Advocating For Educational Rights of Mentally Ill Students

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Kid’s Health reported that 1 in 33 children suffer from varying forms of mental illnesses and 70 percent of children with a mental illness are left untreated. Unfortunately, the illnesses, which can have insidious symptoms like aggression, often go undetected and untreated, and  cause  mentally ill students to be mislabeled as having behavioral problems.

The impact can be especially devastating to adolescents in the school environment.   Working under very tight budgets, few school systems have the funds to train teachers on how to recognize the symptoms of mental illnesses in their students. Adding to the challenge is the fact that children may not always be able to understand and or communicate their symptoms. Therefore, it is easy for teachers to see a student's “acting out” or withdrawal as a disciplinary problem. As a result, many students are inappropriately placed in behavioral programs or suspended from school. Many parents are unaware of their child's legal rights and often do not know where to get help.

Equal Justice Works Fellow, Kevin Probst, knows very well how mental illness plagues children and affects their education. In most cases, his clients’ illnesses have been misdiagnosed or ignored altogether and, rather than comply with the federal law’s “Child Find” provisions, schools administratively assign students to “alternative” education programs or resort to routine suspensions. Both are in violation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).  As a lawyer, Kevin is able to guide families through hearings and help protect students' rights.

Kevin’s project also allows him to work with the medical community to help families proactively identify and resolve legal problems to improve their children’s health outcomes.  A child's well-being and performance at school almost always go hand in hand. Kevin addresses the unmet needs of these children through the Children’s Health Advocacy Project (CHAP), a medical-legal partnership between the South Miami Children’s Clinic and his host organization, Legal Services of Greater Miami, Inc. (LSGMI).  In addition to providing representation at administrative hearings for children facing a denial or reduction of medically necessary services, Kevin frequently advocates for children with mental illnesses when the school district delays or denies a parent’s request for services, or even the initial evaluation to determine eligibility for special education programs.

 “Ella”, Kevin’s client, was an honor roll student enrolled in a magnet program. On recent a report card day, Ella’s mother noticed that she received a C in conduct. While Ella has a history of anxiety and panic attacks, Ella’s mother also learned that she was being bullied at school. The school did not intervene on Ella’s behalf against the bully. Rather, she was removed from the magnet program because her grades had declined. Shortly after her removal, Ella began having panic attacks and was hospitalized for cutting herself. That is when Ella’s mother came to Kevin. Kevin brought Ella’s case before the school district to emphasize the connection between Ella being bullied and her declining grades. However, the school district did not respond to Kevin’s attempts to resolve the case in a timely and reasonable manner. Kevin is currently in the process of filing a due process complaint on Ella’s behalf.

Ella’s story illustrates how schools can sometimes overlook the mental health needs of children and how it can adversely affect their education. A quality education often sets the course of a student's success in life. When that right is diminished, life's challenges are that much harder. With the help of Kevin and other Equal Justice Works Fellows and legal advocates, more students will have the opportunity to have their mental health needs properly addressed and receive the education they deserve.