'I was one of them': Rep. Schlossberg, others advocate for school-based health clinics

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — He was one of them, state Rep. Mike Schlossberg said.

He was a young school kid lugging around a mental health weight he neither understood nor immediately got help to address.

He was sensitive, a crier, a worrier — so much so that he would become frantic, feeling certain his parents were going to get into a car accident on their way home.

No matter the irrational nature of Schlossberg's worries, they were real and damaging. The frigid winter of his mental health problems was chilling him to the bone.

Young Mike was confused, anxious and depressed. Suicidal thoughts knocked on his door. Thankfully, he did not answer.

Not until Schlossberg was a student at Muhlenberg College did he receive the professional intervention he long needed — help, he said, "that saved my life."

On Friday, Schlossberg was amongst mental health experts at Hays Elementary School for a news conference to advocate for increased investment in school-based health clinics.

"Things were not good before COVID," Schlossberg, D-132nd District, said. "But the aftermath of COVID really exacerbated this massive mental health crisis that we have seen and caused a massive spike in the rates of mental illness among children and teenagers."

'Make them feel safe'

According to United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley, 40% of youth in the Lehigh Valley reported feeling sad or depressed most days in the past year, 15% had self-harmed and 17% had thoughts of suicide.

Allentown School District Superintendent Carol Birks emphasized the need for school-based health clinics.

"Of the 2,600 students in the Allentown School District who were surveyed [in a Pennsylvania Youth Survey, or PAYS, study], 68 percent said they experienced moderate depression and 34.2 percent said they considered suicide last year," Birks said.

"And 28 percent said they felt sad or had a sense of hopelessness every day for two weeks.

"We as a district need to assure them we will do everything to make them feel safe, valued, empowered and loved."

PAYS is a state-funded survey of students in sixth, eighth, 10th and 12th grades to learn about their behaviors and attitudes about many issues, including mental health.

The study revealed that 50% of children who died by suicide did not have a mental health diagnosis. Also, almost 19% reported intentionally harming themselves, 16% planned suicide and 12% attempted suicide.

As co-chairman of the state House Mental Health Caucus, Schlossberg has sponsored a variety of initiatives designed to increase funding toward behavioral health.

'Issues can no longer be ignored'

House Bill 2311, which passed out of the House Education Committee this year, would fund a pilot program for such screening to better determine from what a student suffered and point that student toward the resources they desperately need.

"Those of us in government have to do a better job of managing and taking advantage of already-existing resources in order to get these students the treatment they deserve," he said.

In recognition of September as Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, speakers highlighted alarming statistics on youth mental health and the need for upstream, preventative solutions directly within their schools.

As a growing number of children in Pennsylvania struggle with mental health issues, it's clear that preventative mental health care — delivered early and in accessible settings — is crucial.

The speakers emphasized that school-based health clinics offer a proactive approach, supporting access to mental health services for children before reaching crisis points.

That was the type of support Schlossberg said he needed as a child — to help him understand those feelings, to get tools to cope, to help him lift that weight.

"We have hit a point where the needs of people with mental health issues can no longer be ignored," he said.

'Not just important — essential'

The longer it takes to have school-based health clinics, the longer this disservice to children in crisis continues, speakers said.

"Every day we lose children to mental health issues that could have been addressed if they had access to care earlier," said Nate Boateng, vice president of community impact and engagement at Valley Health Partners.

"We need to stop waiting until our children are in crisis. School-based clinics can intervene early and give children the support they need to thrive."

Katie Noss is manager of clinical and quality improvement at Pennsylvania Association of Community Health Centers, or PACHC. She said the school clinics need to be expanded — of the 33 in Pennsylvania, PACHC operates 16 — to ensure no child in need "falls through the cracks."

"As a school nurse, I saw first-hand the growing mental health struggles that children faced every day," Noss said. "I didn't have the resources to give them the help they needed.

"School-based health clinics are not just important — they're essential."

Schlossberg and the other speakers pounded the bass drum for increased investment in school-based health clinics in their formative years.

"This is something I've dealt with my entire life," he said of his late diagnosis of major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder.

"By the time I got to college, it basically exploded," he said. "I was lucky enough to finally get the help I needed.

"But kids today should be able to get the help they need early on. I know; I was one of them."