The mental health crisis facing our nation鈥檚 children is and undisputed. So, too, is the dire shortage of mental health professionals in communities and schools. But a bill passed by Texas lawmakers yesterday to address the crisis by turning to chaplains is not without controversy.
Senate Bill 763 would allow unlicensed chaplains to serve as counselors in public schools, in either a volunteer or paid capacity. The bill has now passed in both the state Senate and House along party lines, and is expected to be signed into law by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. If made law, the act would take effect in the 2023-2024 school year.
鈥淲e have to give schools all the tools; with all we鈥檙e experiencing, with mental health problems, other crises, this is just another tool,鈥� said state Rep. Cole Hefner, a Republican and sponsor of the bill, during a debate on it earlier this month.
But Texas Rep. Jim Talarico, a Democrat, questioned Hefner on the wisdom of using chaplains, many of whom may lack training in school counseling, as school counselors. 鈥淒o you think a chaplain can replace a school counselor?鈥� Talarico asked Hefner, who responded: 鈥淚 trust our school districts to make that determination.鈥�
In that exchange, Hefner also stated that the chaplains 鈥渃an either come in and work alongside counselors, or replace them.鈥� The bill allows school districts to use funds currently allocated for school safety and security to support chaplains in their new role.
Critics cite a lack of credentials, potential religious bias as problematic
The funding mechanism is just one problem with the bill according to critics, including Michael O鈥橞riant, speaking on behalf of the Texas School Counselor Association, of which he is a board member.
鈥淭hese [chaplains] are people who just walk in the door, they have no certification,鈥� said O鈥橞riant, who is also a middle school counselor in Texas鈥檚 San Angelo Independent School District. 鈥淲e are school counselors who hold master鈥檚 degrees in school counseling.鈥�
While it鈥檚 common in a crisis situation, such as a mass shooting, for people from a religious background to offer support on an immediate and limited basis, he said, that鈥檚 鈥渃ompletely different than being employed in a school system.鈥�
鈥淓ven as an active member of my church and a Christian, it鈥檚 concerning to me that we鈥檙e bringing in, I鈥檓 fairly certain, chaplains who would be representing only one of the myriad of religions expressed across the state,鈥� O鈥橞riant said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had Muslim and Hindu students here in our building; those parents would not want their children served by鈥� Christian chaplains. Lawmakers, in fact, voted down an amendment to the bill that would have required chaplains to serve students of all faiths, and not to proselytize, according to .
Bill calls into question separation of church and state
Critics see the bill as a continuation of recent erosion of the distinction between religion and government. Last year, for instance, a U.S. determined that a Washington state school board had discriminated against a football coach for disciplining him for praying on the field after games. That ruling appears to stand in opposition to earlier rulings by U.S. courts that 鈥渉ave determined that public schools are an 鈥榓rm of the state鈥� and thus can do nothing to hinder or promote religion,鈥� wrote , an education professor at Cornell College and an expert on the separation of church and state in American public education.
Added O鈥橞riant: 鈥淭he word indoctrination is thrown around quite a bit鈥攖he fear that we, as educators, are somehow indoctrinating students into particular lifestyles. But this would be someone actually paid to do that.鈥�
Others in the mental health profession, however, said they would welcome the expanded access to mental health support the bill could provide.
鈥淭he more adults and peers that we can get supporting the mental health of our youth, the better,鈥� said Sharon A. Hoover, a professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and co-director of the National Center for School Mental Health. 鈥淲e cannot treat our way out of this youth mental health crisis with child mental health specialists alone; rather, we must take an all-hands-on-deck approach and give mental health away to all that are in positions of support, whether that be faith leaders, peers, mentors, or other community members.鈥�
