The pandemic, school closures and economic downturn are still leading to mental health challenges for students.
Alison Yin/EdSource
Early this year, the California Department of Health Care Access and Information introduced the new Certified Wellness Coach program, aimed at improving the state’s inadequate capacity to support growing behavioral and mental health needs in California’s youth.
The program is part of the historic five-year, $4.6 billion state-funded Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative, of which the Department received $278 million to recruit, train and certify a diverse slate of mental health support personnel, or certified wellness coaches, in schools and community-based organizations across the state. All told, the goal is to place about 1,500 coaches within the state’s 58 counties.
