Charter schools and community providers warn DBH plan to bring school mental‑health in‑house risks disruption

Dozens of school leaders, clinicians and community organizations told the Committee on Health on Feb. 3 that the Department of Behavioral Health’s proposal to bring school‑based behavioral health services in‑house risks disrupting relationships that are central to student care. Nicole Travers, senior director of strategic partnerships at the DC Charter School Alliance, said the proposed model and aggressive timeline “risk disrupting continuity of care” and urged a phased rollout with a published timeline and evaluation framework.

Community‑based providers including the Latin American Youth Center and Mary’s Center described heavy caseloads, long waitlists and hundreds of crisis responses this school year and said stability and trust are built by sustained in‑person clinicians. Jessica Rice, director of behavioral health services at LAYC, said LAYC clinicians have handled “over 70 school‑based crisis responses and have conducted over 200 hours of immediate student support” this year and warned that telehealth or rotating clinicians would erode relationships. Kristen Ewing of DC Appleseed pointed to staffing projections she called unrealistic — DBH reportedly projected hiring about 24 school‑based employees but had only made a handful of offers — and asked the Committee to prioritize stabilization over rapid centralization.

Committee members pressed witnesses on data and timelines: the chair said the committee had just received an environmental scan and asked that schools be given time to review and appeal model assignments. Witnesses called for transparency of the environmental scan, a clearer clinician‑pipeline strategy and preservation of community‑based partnerships when changes are implemented. If DBH proceeds, CBOs urged hybrid options for high schools and safeguards so that established clinical relationships are not abruptly severed.