State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond will hold a virtual press conference on Thursday, Aug. 4 at 10 a.m. to highlight new grant opportunities available for aspiring mental health clinicians to support California students.

Thurmond is leading a call to service to boost mental health providers in our schools, using his office to raise awareness about opportunities, and will work with colleges, universities, community-based organizations, the California Student Aid Commission, and others to lead a statewide recruitment effort.

Building off of Senate Bill 1229, authored by State Senator Mike McGuire (D-North Coast), which Thurmond sponsored, the 2022–23 state budget includes $184 million for teacher and school counselor residency programs and expands an existing $350 million residency program to school counselors. It also expands the current Golden State Teacher Grant Program to graduate students pursuing degrees to become mental health clinicians who serve California students, allowing them to receive grants up to $20,000. Thurmond is using his office to promote the grant opportunities for aspiring clinicians—including outreach to candidates of color seeking to become mental health clinicians.

Thurmond was a social worker for 25 years, with five years in school-based mental health. Last year, Thurmond called for necessary investments to hire 10,000 new mental health clinicians for schools. With critical funding secured in the budget, Thurmond and his team are now turning to efforts of recruitment and to raising awareness about the available resources so that monies are spent to build the workforce pipeline to support students during a growing mental health crisis.

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona have called the mental health impacts of the pandemic a public health crisis for youth, one that has left students more prone to anxiety, self-esteem challenges, and even suicide. Across the globe, parents and schools wrestle with how to help children catch up in school and deal with the trauma caused by the global pandemic.

Thurmond will discuss how he and the California Department of Education are also working with state and private partners to provide mental health programs and tools to educators in real time. Thurmond will share how he is prioritizing the goal of adding 10,000 new mental health clinicians as well as programs and strategies to support the social and emotional needs of students as a key to helping them thrive emotionally and academically.