SBYS Getting Defunded

The Pinelands Regional High School, School Based Youth Services administration is interviewed to address the concerns with the alleged defundment of this school program and how the risks can affect our community.

Photo Credit: Pinelands Regional High School Website

By Emma Stepnowski

The School Based Youth Services is a supportive and safe environment for students and families to help cope with mental stressors that occur in the lives of students. SBYS has been helping the lives of students since 1988, and has been addressing the educational and emotional needs for our students. The goal for this program is to encourage social and emotional well being in our society, and to normalize the importance of mental health. The SBYS program provides different types of counseling such as group counseling, individual counseling, youth development and future planning, as well as other community based programs to give aid to students.This program incorporates a sufficient amount of advocacy and resources to help students to overcome difficult situations. In October of 2022, the state announced that the in-school mental health services would come to an end in June of 2023, but due to the outcry the Murphy administration committed to funding for another year which will lead into 2024. Due to the exclamation throughout schools of this news, the Murphy administration has extended its fundings for another year. The program providers and educators for school based youth services have asked for persistent continuation, due to its adoption into the school system since the early 90’s. The Department of Children and Families state that it is committed to retain mental health services in schools but in a different model. Advocates for school based youth services claim that the program that is being funded by third-party fundraisers and grants, will cause the deterioration of students mental health.

To get a more in depth insight on the current events surrounding the alleged defunding of the school based youth services program, I met with the Director for Pinelands School Based Youth Services, Janel Gonzales. She was kind enough to sit down with me and answer some questions to get more information and what her perspective is. To get a deeper understanding for this program it is imperative to know the roles of the administrators and it’s importance, “What’s most important for me and my role, I think it’s to help staff to feel good about the work they are doing with the students and families in the district, and the connection with the students. I enjoy working with students and helping them actualize their dreams, while tending them to be emotionally healthy, physically healthy, and just make good life decisions”. The suspense that has been created about whether school based youth services will still be part of the community has made people question the risks that come with it, and how the community can help prevent these occurrences from happening. “School based youth services are grant funded and Pinelands is one of the original programs in the state of New Jersey and has been around for over 35 years. During that time span there have been two times with the potential of it being defunded, one of them was about 3 years ago and then again just last fall. This is because the New Jersey Department of Children and Families want to put the money elsewhere. There is always that possibility since we are a grant funded program, but it started to feel real when there was talk about potentially defunding us”. Certainly there are ways that the community can do to prevent this from happening, “students when asked can write letters of support on why they feel school based is important even teachers can do that, and family members. People have also done video submissions, and contacting your local congressmen and women”. The importance of School Based Youth Services has not only been an aid for students coping with mental issues, but has also hosted events to enliven our community and to allow students to be comfortable with themselves and their future, “We work towards not only the mental health of students, but any other support in between. Addressing mental health concerns we do have clinically licensed therapists on staff we also have supporting counselors that identify mental health needs for our students and connect them to outside resources”. The School Based Youth Services is a highly effective program to help students and families to become emotionally healthy and it is highly suggested to help prevent the defunding of this program by supporting and doing as much as we can as a community.