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State nonprofit struggles to train educators on how to address mental health issues in classroom

Leaders said an educator shortage combined with the lack of mental health support has created a deep-rooted problem.

ATLANTA — With just weeks until the start of school, a state nonprofit, dedicated to improving access to mental health care, said they're facing an uphill battle in equipping educators to better address mental health in the classroom.

Charles Dansby with Mental Health of America Georgia described the issue as a circle where teachers are hired, then trained to deal with mental health issues. However, then some leave the profession to address their own mental health and the problem repeats.

"There are no teachers and there are no bus drivers," Dansby added.

The executive director said this summer has been a struggle as he works to help districts prepare for a new year by making sure students have teachers that can support them.

“We offer a training called mental health first aid. It’s a 16-hour course that takes about two days and we look for everything regarding what you should be looking for in your students that may have a crisis. The problem is we don’t have any teachers to train," Dansby said.

The president of the Georgia Association of Educators, Lisa Morgan, said he's not wrong.

"It is clearly happening. The Georgia Department of Education has a teacher burnout report... And in many cases, they point right back to mental health," Morgan added. 

Morgan said the shortage of educators, bus drivers, and staff circles back to an age-old issue that educators have to fulfill multiple roles in the classroom. 

Dansby added that we have the change the shape of education and break the cycle to move forward.

“I really feel we’re doing as much as we can to impact teachers. I think we just have to get the higher-ups at these jobs to buy in,” he said. 

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