The paper analyzes a bill that the current Virginia General Assembly considered in 2020. The bill in question is House Bill Number 1508, titled school counselors and minimum staffing ratio. It was initially presented in the house on January 08th, 2020, and had three primary sponsors and 11 cosponsors. It addresses a policy issue relevant to social work practice given that it addresses the needs of vulnerable individuals, specifically children. Counseling is a key component of social work, given that it is aimed at improving the mental health needs of populations groups that require such services. The bill was intended to address the deteriorating mental health of young individuals in Virginia. The deterioration has contributed to the increase in suicide rates in the state. In addition, mass school shootings that have occurred in the country have increased considerably, with mental health issues being identified as one of the common drivers among perpetrators. The bill which advocates for the increase in school counselors can contribute to the reduction in the suicide rates and school mass shooting cases due to the improvement in the student’s mental health. The critical theory advocates for a call to action in facilitating change that even out imbalances. Based on the theory, the bill can even out imbalances given that students in other states, including Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, benefit from access to more school counselors compared to their counterparts in Virginia. The Policy Analysis framework evaluates the bill in terms of the intended effect, actual effect, and follow-up effect. The bill is intended to affect the students in public schools in Virginia by improving their mental health through access to more school counselors. Improved mental health will lead to a reduction in the state's teenage suicide rates. The bill's actual effect will be broader than the intended effect due to the increased number of individuals affected by it. The counselors in the state will have new and better job opportunities due to the bill. Instructors in public schools in Virginia will have an easier time dealing with students in need of mental health services. Parents will also have an easier time at home due to the positive impacts of counseling services on their kids. Society will benefit from improvement in the mental health of students. The follow-up effect will be felt by students and will be in the form of improved academic performance. The two applicable NASW ethical principles include service and dignity and worth of an individual. The bill has been passed and is currently in effect.
Introduction
House Bill Number 1508, titled school counselors and minimum staffing ratio, is a bill that the Virginia General Assembly passed in April 2020. It was first presented in the house on January 08th, 2020, and had three primary sponsors, including delegates Delores McQuinn, Elizabeth Guzman, and Mark Keam (HB 1508, 2020). It also had 11 cosponsors. The bill addresses the minimum staffing ratio for counselors in learning institutions starting the 2020-2021 school year. It requires school boards to employ counselors based on specific ratios. For instance, in elementary learning institutions, boards should hire a counselor one hour per day for every 75 students or one full-time counselor for 375 students. In middle school, boards should employ a counselor for one period for every 65 students or one full-time counselor for 325 students, or a counselor for a single additional period for every 65 students (HB 1508, 2020). In high schools, boards should hire a counselor per period for every 60 students or one full-time counselor for every 300 students, or a counselor for a single additional period for 60 students. The bill also prompts learning institution boards to hire one full-time school counselor for every 325 students starting from kindergarten through grade 12 beginning the 2021-2022 school year (“VA HB1508 | 2020 | regular session,” n.d.). The bill is intended to tackle the shortage of school counselors in Virginia in light of the increase in mass school shootings and suicide among learners. The reduction in the ratio of school counselors-students will enable more counselors to have sufficient time to adopt preventative initiatives. In 2017, public schools in the state reported more than 9,000 threat assessments, with half of them being self-harm threats ("State looks to add more school counselors," 2019). The move to add more counselors will reduce such threats and create safe learning environments for students and instructors in Virginia.
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The critical theory explores social life with the objective of assessing the American social order and the ways through which power and domination impact individuals' lives. It incorporates social control, elite authority, and economics in social welfare policy evolution (Segal, 2016). The critical theory assumes that the current oppressive frameworks are unfair and changeable. It promotes social justice and recognizes sources of oppression that present obstacles to achieving social justice. The critical theory calls for change, and it involves action to even out social imbalances (Shaw, 2019). Critical policy analysis will be useful for the bill, given the need to address the social imbalance regarding the student-counselor ratio in the state. Public schools need counselors to guarantee the proper mental health of learners. Inequalities exist when some schools have more counselors than others. In such a case, there are inequalities with regard to the mental health outcomes of students. States such as Vermont and Wyoming possess statewide student-to-school counselor averages that fall below the recommended ratio of one counselor for every 250 students. Virginia has a statewide ratio of one school counselor for 346 students (Mann et al., 2019). The bill is focused on reducing this ratio to improve the mental health outcomes of students in the state. The critical policy analysis will justify the need for the bill in addressing the high student-to-counselor ratio in the state.
Policy Analysis Framework
The policy analysis incorporates consideration of the implementation results. When a program is implemented, there is some impact made (Segal, 2016). The policy analysis framework with regard to House Bill Number 1508 titled school counselors and minimum staffing ratio will examine its three impact areas, including the intended impact, the actual effect, and the follow-up effect on those who have been affected by the policy and its ensuing programs.
The intended Impact
The intended impact refers to the outcomes the responsible party will hold itself accountable for achievement within a specific time frame. It also addresses the individuals targeted by the policy to be implemented. The intended impact of House Bill Number 1508, titled school counselors and minimum staffing ratio, is to increase the number of school counselors in public schools in Virginia to benefit learners in terms of their mental health in light of the increasing mass shootings and teenage suicides. In the 2015-2016 school year, the state had an average of one counselor for every 346 students. This number was above the recommended ratio of 1 counselor for every 250 students (Fuschillo, 2018). Other states such as Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Massachusetts have lower student-counselor ratios that fall below the recommended ratio. Based on a critical policy analysis framework, change needs to be made to ensure students in Virginia enjoy similar benefits to those in other states, including Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.
School counselors interact with students when they encounter difficulties in school. They typically support students in navigating the school curriculum. They also guarantee safe learning environments for all the students by ensuring proper mental health for every student. Mental health issues have contributed to the rise in mass school shootings in the country. One in five young individuals will experience mental health problems during adolescence (Mann et al., 2019). In addition, one in ten youth will be affected by their mental health such that they will require additional support from learning institutions. Such support can only be offered to the students through school counselors. The increase in the number of school counselors will ensure that the mental health needs of the young individuals are met. The state has experienced a mass school shooting in 2007 in which more than thirty individuals were killed on a campus of Virginia Tech (Sood & Cohen, 2014). The shooter had been previously diagnosed with mental health problems, specifically depression. Other states have suffered similar fates, with the number of school shootings increasing considerably since the turn of the century. In addition to the mass school shootings, suicide rates among teenagers have also increased considerably. In 2019, there were 9 deaths by suicide for every 100,000 young individuals aged between 15 and 19 years("Teenage suicide in Virginia," n.d.). By 2018, the number had increased to almost 10 deaths for the same number of individuals in the same age group. The increase in mass shootings and suicides prompted Governor Ralph Northam to call for an increase in the number of school counselors to boost the mental health of students. School counselors are among the first individuals to recognize changes in the behavior that could indicate a mental health issue. They can collaborate with instructors, administrators, and parents to ensure that every student receives the required care and resources to ensure they have proper mental health. An improvement in the ratio of counselors to students will ensure that every student is given the necessary attention and, in effect, mental health issues can be recognized at an early stage. Care can be administered to the student, and the mental health issue can be managed effectively. Resultantly, the students with suicidal thoughts will receive the help they need. In turn, the suicide rates among adolescents in the state are expected to reduce considerably. The potential of a mass shooting occurring in the public schools in the state is also expected to reduce.
The Actual Impact
The actual impact of House Bill Number 1508 addressing school counselors and minimum staffing ratio will be felt by students, counselors, instructors, and the society at large. Students will benefit the most since they will have easy access to counselors owing to the increased number of the latter. Youth who require mental health services such as counseling do not receive such offerings due to the existing inadequacies with regard to mental health professionals. Between 70 and 80 percent of youth who receive the mental health services typically receive them in their learning institutions. Youth are twenty-one times more likely to visit school-based health professionals, including counselors, than community health professionals (Mann et al., 2019). In this sense, it is evident that the majority of students prefer to visit school counselors as opposed to other counselors outside the school setting. The bill will ensure that the needs of students are met, given that more counselors will be available to them in the school setting. The increase in the number of school counselors will contribute to the increase in the number of students with proper mental health in the state. In effect, the number of students who commit suicide will reduce considerably. Students in Virginia will enjoy similar benefits to those in other states such as Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, given that such states have low student-counselor ratios. In effect, there is likely to be social equality, specifically in students in public schools across the US.
The increase in the number of counselors will impact counselors themselves due to the increased number of job opportunities. Counselors will also benefit from better opportunities in terms of jobs with better pay. The bill requires elementary learning institution boards to hire a counselor, one hour per day for every 75 students, or one full-time counselor for 375 students. Notably, the number of counselors employed in elementary schools will increase considerably. In middle school, boards are required to employ a counselor for a single period for every 65 students or one full-time counselor for 325 students, or a counselor for a single additional period for every 65 students. An increase in the number of counselors employed in middle schools will be realized. In high schools, boards are required to hire a counselor per period for every 60 students or one full-time counselor for every 300 students, or a counselor for a single additional period for 60 students (“VA HB1508 | 2020 | regular session,” n.d.). Resultantly, counselors in high schools in Virginia will increase considerably. The increase in the number of job opportunities is a welcome idea given the negative impact of the coronavirus. Counseling is an essential element of social work. Social workers with the right educational qualifications can become counselors. The coronavirus has impacted social workers considerably, given that their physical movement and social interactions have been limited to contain the virus. In effect, many social workers have lost their jobs and are in need of income to guarantee their livelihoods. The bill provides an excellent opportunity for such individuals to earn a living. In this sense, it can alleviate the negative impacts caused by the pandemic. The increase in the number of job opportunities for counseling will also reduce the social inequalities between states.
The impact of the bill will also be felt by instructors, given that they will have the needed support and assistance in dealing with students with mental health issues. Teachers are regularly in contact with students and, in such a case, they can easily identify those students who are in need of help. Their work can be made easier in class if all students are committed to learning. Students with mental health problems are likely to lose interest in learning, making the instructors work harder. If there are inadequate school counselors, students in need of mental health services will not be assisted, and, as a result, teachers will have a harder time dealing with such learners in class. The increase in the number of school counselors will reduce the burden placed on teachers with regard to dealing with students in need of mental health support services. In addition, instructors will have an opportunity to increase their teaching effectiveness, given that counselors collect and share resources with them to ensure they improve their classroom management skills.
The impact of the bill will translate to parents since counselors can facilitate parent-teacher or parent-parent consultations to ensure that each party is on the same page with regard to issues affecting the students. The increase in the number of school counselors will contribute to the increase of consultations between the relevant parties, and this scenario will contribute to better outcomes for the students. Parents will also be more comfortable knowing that the learning institutions have more counselors who are there to support their children in every way they can. They can also address their concerns to the counselors regarding child-related problems.
The bill will have an impact on the entire society due to the improvement in the mental health of young individuals. Mass shootings, which typically impact society negatively are perpetrated by individuals who have mental health issues. The increase in the number of school counselors will ensure that such issues are resolved at the earliest stage possible. In this case, society members are likely to be safer in the long run due to the reduction in mass shooting incidents.
Follow-up Impact
The follow-up impact will be felt by students in public schools in Virginia since they will be directly affected by the bill. In addition, the bill targets them with a view of reducing teenage suicide rates and the potential of mass shootings in the state through the improvement of their health. The follow-up will focus on identifying whether the student-counselor ratios proposed by the bill are met. Consequently, learning institutions will seek to ensure that counselors fulfill their roles and that mental health improvement outcomes among students are met to justify the increased labor costs.
Ethical Principles Application
The NASW ethical principles applicable to House Bill Number 1508 addressing school counselors and the minimum staffing ratio include service and dignity and worth of the person. Based on the service principle, social workers are required to assist individuals in need and to tackle social problems (Finn, 2021). They need to elevate service to other individuals above their self-interests. The bill requires elementary, middle, and high schools to increase the number of school counselors serving students. Students in public schools in Virginia are in need of counseling services to improve their level of mental health. The increasing rate of teenage suicides in the state also makes a case for the increase in school counselors. Teenage suicide is a major social problem affecting teenagers in the state. In this case, the increase in social workers such as school counselors will increase service to students by ensuring that more of them receive counseling services. In this regard, their mental health support needs will be met.
The dignity and worth of a person principle urges social workers to respect the dignity and value of every individual. Social workers are expected to treat every individual in a caring and respectful way (Sherr & Jones, 2020). They are required to assist the clients in enhancing their capacities to satisfy their individual needs. They are also required to enhance the clients' opportunity to change. This principle is applicable to the bill given that school counselors can enhance the students' capacities to address their individual needs. Counselors can assist students in overcoming their challenges and fears and, in this sense, enable the latter to improve their academic performance. The increase in the number of school counselors will ensure that the mental health needs of students are met and, in this case, the counselors will respect the dignity and worth of each student.
Bill Status
The status of the bill is completed, meaning that it has already been passed by the Virginia General Assembly. The bill was passed on April 09th, 2020, and its progression was rated at 100 percent. It was passed following the approval of the state's governor and started being effective on August 01st, 2020 ("HB 1508 School counselors; minimum staffing ratio," n.d.). For this reason, it is currently in effect, and school institutions are required to conform to it. The passed law can be found in chapter 953 in the state’s Acts of Assembly.
The bill's result is the increase in the number of school counselors in kindergarten, elementary, middle school, and high school, specifically in public schools in the state.
References
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Fuschillo, A. (2018). The troubling student-to-counselor ratio that doesn't add up . CED. https://www.ced.org/blog/entry/the-troubling-student-to-counselor-ratio-that-doesnt-add-up .
HB 1508 School Counselors; Minimum Staffing Ratio, 2020 Virginia General Assembly, 2020 Reg. Session (VA, 2020).
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