L.A. County takes major step in addressing youth mental health crisis with free virtual therapy for K-12 students

The Los Angeles County Office of Education announced on Friday that it will be working to develop a virtual therapy program to help tackle the mental health issues among students in local K-12 schools.

The program will be made available to the 1.3 million students in public K-12 schools in Los Angeles County and hopes to address the youth mental health crisis that has become more apparent in recent years. Students will have access to free virtual therapy sessions with California-licensed therapists both at school and at home. To log in, they can use their personal devices or check out an iPad from their school.

“Unfortunately, I cannot see [every student],” said Ivonne Moreno, a school psychologist intern at 32nd Street School. “An extra service would be so amazing for all these kids.”

The service was made in collaboration with telehealth company Hazel Health and will be funded by the state’s Student Behavioral Health Incentive Program. L.A. Care Health Plan and Health Net will also be supporting the program. In a statement made to Annenberg Media, Beatriz Lopez, the senior public relations manager of Health Net, confirmed that they will be setting up to $24 million aside over the next two years to cover all services in the program.

Major school districts like the L.A. Unified School District and the Compton School District have already signed on, and more are expected to follow in the coming months.

Currently, many schools are unable to provide mental health services to a majority of their students. Moreno shared that many school psychologists can only come in once a month. They often only have time to meet with students who have an Individualized Education Plan (IEP), but Moreno believes there are a lot of children in general education who are not getting the support they need.

According to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Master Plan for Kids’ Mental Health, 66% of California youth with depression go untreated, and this has become heightened as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and other societal challenges.

“In recent years, I’ve seen an increase in isolation, a lot of anxiety, and I think it has always existed,” said Moreno. “But I think that the pandemic has played a role, especially for students who became really isolated, getting back to the routine that they were used to is hard and it gives them anxiety.

In regard to the virtual nature of the program, Moreno feels there are pros and cons to both in-person and online therapy, so it depends on the students’ preference. She says that many students feel too vulnerable talking to a clinician in the same room as them, and they may be more comfortable talking through a screen or even turning off their camera and communicating through the chat.

In an interview with Annenberg Media, Dr. Sonya Smith, the director of student support services for the Los Angeles County Office of Education, and Alicia Garoupa, the chief of well-being and support services for LACOE, brought up how this initiative challenges the inequity of the current mental health programs in schools. Children and parents are often directed to providers that have long waitlists and are dependent on children having transportation to get to these clinicians.

This is consistent with Beatriz Lopez’s statement for Health Net, in which she said that this model of mental healthcare will be more accessible than ever before, “particularly for students from economically disadvantaged families.” Hazel Health also has a very diverse group of therapists, including bilingual providers and a demographic more representative of L.A. County.

Dr. Smith and Alicia Garoupa stated that this program is “one tool in the toolbox” to address the youth mental health crisis in Los Angeles. It is creating one avenue for students to address their mental health through schools free of cost. It is a major step in the right direction but is not the cure. They also pointed to other initiatives in the process of getting funding, such as the youth mental health first aid program which aims to end the stigma among adults, making them more open to addressing children’s needs.

According to the LAist, program organizers plan for dozens of other school districts to join the effort, making services available for students city-wide, regardless of their insurance level or health plan.