A K-12 behavioral guide with expansive roles and responsibilities for mental health providers existed only as an unnoticed holdover from the previous Arizona Department of Education administration, only just recently catching the notice of critics and inciting controversy.
One legal scholar was confused by the timestamp of the guide and set off a firestorm this Labor Day weekend, mistakenly believing he’d discovered “new” guidance when all that had changed was the date listed. That can happen when a website updates, and the metadata updates part of a webpage to display an “updated” date, though no updates to the webpage content may have occurred otherwise.
📢Public Schools | Unregulated Mental Health Service Providers (dba "certified counselors/social workers"): @azedschools publishes new guidance, with state medicaid agency, to expand presence of licensed mental health providers in AZ schools, transforming our understanding of… pic.twitter.com/nYMPvqJiFF
— TheLegalProcess (v2.0 | Post-Election Ed) (@ALegalProcess) September 4, 2023
According to web archives, the “new” School & Behavioral Health Partnerships Guide produced by the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) and the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) has existed since at least last December. That was under the prior, Democrat-led ADE administration.
ADE Superintendent Tom Horne learned of the guide’s existence following public outcry. He had the guide removed immediately. Horne explained in a statement to The Arizona Daily Independent that the expansive arrangement with mental health professionals was carried over from his predecessor, Kathy Hoffman, and that his administration had nothing to do with the guide’s development or publication.
“This partnership with AHCCCS appears to be a holdover from the prior administration. The elements that have generated this controversy are the opposite of what I believe,” said Horne. “I have asked AHCCCS to either take this guidance off their website since it is not on my Department’s page, or at the very least remove our logo.”
Shortly after Horne issued his statement, AHCCCS removed the document from their website on Tuesday.
The contested Hoffman-era guide looked to multiply the reach of mental health providers by coordinating ADE-certified providers within the schools and board-licensed providers outside the schools, or in the “community,” to ensure holistic mental and physical wellness for children. It also suppressed certain parental rights in the name of child safety over gender identity issues.
The publication of such a behavioral health guide would’ve run counter to the principles Horne established through his campaign and sweeping purge of the ADE immediately following his election.
Individuals directing attention to the guide, such as the legal scholar, accused Horne’s administration of “push[ing] a suicide crisis narrative to motivate public acceptance.” Elsewhere, the scholar questioned the ADE’s motivations for claiming a widespread epidemic of child suicides, citing other aspects of the Hoffman-era guide that exempted parental notification of gender identity issues in children should a mental health worker determine that notification wasn’t in the best interest of the student’s safety.
Why is ADE advocating more mental health professionals in schools?
Why does ADE push a suicide crisis narrative to motivate public acceptance? Do the facts support that claim?
See Part IV to the series on Public Schools | Unregulated Mental Health Services Providers https://t.co/9uPx78E9SJ pic.twitter.com/QhVqu6GmSl
— TheLegalProcess (v2.0 | Post-Election Ed) (@ALegalProcess) September 5, 2023