One in five children in the U.S. need mental health support, but 80% are unlikely to receive it, according to a report in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
In Texas, many public schools have a school psychologist on staff or partner with outside mental health practitioners to provide mental health care to students. However, there are not nearly enough licensed school psychologists to fill the need.
The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) recommends one school psychologist for every 500 students. In Texas, however, that ratio is one school psychologist to every 2,597 students, according to data from the Texas Education Agency.
In Fort Worth, the ratio is one psychologist for every 2,700 students. In the Dallas area, the ratio is even more dramatic, with one psychologist for every 3,700 students.
More than 2,000 school psychologists, known as Licensed Specialists in School Psychology (LSSP), are employed in Texas school districts. Statewide, as of 2020, there were 3,594 LSSPs with active licenses in the state.
So, even if all the state’s licensed specialists were employed in Texas schools, there would still be a shortfall of approximately 7,000 LSSPs to meet the ratios recommended by the NASP.
At the current rate of graduate training, it would take 45 years to produce enough LSSPs to meet the workforce need, assuming that none of the current specialists retire or leave the profession.
Currently, there are 21 universities in Texas that offer graduate school psychology programs, but their capacity is limited. Expanding these programs is crucial, but it could take years for such efforts to pay off.
In 2018, Texas legislators created the Texas Child Health Care Consortium and tasked Dr. David Lakey with finding ways to expand mental health services for students. Initiatives such as telehealth programs have helped increase the availability of mental health services but do not address the workforce shortage problem.
“I’ve told the Legislature just that point,” Dr. Lakey said. “They can give me a bucketful of money, but if I can’t hire enough people to provide these services, I can’t spend those dollars.”
One move that could potentially have an immediate impact on the problem is something as simple as changing the name of the LSSP. According to Kelsey Theis, president of the Texas Association of School Psychologists (TASP), their designation as Licensed Specialists in School Psychology often leaves parents and teachers confused about who they are and what they do.
Texas is one of only two states that do not use the term “school psychologist.” TASP has been trying to change their designation to the more widely recognized term “school psychologist” for over 10 years.
After efforts to make the change through the state Legislature failed, TASP tried a different tack, lobbying for a rule change through the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council. TASP members hope the adoption of the name change can be completed as soon as January 2023.