'People need to know we exist': How title change in Texas could help address school psychologist shortage
DALLAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) - As the youth mental health crisis deepens, there's a critical shortage in Texas of school psychologists.
This past school year in Texas public schools, according to Texas Education Agency data, there was one school psychologist for every 2,617 students. The National Association of School Psychologists recommends schools have one school psychologist for every 500 students.
Despite significant investments made by the Texas Legislature in child mental health resources in the past five years, the impact of the shortage of these in-school mental health professionals has been minimal.
According to state data analyzed by the CBS News Texas I-Team, Texas schools have added fewer than 200 school psychologist positions across the entire state in the past five years.
"The numbers are horrifying," said Jenna Becker, the president of the Texas Association of School Psychologists and a school psychologist for a school district north of Dallas.
For decades, school psychologists in Texas have pointed to their official title as a major hurdle in recruitment and the public's understanding of their profession.
Texas was one of two states this past school year where school psychologists were not allowed to call themselves "school psychologists". If they did, they could be fined or have their professional license suspended. Instead, these mental health professionals were required to refer to themselves as Licensed Specialists in School Psychology or LSSP.
"When I would introduce myself, I would have parents look at me like, 'I have no idea what that means,'" explained Becker.
The profession tried for nearly 30 years to get Texas lawmakers to help, but over the years state bills calling for a name change failed.
This past year, the Texas Association of School Psychologists decided it needed to take a different approach to get its title changed by going through the lengthy and complicated process of a rule change through the state's licensing board.
It was a long shot and it worked.
In June, the Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists published a new rule that an LSSP could use the title of "school psychologist".
"It will have a big impact," Becker said. "People need to know we exist and need to know what we are trained to do."
Other mental health professionals warned changing the name could lead to confusion between the professions of school psychologists and psychologists.
In a letter to the Texas Attorney General's Office, to prevent the title rule change, the Texas Psychological Association that represents psychologists wrote allowing LSSPs to use the title of school psychologists is "misleading" and "extremely dangerous".
"I think when the titles are so similar there can be some confusion," said psychologist Sophia Tani, Ph.D. "Titles are meant to represent or convey or inform the public in a very distinct manner the level of training, level of expertise, and scope of practice."
Despite her concerns about potential confusion, Tani is not opposed to the title change like others in her profession.
A psychologist requires a doctoral degree program. They can work in a hospital or a private practice and can diagnose and treat behavioral disorders. Meanwhile, a school psychologist requires a master's degree program. They work in the school setting focused on behaviors that impact students.