FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, August 16, 2023

SENATOR KUSHNER WELCOMES $135,000 FOR STUDENT SUMMER MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES THROUGH 2025

DANBURY – State Senator Julie Kushner (D-Danbury) today welcomed the news that $135,000 in state grants will be awarded to the Danbury public school system to support mental health services for students over the summer through mid-2025.

Awarded through the state Department of Education’s Summer Mental Health Supports Grant program, these grants will support mental health services for students during summer months over a three-year period. The grants are the result of legislation passed by the General Assembly and spearheaded by Senate Democrats during the 2022 legislative session.

“Last year I was proud to vote for Senate Bill 1 – our caucus’s top legislative priority – which addressed childhood mental and physical health services in schools. Part of that was providing grants for school districts to hire and retain more school social workers, school psychologists, school counselors and nurses,” Sen. Kushner said. “Mental health is 365 days a year. It doesn’t take summers off. Our children deserve our caring and support, and this grant will help accomplish that in Danbury.”

“The need for mental health support services among youths does not stop at the end of the school year, and these grants will enable these critical services to continue during the summer months,” said Governor Ned Lamont.

The competitive state grant program uses federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). This is the third of three rounds of grants the department is releasing with ARPA funding that are aimed at increasing access to mental health support services for youths in schools. Eligible costs incurred beginning in summer 2023 through summer 2025 are reimbursable under this grant program.

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