"The U.S. pandemic mitigation strategies have profoundly disrupted young people's education, daily life, health, and well-being. During 2020, the number of young people visiting emergency rooms for mental health-related issues rose by over 30%." In an opinion piece published by the San Francisco Chronicle, public health researchers advocate for increased access to mental health services in schools as schools across the nation prepare to reopen. The researchers also call for Congress to adopt a 'Kids First' stimulus and recovery policy to fund new educational solutions to address structural inequities in learning and encourage schools to adopt Communities in School models to support students in rebuilding their social skills after being out of school due to the pandemic. The article, "As we return to school, we must also invest in social learning" was published on February 2, 2021 and authored by Wendi Gosliner of the University of California (UC) Nutrition Policy Institute, along with research colleagues Lia Fernald and Julianna Deardorff of the UC Berkeley School of Public Health and Ahna Suleiman of the Sacramento State Department of Public Health.
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