LAS VEGAS, NV – U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) joined U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona yesterday to tour Spring Valley High School in Las Vegas and discuss mental health issues with Nevada students and school counselors. They also discussed ways the federal government can provide additional mental health and suicide prevention resources to schools and students, including Senator Rosen’s bipartisan bill to help address this issue.
Also yesterday, The Hill published an op-ed from Senator Rosen discussing how her bipartisan Youth Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Act would address the student mental health crisis. This bill would authorize the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to provide direct funding assistance to K-12 school districts for comprehensive student mental health promotion and suicide prevention efforts. This funding is currently available for colleges and universities, but not for K-12 school districts.
The Hill: The time to address the student mental health crisis is now
By Senator Jacky Rosen
Key Points:
- One of the most damaging impacts of the pandemic is the toll it has taken on our nation’s students — many of whom are struggling with feelings of grief, anxiety, isolation, and depression brought on by the enormous difficulties of this pandemic.
- In 2020, in Nevada’s Clark County School District alone, students died by suicide at a rate twice that of the year prior. These are not just statistics; these are 20 children — from fourth grade up through high school — who will never get to live out their futures, and families and communities devastated with unimaginable pain and grief.
- That’s why I’m working to pass the Youth Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Act. This bipartisan legislation, which I wrote and introduced with Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), would finally authorize SAMHSA to fund comprehensive, equitable, and evidence-based resources and programs in K-12 schools to promote student mental health, support students in crisis, and help prevent student suicides.
Las Vegas Sun: Las Vegas students describe to education secretary how ‘COVID year’ affected them
By Hillary Davis
Key Points:
- A panel of students told [U.S. Education Secretary Cardona] and Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., how counselors and teachers reached out regularly when school was online last year. But it was still difficult.
- The education secretary’s visit comes about two weeks after Rosen and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, introduced the bipartisan Youth Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Act, which would direct federal funding to K-12 schools for mental health promotion and suicide prevention efforts. The funding is available for colleges and universities, but not for younger students.
- “We want to be sure that you’re OK and we’re here today to listen,” Rosen told the students. “We want you to know that we see you, we hear you, we’re here for you and we have your back.”
- “We know that providing mental health supports is a bigger part of education moving forward,” Cardona said.
Las Vegas Review-Journal: U.S. education secretary addresses mental health at Las Vegas school
By Ricardo Torres-Cortez
Key Points:
- [U.S. Education Secretary] Cardona was in Las Vegas on Thursday to discuss pandemic-era mental wellness challenges and to promote the Youth Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Act, a bipartisan bill introduced by Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev.
- The legislation, which was unveiled this month alongside U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, would promote mental health and suicide prevention efforts in schools, according to Rosen’s office.
- Rosen, Clark County School District Superintendent Jesus Jara, and Nevada Superintendent Jhone Ebert accompanied Cardona on the tour, which then moved onto a roundtable discussion with students and faculty at the library.
KVVU Las Vegas: U.S. Secretary of Education Joins Senator Rosen for Student Mental Health Roundtable
Reporter: “The U.S. Secretary of Education along with Nevada Senator Jacky Rosen visited several valley schools today to talk about the best strategy for moving out of the pandemic. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and Senator Rosen heard from students, asking their opinions on the return to in-person learning.”
Univision Las Vegas: Secretario de Educación Visitó a la Escuela Secundaria Spring Valley con la Senadora Jacky Rosen
Reportera: El Secretario [de Educación] inició su recorrido en la escuela secundaria Spring Valley donde conversó con los estudiantes de cómo la salud mental ha sido crucial en este proceso de educación en los últimos 2 años.
Senadora Rosen: Pondremos fondos para la salud mental para intentar prevenir los suicidios por medio del Centro de Prevencion del Suicidio y apoyar además a los directores y el distrito escolar.
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