CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) – A counselor at DePaul University said many children are facing a mental health crisis.
Autumn L. Cabell, an assistant counseling professor in DePaul’s College of Education, spoke to WBBM Newsradio about the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on young people.
"The U.S. Surgeon General released a report on youth mental health and how the pandemic has exponentially increased mental health concerns for our youth, generally. For example, black youth are now two times more likely to die by suicide when compared to their white counterparts,” Cabell said.
In addition, Cabell said schools need more counselors, especially counselors who don't fit the traditional mold.
"The school counseling workforce is largely white women, and so there's a need for more gender and racial diversity in the school counseling profession in order for students to have support from adults who might have shared lived experiences, where they are able to have more of a trusting relationship,” Cabell continued.
She said that the American School Counseling Association wants there to be one school counselor for every 250 students but there is often not enough funding for that and many school counselors have more than 500 kids on their caseload, "and that can be very challenging to meet the needs of those students."
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