child mental health

The program will allow graduates to become credentialed as school psychologists by the Florida Department of Education and become nationally certified school psychologists.

The House passed the bill, completing Speaker Paul Renner's top priority for the session. The bill will ban social media accounts for children under 14 and require parental permission for 15- and 16-year-olds.

With legal challenges still likely, the state Senate overwhelmingly advanced a revamped plan to keep children off social media days after an original bill was vetoed by the governor.

House support did not break down neatly on party lines and a number of Democrats voted for the measure. There remains concerns about the bill, but it's now before the full Senate.

After the House passed a companion measure, the Senate version received a final committee OK. Supporters say the proposal would add a tool to help address children’s mental health issues.

Supporters say the measure would protect children from "addictive features" to modify the way that kids behave, while opponents say it would infringe on First Amendment rights.

Advocates say schools nationwide are misusing the practice in response to behaviors prompted by bullying or frustration over assignments. The hospital trips for psych evals, they say, often follow months of students' needs not being met.

Video counseling at school was never an option before the pandemic, but an analysis by AP has found the service is now so prevalent it exists in 16 of the 20 largest school districts, including several in Florida.

Orange County commissioners approved a more-than-$900,000 grant, allowing the behavioral health organization Devereux to expand its children’s mobile crisis unit.

Many parents are worried about their kids losing themselves for hours on their phones. Turns out, teens are troubled too. But they also know a lot about how to get unhooked. Here's how they do it.