[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 41 (Tuesday, March 8, 2022)]
[House]
[Page H1334]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               BIDEN AGENDA AND CHILDREN'S MENTAL HEALTH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Wisconsin (Ms. Moore) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. Madam Speaker, last week President Joe Biden 
delivered a strong State of the Union address focused on building a 
better America.
  Our jobs recovery is strong and well underway, as noted by the most 
recent numbers, which shows unprecedented job growth so far under this 
President. More than 7.3 million jobs have been created by President 
Biden's very first year in office, even with the challenges posed by 
omicron and delta COVID variants. But we have so much more to do in 
this never-ending process of building a more perfect Union.
  One area highlighted by the President was his desire to prioritize 
mental health needs in our country, particularly among our children. 
Our country faces an unprecedented mental health crisis in which our 
youth have been particularly impacted.
  A number of mental health organizations have declared a youth mental 
health crisis and our surgeon general has issued an advisory calling it 
``an urgent public health crisis.''
  Today, I rise as we celebrate School Social Work Week, to talk about 
one way to help address that issue by supporting and investing in 
school social workers.
  First, I just want to take an opportunity to thank our school social 
workers who work every single day to make a difference in the lives of 
their students and their families. School social workers are 
responsible for fostering students' social and emotional well-being so 
that they are ready to learn. As trained mental health professionals, 
social workers can deliver a wide spectrum of services, from building 
social skills to providing mental health support.
  Their presence in our schools is invaluable and the support they 
provide for students is critical. I personally can attest to how school 
social workers make a difference. I would not be here if not for the 
support I received from a school social worker when I was a student.
  Make no mistake, school social workers are key members of a school's 
educational team. Their expertise can help guide students through 
serious life challenges, including poverty, addiction, bullying, 
children whose parents are incarcerated, and even the military 
deployment of a family member.
  It is more important, now more than ever, to reduce the barriers to 
mental health services for children, especially in our schools. As we 
do, improving access to school social workers must be a part of those 
efforts.
  That is why later this week I will introduce, along with my very good 
friend and former professional social worker, Representative Barbara 
Lee of California, my School Social Workers Improving Student Success 
Act, as we create a grant to help schools hire additional social 
workers and retain existing school social workers.
  There should be one social worker for every 250 students in most 
schools. In high-need schools, one social worker for every 50 students. 
Many schools struggle to meet these ratios.
  My bill would also create a National Technical Assistance Center for 
school social work to help develop strategies for improving the 
effectiveness of school social work and help disseminate best 
practices.
  Madam Speaker, I want to say thank you to the front-line school 
social workers for the hard work they put in every day to help our 
students succeed. It is going to be much more challenging after COVID.
  I applaud the President for his commitment to take on mental health, 
especially among our youth, and to make it part of his unity agenda for 
the Nation that I believe colleagues on both sides of the aisle should 
be able to get behind.
  I share his dedication to getting all Americans the mental health 
services they need. I look forward to seeing the proposals included in 
his fiscal year 2023 budget, including to help increase access to 
school-based medical health services in which school social workers 
will play a key role.
  I sincerely hope that this House and this Congress can come together 
to address our children's mental health. Democrats continue to 
prioritize efforts to make our economy recover. I encourage all Members 
to consider our youth's mental health.

                          ____________________