Publisher's summary
We audited the following 20 school districts (Districts) to determine whether the Districts used resources to provide the mental health component of the New York Safe Schools Against Violence in Education Act (SAVE Act) training requirement to staff: Bellville-Henderson CSD, Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake CSD, Canandaigua City SD, Coxsackie Athens CSD, Crown Point CSD, Dover UFSD, Eden CSD, Goshen CSD, Greenport UFSD, Harborfields CSD, Livonia CSD, Malone CSD, Port Washington UFSD, Rye Neck UFSD, Schalmont CSD, Seaford UFSD, Unadilla Valley CSD, Waverly CSD, Wellsville CSD and West Genesee CSD. The 20 Districts we examined did not provide mental health training to all staff for the 2020-21 school year by September 15, 2020, as required by New York State Education Department (SED) regulations.
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District officials provided varied explanations for why the recommended
components were not included in training content provided to District staff.
ll A lack of awareness of the mental health components recommended by DHHS.
…[N]one
ll A lack of clear guidance from SED on the required SAVE training. of the 20
ll Mental health training to meet the requirement was provided throughout the Districts
year, instead of by September 15, as required.
ensured
ll A lack of trainer knowledge about specific disorders.
that all staff
ll Relying on the vendor who was contracted to provide the SAVE Act training
to include a component on mental health. completed
However, when District officials are unsure of the recommended content of a the required
required training, they should seek guidance from SED. mental health
It is imperative, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, that staff be provided training
training on warning signs that may be an early indicator of mental health issues
and concerns. A United States Surgeon General advisory in 2021 expressed that component
the mental health challenges in children, adolescents and young adults has been by the
further exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.4 For example, according to the CDC,
emergency department visits for suspected suicide attempts among adolescents September
increased 31 percent from 2019 to 2020.5
15 deadline.
No District Provided Training With Recommended Mental Health
Components to All Staff by September 15
We found that none of the 20 Districts ensured that all staff completed the
required mental health training component by the September 15 deadline. Despite
the SED requirement that all staff undergo annual mental health training as a
component of the school safety training, some schools offered the mental health
training component only to select groups. For example, in one District, custodians
were exempted from the mental health training component, while substitutes and
coaches were not included at another District. Others limited the mental health
training component to instructional staff or to certain building staff.
For the 14 Districts that maintained records for trainings offered, we found
not all Districts ensured staff were trained, with respect to the component on
mental health, by September 15. Of the 14 Districts that offered training that
included at least one recommended mental health component, five Districts
maintained records supporting which staff attended the training. The other nine
4 https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2021/12/07/us-surgeon-general-issues-advisory-on-youth-mental-health-
crisis-further-exposed-by-covid-19-pandemic.html
5 https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7024e1.htm
Of f ic e of t he New York State Comptroller 5