2021 Joint Letter: DC Leaders Must Invest Further to Ensure the Long-Term Stability of the School-Based Behavioral Health Program
Along with children across the nation, DC’s children are experiencing a serious mental health crisis, one exacerbated by the pandemic. DC children and families have not experienced the pandemic equally, and Black and Latinx children are facing significant behavioral health needs. The failure to meet these needs will have long-lasting negative impacts on the mental and physical health, education, and all aspects of future well-being for District children.
That’s why more than 50 advocate organizations collaborated to publish a joint letter to the Mayor asking the District to build on the critical investments made in the FY22 budget in the Department of Behavioral Health’s School-Based Behavioral Health program (SBBH). These asks include providing $300,000 for a cost study of SBBH; increasing funding for SBBH by $2.4 million; and supporting effective implementation of SBBH.