ICYMI: Senator Justine Wadsack, Senator Shawnna Bolick Oppose Mental Health Resources for Students in Schools

Despite Access to Mental Health Professionals in Schools Being Overwhelmingly Supported by Parents

PHOENIX, AZ – During a Senate Education Hearing, Senator Wadsack and Senator Shawnna Bolick voted no on SB1105 to expand the School Safety Program to support the costs of placing school psychologists on school campuses. 

During committee, Senator Justine Wadsack said, “The putting in mental health care or psychiatrists in the schools becomes very dangerous, and it gets used in a way that is not for its original intent. And if we start having mental health care being given in schools, we're now infringing on the parents' right to control their child's mental health care.”

These comments are a reversal from Senator Justine Wadsack’s previous stance on mental health, where she attributed the cause of gun violence to the lack of mental health resources, and voiced her support for these resources. These comments followed the horrific shooting in Maine at a bowling alley where 18 Americans were killed. 

Sens. Wadsack and Bolick’s vote is out of step with the priorities of parents across the country. A report from The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization, shows that 87% of parents support mental health education in schools.

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