Healey-Driscoll Administration Allocates $13 Million to Support Student Mental Health Services

A recent announcement from the Healey-Driscoll Administration shared that the government is set to provide additional funding to in-school programs for mental health support through a $13 million investment in the Bridge for Resilient Youth in Transition (BRYT) scheme.

Mental health issues truly can affect anyone, so whether you’re a mental health professional, student enrolled in an online RN to MSN program, parent of a young person, or a young person yourself, it’s crucial to be aware of the different programs on offer for you, your loved ones, or your patients.

With mental health challenges presenting a significant impediment to completing academic qualifications across America, the Bridge for Resilient Youth in Transition program, known as the BRYT program looks to reduce the number of students who drop out as a result of a mental health crisis. 

Mental Health Hits Young People

In recent years, mental health has emerged as a key challenge for young people across America. Mental health data collated by the Massachusetts Association of Mental Health shows just how stark the world can feel for some of the youngest members of society.

Data collated notes that more than a third of Massachusetts youth had experienced at least one form of significant stress in the previous twelve months. This is substantial when you consider how significant stressors such as domestic violence, trauma, and abuse can shape a young person well into adulthood.

It’s well known that educational attainment is often a strong indicator of lifetime earnings. Research published in Sociological Science highlights how the level of education one completes often correlates with an individual’s lifetime earnings. It demonstrates how providing mental health support to students with the aim of reducing dropout rates can be beneficial not only for students in the short term but also for their lives more broadly.

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The Importance of Building Resilience

Addressing student mental health often involves building resilience in students. It’s important to recognize that life is challenging and that we will all experience adversity in different ways — whether that’s through illness, parental separation, the loss of a loved one, or the many other ways that one can experience trauma.

Building resilience isn’t about turning students into robots — rather, it’s providing them with the skills and knowledge necessary to cope when they are faced with adversity. By working on developing young people’s resilience, intervention programs can make an impact at a critical point in a student’s development.

For the BRYT (pronounced ‘bright’) program, developing resilience involves reimagining how schools can support students as they recover from mental health disruption. 

Often, this will involve setting up a dedicated space at school for students that allows them to reintegrate back into the school environment on their own terms. By providing clinical and academic support, students are able to transition back to schooling in a safe and comforting environment, with the support of clinical and academic staff.

By working with schools to provide a level of staff support that can accommodate both a student’s clinical and academic needs, the BRYT program brings a holistic approach to mental health support to an environment that, historically, has not had the funding or resources to provide it. 

Investment in the BRYT Program

For the first time in BRYT’s history, the program’s pioneer, the Brookline Center for Community Mental Health, will be able to help launch BRYT programs at schools that previously found themselves unable to participate due to budget constraints or staffing limitations.

The $13 million investment will be administered by the Department of Mental Health. $3 million in funding will be provided from the federal American Rescue Plan Act, with an additional $10 million contribution from the Massachusetts Behavioral Health Trust Fund.

It’s expected that this funding will support the implementation of the BRYT program in more than thirty schools, with an initial eight schools announced as a part of the funding rollout. 

Speaking on the investment, Brooke Doyle, Commissioner of Mental Health, noted that “investing in the BRYT program demonstrates our commitment to advancing mental health equity and ensuring that Massachusetts youth have access to the crucial wraparound supports they need.”

The investment couldn’t come at a more opportune time, with youth mental health being declared a public health crisis, programs like BRYT provide students with the ability to navigate the complexities of academia while also getting the mental health support they need.

Success Stories from BRYT

For one young learner at Amherst Regional High School, having access to BRYT has had a significant positive impact on her life. Eliza, a senior at Amherst, may have a bubbly and outgoing personality, but she’s a part of a group of students who have struggled with anxiety and depression, exacerbated as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

After being hospitalized after a suicide attempt, Eliza had an extended period of time away from school,  and coming back to school was a process that felt overwhelming. As a school that has an embedded BRYT program, Eliza was able to make a transition back into the classroom through the support of the program.

Eliza attributes that support to saving her life — “If I didn’t have the BRYT program after freshman year, I don’t think I could say that I would be alive today,” she said, speaking to reporters from New England Public Media.

By providing integrated support to help students transition back into school life, the Bridge for Resilient Youth in Transition program offers a vital lifeline to help students stay in school in a moment when they need more support than ever from the people around them. 

In tackling Massachusetts’ youth mental health crisis, the expansion of the BRYT program is a welcome step in ensuring that the youth of today are adequately prepared for the challenges they may face in the world around them.

If the topics raised in this article cause distress, support is available. More information on mental health services can be found at the NAMI Massachusetts website.

(Disclaimer: Devdiscourse’s journalists were not involved in the production of this article. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of Devdiscourse and Devdiscourse does not claim any responsibility for the same.)