This year, 161 students who are new to the United States joined the Somerville school district — and the vast majority of them do not speak English as their first language, which presents an added challenge for schools returning from a pandemic year.
School counselors, social workers, and psychologists said having kids back in school buildings after remote learning is a step forward for addressing their mental health needs, especially those from immigrant families. But a shortage of multilingual school counselors and stigma around mental health makes it difficult to care for every student.
“We do realize that this year is going to be a heavy mental health support year,” said Liz Doncaster, Somerville’s director of student services. “These students basically have been out of school for two years, so they’ve missed two years of not only academics but two years of social-emotional growth.”
In preparation for this year, administrators in Somerville hired six new social workers and staff members — four of whom are bilingual — to support the new students across the district. They plan to hire one more.
“We have lots of Spanish bilingual staff and some very talented Portuguese Brazilian multilingual staff, but not to the capacity to meet the need,” said Sarah Davila, the director of multilingual learner education for Somerville.
Schools are often where mental health professionals can reach immigrant communities who may otherwise not have the resources to find help on their own, according to Jeffrey Winer, an attending psychologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and instructor of psychology at Harvard Medical School.
“[Schools are] a common hub, and often for refugee and immigrant work, it’s a really important place to anchor for delivery of services as opposed to in a clinic setting, because schools are — it’s a more trusted [space],” he said.
Read more at WGBH.org.
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