SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian is seeking for the effective rollout of the School-Based Mental Health Program, following the signing of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Basic Education Mental Health and Well-Being Promotion Act.

The law mandates the development of a School-Based Mental Health Program, which shall promote the mental health and well-being of learners in all public and private schools.

It shall include support services such as screening, evaluation, assessment, and monitoring; mental health first aid; crisis response and referral system; mental health awareness and literacy; and emotional, developmental and preventive programs; among others.

The program also covers learners enrolled in the Alternative Learning System.

“Improving the quality of education in our country should go hand in hand with upholding the safety and well-being of our learners. By ensuring that support services are within reach, our learners will no longer have to suffer in silence when they need a lifeline during mental health crises,” said Gatchalian, principal author and sponsor of the law.

The program shall also promote mental health awareness and manage learners’ mental health concerns, including the prevention of suicides.

The law also mandates that the program shall define stakeholders’ roles to respond to mental health concerns through prevention, intervention, postvention, and recovery.

Every public school shall have a Care Center, which will be responsible for providing school-based mental health services.

Care Centers shall be headed by a School Counselor who should be a registered guidance counselor or a registered psychologist.

Gatchalian said that Schools Division Offices shall have Mental Health and Well-Being Offices to address the mental health and well-being of learners and Department of Education personnel under the SDO.

A Mental Health and Well-Being Office shall be headed by a Schools Division Counselor who should also be a registered guidance counselor or a registered psychologist.

To help address the nationwide shortage of guidance counselors and help in the delivery of school-based mental health services, the law creates the plantilla positions of School Counselor Associates I to V, whose qualifications include a bachelor’s degree in Guidance and Counselling or Psychology, among others.