Take Action Mental Health in Your State

Arkansas

By The Numbers

491,000

Number of K-12 Students (2022 Projection)i

39,000
Children with major depressionii
23,000

Children with major depression who do not receive treatmentiii

1:2,776

Ratio of School Psychologists to Students
(Recommended Ratio 1:500)

1:3,655

Ratio of School Social Workers to Students
(Recommended Ratio 1:250)

1:368

Ratio of School Counselors to Students
(Recommended Ratio 1:250)

Take Action
in Arkansas

There is a national emergency in children’s mental health. Children and youth are experiencing soaring rates of anxiety, depression, trauma, loneliness, and suicidality. 

Take Action

Children and youth are experiencing soaring rates of anxiety, depression, trauma, loneliness, and suicidality. Mental health challenges can affect success at school and in life, yet few students get the help they need to thrive.

The Hopeful Futures Campaign, a coalition of national organizations, is committed to ensuring that every student has access to effective and supportive school mental health care. The campaign’s school mental health report cards highlight accomplishments and provide important action steps to help address the children’s mental health crisis in every state.

At A Glance: State School Mental Health Policies

School Mental Health Professionals:

School-Family-Community Partnerships:

Teacher and Staff Training:

Funding
Supports:

Well-Being Checks:

Healthy School Climate:

Skills for Life Success:

Mental Health Education:

Little or no progress achieved

Some progress achieved

Meaningful progress achieved

Substantial progress achieved

HOW ARKANSAS COMPARES

State Rankings from Mental Health America iv 

2015

2020

2021

2022

Overall State Rank for Youth Mental Health

36

31

47

48

Youth with At Least One Major Depressive Episode in the Past Year

21,000 / 9.01%

32,000 / 13.36%

35,000 / 14.74%

39,000 / 16.27%

Youth with Major Depressive Episodes in the
Past Year Who Did Not Receive Treatment

Not Asked

19,000 / 61.3%

23,000 / 63.9%

23,000 / 58.90%

Youth with Major Severe Depressive Episodes in the Past Year

Not Asked

19,000 / 8.4%

25,000 / 10.7%

33,000 / 14.30%

Youth with Severe Major Depressive Episodes
Who Received Some Consistent Treatment

Not Asked

7,000 / 35.4%

7,000 / 30%

7,000 / 22.70%

Students Identified with Emotional Disturbance
for an Individualized Education Program

750 / 1.74%

998 / 2.24%

1,070 / 2.42%

1,123 / 2.54%

Youth with Private Insurance That Did Not
Cover Mental or Emotional Problems

Not Asked

11,000 / 11.8%

13,000 / 14.4%

17,000 / 17.70%

Youth with Substance Use Disorder in the Past Year

14,000 / 5.95%

10,000 / 4.10%

10,000 / 4.11%

9,000 / 3.63%

i. Projections of education statistics to 2022. National Center of Education Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved November 11, 2021, from https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2014/2014051.pdf.
ii. The state of Mental Health in America. Mental Health America. (n.d.). Retrieved November 9, 2021, from https://mhanational.org/issues/state-mental-health-america.
iii. The state of Mental Health in America. Mental Health America. (n.d.). Retrieved November 9, 2021, from https://mhanational.org/issues/state-mental-health-america.
iv. The state of Mental Health in America. Mental Health America. (n.d.). Retrieved November 9, 2021, from https://mhanational.org/issues/state-mental-health-america.
Arkansas

By The Numbers

491,000

Number of K-12 Students (2022 Projection)i

39,000
Children with major depressionii
23,000

Children with major depression who do not receive treatmentiii

1:2,776

Ratio of School Psychologists to Students
(Recommended Ratio 1:500)

1:3,655

Ratio of School Social Workers to Students
(Recommended Ratio 1:250)

1:368

Ratio of School Counselors to Students
(Recommended Ratio 1:250)

Take Action
in Arkansas

There is a national emergency in children’s mental health. Children and youth are experiencing soaring rates of anxiety, depression, trauma, loneliness, and suicidality. 

Take Action

Children and youth are experiencing soaring rates of anxiety, depression, trauma, loneliness, and suicidality. Mental health challenges can affect success at school and in life, yet few students get the help they need to thrive.

The Hopeful Futures Campaign, a coalition of national organizations, is committed to ensuring that every student has access to effective and supportive school mental health care. The campaign’s school mental health report cards highlight accomplishments and provide important action steps to help address the children’s mental health crisis in every state.

At A Glance: State School Mental Health Policies

School Mental Health Professionals:

School-Family-Community Partnerships:

Teacher and Staff Training:

Funding
Supports:

Well-Being Checks:

Healthy School Climate:

Skills for Life Success:

Mental Health Education:

Little or no progress achieved

Some progress achieved

Meaningful progress achieved

Substantial progress achieved

HOW ARKANSAS COMPARES

State Rankings from Mental Health America iv 

2015

2020

2021

2022

Overall State Rank for Youth Mental Health

36

31

47

48

Youth with At Least One Major Depressive Episode in the Past Year

21,000 / 9.01%

32,000 / 13.36%

35,000 / 14.74%

39,000 / 16.27%

Youth with Major Depressive Episodes in the
Past Year Who Did Not Receive Treatment

Not Asked

19,000 / 61.3%

23,000 / 63.9%

23,000 / 58.90%

Youth with Major Severe Depressive Episodes in the Past Year

Not Asked

19,000 / 8.4%

25,000 / 10.7%

33,000 / 14.30%

Youth with Severe Major Depressive Episodes
Who Received Some Consistent Treatment

Not Asked

7,000 / 35.4%

7,000 / 30%

7,000 / 22.70%

Students Identified with Emotional Disturbance
for an Individualized Education Program

750 / 1.74%

998 / 2.24%

1,070 / 2.42%

1,123 / 2.54%

Youth with Private Insurance That Did Not
Cover Mental or Emotional Problems

Not Asked

11,000 / 11.8%

13,000 / 14.4%

17,000 / 17.70%

Youth with Substance Use Disorder in the Past Year

14,000 / 5.95%

10,000 / 4.10%

10,000 / 4.11%

9,000 / 3.63%

i. Projections of education statistics to 2022. National Center of Education Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved November 11, 2021, from https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2014/2014051.pdf.
ii. The state of Mental Health in America. Mental Health America. (n.d.). Retrieved November 9, 2021, from https://mhanational.org/issues/state-mental-health-america.
iii. The state of Mental Health in America. Mental Health America. (n.d.). Retrieved November 9, 2021, from https://mhanational.org/issues/state-mental-health-america.
iv. The state of Mental Health in America. Mental Health America. (n.d.). Retrieved November 9, 2021, from https://mhanational.org/issues/state-mental-health-america.

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School Mental Health Professionals

Little or no progress achieved

School psychologists, social workers, and counselors who, together, provide a range of necessary mental health services in schools.

 

Current Policy:

  • School psychologists: Arkansas has one school psychologist for every 2,776 students (the recommended ratio is 1:500).
  • School social workers: Arkansas has one school social worker for every 3,655 students (the recommended ratio is 1:250).
  • School counselors: Arkansas has one school counselor for every 368 students (the recommended ratio is 1:250).

 

Policy Opportunity:

  • Invest in significantly improving the ratios of school psychologists, school social workers, and counselors in K-12, including through telehealth partnerships and workforce programs that incentivize careers in mental health. 

School-Family-Community Partnerships

Meaningful progress achieved

Policies that support and enable schools to engage with families and community partners.  

 

Current Policy:

  • Family/community engagement: State statutes and regulations require districts to adopt plans, policies, or strategies to engage parents and families in the educational process.

 

Policy Opportunity:

  • Require partnerships between school districts and community mental health providers that ensure access to services for students with ongoing needs.

Teacher and Staff Training:

Some progress achieved

Policies that support training of teachers and staff in mental health, substance use, and suicide prevention.

 

Current Policy:

  • Suicide prevention: Code § 6-17-708 – Arkansas requires all public school personnel to complete two hours of teen suicide prevention training.

 

Policy Opportunity:

  • Expand on existing training requirements to ensure K-12 teachers and staff receive regular training on mental health conditions and substance use conditions, including available school and community-based services and resources.

Funding Supports

Meaningful progress achieved

Policies that help support funding of school mental health services for Medicaid-eligible students.  

Current Policy:

  • Medicaid coverage: State Medicaid program covers school-based mental health services for all Medicaid-eligible students.
  • Medicaid telehealth: State Medicaid program only covers school-based mental health services delivered via telehealth for Individualized Education Plan (IEP) services.

 

Policy Opportunity:

  • Expand Medicaid billing to include school-based mental health services provided via telehealth for all Medicaid-eligible students.

Well-Being Checks

Little or no progress achieved

Regular checks of mental wellness that help identify students and staff who may need support.  

 

Current Policy:

  • No well-being checks required.

 

Policy Opportunity:

  • Require annual well-being checks for all students and staff in K-12.

Healthy School Climate

Meaningful progress achieved

Policies that foster safe, supportive schools, including anti-bullying policies, school climate surveys, inclusive environment (anti-discrimination) policies, excused absences for mental health, alternatives to exclusionary discipline, and suicide prevention programs.

 

Current Policy:

  • School climate survey: Code § 6-15-1303(a) – Arkansas requires every school district or open enrollment charter school to conduct a school safety audit, including an audit of the school climate and culture, every three years.
  • Anti-bullying:
  • Ark. Code § 6-17-711/Ark Code § 6-18-514 – Arkansas requires all public school personnel to complete two hours of professional development focused on bullying prevention.
  • Ark. Code § 6-18-514 – Arkansas requires school leadership to promptly investigate all allegations of bullying, inform parents, and keep a written record of the investigations. Schools must produce an annual report to their respective school boards on bullying incidents.
  • Inclusive Environment: Code § 6-10-114 – Arkansas prohibits schools from allowing students to participate in events or activities where some students might be excluded because of their race, national origin, or ethnic background.  

 

Policy Opportunity:

  • Enact legislation to address additional healthy school climate policies, such as permitting excused absences for mental health concerns, requiring age-appropriate suicide prevention education for students, and requiring adoption of alternatives to exclusionary discipline that keep youth in school, with services and supports to get their lives on track.

Skills for Life Success

Little to no progress achieved

Skills, such as responsible decision-making, relationship skills, and self-management, that help students succeed in school and life.  

 

Current Policy:

  • No required life skills competencies in K-12 (CASEL). Arkansas offers the G.U.I.D.E. for Life program, which is designed to give K-12 students a five-step process to develop skills they can follow to achieve personal success, but no requirements are in place.

 

Policy Opportunity:

  • Require adoption of evidence-based life skills education for K-12, including making training in the curriculum available to parents and caregivers.

Mental Health Education

Meaningful progress achieved

Health education in K-12 that includes instruction on mental health.  

 

Current Policy:

 

Policy Opportunity:

  • Require K-12 health education to explicitly include education on mental health, similar to legislation passed by New York and Virginia.