Illinois Taking Steps in Supporting Our Students’ Well-Being
Every child deserves a safe and supportive environment in which to learn and thrive, and with the Governor’s signing of HB342 this month, Illinois joins other states in systemically addressing child well-being, and is setting itself apart as a leader in trauma-informed, healing-centered practices that prioritize the whole child.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, a large and growing body of research made plain the importance of social and emotional learning (SEL) and trauma responsive practices in improving educational and life outcomes for students and addressing systemic inequities. In the wake of the pandemic, the need to ensure that schools are equipped to meet social, emotional and mental health needs has become even more urgent. For example, we know that:
While Illinois ranked 13th among states in providing mental health services to youth, according to Mental Health America, nearly 40% of our state's young people who have experienced major depressive episodes were not able to receive mental health care;
Pre-pandemic, 40% of Illinois youth were exposed to at least one Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE; Sacks & Murphey, 2018); and
In Illinois, K-12 students do not have sufficient access to counselors, social workers, and psychologists.
Whole Child (HB342)
In 2021, the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus made the “whole child” a priority with the creation of the Whole Child Task Force (WCTF) as a component of its Education Pillar Bill. The Task Force was charged with identifying steps the state can and should take to ensure all students would receive the support they need to thrive in school and beyond. Importantly, the Task Force was composed of stakeholders ranging from parents and teachers to school and district administrators, to trauma experts, state agency experts, advocates and providers who met throughout the year to identify key areas of need and opportunity. In 2022, the WCTF released an actionable and comprehensive set of recommendations focused primarily on policies and practices needed to provide an equitable, inclusive, safe, and supportive environment in all schools. While some of the recommendations are currently underway and being implemented by Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), other recommendations required legislative action. Enter HB342, a bill that implements key Task Force recommendations. The bill was championed by Representative Carol Ammons and Senator Kimberly Lightford and passed this spring with strong bipartisan support. The bill:
Adopts clear and common definitions proposed by the task force, including definitions of trauma, trauma responsive learning environments and whole child.
Ensures that relevant data on school and district resources, such as counselors and social workers, is included on the Illinois State Report Card. Making this information available will help inform local decision-making and enable stakeholders to engage with local and state leaders around resource allocations and programming.
Creates a child “adversity index” to shed light on student exposure to trauma across the state. Specifically, HB342 charges the Illinois State Board of Education with convening a diverse cross-agency group, along with outside experts, to develop a robust statewide index that provides a window into the level of trauma experienced in school districts across the state. Among other things, such an index will help leaders and policymakers understand the depth and breadth of need across Illinois and inform how the state can best direct financial and other resources.
Articulates the preparation, training, and ongoing development that both new and current educators need to support trauma-responsive schools and districts. HB342 tasks ISBE with reviewing requirements for teachers and teacher candidates to ensure educators get the training and professional development they need to respond to trauma.
Reconvenes the Whole Child Task Force after five years to check on progress and implementation.
Importantly, HB342 complements and strengthens other work also underway, including:
Resilience Education to Advance Community Healing (REACH)
The Resilience Education to Advance Community Healing (REACH) Statewide Initiative was launched in 2020 and provides training to Illinois educators, school mental health professionals, and community members on the impact of trauma on children and adolescents, crisis response strategies, educator self-care, and schoolwide policies and classroom practices to build resiliency among students.
Children's Behavioral Health Transformation Initiative
Outside of the school setting, Governor Pritzker launched the Children's Behavioral Health Transformation Initiative in 2022 to evaluate and redesign the systems that support Illinois’ most vulnerable kids and adolescents. Recommendations include creating a central resource for families, improving coordination between departments, increasing capacity to serve more children and families, offering universal screening in schools and doctors’ offices, and offering incentives to mental health support staff to earn professional credentials.
Illinois Children’s Mental Health Partnership
The Illinois Children's Mental Health Partnership (ICMHP) was created in 2003 after the Children’s Mental Health Act was passed. It is composed of each child-serving state agency and experts representing areas such as community mental health, education, and family advocates. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, ICMHP developed a Children’s Mental Health Plan for 2022-2027 to address the needs of Illinois children, and their families. Some goals from the plan include increasing public awareness on all issues connected to child mental health and wellness, and creating a centralized, public-facing hub to streamline system navigation, resources, and funding for families.
Further, grants complementing this work include:
Community Partnership Grants totaling $86.4 million that fund partnerships between school districts and community health providers to address the trauma that students and educators have experienced during the pandemic.
A $1 million mental health grant for four high-need school districts to increase access to mental health services.
The impact of COVID-19 has spurred an unprecedented increase in the number of children and students in need of mental health support. The need is not new, but the extent and urgency of both the challenge and the awareness have given Illinois leaders an opportunity to step up, and they are doing just that. The work our state has undertaken in recent years is to be commended and must be sustained. That said, Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds (ESSER II)— the source of resources for the REACH initiative and other state and local efforts to address trauma, SEL and mental health needs in schools and communities— are set to expire in September, 2024. It is crucial that our state continue to take the necessary and systemic actions to support student well-being and a safe, supportive, and healing-centered K-12 education system overall in Illinois. We have come too far, and the work is too essential.