JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Duval County Public Schools has secured a $4.8 million Mental Health Services Professional Demonstration Grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
The grant, spanning a four-year period, aims to significantly increase the number of school psychologists in the district. The funding aims to address a national shortage of school psychologists and enhance the critical services provided to students from kindergarten through 12th grade.
The district says it currently employs 50 school psychologists and faces a shortage with 10 vacancies out of 60 total positions. District Supervisor of School Psychological Services Jamie King said the lack of staff limits the services they can provide.
The grant will help Team Duval lower its student-to-school psychologist ratios, support recruitment and retention and enhance capacity in rural and high-need areas.
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Team Duval school psychologists, such as Delaney Rust, provide a wide range of critical services. These include evaluating students for disabilities, assisting schools with mental health and crisis intervention and supporting students, teachers and administrators through problem-solving, data analysis and reviewing systems.
“We are fierce advocates every single day,” Rust said. “It is our duty and our job to advocate for children, protect children, support them and make sure that they are receiving supports and interventions.”
The current vacancies pose a substantial challenge to the district. “We have about 10 vacancies, which is substantial because we only have 60 total positions,” King said. “We aren’t able to do all of the things that we’re qualified to do, just because there aren’t enough of us.”
In response to these shortages, district staff applied for the grant, which will create six new lead school psychologist positions to mentor new professionals. It will also fund four additional school psychologist positions and double the number of paid school psychologist internship positions.
The grant also includes provisions for moving expenses and partial tuition reimbursement for school psychology interns. It will offer stipends to intern supervisors and reimburse current school psychologists for doctoral and advanced training.
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School psychologist Deanna Newell, who worked on the grant, said the funding will allow colleagues to provide more comprehensive support.
“All of these supports are very difficult to do when you have so few school psychologists,” Newell said. “So I’m very excited to increase our numbers so that we can provide this more broad piece of support.”
Team Duval is one of 65 national recipients selected to receive this grant. This recognition is an encouragement to school psychologists like Rust, who anticipate expanding their work throughout the district. “It’s very inspiring to me to know that I have co-workers that are continually working to address these needs, working to inspire new young school psychologists and working to make sure that there are opportunities for students interested in this field to have experience,” Rust said.
The grant will enable Team Duval to provide more comprehensive support to teachers and school administration.
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