The committee tasked with studying young people’s mental health made recommendations to the state Legislature Oct. 1. 

The group proposed measures to shore up the state’s youth mental health workforce, enhance behavioral health training for school officials and school resource officers and screen students statewide for mental health concerns. 

“Our mental health resources are so sparse and stretched,” said State Health Officer Dr. Dan Edney at the task force’s final meeting on Sept. 18.

Other proposals included requiring all school districts and colleges to partner with their local community mental health center, inventorying available mental health resources in the state and requiring that school districts issue policies on the use of cell phones in the classroom. 

The K-12 and Postsecondary Mental Health Task Force, composed of legislators, state officials, mental health and education professionals and one student, met five times from July to September to hear from youth mental health experts and state leaders.

Sen. Nicole Boyd, a Republican from Oxford, sponsored the bill that created the committee in response to growing concerns from educators and health leaders about Mississippi children and adolescents’ declining mental health. 

There is a dearth of mental health professionals who work with young people, experts and state officials told the committee.

The task force recommended that school psychologists receive a $6,000 salary supplement from the state. Nationally certified school counselors and nurses already receive this supplement.

There are just 519 school therapists statewide, Wendy Bailey, the executive director of the Mississippi Department of Mental Health, told task force members. That amounts to one for every two public elementary and secondary schools in the state. 

The group proposed that the Mississippi Department of Education set a goal to raise the number of school counselors and school psychologists to a ratio of 250 students to one. 

Mississippi’s current school counselor to student ratio is 400 to one, said Lance Evans, the Missisispi State Superintendent of Education.

Task force members proposed that all teachers and administrators receive Mental Health First Aid Training, a program that teaches participants to identify students who have or are developing a mental health or substance use problem and connect them with appropriate resources. 

School resource officers should receive standardized law enforcement officer training to be employed in a school setting, including mentorship training, suggested the committee. 

Committee members and experts were in support of implementing universal mental health screenings for students in order to identify mental health conditions early.

The task force recommended that mental health screeners be funded by the School Safety Grant Program in all school districts, though each district would be allowed to use a screener of their choosing. 

“We have to make mental health screenings as routine as vaccines and hearing exams and eye exams,” said Phaedra Cole, the executive director of Life Help/Region 6 Community Mental Health Center. 

A statewide ban on cell phones in school elicited much discussion, but the task force ultimately chose to recommend that the legislature require school districts to individually implement policies for cell phone and social media use in the classroom.

Eight states have implemented state-wide policies that ban or restrict cell phone use in schools, according to KFF. 

All of Mississippi’s surrounding states have taken steps towards a cell phone ban or statewide restrictions. Louisiana is the only state to ban the use of electronic devices on school grounds with a new law taking effect during the 2024-2025 school year. 

“I’m for a statewide ban,” said House Public Health and Human Services Chair Sam Creekmore, R-New Albany. “…If we can ban it in the state, it would take that pressure off the school boards and I think greatly improve the mental health of our children.” 

“I don’t think we need to ban cell phones,” countered Melody Medaris, the executive director of Communicare, North Central Mississippi’s community mental health center. “…You’re going to take away one of their opportunities to reach out for help.” 

She pointed to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline as a use for cell phones in the classroom. 

Legislators will consider the task force’s recommendations during the legislative session, which begins Jan. 7. 

The task force was chaired by Rep. Rob Roberson, R-Starkville and chair of the House Education Committee, and Sen. David Parker, R-Olive Branch and chair of Senate Accountability.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

So much to discuss and dissect this week: Vandy toppling Bama, Ole Miss righting the ship and preparing for LSU, a banner Sanderson Farms Championship that now has new life, and how injuries killed the Atlanta Braves and are ruining a promising Saints season. All that and more…

Stream all episodes here.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Mississippi Division of Medicaid Executive Director Drew Snyder is resigning after nearly seven years serving in the position. He will serve until the end of the month.

Gov. Tate Reeves appointed Cindy Bradshaw, the division’s deputy executive director for eligibility, to replace Snyder.

The Magnolia Tribune first reported the news.

Snyder declined to say where he would go next. He would only confirm it was a job in the private sector.

Snyder has led the division since Dec. 2017, when he was appointed by then-governor Phil Bryant. He previously served as Bryant’s policy director and counsel. 

The Division of Medicaid provides health insurance to over 700,000 low-income Mississippians, including children, pregnant women and disabled adults. 

Bradshaw served as Mississippi’s State Insurance Administrator before joining the Division of Medicaid. 

“Drew Snyder has done a great job as executive director of Division of Medicaid, and I wish him all the best in his future endeavors,” said House Medicaid Chair Missy McGee, R-Hattiesburg.

The Division of Medicaid and Gov. Tate Reeves’ office did not respond to Mississippi Today’s request for comment by press time. 

“Mississippi Medicaid is in the best fiscal shape in its history,” said Snyder at the Joint Legislative Budget Committee Hearing Sep. 26, less than two weeks before announcing his resignation. 

He said today, the agency’s budget represents 9.2% of the state’s total state support appropriation, down from 16% in fiscal year 2016, two years before he was appointed. 

Synder acknowledged that the state’s appropriation would increase in coming years due to reduced public health emergency federal spending and dwindling surplus funds.

Snyder took the helm at the division during a time of conflict between the division and the governor’s office. Prior Medicaid director David Dzielak was asked to resign just weeks before the 2018 legislative session after he requested an additional $47.3 million to close the gap in the agency’s budget and failed to voice agreement with Bryant’s plan for the Mississippi Department of Human Services to take over insurance eligibility determinations.

Snyder joined Mississippi Medicaid as controversy bloomed over the decision to award the division’s lucrative managed care contracts to three for-profit companies over nonprofit Mississippi True, which is managed by Mississippi hospital leaders. Though legislators made efforts to allow Mississippi True to re-bid for the contract, Magnolia Health, United Healthcare and Molina Healthcare ultimately kept the contract. 

He also oversaw the agency through the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw enrollment numbers soar to over 900,000 Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program enrollees in May 2023 and drop to 705,000 by July 2024. During the pandemic, states were not allowed to remove beneficiaries from their rolls. In April 2023, the division was again required to review beneficiaries’ eligibility, beginning the “unwinding” process.

Snyder oversaw the rollout of extended postpartum coverage for Mississippi mothers and the beginnings of a new law allowing pregnant women to access prenatal care that went into effect in July. 

The program is currently on hold as the division works with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which requested to review additional information from the state.

Before joining Bryant’s team, Synder served as an assistant secretary of state for policy and research under Delbert Hosemann.

The director of the division serves at the pleasure of the governor and is required to meet one of three criteria: be a physician with health administration experience, hold a degree in medical administration or have three years’ experience developing policy for Medicaid programs.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.