to be leaders in their field and improve the outcomes for the individuals they serve. These programs are recognized around the world as the leading benchmark for training and certification in the areas of autism and other cognitive disorders. As part of our commitment to sharing the latest innovations and research, IBCCEs also hosts the International Symposium on Cognitive Research and Disorders to create a forum for collaboration among industry stakeholders.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Meredith Tekin
President, IBCCES
904.508.0135
meredith@ibcces.org

Source: IBCCES