(KERO) — Schools across the country are experiencing a shortage of counselors for students.
Some counselors are feeling overwhelmed by their workloads as shortages persist. Many counselors in middle and high school settings are now seeing caseloads of up to 400 students.
But that job is necessary. Psychologist Melissa Bailey says that those jobs are crucial to meeting the needs of young students.
“I think the role of school counselors is so important because many times first of all kids are in school six, seven hours a day. And also there's someone there that can help deal with emotions right away. So having someone within the school is one, super convenient, especially if families can't get to go and see a therapist or they can't afford one on their own. The school is there to help."
And that shortage is felt here in California too paired with an increase in kids' need for mental health resources at school due to the pandemic.
Now, the state department of education is working on recruiting 10,000 clinicians to help students in California schools.
