Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis was at First Coast High School Monday morning to talk about her initiative to help improve mental health in schools.
Last week at a Florida Department of Education board meeting, a grant for $2,000,000 from the federal government was requested to go toward the initiative. The grant is pending approval and the decision will be made within 30 days.
The initiative collaborates with government agencies to help improve mental health and substance abuse awareness and prevention.
DeSantis cited a 2017 survey that she said found 28% of high school students reported being sad or hopeless two or more weeks in a row. Fourteen percent reported they were purposefully trying to hurt themselves.
“In order to make sure that we are doing the right things to fix the problem, we have to understand where the problem is,” DeSantis said.
The initiative emphasizes prevention through education by providing resources to students, offering them mentors and mental health first aid.
On Wednesday Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran is scheduled to present an emotional health education rule. The rule would require grades 6 through 12 to provide five hours of mental health training to students.
Duval Public Schools Superintendent Diana Greene attended the conference. She said the initiative would ensure Duval County students will have access to mentors, social and emotional education and to therapists.
Greene said, “At the end of the day, their health will impact how they can learn.”
Madison Roberts can be reached at newsteam@wjct.org or (904)358-6317.
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