PORTLAND, Oregon — Oregon U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden visited on Friday with some Portland students and announced a new Medicaid program to help school districts get kids more of the mental health help they need.
At Oliver Middle School's library in Southeast Portland's Centennial School District, the Democratic senator was greeted by school officials and a group of students. The first thing Sen. Wyden did was acknowledge kids in Oregon need more mental health care, citing a recent study that says the state ranks poorly when it comes to mental health issues and support for youth.
“We don't like being last when it comes to young people getting help dealing with mental health challenges,” Sen. Wyden said.
The senator then touted a new program he pushed for as chair of the Senate Finance Committee, which makes Medicaid reimbursement dollars available to districts to pay for mental health care for students.
The Medicaid help is meant for schools in communities where many families don't have much and where health care, including mental health care, is not a given.
Oliver student body president Sophia Vargas took the stage with Sen. Wyden, telling KGW that the challenges are real for many students, especially after coming out of pandemic learning years.
“And I think now of all times is a really important time for us to take a step back and say our mental health is important; it's important that we don't lose ourselves in the academics,” said Vargas, an eighth grader.
The Centennial School District has a team dedicated to social work, but it's not enough to deal with the amount of help students require.
“This new federal flexibility will really help us invest in the services that we know our students need, and we're really excited to take advantage of this opportunity,” said Denise Wright, director of student services for the district.
Sen. Wyden says he's getting the word out about the Medicaid opportunity for schools in underserved communities across the state, where mental health care may seem out of reach for many students and their families.
“This is a commitment to people who are walking an economic tightrope — these are the people who benefit from this; they're the people who every single week are balancing the food bill against the fuel bill and the fuel bill against the rent bill,” he said.
Sen. Wyden said the more flexible Medicaid policy for student mental health coverage begins in Jan. 2024.