Should Universities Have Mental Health Facilities

[marshwiggle]

The discussion of where mental health services should be housed and how they should be paid for is both principled and practical.

In my state, taxpayers are not eager to pay for mental health services and a bunch of other social programs. But they are willing to pay for education. As a result, childhood food insecurity is addressed by feeding children in the local public school. Child physical disabilities are addressed by services through the school. Counseling for family dysfunction and lesser mental-health issues is through the school. The cost per student in high school is more than what we pay for public college. But only a small part of that cost is for teaching. On principle, that is nuts. But as a practical solution to having taxpayers cover legitimate societal needs it works.

I think it is overall a pretty good strategy to run wrap-around services for families through the schools, as long as they are getting the funding and support to do it well. In the US, school is the one place kids legally have to be (unless they are home schooled, but that's a different topic), so providing the services there makes sure they actually get them and don't miss out because parents don't have the time, resources, understanding or motivation to connect with services outside of school. Schools are also a place most parents know and trust, so experiments with co-locating additional services there (like community health clinics, GED and other adult ed classes, etc.) have been quite successful.

There is a double-edged sword here. As more services get delivered through schools, because kids "legally have to be" there, there will invariably be a trend to schools and education wonks to see themselves as being more important than parents in the "overall" well-being of students.Just like politicians have an easy time wasting other peoples' money, ideologues always have an easy time experimenting with other peoples' lives. (e.g.  Stalin, Mao)

[Hibush]

easy time experimenting with other peoples' lives. (e.g.  Stalin, Mao)

Cadres of lunch ladies oppressing the proletariat?

[Puget]

easy time experimenting with other peoples' lives. (e.g.  Stalin, Mao)

Cadres of lunch ladies oppressing the proletariat?

Yep, school lunch is definitely the gateway to totalitarianism.
Seriously marshwiggle, do you actually believe this stuff or are you just trying to get a rise out of people, or is this secretly a parody account? I've seen a lot of stupid slippery slope arguments, but this has to be one of the stupidest.

[dismalist]

easy time experimenting with other peoples' lives. (e.g.  Stalin, Mao)

Cadres of lunch ladies oppressing the proletariat?

Yep, school lunch is definitely the gateway to totalitarianism.
Seriously marshwiggle, do you actually believe this stuff or are you just trying to get a rise out of people, or is this secretly a parody account? I've seen a lot of stupid slippery slope arguments, but this has to be one of the stupidest.

It's not a joke, guys. Hospitals in NYC are gonna have Meatless Mondays, to aid the environment. What's next in schools?They provide garbage anyway.

Remember Maggie, Maggie Milk Snatcher? She did good stopping free milk deliveries to schools. It stood outside in summers, was old, and got sour by the time it could be drunk. [I remember the same as a child in NYC.]

The incentives in the public sector to provide quality service are low to nonexistent. To add to the public sector is folly.

As I said before, it's just bundling. Expanded mental health facilities at colleges will attract more mentally problematic students. [Works just like in sports -- we get sports interested students.] I guess higher ed is desperate and will take anybody.

[Wahoo Redux]

Expanded mental health facilities at colleges will attract more mentally problematic students. [Works just like in sports --

Evidence for this?

[dismalist]

Expanded mental health facilities at colleges will attract more mentally problematic students. [Works just like in sports --

Evidence for this?

Incentives, incentives!

[Wahoo Redux]

Expanded mental health facilities at colleges will attract more mentally problematic students. [Works just like in sports --

Evidence for this?

Incentives, incentives!

Uh, no.  That is not evidence.

I know you know what the denotation for "evidence" is.

[dismalist]

Expanded mental health facilities at colleges will attract more mentally problematic students. [Works just like in sports --

Evidence for this?

Incentives, incentives!

Uh, no.  That is not evidence.

I know you know what the denotation for "evidence" is.

Offer more unpaid mental health help and we will see. Incentives work in everything else. I safely assume they will work here just the same.

[Wahoo Redux]

Expanded mental health facilities at colleges will attract more mentally problematic students. [Works just like in sports --

Evidence for this?

Incentives, incentives!

Uh, no.  That is not evidence.

I know you know what the denotation for "evidence" is.

Offer more unpaid mental health help and we will see. Incentives work in everything else. I safely assume they will work here just the same.

Got'cha.

So you simply made up a scenario that people with emotional and psychological issues will go to the trouble of applying, taking out student loans, signing up for classes, taking work-study, maintaining their GPAs so they are in good standing etc. etc....

...just to get a shot at student health services...   

...and you presented this as if it were fact.

Newsmax is that'a way. <Points to the far-right peanut gallery.>

[dismalist]

So you simply made up a scenario that people with emotional and psychological issues will go to the trouble of applying, taking out student loans, signing up for classes, taking work-study, maintaining their GPAs so they are in good standing etc. etc....

...just to get a shot at student health services...

You mean their parents won't?

Mostly, such students will stay. Presumably, many mental health problems develop on account of going to university. We will have a higher share of mental health problems with the student population. If this is what's wanted, please let it be paid for. By whom?

[Puget]

So you simply made up a scenario that people with emotional and psychological issues will go to the trouble of applying, taking out student loans, signing up for classes, taking work-study, maintaining their GPAs so they are in good standing etc. etc....

...just to get a shot at student health services...

You mean their parents won't?

Mostly, such students will stay. Presumably, many mental health problems develop on account of going to university. We will have a higher share of mental health problems with the student population. If this is what's wanted, please let it be paid for. By whom?

As has already been explained multiple times, student insurance is billed, just like for any provider. Do you honestly not understand that lost wages and productivity due to people not getting the treatment they need is orders of magnitude more expensive than providing these services. Depression alone is one of the largest sources of economic burden of disease (plenty of economics papers showing this-- just google).

As for the rest of your "arguments"--You know, there used to be smart conservatives-- I didn't agree with them, but they had rational, evidence based arguments, just different values. Sadly, that appears to be a thing of the past now.

[mahagonny]

So you simply made up a scenario that people with emotional and psychological issues will go to the trouble of applying, taking out student loans, signing up for classes, taking work-study, maintaining their GPAs so they are in good standing etc. etc....

...just to get a shot at student health services...

You mean their parents won't?

Mostly, such students will stay. Presumably, many mental health problems develop on account of going to university. We will have a higher share of mental health problems with the student population. If this is what's wanted, please let it be paid for. By whom?

As has already been explained multiple times, student insurance is billed, just like for any provider. Do you honestly not understand that lost wages and productivity due to people not getting the treatment they need is orders of magnitude more expensive than providing these services. Depression alone is one of the largest sources of economic burden of disease (plenty of economics papers showing this-- just google).

As for the rest of your "arguments"--You know, there used to be smart conservatives-- I didn't agree with them, but they had rational, evidence based arguments, just different values. Sadly, that appears to be a thing of the past now.

All fine with me if only higher education would cease the false claiming that they believe health care is a human right.

[jimbogumbo]

All fine with me if only higher education would cease the false claiming that they believe health care is a human right.

I am stunned. You and I have agreed?

Unless the US has universal health services, universities should not be allowed to hire ANY employees without providing Medical insurance. I'll go further. All public universities should be required to allow ALL employees to participate in a state retirement fund OR SSA. Employee's choice.

[Diogenes]

Let's not forget when the University of Oregon took a rape victim's counseling records and tried to use them against her...
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/university-of-oregon-medical-privacy_n_6641920

[jimbogumbo]

Let's not forget when the University of Oregon took a rape victim's counseling records and tried to use them against her...
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/university-of-oregon-medical-privacy_n_6641920

May I ask for clarification on why you think this is relevant? Was this eventually adjudicated?