UNI to grow mental health access in rural Iowa schools
The University of Northern Iowa received a $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to continue its work to improve mental health access for children and adolescents across Iowa. The grant advances a major “grow your own” effort to increase school psychologists in Iowa.
“School psychologists are key to supporting students, educators and families,” said Nicole Skaar, UNI’s School Psychology Program coordinator, who also spoke at a virtual congressional briefing about the model. “Due to their unique training, school psychologists are able to support the whole child in addition to the educational system in which the child develops. School psychologists are key school-based mental health providers providing both direct and indirect mental health supports to students.”
The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) recommends one school psychologist for every 500 students. However, in Iowa, the number of students for each school psychologist is more than tripled at 1,734 students. Great Prairie Area Education Agency (AEA), which is headquartered in Ottumwa and covers the southeast portion of the state, is the most in need, having just one psychologist for every 4,379 students.
The grant program will help ease the burden. UNI is partnering with Great Prairie AEA, Central Rivers AEA (offices in Cedar Falls, Clear Lake and Marshalltown) and Northwest AEA (office in Sioux City) to train 15 school psychologists over the next five years. These three AEAs represent 52 of the 99 counties in the state of Iowa. The grant builds on the success of a program UNI School Psychology helped establish in western Iowa in 2019, with Green Hills AEA (office in Council Bluffs) and Prairie Lakes AEA (office in Pocahontas). Four students have completed that program and five more are in progress.
To qualify for the grant program, a candidate must be a K-12 educator or related field with a master’s degree. At the end of the program’s three years — two years of coursework and a one-year internship — students earn an educational specialist degree (EdS). They can continue working full-time while completing two years of courses. Following the program, the school psychologists must commit to working in their AEAs for three years. Courses are primarily delivered online.
UNI’s School Psychology Program, which is approved by NASP and the Iowa Department of Education, boasts a 100% placement rate. Faculty are licensed school psychologists who have experience as practitioners and remain active in the schools.