Take Action Mental Health in Your State

Montana

By The Numbers

149,000

Number of K-12 Students (2022 Projection)i

12,000
Children with major depressionii
6,000

Children with major depression who do not receive treatmentiii

1:698

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

1:2,275

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

1:311

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

Take Action
in Montana

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 MONTANA COMPARES

State Rankings from Mental Health America iv

2015

2020

2021

2022

Overall State Rank for Youth Mental Health

49

45

37

38

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

715 / 9.04%

11,000 / 14.07%

11,000 / 14.40%

12,000 / 15.11%

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

Not Asked

6,000 / 63.2%

5,000 / 55.6%

6,000 / 53.5%

Youth with Major Severe Depressive Episodes in the Past Year

Not Asked

7,000 / 9.2%

8,000 / 10.4%

8,000 / 11.40%

Youth with Severe Major Depressive Episodes
Who Received Some Consistent Treatment

Not Asked

2,000 / 24.7%

2,000 / 29.3%

3,000 / 35.50%

Students Identified with Emotional Disturbance
for an Individualized Education Program

712 / 5.51%

848 / 6.35%

881 / 6.5%

906 / 6.68%

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

Not Asked

2,000 / 6.3%

2,000 / 5.4%

3,000 / 9.5%

Youth with Substance Use Disorder in the Past Year

6,000 / 8.51%

5,000 / 6.3%

4,000 / 5.18%

4,000 / 5.68%

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.
Montana

By The Numbers

149,000

Number of K-12 Students (2022 Projection)i

12,000
Children with major depressionii
6,000

Children with major depression who do not receive treatmentiii

1:698

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

1:2,275

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

1:311

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

Take Action
in Montana

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 MONTANA COMPARES

State Rankings from Mental Health America iv

2015

2020

2021

2022

Overall State Rank for Youth Mental Health

49

45

37

38

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

715 / 9.04%

11,000 / 14.07%

11,000 / 14.40%

12,000 / 15.11%

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

Not Asked

6,000 / 63.2%

5,000 / 55.6%

6,000 / 53.5%

Youth with Major Severe Depressive Episodes in the Past Year

Not Asked

7,000 / 9.2%

8,000 / 10.4%

8,000 / 11.40%

Youth with Severe Major Depressive Episodes
Who Received Some Consistent Treatment

Not Asked

2,000 / 24.7%

2,000 / 29.3%

3,000 / 35.50%

Students Identified with Emotional Disturbance
for an Individualized Education Program

712 / 5.51%

848 / 6.35%

881 / 6.5%

906 / 6.68%

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

Not Asked

2,000 / 6.3%

2,000 / 5.4%

3,000 / 9.5%

Youth with Substance Use Disorder in the Past Year

6,000 / 8.51%

5,000 / 6.3%

4,000 / 5.18%

4,000 / 5.68%

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: Montana has one school psychologist for every 698 students (the recommended ratio is 1:500).
  • School Social Workers: Montana has one school social worker for every 2,475 students (the recommended ratio is 1:250).
  • School Counselors: Montana has one school counselor for every 311 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 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:

Little or no progress achieved

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

 

Current Policy:

  • No teacher/staff training required in recommended mental health topics
  • Teacher/staff training: State statute requires the Office of Public Instruction to provide guidance and technical assistance to school districts on suicide awareness and prevention. The legislature recommends, but does not require, that training be made available annually and recommends that employees take at least two hours of suicide awareness and prevention training every five years.

 

Policy Opportunity:

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

Funding Supports

Little or 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 recommended life skills competencies required in K-12.

 

Policy Opportunity:

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

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

Some 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:

  • Anti-bullying:
  • Suicide prevention:
    • MAR 10.557.20 requires school districts to develop policies related to suicide prevention and response.  
    • The Office of Public Instruction’s  School-Based Crisis Intervention Project seeks to support school districts in developing systematic crisis intervention policies.

 

Policy Opportunity:

  • Enact legislation to address additional healthy school climate policies, such as requiring annual school climate surveys, promoting an inclusive environment through anti-discrimination policies, permitting excused absences for mental health concerns, 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 or 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 recommended skills for like success competencies in K-12 (CASEL).
  • Life skills: The Office of Public Instruction (OPI) makes available to school districts and educators resources, but skills for life success competencies are not required in K-12.

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:

  • Mental health education: Montana’s regulations for health education include topics on mental and emotional health in K-12 (NASBE)

 

Policy Opportunity:

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