State lawmakers are increasingly seeking to support children in Utah and Arizona who suffer from anxiety about the coronavirus pandemic.
The bill would add mental or behavioral health to the list of reasons why students may be absent from class or left out due to a physical illness.
Similar laws have been passed in the last two years in Oregon, Maine, Colorado and Virginia.
Providing mental health days can help children and parents communicate and prevent struggling students from falling behind in school or ending up in a crisis, said Debbie Plotnick, vice president of the nonprofit advocacy group. Mental Health America. Plotnick said mental health days can be even more effective when combined with mental health services in schools.
“We know this year has been very difficult and we know it’s difficult for young people,” Plotnick said. “That’s why it’s so essential for students to feel comfortable introducing themselves and saying I need to take some steps to support my mental health.”
In Arizona, Democratic Sen. Sean Bowie introduced a measure for mental health day for the second time after legislation stalled in March when the pandemic took hold of it.
Republican Gov. Doug Ducey was interested in juvenile suicide and mental health, and Bowie said he is confident it will be signed into law. The bill was passed unanimously in the state Senate on Thursday.
The Utah Conservative passed a law in 2018 that allows children to take time off from school due to a mental illness. A new proposal by Republican Rep. Mike Winder would allow students ’absences to struggle with other types of mental pressures to further normalize the treatment of a mental health problem like a physical one.
“If a student has a panic attack today, due to some drama at home, this is not necessarily a mental illness,” Winder said. “But maybe they need that day to catch their breath and maintain their mental health.”
According to the Utah bill, which passed out of committee Friday, mental health days would be treated like any other excused absence, Winder said. A parent would need to excuse their child, and students would still be expected to get their schoolwork back on track.
In Arizona, specific policies for mental health days would depend on each school district, Bowie said.
Theresa Nguyen, a licensed clinical social worker, said she is concerned about the possible long-term mental and academic effects students may face from the pandemic.
In addition to growing reports of anxiety and depression, Nguyen said, many students say they do not feel they are absorbing class material virtually and are not receiving enough support.
“They feel like,‘ no one cares that I’m fighting, so they’re basically telling me I have to fight this on my own, ’” said Nguyen, program director at Mental Health America. “And for a lot of young people, that means an increase in self-harm and suicide. “
In recent years, Utah leaders have sought ways to reduce an alarming rate of juvenile suicides. The pandemic has become urgent, with many young people isolated from friends and school activities.
Winder’s bill follows the model of a similar program in Oregon that his daughter, Jessica Lee, found through her work on a youth-focused committee with the Utah chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
In Oregon, students receive 5 excused absences every three months, and they can be days of physical illness or days of mental health.
Lee, who is a freshman at the University of Southern Utah studying clinical psychology, said he was inspired by youth activists who successfully championed the 2019 Oregon bill.
Lee and Corroon work with the committee to help teens navigate their mental health. Over the years, Corroon learned to control his anxiety with medication and therapy and is now a sophomore at the University of Washington, where he plans to study public health.
Part of her routine is to take a step back to prioritize her mental health, an opportunity she says other children deserve as well.
“I definitely needed these days to stay home or look for a resource instead of forcing myself to go to school and put more stress on my mental health,” Corroon said.