October 9, 2025 • 45 mins
A controversial bill has been signed into law that will require mental health checks for students in grades 3-12. Is it the job of the schools to tend to the mental health of our children? Dr. Linda Mintle will answer that question – and questions you have on tending to the mental health needs of your children. Call in early because the lines will light up during this important conversation.
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Episode Transcript
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S1 (00:00):
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(00:22):
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(02:10):
today that really changes your perspective and makes you excited
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S2 (02:18):
Here are some of the news headlines we're watching.
S3 (02:20):
The conference was over. The president won a pledge.
S4 (02:23):
Americans worshiping government over God.
S3 (02:25):
Extremely rare safety move by a.
S5 (02:28):
17 years of Palestinians and Israelis negotiated.
S3 (02:33):
With.
S6 (02:48):
Belinda Shay is a high school counselor at Alta-aurelia in Alta, Iowa,
which consists of Approximately 200 students.
S7 (02:56):
The Teen Mental Health Program is designed to help teens
respond appropriately to their peers, so we thought that would
be a great thing for us to implement into our
health program. I think it gives them a way to
talk about mental health. Um, hopefully take away some of
that stigma that we hear or that we know about
mental health.
S6 (03:17):
The program assists teens by providing them with an action plan,
first by identifying the challenges they're experiencing, then in discovering
the tools they may already have at their disposal to
fix things. It's helping students like Mason Peck, a graduating
senior at Alta-aurelia High School. Mason says the program is
making a huge difference in his life.
S8 (03:38):
And during the mental health first aid program, we were
thinking about, you know, negative thoughts, positive thoughts and how
often you'll tell yourself a negative thought. I noticed myself
worrying less about uncertainty in my life.
S6 (03:54):
Sophomore Lilly Schellenberg said the program has made her more
confident in talking about mental health.
S9 (04:00):
During the class, we were told like, if you see something,
say something. The one that really stuck out to me
is it's okay to not be okay.
S6 (04:08):
In Iowa, school said. It said a positive change in
not only the student body, but in the family conversations
that are taking place as a result of the program.
S7 (04:17):
I think that parents are definitely happy that we're discussing
some of these things and we're having these open conversations.
A huge part of this program is not only examining
or discovering some of the mental health challenges that we have,
but talking so very much about the supports that are
available and how people can feel better when they experience
(04:39):
some of these challenges.
S1 (04:42):
That's a story from Good Morning America about mental health
services being offered in schools. Welcome to In the Market
with Janet Parshall. We're going to take up that subject,
by the way, because there's a new Illinois law now
mandating annual mental health screenings for students in the third
through the 12th grades. And it's drawing concern from parents
and policy experts who say the measure and the way
(05:03):
it could be implemented raises more questions than it answers.
This didn't slip past Doctor Linda mintel. She wrote a
piece in Beliefnet entitled Should Schools Be Responsible for Your
Child's Mental Health? Linda joins us this hour and we're
so glad every time she does. She has her PhD
in urban health and clinical psychology. She is a national
(05:24):
expert on mental health. She has specialized in the treatments
of eating disorder, anxiety, depression, pain management over 30 years
of clinical experience. She is a prolific author, best selling author.
She hosts her own radio program. She is an award
winning author, and she's a person who hosts her own
radio program, speaks and teaches doctors how to be doctors.
(05:44):
The list goes on and on and on, and we're
always thrilled when Linda joins us. But I will tell you,
as someone who is delighted to call her my friend,
I am always pleased. And how Linda just picks up
on what's happening in the culture and being someone who
has a PhD in clinical psychology. Linda, this one wasn't
about to slip past you, so you chose to write
about it. And that takes, I think, some fortitude and
(06:06):
courage on your part because after all, if the schools
are doing it, if a governor signs it into law,
it must be good, right? But as you point out
in your article, it raises some pretty important questions. So
talk to me about your thoughts on this first of all.
S10 (06:20):
Well, I do have a little bit of experience in
this area. I did work in the Chicago Public Schools
for a number of years early in my career. So
I do understand what happens in schools. I understand the
problems that teachers are faced with and the problems that
students bring to the teacher. So it's, you know, it's
a very difficult job, I think, in, in terms of
(06:43):
teaching in today's culture. But my biggest concern. You know,
I looked at the the data. Janet, in about a
third of the schools in the United States do mandate
mental health screenings. So I don't believe this is the
first time this is happening. But the questions that I
have around this topic are questions that every parent should
(07:05):
be talking about and thinking about. And so I've got
about six of those questions that we need to go through.
And then the concerns that I have bringing this up,
because so much of what we're seeing in the public
schools is that half the time, parents have no idea
whether it's curriculum ideas or they're talking to them about gender,
ideology or whatever it is. Most of the time, parents
(07:29):
are unaware of what is going on in the public schools,
and that's a problem. We need to know what is happening.
And I've seen way too many forums, um, that that,
you know, are videos of parents trying to bring up
topics that are sensitive, that could be stigmatizing. And certainly
mental health is one of those topics. And they get
shut down by school board members or members of the,
(07:52):
of the school. So we've got to have a conversation
about this. And when I saw it, I thought, oh yeah,
this is raising a lot of concerns in my mind
as well.
S1 (07:59):
Yeah. And again, and thank you for what you just said.
So having mental health services available in a school district,
you're absolutely right, is nothing new. What is new and
significant and is problematic is that this is a law
now requiring mental health screenings. That's new. Having required now,
parents at this point in stage are allowed to opt out.
(08:20):
So if you opt your child out in third grade
and this is again mandatory for third through 12th grade,
are you going to have to go back every single
year from third grade to 12th grade to say, I'm
going to opt out? Are we going to see, like
we saw in Montgomery County schools in Maryland for no
reason whatsoever? The school goes, abracadabra, we're erasing the opt
out faction. So I think that's very much a concern
that a lot of parents have. So this is new,
(08:42):
but it does Whether it's new, whether it's mandated or not,
what you did brilliantly, and I think in a very
timely fashion, Linda, was to raise the fact that we
need to have a conversation. And so before we get
to those six points, let me just fly at the
35,000 foot level, particularly a with your background in Chicago schools,
but B with your PhD in clinical psychology. You know,
it's Archimedes bathtub. There's only so much you can do
(09:03):
in a school day. And so if you add mental
health mandatory screening, something splashes over the side of the tub.
And what else are you going to put then what
gets kicked out because something is being put in. And
as it stands right now, and forgive me, but in
Washington we eat, sleep and breathe data. We are an
abysmal failure and the world stage when it comes to
American academic performances, we are surprised we overspend per student
(09:27):
compared to any other country on planet Earth, and we
underperform at a demonstrably horrible level. So I'll just let
that fact hang out there. So now you're going to
put in mental health screenings. Okay, so it's not an
either or. It's a both end or it's an either end.
So if the schools are going to add mandatory mental
health screenings, what pays the price during the school day,
what goes away when that gets added on? And yet
(09:49):
at the same time, you have a mental health crisis
in this country. The question then is, is the school
the place where we're supposed to have the delivery service?
And if it is, what role do parents play when
the school is doing a mental health screening on somebody
else's child? Doctor Linda mintel is with us. These are
very important conversations as you and I learn how to
look well to the ways of our household. We'll take
(10:10):
up some of Doctor Linda Mintel's concerns right after this.
If you've ever felt unworthy of God's love, we need
to remember that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
(10:31):
for us. That's why I've chosen the steadfast love of
the Lord as this month's truth tool. Unworthiness doesn't disqualify
you from God's love. It magnifies it. As for your copy,
the steadfast love of the Lord, when you give a
gift of any amount to in the market, call 877
Janet 58. That's 877 Janet 58 or go to in
the market with Janet Parshall. We just love spending time
(10:53):
with Doctor Linda and her compassionate biblical thinking and her
concern for good emotional and mental health and predicated on
what the Bible has to say. It's her PhD in
Clinical psychology, teaches, doctors, writes, speaks, radio hosts. The list
goes on and on and on and on. So she
wrote a piece recently, being very current, given the headlines
(11:13):
of the day and in light of this new law
in the state of Illinois that mandates mental health screening
for grades three through six, it raises, I think, a
very legitimate question should schools be responsible for your child's
mental health? So thank you for the oversight on our
first segment together, Linda. But now you've got some specific
questions that you think should be raised. I'd love to
hear them.
S10 (11:33):
Well, the first one, Janet, is who does the screenings
and who is qualified to do those screenings. So there
needs to be, in most schools, a school psychologist, but
a lot of schools do not have them and they
can't afford them and they don't have the funding for them.
So that is a very important question for parents to
ask who's going to be doing those screenings? Are they
(11:55):
people who understand what screenings are and how they're to
be used? Um, you know, because screenings are not diagnostic tools.
They're not something that says, oh, you take this screening,
that means you have depression or that means you have anxiety.
All a screening does is it picks up on things
that could indicate that something is going on, but it
(12:16):
doesn't mean that the person has a particular diagnosis. So
I would be very concerned with who's doing this. How
are they being done? How are they being delivered? Are
they are kids sitting in a room and taking a self-survey?
What are those screening instruments and are they accurate? That's
another question I had. You know, screening tools are supposed
(12:38):
to be only a way to say, hmm, there might
be a concern. And then what should happen is a
child should be evaluated fully by a professional who understands testing,
understands what to ask. You know, what questions are important,
what's going on in the family. So two things right
off the bat. You know who will conduct the screenings.
(13:00):
Are they accurate? Now a really important question is how
will that information be used. And that's where I have
major I teach ethics to to medical students. We talk
all the time about HIPAA. You know that's your privacy,
the Privacy Act that is supposed to keep your personal
mental health and health data private. So who's going to
(13:22):
see those those screenings. How are they going to be used.
Is there a confidentiality policy at the school. Is there
a privacy policy. Our parents always informed and I know
there's the opt out clause, but do parents have to
give consent? So it's one thing to say I don't
want to do it. That's informed refusal. But you should
(13:44):
also get informed consent for anything that would be mandatory,
that would involve your child's health or mental health. Yeah.
S1 (13:52):
Can I just echo your concerns, particularly on that last point?
It is how will the information be used? That bothers
me in particular. And maybe it's just because I have
seen this slow devolution in the classroom, broad spectrum. I'm
not saying every classroom in America, my friends know that,
and they know that. I believe that if you're a
follower of Jesus Christ in a secular classroom, you are
on a mission field and you need to be prayed
(14:13):
for and with on a regular basis. But how is
it going to be used? So I to your HIPAA point,
so I don't feel it's necessarily my responsibility to turn
over to the school my child's dental records. Now let
me pause and say, I recognize that, that the world
of social services recognizes teachers to be deemed to be
mandatory reporters. If you suspect child abuse, you are required
(14:34):
by law to have to report that to someone. But
as they say in the law, bad cases make bad law.
We're not talking about exceptional problems here. We're talking about
every single student in grades three through K. So if
I don't have to surrender my dental records, you're going
into an even more private area of concern when it
comes to your health, and that happens to be your
mental health. So, for example, if parents want to opt
(14:56):
their child out, the law leaves key elements in this
Illinois law to be determined by the Illinois State Board
of Education, which has until September 1st of 2026. It
doesn't get implemented until 2027. I'm sorry, Linda, you have
a PhD that you burn the midnight oil on for
years to get. What makes this Board of Education qualified
to determine how they're going to answer all those questions
(15:18):
you just said about mental health, that's not their area
of expertise. No. So why would they be making those
kinds of decisions? But there's the other part. Since we've
seen the devolution from education to To indoctrination and propaganda.
I'd be interested. And this goes to the way what?
How the screening is going to be done. Oh, you're
transphobe because you won't use pronouns. Well, that might be
(15:38):
a mental health issue. California flirted with this. So if
California said, this is how we're going to manipulate what's
preventing Illinois or Maryland or Massachusetts from doing the same thing,
that's problematic to me. If you decide that you believe
that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life,
are you going to be deemed a person who has
a heightened sense of religiosity and your psycho effective? Uh,
(15:59):
I mean, what are you going. How are you going
to take this information and categorize it? It could be
a cudgel, not a cure. And that's where I'm concerned.
S10 (16:07):
Yeah. And screening, as I said, is just a you
have to be trained in how you use screenings when
you go into a doctor's office and you are looking
at that iPad, they're asking all kinds of questions. They're
asking about, is there anybody violent in your household? Do
you feel sad? Do you depressed? But the doctor is
trained because I trained them. So I know what they're
trained in and they're trained in knowing what to do
(16:29):
with those questions, why those questions are important and what
those questions mean. And even then, a physician can only say,
I noticed this. Do I have permission to talk with
you about that? And a patient can still say, no,
you know, so so there's no permission given here for
the child's part, the teen part either. Like, I think
(16:49):
a lot of these questions could be embarrassing. I'd like
to see what screening tools I have no idea what
they're using and how they're going to do this, but
the questions are upsetting. Sometimes the questions are embarrassing. You know,
you just don't sit down and then you start asking
these embarrassing and upsetting questions and talking about private things
and their mental health. And that makes us students sometimes
(17:12):
feel even worse. And that's another concern I have, Janet,
is because where you tell the brain to focus, it goes.
So if you're constantly asking children, how do you feel,
how do you feel? How do you feel? Are you sad?
Are you sad? You know, after a while. Yes. Because
you're you're in some ways, you're focusing the brain on
those negative thoughts. And what we want to do in
(17:32):
the schools is we want to teach students to be resilient.
We want to teach them to have a growth mindset,
to be able to tackle problems and face them and
move forward. We don't want to constantly talk about pathology
and what's wrong with people, and we've got it backwards
in our culture because that seems to be what we're doing.
S1 (17:49):
Yeah. Could not agree more. We're going to talk a
little bit more about this, some other concerns. And then
at the bottom of the hour I'm going to open
the phone lines and give you a chance to ask
Doctor Linda Mitchell questions about what is the role of
school when it comes to family life, what is our
responsibility as we look well to the ways of our household?
What are we doing as first responders to mental health
(18:10):
issues that might arise in the lives of our children?
Those kinds of questions. We'll look forward to the answers
right after this.
S11 (18:27):
Illinois, the first in the nation to roll out universal
mental health screenings to its schools.
S12 (18:32):
It's our responsibility to ensure that young people have all
the support that they need to get the help that
they deserve.
S11 (18:40):
The new law will require public schools to offer age
appropriate screenings to identify mental health concerns in students in
the third through 12th grades. The screenings are designed to
be confidential, and parents who don't want their kids to
participate must opt out. The screenings will also connect families
with the beacon portal that helps them find psychiatric care
(19:00):
in their communities. The measure was approved earlier this year
in Springfield, but many Republicans questioned whether the screenings were
just another example of government overreach.
S1 (19:10):
Well, it might be. That's a question yet to be answered,
isn't it? Doctor Linda mintel is with us. She is
an author, a speaker, a writer, a teacher. Excellent. And
all that and a whole lot more. Wrote a piece
that goes right to the heart of this story that
really addresses the question, should schools be responsible for your
child's mental health? And I will open the phone lines
at the bottom of the hour, give you a chance
to ask questions. But Linda, I just want to examine
(19:32):
a few more things. You just heard the governor in
that news clip from NBC say it's our responsibility. Well,
I beg to differ. I this is my problem. The
best Department of Health, education and welfare always has been,
always will be the family. So the presumptive attitude here
is it takes a village. I find that anathema. The
last time I checked, a village was made up of families.
(19:52):
It takes a family to raise the child. There are
other systems of support out there, but it takes a family.
So it raises, I think, another concern, not just what
do you do with this information, but I don't know
where the parents fit in in this paradigm. So once
you've done your screening and once you have this information,
what are you going to do? Report first to the
family or first to social services. And even if your
(20:13):
child if you're going to opt your child out, are
they going to put a little mark by your child's
name saying, oh, suspicious problem here. They wouldn't even let
us do the screening. I mean, where is the parent
in this equation? They should be the number one concern
after the child.
S10 (20:25):
Well, and what you're speaking to is I think the
public schools have lost their focus on what their job is.
And you started with that, Janet, because you said we're abysmal.
I live in a state where I think we're number
50 on the educational scale in terms of the worst
state in the in the country for educational objectives. And
(20:45):
why are we not focusing on basic reading, writing, arithmetic,
critical thinking, problem solving, good literature, all the things, classical
things that we used to do in schools. And then
we wonder why we're not winning the Stem wars and
we're not, you know, putting out students that can really
make a difference in our culture. So it is concerning
(21:06):
where do the parents fit in? And one of the
things that really bothered me about that sound clip was
when they said, oh, and then they're sent to a
portal for services. Well, I'm like something, something called the beacon.
It sounded like. And I'm like, well, who has vetted
those services? Like, I would not send a Christian family.
If a Christian family comes to comes to me and says,
(21:27):
you know, I have a child and I don't see
a lot of children in therapy. If they said they
had a child that was eight years old and, you know,
they're really concerned, they don't know if they've got anxiety
or is it ADHD or a lot of symptoms. Um,
have different presentations for different root causes of what's going
on with the child or a teen. And so, you know,
my thing is, well, let me tell you about where
(21:48):
I would feel comfortable sending your child, because first of all,
I know that that that therapist or that doctor has
a Christian worldview and is going to talk to you
from the same values that you come from. And when
you just send people out to these random services. And
who picked these services? Was it a was it did
they have a Christian representative on the panel who said,
(22:10):
now for the Christian parents in our schools, let's make
sure that we give them these services. Doubtful. So again,
these are the questions that that parents need to ask. And,
you know, if somebody is taking a screening and, um,
you know, they answer a question that I'm sad, I'm irritable.
Those are usually questions they ask on depression screenings. And
somebody looks at that. What do they do with that information?
(22:34):
I mean, what are they going to talk about it?
Are they going to bring it up to the child.
Are they going to inform the parents and say, hey,
we had a screen, we did a screening tool. Would
you like to see it? Would you like to see
how your child answered it? But you know, it's a
one time screening and that child could have just come
from a fight with their family that the child, you know,
(22:55):
the child could have been upset by a peer who
was bullying them and was really upset. So there's no
context for these screenings because you're not involving the families
on the front end. So rather, what needs to happen,
in my opinion, is with this is that if you
if a child of a teacher or staff or school
(23:17):
administrators hears something concerning from a child, then they should
immediately call the family and say, here's what I heard. Remember,
PTA meetings never used to go to those, and they
would bring them up to us and we would say,
thank you so much. I'll deal with it. Or, um,
you know, I'll let you know how that goes. But
I don't think this is just another overreach to me
(23:38):
of government. And I and I say that with a
lot of caution because I know as a mental health
therapist that early detection and early screening is critical, especially
with kids, because a lot of times if we find
out the problems early, we can nip them in the bud. Yeah,
but I don't have confidence, given what we're seeing in
(23:58):
our public schools today with mostly the administrators, I think
there's a lot of really good, well-meaning teachers out there
that really love kids and really want to teach. But
I don't have confidence in these these broad laws that
are mandated that don't have any type of conversations with
the parents about the way this is going to be handled,
(24:19):
how it's going to be handled, what are the concerns?
And there's still a lot of concerns that are involved
in all of this. A lot of times screenings will
give you false negatives and false positives. And again, these
are school administrators and people. They don't they're not trained
mental health people to understand what any of this means.
So yes, I do think it's an overreach. And I'm
(24:40):
not usually somebody who says that.
S1 (24:43):
That's.
S10 (24:43):
An issue. I do feel that way.
S1 (24:45):
That's why you are my expert witness in this case.
I thank you for that. (877)Â 548-3675. This is your turn now.
So what exactly is the role of school in family life?
How do you look for those signals, those signs where
something's with your child? You might not be a trained
PhD in clinical psychology, and yet you want the best
for your child. So how do you do that? We're
(25:07):
going to get those kinds of answers from Linda when
you can't call in with your questions. Questions only. (877)Â 548-3675
more with Doctor Linda mintel. Right after this. Going through
(25:32):
life with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper
in the other is essential for each of us on
our walk with Christ. And that's what we do on
in the market. We examine culture, interpret the headlines, and
look at the news from a biblical perspective. When you
become a partial partner, you're directly responsible for putting this
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with the practical application of God's Word. Become a partial
partner today by calling 877 Janet 58 or go to
(25:55):
in the market with Janet.
S13 (26:00):
The state of Illinois has decided officially that every single
student in public schools. Grades third through 12th grade will
get mental health screenings once a year, beginning in the
20 2728 school year. There's so many issues with this.
In 2022, Governor Pritzker of Illinois launched the Children's Behavioral
(26:23):
Health Transformation Initiative to address long waitlists, fragmented systems and
overwhelmed families. The state contracted with Google Public Sector to
build an organization called beacon. She says that this beacon
was built on Google's cloud, which was powered by AI.
Psychiatric hospitals are now required to funnel discharged children into
(26:45):
beacon to ensure continuity of care, which means that children's
most sensitive data will be processed through an AI driven
system owned and operated by Google. The issue is that
you are now compromising the data of, presumably, all the
children in the Illinois public schools, and you're handing that
(27:06):
data over to the state. You want to know the
best wellness center a kid could ever ask for their home.
S1 (27:13):
That from Prager University, who really did nail that on
the head. We're talking with Doctor Linda mintel, who teaches
doctors how to be doctors. By the way, she hosts
her own radio program. She is an award winning author.
She speaks, she writes, she blogs. She's got a piece
that I've put on my website first showing up on
Beliefnet entitled Should Schools Be Responsible for Your Child's Mental Health?
(27:34):
And this woman who has her PhD in Clinical Psychology
and Urban health. This didn't slip past her just from
a clinician's vantage point, and she has over 30 years
of experience under her belt on this. She has raised
the concerns in the first half of our conversation together. So, Linda,
to your point, you wondered, I mean, really now you've
got the state of Illinois partnering with Google. What could
(27:54):
possibly go wrong?
S10 (27:56):
Oh my gosh, I'm not a lawyer. But the privacy
concerns right there and the data breaching and where that
data is going. I mean, Janet, when when I conduct research,
I have to do all these research modules to say
that I understand all the problems that I could, you know,
have with confidentiality, informed consent, all the breaches that could happen.
(28:18):
And I have to I have to certify that I
understand all this and all of this has problems in
all of those areas. I mean, she is right to
raise that as a privacy. If I as a parent,
I do not want Google AI knowing data about my children.
And that's one of the concerns we've all had with
social media, right? I mean, everything's being tracked. And where
(28:40):
does this data go? And there have been so many
breaches of data that we've seen. Um, one of the
biggest when I, when I teach the ethics course, I
think the biggest the number one problem with HIPAA is theft.
So theft of data. So here we go. Let's just
give them another area they can do that with.
S1 (28:59):
Exactly right. Of course the odds of it landing up
in some data bank in China probably 100%. I mean,
really scary. It's replete with problems. And again, you made
an excellent point. And I promise I'm going to take
your calls. Friends (877)Â 548-3675. Questions only. You raised the concern
about this is a one shot deal. So once you
do this screening this isn't ongoing care. This isn't identifying
(29:24):
a problem. And then saying, hey, here's a list of
counselors we have available for you as a resource to recommend.
None of that has been discussed or fleshed out. What
we do know is that it's going to go to
this beacon program, which is part of Google's public sector.
So that in and of itself gives me pause. Wow. (877)Â 548-3675. Suzanne,
thanks for joining us from Illinois. Your question please.
S14 (29:46):
My question is, if you're saying don't think the school
should get involved at an early age for these adolescents
and you think it starts at home? I disagree with that.
I want to ask you, who would you say should
help them?
S10 (30:07):
Yeah. No, Suzanne, I'm not saying. I'm not saying that
the school shouldn't be involved. I'm all for early detection
and the schools picking up on things with the kids.
I don't like the way this is being rolled out.
I would prefer that there be some type of partnership
with the schools and the families, because when I was
working with kids in the schools that had a lot
of problems, mental health problems, I was also working with
(30:30):
the families and they were working collaboratively with me. And
the concern here is again a concern. Now this could
this could roll out and be fine. But I just
have seen too many of these problems that we're seeing
now in our culture, the way things are done, that
I'm a little bit worried about how they're going to
roll it out. So the concern here is, is it
(30:52):
going to be a collaborative partnership with the parent being informed,
with the parents still having control over the information, over
what the treatment is, how the treatment is going to
be rolled out. Schools play a very important role in
helping parents and families identify, and often the school finds
out that the family isn't functioning very well and is
(31:14):
in need of help and can offer resources that way too.
So I'm not saying that this shouldn't be a partnership,
but I don't like the way this is being put together.
S1 (31:23):
Let me pick up on your point about HIPAA, which
is again, you know, and by the way, you should know,
being here in Washington, there is no federal HIPAA language.
This is all done sometimes in your own doctor's office
with their own legal counsel. So it's basically about protecting
your rights, but in truth, it also protects the doctors. Okay.
They're very, very Craig. And I always say the wicked
twin sister of medicine is the law. So a lot
(31:44):
of this is about protecting the practitioner, him or herself.
But you have to nonetheless sign the papers. And I
love it. Linda, when they say, here, sign that you've
read the HIPAA papers. What what I didn't. What did
you give me? Something to read. I read, I don't know,
and most people will just blindly sign it without even
knowing what their HIPAA rights are. But HIPAA is there,
whether you like it or not, whether it's cryptic or not,
it's there. There's no HIPAA in this plan for Illinois,
(32:05):
and I'm using them as an example because again, they
are the first in the nation to mandate this, not
make it available, but to mandate it. It goes to Google.
That's all about data. Why HIPAA just apparently doesn't exist
in that world does it?
S10 (32:19):
Yeah. And that's the that's the concern about privacy and
confidentiality even. You know, with telemedicine you have to go
on these very secure sites when you do them, where
nobody is supposed to be able to get in there
and get that information right. And you have to use
certain computers. And there are all these rules and regulations
about that. I just don't know what the school board
(32:40):
is doing. We're raising concerns, Janet. We're not saying that,
you know, this may not be maybe it is going
to be helpful in the long run. And maybe a
lot of families need this type of assistance. But I
would raise these concerns as a parent and ask those questions.
How is the privacy being protected? How is confidentiality confidentiality
being protected? Who gets this information? How is this information
(33:03):
being used? Will my child be stigmatized? Will somebody know
who knows in the school? Who gets told? We're very
careful about that. In universities. We don't allow anybody to
get access to information. There's a FERPA, it's called FERPA
in the university setting. So you know where this just
needs to be way more fleshed out, I think before
(33:24):
parents could go, okay, this could be helpful. This might
be a good idea.
S1 (33:29):
Well, and can we address the fact that this is
mental health? And there are some distinctions here with physical health.
When I was a kid growing up and I'll date myself,
we got mandatory TB tests and then the results were
reported back to our parents. It was a one shot deal, period.
If the test was positive, then the parents were given
advice on what they should do to follow up with
their own physician on the TB test. Mental health is different.
(33:51):
So you do a screening and if you have a
finding and findings are very interesting things, as you know
in medicine, Linda, because if there's a finding that usually
is a call for action. So if you have a
finding on this screening and what are you going to
do with it, then are you going to turn in
a whole list of qualified counselors, including, but not limited to,
Christian counselors as opposed to secular counselors? Are you going
to favor counselors who are Jungian, Gestalt, or Freudian in
(34:13):
their approach? I mean, the questions just beget more questions
beget more questions. But the fact that the state wants
to partner with Google right out of the bat means
I'm not seeing a curative aspect here. I'm seeing more
data procurement, and that bothers me. So it raises another
question too, which is if you found something and this
hasn't been fleshed out, what are you going to do
(34:34):
with it? Say, right. Tommy said that he was sorry.
What what? He's feeling sad. What would you like? How
can we help you with Tommy feeling sad.
S10 (34:42):
And if you screen. So this has been one of
the really big concerns about screening. And again, remember screening
isn't diagnostic. It's not diagnostic. It doesn't give you the
diagnosis of anything. All it says is, oh, there are
some risk factors here. Some people need to pay attention. Right.
But the follow up, what you could have happening is
that a bunch of people got screened, a bunch of
(35:04):
students got screened. There was not a there was not
good follow up. They were not given resources. And something
terrible happens. Then you've got parents potentially suing the school
for saying, well, you had information and we didn't we
didn't get a follow up on that. And there was no,
you know, no way to know what was going to
happen in terms of the schools, you know, closing that
(35:25):
loop and coming back around with the families again, that
all needs to be thought out and, you know, figured out.
And I would hope that they would have families as
part of a task force that would talk about that
and represent, you know, the family perspective on all of this.
S1 (35:40):
I couldn't agree more. Linda, thank you for joining us.
Your question for Doctor Linda menzel, please.
S15 (35:46):
Yes. My question is, would early mandatory, uh, detection of
mental health illness be helpful to adults who attended a
public school and who ended up in prison because of
their mental illness?
S10 (36:08):
So I'm not sure I understand the question. Would early
detection for adults in. Are you talking about like in
a college or.
S1 (36:16):
Well, if I can. And Linda, I don't mean to
translate for you, but I think what I'm hearing, Linda
ask is if there had been early detection earlier in school,
early grade levels, could that have been a deterrent for
someone who ended up being incarcerated because it wasn't identified
early in their life?
S10 (36:31):
Yes. So there is something called the Ace scores, and
this is in somewhat a screening tool. But it is
it is early adverse early childhood experiences. And if you've
had one of these ten experiences, it increases your risk
for mental health problems as an adult, and physical health
as well. So we are trained to pay attention to
(36:51):
those adverse early childhood experiences. And when we notify when
we notice that with a child, we will bring that
up to parents and say, these are risk factors for adults.
So I don't know if that helps. But yes, that
would be something that could be helpful for adults as well.
S1 (37:06):
So Linda, I'm going to do a follow up question
based on your question, which is okay. If that would
be helpful, then is it the school's job to do
this or where can someone go to get that kind
of testing done? I'll leave that question hanging. We'll get
an answer when we get right back. (877)Â 548-3675. Stay with us.
More of your questions after this.
S16 (37:36):
Illinois public schools will soon be required to give students
annual mental health screenings under a new law just signed
by governor J.B. JB Pritzker.
S12 (37:43):
We all struggle at some time or another in our lives,
maybe multiple times in our lives, and just need a
little bit of help. And especially our children. So, um,
we've got to overcome the stigma. We've got to make
sure that, uh, we're, uh, screening kids.
S16 (37:58):
The bill requires all school districts to provide screening in
grades three through 12. Starting with the 2027 school year,
the Illinois School Board must create guidelines for the screening,
and the state is picking up the cost.
S1 (38:11):
Well, there you go. And that caused Doctor Linda mintel,
who has a PhD in urban health and clinical psychology,
30 years of experience, teaches doctors how to be doctors.
To write the article posted on Beliefnet. Should schools be
responsible for your child's mental health? So, Linda, if I may,
I want to piggyback on Linda's question because she was
talking about the benefit of early detection. And again, that
is a legitimate question. And here's where critical thinking comes in.
(38:34):
It's not an either or. So if getting this testing
done early helps and you could see some markers where
you think, let's see if we can do some pivoting here.
That would help, uh, have a positive outcome in the
future as opposed to a detrimental outcome. Where does that
service get done? So we're not saying don't get any
mental health. The problem is whether or not the school
(38:54):
should be the delivery system. So who should be and
what do you do if you don't have the finances?
S10 (39:00):
Yeah. And so you know already schools pick up on things.
So this a study that I talked about was a
very large study that was done by Kaiser Permanente a
number of years ago. And they came up with ten
risk factors in childhood that would potentially predict that you
might have problems with your mental health or health in adulthood.
(39:21):
And those include, uh, experiencing violence, abuse, neglect, witnessing violence
in the home or in the community, having a family
member attempt to die by suicide, substance use problems in
the family, mental health problems in the family. So, you know,
maybe a mom or a dad with bipolar or some
(39:42):
mental health untreated particularly as well in, um, inability to, um,
to parent due to separation. Incarceration is one of the factors.
Divorce is one of the factors, uh, separation, divorce, as
I mentioned before. So all of these experiences in a
child's life impact their mental health. So the question is,
(40:04):
you know, what does the school do? I really appreciate
what they're trying to do. They're trying to get early identification.
And when the governor that little, little soundbite you just
said I couldn't disagree with anything he said. Everybody struggles.
Everybody needs help. There are lots of issues going on
in families. Families are tremendously fragmented. Uh, they have a
(40:24):
lot of we have a lot of problems. The question is,
whose job is it to really identify that and then
follow through with the help that's needed? So again, if
you do this once a year screening, which I don't
know how that's really effective, because you could have a
terrible beginning of a school year if that's when they
do the screening because of a job loss, a recent move,
(40:47):
a problem in the family that may resolve, you know,
and the child might get better. But now they're in
the system and now they're identified. And then the follow up,
what do you do with that? And what are we
doing to prevent these things? You know, what are how
are we modeling for kids? So let's just take this
whole area, Janet, of emotional regulation. When I see school
(41:10):
administrators and board members and people in um, committee meetings
screaming and yelling at parents and fighting with parents, I'm thinking,
these are the people that are helping our students emotionally regulate. Now,
there are great teachers who help with that and can
do that. But again, it's hit and miss depending on
the school you're in, the board members, the ideology of
(41:32):
the school, you know how what are they teaching? Are
they teaching from an ideological perspective or are they teaching
the basics? We have so many problems in our schools
that I just don't know if this is the place
that we need to put this problem again. Can we
work in partnership? Yes. Can we collaborate? Can teachers notice? Hey,
(41:53):
this kid's talking about violence in the home. Hey, I
need to let the family know. And then I and then,
you know, social workers are in schools and they pick
up on these things, and they know when when kids
are in trouble and they're effective people to, I think,
help with a referral with the family, talk to the family,
see what you can do to get the help.
S1 (42:11):
Mm. (877)Â 548-3675. Cindy, I welcome you your question, please, for Linda.
S17 (42:18):
Yes. Thank you for taking my call. Um, first of all,
I have a family member that. And I appreciate what
you guys are doing. I have a family member that's
very much involved in the mental health field. She herself
is a mental health therapist. And in our area, their
agency is in charge of five county area in Illinois
that deals with. They're the only agency that deals with
(42:39):
suicide from the police department and hospitals, where they have
to go out and they have to evaluate these kids
as young as four years old. Um, that is part
of the mental issue that's happening in our own counties,
in the school district, in the grade school, in the community,
in the town I live. There was a picture in
the paper of a huge progressive pride flag on the
(43:02):
wall of the grade school. And I've been told that.
And I know that they indoctrinate and they're very, what
do you call it in? Um, they want inclusiveness. They
want the kids to be inclusive of that type of
lifestyle and the principles, the one that had it put up.
And they think it's all wonderful. Well, my question is
with this mental health people, and one of the things
(43:22):
this I've been told is who's going to be the
one doing the screenings? How qualified are they? And when
you ask the kids questions about the indoctrination that's happening with,
you know, LGBTQ and all that. They have no clue
what you're talking about. So when this affects them, what
can we do as parents, citizens, taxpayers in Illinois and
(43:43):
the school board to stand up and say, you know,
enough's enough. This has got to stop.
S10 (43:48):
Yeah. Elect the right people to the school board and
then go to the meetings and push back and don't
and stand firm on the things that are concerning to
you and get answers. The school board, you pay their
you pay taxes, you have a right to know. And
you have a right to firmly, calmly stay on a
on on a question until you get an answer. And
(44:08):
parents have to get involved. You just have to be advocates.
Now you have to go find out what's being told,
find out what's being said, and go in there and
give your your position.
S1 (44:17):
And again, right now at least, you have the opportunity
to opt out, which is the most important thing. But
you might not even know it. You might not know
this program is coming. If you live in Illinois. It's
implemented again in 2027. Right now, there is the opportunity
to opt out. That might change. But Linda, let's end
on a positive note. How do we, as moms and
dads look well to the ways of our household and
check their mental health? We can look at their teeth.
(44:38):
We take them to the dentist. We take them to
the doctor. How do we look out for their mental health?
What's the first step?
S10 (44:43):
I mean, you know, let's go back to Doctor Dobson's.
Strong families create healthy kids, right? They need strong families.
They need to be rooted in their faith, understand resiliency
from a faith perspective, and then go out and be witnesses.
Be light to a very dark world. But families have
to raise up those children in those ways to be
resilient and to be a witness to other people.
S1 (45:05):
Amen. And that's a choice, by the way, not a cost.
Every single one of us, because of the power that
we have through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we
can look wells the well to the ways of our household.
He's not a father that frustrates. He's a father that instructs.
And so read his word and build that strong family. Linda.
Thank you. Excellent conversation and the article is posted on
our website. Check it out. Thanks, Linda. Thanks, friends. We'll
(45:25):
see you next time.
Hi friend, thank you so much for downloading this podcast
of In the Market with Janet Parshall, and it is
my most sincere hope that you are edified, equipped, enlightened,
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me just take a moment of your time to tell
you about this month's truth tool. It's called The Steadfast
Love of the Lord by my friend and frequent guest,
(00:22):
Doctor Sam Storms. You know, he tells us that so
often we struggle with this idea of feeling like we're
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separates us from the love of God. But we fail
to remember the Scripture that reminds us that while we
were yet sinners, not perfect, not all put together, not
everything's all been worked out while we were yet sinners.
That's when Christ died. For us. Love is an action word,
(00:44):
and that's what Doctor Sam Storms reminds us in his book,
The Steadfast Love of God. I don't know about you,
but with the headlines of the day, being reminded of
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(01:05):
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(01:27):
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(01:50):
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now with all my heart, I hope you hear something
(02:10):
today that really changes your perspective and makes you excited
about being a follower of Jesus Christ. Enjoy the program!
S2 (02:18):
Here are some of the news headlines we're watching.
S3 (02:20):
The conference was over. The president won a pledge.
S4 (02:23):
Americans worshiping government over God.
S3 (02:25):
Extremely rare safety move by a.
S5 (02:28):
17 years of Palestinians and Israelis negotiated.
S3 (02:33):
With.
S6 (02:48):
Belinda Shay is a high school counselor at Alta-aurelia in Alta, Iowa,
which consists of Approximately 200 students.
S7 (02:56):
The Teen Mental Health Program is designed to help teens
respond appropriately to their peers, so we thought that would
be a great thing for us to implement into our
health program. I think it gives them a way to
talk about mental health. Um, hopefully take away some of
that stigma that we hear or that we know about
mental health.
S6 (03:17):
The program assists teens by providing them with an action plan,
first by identifying the challenges they're experiencing, then in discovering
the tools they may already have at their disposal to
fix things. It's helping students like Mason Peck, a graduating
senior at Alta-aurelia High School. Mason says the program is
making a huge difference in his life.
S8 (03:38):
And during the mental health first aid program, we were
thinking about, you know, negative thoughts, positive thoughts and how
often you'll tell yourself a negative thought. I noticed myself
worrying less about uncertainty in my life.
S6 (03:54):
Sophomore Lilly Schellenberg said the program has made her more
confident in talking about mental health.
S9 (04:00):
During the class, we were told like, if you see something,
say something. The one that really stuck out to me
is it's okay to not be okay.
S6 (04:08):
In Iowa, school said. It said a positive change in
not only the student body, but in the family conversations
that are taking place as a result of the program.
S7 (04:17):
I think that parents are definitely happy that we're discussing
some of these things and we're having these open conversations.
A huge part of this program is not only examining
or discovering some of the mental health challenges that we have,
but talking so very much about the supports that are
available and how people can feel better when they experience
(04:39):
some of these challenges.
S1 (04:42):
That's a story from Good Morning America about mental health
services being offered in schools. Welcome to In the Market
with Janet Parshall. We're going to take up that subject,
by the way, because there's a new Illinois law now
mandating annual mental health screenings for students in the third
through the 12th grades. And it's drawing concern from parents
and policy experts who say the measure and the way
(05:03):
it could be implemented raises more questions than it answers.
This didn't slip past Doctor Linda mintel. She wrote a
piece in Beliefnet entitled Should Schools Be Responsible for Your
Child's Mental Health? Linda joins us this hour and we're
so glad every time she does. She has her PhD
in urban health and clinical psychology. She is a national
(05:24):
expert on mental health. She has specialized in the treatments
of eating disorder, anxiety, depression, pain management over 30 years
of clinical experience. She is a prolific author, best selling author.
She hosts her own radio program. She is an award
winning author, and she's a person who hosts her own
radio program, speaks and teaches doctors how to be doctors.
(05:44):
The list goes on and on and on, and we're
always thrilled when Linda joins us. But I will tell you,
as someone who is delighted to call her my friend,
I am always pleased. And how Linda just picks up
on what's happening in the culture and being someone who
has a PhD in clinical psychology. Linda, this one wasn't
about to slip past you, so you chose to write
about it. And that takes, I think, some fortitude and
(06:06):
courage on your part because after all, if the schools
are doing it, if a governor signs it into law,
it must be good, right? But as you point out
in your article, it raises some pretty important questions. So
talk to me about your thoughts on this first of all.
S10 (06:20):
Well, I do have a little bit of experience in
this area. I did work in the Chicago Public Schools
for a number of years early in my career. So
I do understand what happens in schools. I understand the
problems that teachers are faced with and the problems that
students bring to the teacher. So it's, you know, it's
a very difficult job, I think, in, in terms of
(06:43):
teaching in today's culture. But my biggest concern. You know,
I looked at the the data. Janet, in about a
third of the schools in the United States do mandate
mental health screenings. So I don't believe this is the
first time this is happening. But the questions that I
have around this topic are questions that every parent should
(07:05):
be talking about and thinking about. And so I've got
about six of those questions that we need to go through.
And then the concerns that I have bringing this up,
because so much of what we're seeing in the public
schools is that half the time, parents have no idea
whether it's curriculum ideas or they're talking to them about gender,
ideology or whatever it is. Most of the time, parents
(07:29):
are unaware of what is going on in the public schools,
and that's a problem. We need to know what is happening.
And I've seen way too many forums, um, that that,
you know, are videos of parents trying to bring up
topics that are sensitive, that could be stigmatizing. And certainly
mental health is one of those topics. And they get
shut down by school board members or members of the,
(07:52):
of the school. So we've got to have a conversation
about this. And when I saw it, I thought, oh yeah,
this is raising a lot of concerns in my mind
as well.
S1 (07:59):
Yeah. And again, and thank you for what you just said.
So having mental health services available in a school district,
you're absolutely right, is nothing new. What is new and
significant and is problematic is that this is a law
now requiring mental health screenings. That's new. Having required now,
parents at this point in stage are allowed to opt out.
(08:20):
So if you opt your child out in third grade
and this is again mandatory for third through 12th grade,
are you going to have to go back every single
year from third grade to 12th grade to say, I'm
going to opt out? Are we going to see, like
we saw in Montgomery County schools in Maryland for no
reason whatsoever? The school goes, abracadabra, we're erasing the opt
out faction. So I think that's very much a concern
that a lot of parents have. So this is new,
(08:42):
but it does Whether it's new, whether it's mandated or not,
what you did brilliantly, and I think in a very
timely fashion, Linda, was to raise the fact that we
need to have a conversation. And so before we get
to those six points, let me just fly at the
35,000 foot level, particularly a with your background in Chicago schools,
but B with your PhD in clinical psychology. You know,
it's Archimedes bathtub. There's only so much you can do
(09:03):
in a school day. And so if you add mental
health mandatory screening, something splashes over the side of the tub.
And what else are you going to put then what
gets kicked out because something is being put in. And
as it stands right now, and forgive me, but in
Washington we eat, sleep and breathe data. We are an
abysmal failure and the world stage when it comes to
American academic performances, we are surprised we overspend per student
(09:27):
compared to any other country on planet Earth, and we
underperform at a demonstrably horrible level. So I'll just let
that fact hang out there. So now you're going to
put in mental health screenings. Okay, so it's not an
either or. It's a both end or it's an either end.
So if the schools are going to add mandatory mental
health screenings, what pays the price during the school day,
what goes away when that gets added on? And yet
(09:49):
at the same time, you have a mental health crisis
in this country. The question then is, is the school
the place where we're supposed to have the delivery service?
And if it is, what role do parents play when
the school is doing a mental health screening on somebody
else's child? Doctor Linda mintel is with us. These are
very important conversations as you and I learn how to
look well to the ways of our household. We'll take
(10:10):
up some of Doctor Linda Mintel's concerns right after this.
If you've ever felt unworthy of God's love, we need
to remember that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
(10:31):
for us. That's why I've chosen the steadfast love of
the Lord as this month's truth tool. Unworthiness doesn't disqualify
you from God's love. It magnifies it. As for your copy,
the steadfast love of the Lord, when you give a
gift of any amount to in the market, call 877
Janet 58. That's 877 Janet 58 or go to in
the market with Janet Parshall. We just love spending time
(10:53):
with Doctor Linda and her compassionate biblical thinking and her
concern for good emotional and mental health and predicated on
what the Bible has to say. It's her PhD in
Clinical psychology, teaches, doctors, writes, speaks, radio hosts. The list
goes on and on and on and on. So she
wrote a piece recently, being very current, given the headlines
(11:13):
of the day and in light of this new law
in the state of Illinois that mandates mental health screening
for grades three through six, it raises, I think, a
very legitimate question should schools be responsible for your child's
mental health? So thank you for the oversight on our
first segment together, Linda. But now you've got some specific
questions that you think should be raised. I'd love to
hear them.
S10 (11:33):
Well, the first one, Janet, is who does the screenings
and who is qualified to do those screenings. So there
needs to be, in most schools, a school psychologist, but
a lot of schools do not have them and they
can't afford them and they don't have the funding for them.
So that is a very important question for parents to
ask who's going to be doing those screenings? Are they
(11:55):
people who understand what screenings are and how they're to
be used? Um, you know, because screenings are not diagnostic tools.
They're not something that says, oh, you take this screening,
that means you have depression or that means you have anxiety.
All a screening does is it picks up on things
that could indicate that something is going on, but it
(12:16):
doesn't mean that the person has a particular diagnosis. So
I would be very concerned with who's doing this. How
are they being done? How are they being delivered? Are
they are kids sitting in a room and taking a self-survey?
What are those screening instruments and are they accurate? That's
another question I had. You know, screening tools are supposed
(12:38):
to be only a way to say, hmm, there might
be a concern. And then what should happen is a
child should be evaluated fully by a professional who understands testing,
understands what to ask. You know, what questions are important,
what's going on in the family. So two things right
off the bat. You know who will conduct the screenings.
(13:00):
Are they accurate? Now a really important question is how
will that information be used. And that's where I have
major I teach ethics to to medical students. We talk
all the time about HIPAA. You know that's your privacy,
the Privacy Act that is supposed to keep your personal
mental health and health data private. So who's going to
(13:22):
see those those screenings. How are they going to be used.
Is there a confidentiality policy at the school. Is there
a privacy policy. Our parents always informed and I know
there's the opt out clause, but do parents have to
give consent? So it's one thing to say I don't
want to do it. That's informed refusal. But you should
(13:44):
also get informed consent for anything that would be mandatory,
that would involve your child's health or mental health. Yeah.
S1 (13:52):
Can I just echo your concerns, particularly on that last point?
It is how will the information be used? That bothers
me in particular. And maybe it's just because I have
seen this slow devolution in the classroom, broad spectrum. I'm
not saying every classroom in America, my friends know that,
and they know that. I believe that if you're a
follower of Jesus Christ in a secular classroom, you are
on a mission field and you need to be prayed
(14:13):
for and with on a regular basis. But how is
it going to be used? So I to your HIPAA point,
so I don't feel it's necessarily my responsibility to turn
over to the school my child's dental records. Now let
me pause and say, I recognize that, that the world
of social services recognizes teachers to be deemed to be
mandatory reporters. If you suspect child abuse, you are required
(14:34):
by law to have to report that to someone. But
as they say in the law, bad cases make bad law.
We're not talking about exceptional problems here. We're talking about
every single student in grades three through K. So if
I don't have to surrender my dental records, you're going
into an even more private area of concern when it
comes to your health, and that happens to be your
mental health. So, for example, if parents want to opt
(14:56):
their child out, the law leaves key elements in this
Illinois law to be determined by the Illinois State Board
of Education, which has until September 1st of 2026. It
doesn't get implemented until 2027. I'm sorry, Linda, you have
a PhD that you burn the midnight oil on for
years to get. What makes this Board of Education qualified
to determine how they're going to answer all those questions
(15:18):
you just said about mental health, that's not their area
of expertise. No. So why would they be making those
kinds of decisions? But there's the other part. Since we've
seen the devolution from education to To indoctrination and propaganda.
I'd be interested. And this goes to the way what?
How the screening is going to be done. Oh, you're
transphobe because you won't use pronouns. Well, that might be
(15:38):
a mental health issue. California flirted with this. So if
California said, this is how we're going to manipulate what's
preventing Illinois or Maryland or Massachusetts from doing the same thing,
that's problematic to me. If you decide that you believe
that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life,
are you going to be deemed a person who has
a heightened sense of religiosity and your psycho effective? Uh,
(15:59):
I mean, what are you going. How are you going
to take this information and categorize it? It could be
a cudgel, not a cure. And that's where I'm concerned.
S10 (16:07):
Yeah. And screening, as I said, is just a you
have to be trained in how you use screenings when
you go into a doctor's office and you are looking
at that iPad, they're asking all kinds of questions. They're
asking about, is there anybody violent in your household? Do
you feel sad? Do you depressed? But the doctor is
trained because I trained them. So I know what they're
trained in and they're trained in knowing what to do
(16:29):
with those questions, why those questions are important and what
those questions mean. And even then, a physician can only say,
I noticed this. Do I have permission to talk with
you about that? And a patient can still say, no,
you know, so so there's no permission given here for
the child's part, the teen part either. Like, I think
(16:49):
a lot of these questions could be embarrassing. I'd like
to see what screening tools I have no idea what
they're using and how they're going to do this, but
the questions are upsetting. Sometimes the questions are embarrassing. You know,
you just don't sit down and then you start asking
these embarrassing and upsetting questions and talking about private things
and their mental health. And that makes us students sometimes
(17:12):
feel even worse. And that's another concern I have, Janet,
is because where you tell the brain to focus, it goes.
So if you're constantly asking children, how do you feel,
how do you feel? How do you feel? Are you sad?
Are you sad? You know, after a while. Yes. Because
you're you're in some ways, you're focusing the brain on
those negative thoughts. And what we want to do in
(17:32):
the schools is we want to teach students to be resilient.
We want to teach them to have a growth mindset,
to be able to tackle problems and face them and
move forward. We don't want to constantly talk about pathology
and what's wrong with people, and we've got it backwards
in our culture because that seems to be what we're doing.
S1 (17:49):
Yeah. Could not agree more. We're going to talk a
little bit more about this, some other concerns. And then
at the bottom of the hour I'm going to open
the phone lines and give you a chance to ask
Doctor Linda Mitchell questions about what is the role of
school when it comes to family life, what is our
responsibility as we look well to the ways of our household?
What are we doing as first responders to mental health
(18:10):
issues that might arise in the lives of our children?
Those kinds of questions. We'll look forward to the answers
right after this.
S11 (18:27):
Illinois, the first in the nation to roll out universal
mental health screenings to its schools.
S12 (18:32):
It's our responsibility to ensure that young people have all
the support that they need to get the help that
they deserve.
S11 (18:40):
The new law will require public schools to offer age
appropriate screenings to identify mental health concerns in students in
the third through 12th grades. The screenings are designed to
be confidential, and parents who don't want their kids to
participate must opt out. The screenings will also connect families
with the beacon portal that helps them find psychiatric care
(19:00):
in their communities. The measure was approved earlier this year
in Springfield, but many Republicans questioned whether the screenings were
just another example of government overreach.
S1 (19:10):
Well, it might be. That's a question yet to be answered,
isn't it? Doctor Linda mintel is with us. She is
an author, a speaker, a writer, a teacher. Excellent. And
all that and a whole lot more. Wrote a piece
that goes right to the heart of this story that
really addresses the question, should schools be responsible for your
child's mental health? And I will open the phone lines
at the bottom of the hour, give you a chance
to ask questions. But Linda, I just want to examine
(19:32):
a few more things. You just heard the governor in
that news clip from NBC say it's our responsibility. Well,
I beg to differ. I this is my problem. The
best Department of Health, education and welfare always has been,
always will be the family. So the presumptive attitude here
is it takes a village. I find that anathema. The
last time I checked, a village was made up of families.
(19:52):
It takes a family to raise the child. There are
other systems of support out there, but it takes a family.
So it raises, I think, another concern, not just what
do you do with this information, but I don't know
where the parents fit in in this paradigm. So once
you've done your screening and once you have this information,
what are you going to do? Report first to the
family or first to social services. And even if your
(20:13):
child if you're going to opt your child out, are
they going to put a little mark by your child's
name saying, oh, suspicious problem here. They wouldn't even let
us do the screening. I mean, where is the parent
in this equation? They should be the number one concern
after the child.
S10 (20:25):
Well, and what you're speaking to is I think the
public schools have lost their focus on what their job is.
And you started with that, Janet, because you said we're abysmal.
I live in a state where I think we're number
50 on the educational scale in terms of the worst
state in the in the country for educational objectives. And
(20:45):
why are we not focusing on basic reading, writing, arithmetic,
critical thinking, problem solving, good literature, all the things, classical
things that we used to do in schools. And then
we wonder why we're not winning the Stem wars and
we're not, you know, putting out students that can really
make a difference in our culture. So it is concerning
(21:06):
where do the parents fit in? And one of the
things that really bothered me about that sound clip was
when they said, oh, and then they're sent to a
portal for services. Well, I'm like something, something called the beacon.
It sounded like. And I'm like, well, who has vetted
those services? Like, I would not send a Christian family.
If a Christian family comes to comes to me and says,
(21:27):
you know, I have a child and I don't see
a lot of children in therapy. If they said they
had a child that was eight years old and, you know,
they're really concerned, they don't know if they've got anxiety
or is it ADHD or a lot of symptoms. Um,
have different presentations for different root causes of what's going
on with the child or a teen. And so, you know,
my thing is, well, let me tell you about where
(21:48):
I would feel comfortable sending your child, because first of all,
I know that that that therapist or that doctor has
a Christian worldview and is going to talk to you
from the same values that you come from. And when
you just send people out to these random services. And
who picked these services? Was it a was it did
they have a Christian representative on the panel who said,
(22:10):
now for the Christian parents in our schools, let's make
sure that we give them these services. Doubtful. So again,
these are the questions that that parents need to ask. And,
you know, if somebody is taking a screening and, um,
you know, they answer a question that I'm sad, I'm irritable.
Those are usually questions they ask on depression screenings. And
somebody looks at that. What do they do with that information?
(22:34):
I mean, what are they going to talk about it?
Are they going to bring it up to the child.
Are they going to inform the parents and say, hey,
we had a screen, we did a screening tool. Would
you like to see it? Would you like to see
how your child answered it? But you know, it's a
one time screening and that child could have just come
from a fight with their family that the child, you know,
(22:55):
the child could have been upset by a peer who
was bullying them and was really upset. So there's no
context for these screenings because you're not involving the families
on the front end. So rather, what needs to happen,
in my opinion, is with this is that if you
if a child of a teacher or staff or school
(23:17):
administrators hears something concerning from a child, then they should
immediately call the family and say, here's what I heard. Remember,
PTA meetings never used to go to those, and they
would bring them up to us and we would say,
thank you so much. I'll deal with it. Or, um,
you know, I'll let you know how that goes. But
I don't think this is just another overreach to me
(23:38):
of government. And I and I say that with a
lot of caution because I know as a mental health
therapist that early detection and early screening is critical, especially
with kids, because a lot of times if we find
out the problems early, we can nip them in the bud. Yeah,
but I don't have confidence, given what we're seeing in
(23:58):
our public schools today with mostly the administrators, I think
there's a lot of really good, well-meaning teachers out there
that really love kids and really want to teach. But
I don't have confidence in these these broad laws that
are mandated that don't have any type of conversations with
the parents about the way this is going to be handled,
(24:19):
how it's going to be handled, what are the concerns?
And there's still a lot of concerns that are involved
in all of this. A lot of times screenings will
give you false negatives and false positives. And again, these
are school administrators and people. They don't they're not trained
mental health people to understand what any of this means.
So yes, I do think it's an overreach. And I'm
(24:40):
not usually somebody who says that.
S1 (24:43):
That's.
S10 (24:43):
An issue. I do feel that way.
S1 (24:45):
That's why you are my expert witness in this case.
I thank you for that. (877)Â 548-3675. This is your turn now.
So what exactly is the role of school in family life?
How do you look for those signals, those signs where
something's with your child? You might not be a trained
PhD in clinical psychology, and yet you want the best
for your child. So how do you do that? We're
(25:07):
going to get those kinds of answers from Linda when
you can't call in with your questions. Questions only. (877)Â 548-3675
more with Doctor Linda mintel. Right after this. Going through
(25:32):
life with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper
in the other is essential for each of us on
our walk with Christ. And that's what we do on
in the market. We examine culture, interpret the headlines, and
look at the news from a biblical perspective. When you
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(25:55):
in the market with Janet.
S13 (26:00):
The state of Illinois has decided officially that every single
student in public schools. Grades third through 12th grade will
get mental health screenings once a year, beginning in the
20 2728 school year. There's so many issues with this.
In 2022, Governor Pritzker of Illinois launched the Children's Behavioral
(26:23):
Health Transformation Initiative to address long waitlists, fragmented systems and
overwhelmed families. The state contracted with Google Public Sector to
build an organization called beacon. She says that this beacon
was built on Google's cloud, which was powered by AI.
Psychiatric hospitals are now required to funnel discharged children into
(26:45):
beacon to ensure continuity of care, which means that children's
most sensitive data will be processed through an AI driven
system owned and operated by Google. The issue is that
you are now compromising the data of, presumably, all the
children in the Illinois public schools, and you're handing that
(27:06):
data over to the state. You want to know the
best wellness center a kid could ever ask for their home.
S1 (27:13):
That from Prager University, who really did nail that on
the head. We're talking with Doctor Linda mintel, who teaches
doctors how to be doctors. By the way, she hosts
her own radio program. She is an award winning author.
She speaks, she writes, she blogs. She's got a piece
that I've put on my website first showing up on
Beliefnet entitled Should Schools Be Responsible for Your Child's Mental Health?
(27:34):
And this woman who has her PhD in Clinical Psychology
and Urban health. This didn't slip past her just from
a clinician's vantage point, and she has over 30 years
of experience under her belt on this. She has raised
the concerns in the first half of our conversation together. So, Linda,
to your point, you wondered, I mean, really now you've
got the state of Illinois partnering with Google. What could
(27:54):
possibly go wrong?
S10 (27:56):
Oh my gosh, I'm not a lawyer. But the privacy
concerns right there and the data breaching and where that
data is going. I mean, Janet, when when I conduct research,
I have to do all these research modules to say
that I understand all the problems that I could, you know,
have with confidentiality, informed consent, all the breaches that could happen.
(28:18):
And I have to I have to certify that I
understand all this and all of this has problems in
all of those areas. I mean, she is right to
raise that as a privacy. If I as a parent,
I do not want Google AI knowing data about my children.
And that's one of the concerns we've all had with
social media, right? I mean, everything's being tracked. And where
(28:40):
does this data go? And there have been so many
breaches of data that we've seen. Um, one of the
biggest when I, when I teach the ethics course, I
think the biggest the number one problem with HIPAA is theft.
So theft of data. So here we go. Let's just
give them another area they can do that with.
S1 (28:59):
Exactly right. Of course the odds of it landing up
in some data bank in China probably 100%. I mean,
really scary. It's replete with problems. And again, you made
an excellent point. And I promise I'm going to take
your calls. Friends (877)Â 548-3675. Questions only. You raised the concern
about this is a one shot deal. So once you
do this screening this isn't ongoing care. This isn't identifying
(29:24):
a problem. And then saying, hey, here's a list of
counselors we have available for you as a resource to recommend.
None of that has been discussed or fleshed out. What
we do know is that it's going to go to
this beacon program, which is part of Google's public sector.
So that in and of itself gives me pause. Wow. (877)Â 548-3675. Suzanne,
thanks for joining us from Illinois. Your question please.
S14 (29:46):
My question is, if you're saying don't think the school
should get involved at an early age for these adolescents
and you think it starts at home? I disagree with that.
I want to ask you, who would you say should
help them?
S10 (30:07):
Yeah. No, Suzanne, I'm not saying. I'm not saying that
the school shouldn't be involved. I'm all for early detection
and the schools picking up on things with the kids.
I don't like the way this is being rolled out.
I would prefer that there be some type of partnership
with the schools and the families, because when I was
working with kids in the schools that had a lot
of problems, mental health problems, I was also working with
(30:30):
the families and they were working collaboratively with me. And
the concern here is again a concern. Now this could
this could roll out and be fine. But I just
have seen too many of these problems that we're seeing
now in our culture, the way things are done, that
I'm a little bit worried about how they're going to
roll it out. So the concern here is, is it
(30:52):
going to be a collaborative partnership with the parent being informed,
with the parents still having control over the information, over
what the treatment is, how the treatment is going to
be rolled out. Schools play a very important role in
helping parents and families identify, and often the school finds
out that the family isn't functioning very well and is
(31:14):
in need of help and can offer resources that way too.
So I'm not saying that this shouldn't be a partnership,
but I don't like the way this is being put together.
S1 (31:23):
Let me pick up on your point about HIPAA, which
is again, you know, and by the way, you should know,
being here in Washington, there is no federal HIPAA language.
This is all done sometimes in your own doctor's office
with their own legal counsel. So it's basically about protecting
your rights, but in truth, it also protects the doctors. Okay.
They're very, very Craig. And I always say the wicked
twin sister of medicine is the law. So a lot
(31:44):
of this is about protecting the practitioner, him or herself.
But you have to nonetheless sign the papers. And I
love it. Linda, when they say, here, sign that you've
read the HIPAA papers. What what I didn't. What did
you give me? Something to read. I read, I don't know,
and most people will just blindly sign it without even
knowing what their HIPAA rights are. But HIPAA is there,
whether you like it or not, whether it's cryptic or not,
it's there. There's no HIPAA in this plan for Illinois,
(32:05):
and I'm using them as an example because again, they
are the first in the nation to mandate this, not
make it available, but to mandate it. It goes to Google.
That's all about data. Why HIPAA just apparently doesn't exist
in that world does it?
S10 (32:19):
Yeah. And that's the that's the concern about privacy and
confidentiality even. You know, with telemedicine you have to go
on these very secure sites when you do them, where
nobody is supposed to be able to get in there
and get that information right. And you have to use
certain computers. And there are all these rules and regulations
about that. I just don't know what the school board
(32:40):
is doing. We're raising concerns, Janet. We're not saying that,
you know, this may not be maybe it is going
to be helpful in the long run. And maybe a
lot of families need this type of assistance. But I
would raise these concerns as a parent and ask those questions.
How is the privacy being protected? How is confidentiality confidentiality
being protected? Who gets this information? How is this information
(33:03):
being used? Will my child be stigmatized? Will somebody know
who knows in the school? Who gets told? We're very
careful about that. In universities. We don't allow anybody to
get access to information. There's a FERPA, it's called FERPA
in the university setting. So you know where this just
needs to be way more fleshed out, I think before
(33:24):
parents could go, okay, this could be helpful. This might
be a good idea.
S1 (33:29):
Well, and can we address the fact that this is
mental health? And there are some distinctions here with physical health.
When I was a kid growing up and I'll date myself,
we got mandatory TB tests and then the results were
reported back to our parents. It was a one shot deal, period.
If the test was positive, then the parents were given
advice on what they should do to follow up with
their own physician on the TB test. Mental health is different.
(33:51):
So you do a screening and if you have a
finding and findings are very interesting things, as you know
in medicine, Linda, because if there's a finding that usually
is a call for action. So if you have a
finding on this screening and what are you going to
do with it, then are you going to turn in
a whole list of qualified counselors, including, but not limited to,
Christian counselors as opposed to secular counselors? Are you going
to favor counselors who are Jungian, Gestalt, or Freudian in
(34:13):
their approach? I mean, the questions just beget more questions
beget more questions. But the fact that the state wants
to partner with Google right out of the bat means
I'm not seeing a curative aspect here. I'm seeing more
data procurement, and that bothers me. So it raises another
question too, which is if you found something and this
hasn't been fleshed out, what are you going to do
(34:34):
with it? Say, right. Tommy said that he was sorry.
What what? He's feeling sad. What would you like? How
can we help you with Tommy feeling sad.
S10 (34:42):
And if you screen. So this has been one of
the really big concerns about screening. And again, remember screening
isn't diagnostic. It's not diagnostic. It doesn't give you the
diagnosis of anything. All it says is, oh, there are
some risk factors here. Some people need to pay attention. Right.
But the follow up, what you could have happening is
that a bunch of people got screened, a bunch of
(35:04):
students got screened. There was not a there was not
good follow up. They were not given resources. And something
terrible happens. Then you've got parents potentially suing the school
for saying, well, you had information and we didn't we
didn't get a follow up on that. And there was no,
you know, no way to know what was going to
happen in terms of the schools, you know, closing that
(35:25):
loop and coming back around with the families again, that
all needs to be thought out and, you know, figured out.
And I would hope that they would have families as
part of a task force that would talk about that
and represent, you know, the family perspective on all of this.
S1 (35:40):
I couldn't agree more. Linda, thank you for joining us.
Your question for Doctor Linda menzel, please.
S15 (35:46):
Yes. My question is, would early mandatory, uh, detection of
mental health illness be helpful to adults who attended a
public school and who ended up in prison because of
their mental illness?
S10 (36:08):
So I'm not sure I understand the question. Would early
detection for adults in. Are you talking about like in
a college or.
S1 (36:16):
Well, if I can. And Linda, I don't mean to
translate for you, but I think what I'm hearing, Linda
ask is if there had been early detection earlier in school,
early grade levels, could that have been a deterrent for
someone who ended up being incarcerated because it wasn't identified
early in their life?
S10 (36:31):
Yes. So there is something called the Ace scores, and
this is in somewhat a screening tool. But it is
it is early adverse early childhood experiences. And if you've
had one of these ten experiences, it increases your risk
for mental health problems as an adult, and physical health
as well. So we are trained to pay attention to
(36:51):
those adverse early childhood experiences. And when we notify when
we notice that with a child, we will bring that
up to parents and say, these are risk factors for adults.
So I don't know if that helps. But yes, that
would be something that could be helpful for adults as well.
S1 (37:06):
So Linda, I'm going to do a follow up question
based on your question, which is okay. If that would
be helpful, then is it the school's job to do
this or where can someone go to get that kind
of testing done? I'll leave that question hanging. We'll get
an answer when we get right back. (877)Â 548-3675. Stay with us.
More of your questions after this.
S16 (37:36):
Illinois public schools will soon be required to give students
annual mental health screenings under a new law just signed
by governor J.B. JB Pritzker.
S12 (37:43):
We all struggle at some time or another in our lives,
maybe multiple times in our lives, and just need a
little bit of help. And especially our children. So, um,
we've got to overcome the stigma. We've got to make
sure that, uh, we're, uh, screening kids.
S16 (37:58):
The bill requires all school districts to provide screening in
grades three through 12. Starting with the 2027 school year,
the Illinois School Board must create guidelines for the screening,
and the state is picking up the cost.
S1 (38:11):
Well, there you go. And that caused Doctor Linda mintel,
who has a PhD in urban health and clinical psychology,
30 years of experience, teaches doctors how to be doctors.
To write the article posted on Beliefnet. Should schools be
responsible for your child's mental health? So, Linda, if I may,
I want to piggyback on Linda's question because she was
talking about the benefit of early detection. And again, that
is a legitimate question. And here's where critical thinking comes in.
(38:34):
It's not an either or. So if getting this testing
done early helps and you could see some markers where
you think, let's see if we can do some pivoting here.
That would help, uh, have a positive outcome in the
future as opposed to a detrimental outcome. Where does that
service get done? So we're not saying don't get any
mental health. The problem is whether or not the school
(38:54):
should be the delivery system. So who should be and
what do you do if you don't have the finances?
S10 (39:00):
Yeah. And so you know already schools pick up on things.
So this a study that I talked about was a
very large study that was done by Kaiser Permanente a
number of years ago. And they came up with ten
risk factors in childhood that would potentially predict that you
might have problems with your mental health or health in adulthood.
(39:21):
And those include, uh, experiencing violence, abuse, neglect, witnessing violence
in the home or in the community, having a family
member attempt to die by suicide, substance use problems in
the family, mental health problems in the family. So, you know,
maybe a mom or a dad with bipolar or some
(39:42):
mental health untreated particularly as well in, um, inability to, um,
to parent due to separation. Incarceration is one of the factors.
Divorce is one of the factors, uh, separation, divorce, as
I mentioned before. So all of these experiences in a
child's life impact their mental health. So the question is,
(40:04):
you know, what does the school do? I really appreciate
what they're trying to do. They're trying to get early identification.
And when the governor that little, little soundbite you just
said I couldn't disagree with anything he said. Everybody struggles.
Everybody needs help. There are lots of issues going on
in families. Families are tremendously fragmented. Uh, they have a
(40:24):
lot of we have a lot of problems. The question is,
whose job is it to really identify that and then
follow through with the help that's needed? So again, if
you do this once a year screening, which I don't
know how that's really effective, because you could have a
terrible beginning of a school year if that's when they
do the screening because of a job loss, a recent move,
(40:47):
a problem in the family that may resolve, you know,
and the child might get better. But now they're in
the system and now they're identified. And then the follow up,
what do you do with that? And what are we
doing to prevent these things? You know, what are how
are we modeling for kids? So let's just take this
whole area, Janet, of emotional regulation. When I see school
(41:10):
administrators and board members and people in um, committee meetings
screaming and yelling at parents and fighting with parents, I'm thinking,
these are the people that are helping our students emotionally regulate. Now,
there are great teachers who help with that and can
do that. But again, it's hit and miss depending on
the school you're in, the board members, the ideology of
(41:32):
the school, you know how what are they teaching? Are
they teaching from an ideological perspective or are they teaching
the basics? We have so many problems in our schools
that I just don't know if this is the place
that we need to put this problem again. Can we
work in partnership? Yes. Can we collaborate? Can teachers notice? Hey,
(41:53):
this kid's talking about violence in the home. Hey, I
need to let the family know. And then I and then,
you know, social workers are in schools and they pick
up on these things, and they know when when kids
are in trouble and they're effective people to, I think,
help with a referral with the family, talk to the family,
see what you can do to get the help.
S1 (42:11):
Mm. (877)Â 548-3675. Cindy, I welcome you your question, please, for Linda.
S17 (42:18):
Yes. Thank you for taking my call. Um, first of all,
I have a family member that. And I appreciate what
you guys are doing. I have a family member that's
very much involved in the mental health field. She herself
is a mental health therapist. And in our area, their
agency is in charge of five county area in Illinois
that deals with. They're the only agency that deals with
(42:39):
suicide from the police department and hospitals, where they have
to go out and they have to evaluate these kids
as young as four years old. Um, that is part
of the mental issue that's happening in our own counties,
in the school district, in the grade school, in the community,
in the town I live. There was a picture in
the paper of a huge progressive pride flag on the
(43:02):
wall of the grade school. And I've been told that.
And I know that they indoctrinate and they're very, what
do you call it in? Um, they want inclusiveness. They
want the kids to be inclusive of that type of
lifestyle and the principles, the one that had it put up.
And they think it's all wonderful. Well, my question is
with this mental health people, and one of the things
(43:22):
this I've been told is who's going to be the
one doing the screenings? How qualified are they? And when
you ask the kids questions about the indoctrination that's happening with,
you know, LGBTQ and all that. They have no clue
what you're talking about. So when this affects them, what
can we do as parents, citizens, taxpayers in Illinois and
(43:43):
the school board to stand up and say, you know,
enough's enough. This has got to stop.
S10 (43:48):
Yeah. Elect the right people to the school board and
then go to the meetings and push back and don't
and stand firm on the things that are concerning to
you and get answers. The school board, you pay their
you pay taxes, you have a right to know. And
you have a right to firmly, calmly stay on a
on on a question until you get an answer. And
(44:08):
parents have to get involved. You just have to be advocates.
Now you have to go find out what's being told,
find out what's being said, and go in there and
give your your position.
S1 (44:17):
And again, right now at least, you have the opportunity
to opt out, which is the most important thing. But
you might not even know it. You might not know
this program is coming. If you live in Illinois. It's
implemented again in 2027. Right now, there is the opportunity
to opt out. That might change. But Linda, let's end
on a positive note. How do we, as moms and
dads look well to the ways of our household and
check their mental health? We can look at their teeth.
(44:38):
We take them to the dentist. We take them to
the doctor. How do we look out for their mental health?
What's the first step?
S10 (44:43):
I mean, you know, let's go back to Doctor Dobson's.
Strong families create healthy kids, right? They need strong families.
They need to be rooted in their faith, understand resiliency
from a faith perspective, and then go out and be witnesses.
Be light to a very dark world. But families have
to raise up those children in those ways to be
resilient and to be a witness to other people.
S1 (45:05):
Amen. And that's a choice, by the way, not a cost.
Every single one of us, because of the power that
we have through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we
can look wells the well to the ways of our household.
He's not a father that frustrates. He's a father that instructs.
And so read his word and build that strong family. Linda.
Thank you. Excellent conversation and the article is posted on
our website. Check it out. Thanks, Linda. Thanks, friends. We'll
(45:25):
see you next time.
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