Testimony Before the DC Council Committee on Health at the Performance Oversight Hearing on the Department of Behavioral Health

By Nicole Travers, Senior Director of School Support and Program Data

Good afternoon, Chairperson Henderson and members of the Committee. My name is Nicole Travers and I am the Senior Director School Support and Program Data at the DC Charter School Alliance, the local non-profit that advocates on behalf of public charter schools to ensure that every student can choose high-quality public schools that prepare them for lifelong success. The DC Charter School Alliance is also an active member of the Coordinating Council on School Behavioral Health and the Strengthening Families Through Behavioral Health Coalition. 

In my role at the DC Alliance, I work closely with charter schools on the full range of student support issues including student mental health, safety barriers, and chronic absenteeism. I also support our partnership with DBH. Student mental health continues to be a major challenge for schools in DC and across the nation; a recent NCES study found that 58% of schools saw an increase in students seeking mental health services in school-year 2023-24, but the percentage of schools who felt they are able to effectively address student mental health needs fell below 50%. Two of the three most cited reasons for these challenges are staffing related, with 55% of schools citing insufficient staffing and 49% citing inadequate access to licensed professionals. This work could not be more important; not only is the health of our students at stake, but we have the ability to reduce chronic absenteeism and improve academic outcomes if the strategies that we know work reach more students that need them. 

Extending the Pilot  and Growing Its Impact

For the past two years, DC public charter schools have collaborated with DBH on an innovative approach to staffing mental health professionals in LEAs through the School Based Behavioral Health Services Comprehensive Expansion (Pilot 1B) program.  This initiative continues to be a great step forward in delivering important mental health services to students. We appreciate       Dr. Bazeron, Dr. Charneta Scott and the DBH team for their leadership in creating and shepherding the pilot. We are grateful that it was extended into a second year, and recommend that it continues and grows to reach more schools. Today, there are 8 schools participating in the pilot. In its second year, we recommend making some modifications based on our learnings to date. This includes: reducing the amount of time that it takes for DBH to issue award letters so that schools can hire clinicians more quickly and organizing regular hybrid convenings throughout the school year with school leaders, CBO clinicians and DBH staff to collaborate and continue to strengthen the pilot.  

Growing the Pipeline of Clinicians

Despite some progress, the shortage of well-qualified clinicians continues to be a challenge. In previous testimony, we recommended pursuing reciprocity agreements with Maryland, Virginia, and other surrounding jurisdictions. Allowing clinicians licensed in these nearby states to practice in the District continues to have the potential to enhance the pool of providers quickly, and we look forward to learning more about the status of these efforts and how they could affect the pipeline. Thank you, Chairperson Henderson, for your leadership in the passage of the Counseling Compact Approval Act of 2024 in an effort to address these critical needs. We encourage more efforts like this to address the ongoing provider shortage. 

Supporting Continued Collaboration

We want to applaud DBH for collaborating with public charter schools and with other agencies, like OSSE. This collaborative effort is essential to maximize city resources, solve challenges at scale, and create better outcomes for students. We commend DBH for its commitment to work side-by-side with school leaders and the education agencies to develop and refine the pilot program. Additionally, we appreciate its efforts to support student needs through initiatives such as the launch of the SBBH Student Peer Educator Program pilot through The Young Women’s Project and Our Minds Matter. This has already been implemented in 10 charter LEAs. We support spurring this type of collaborative innovation throughout the government. 

Moving Forward Together

In this spirit of collaboration, the DC Charter School Alliance has started a Student Support community of practice that, in 2024-2025, has already brought together over 70% of charter LEAs to focus on new collaborations, learnings, and strategies for school based mental health and other student support services. In addition, individual charter schools are implementing innovative solutions in their own schools to provide a menu of mental health services for their students. For example, DC Prep has worked hard to partner with The Momentum Residency to ensure clinical  coverage in those schools. Other charter LEAs partner with local universities to host clinical student interns who support Tier 1 mental health initiatives. These interns assist with implementing SEL curricula, Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS), restorative justice practices, and reflection circles.

In closing, I’d like to reiterate that we look forward to continuing to work alongside DBH and our partners to serve our students. 

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter, and I welcome your questions.