The U.S. Department of Education announced plans for a first-of-its-kind virtual summit, Recovery to Thriving: Supporting Mental Health & Students with Disabilities, to highlight steps schools, colleges and communities can take to support students with disabilities and students with mental health needs.
“As communities and our country heal and recover, it’s important to acknowledge that our students with disabilities have faced unique challenges amid the pandemic and that some long-standing inequities between students with disabilities and their peers were made worse during this time,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “Ensuring that our students with disabilities receive a free, appropriate public education that meets their academic, social, and emotional needs isn’t just written into law, it’s a moral obligation. We must work together so that students with disabilities and mental health needs receive the resources they need to thrive. This summit will highlight promising practices in this important work, demonstrate the Department’s continued commitment to serving our students with special needs, and provide schools with the tools to reimagine education and ensure all students succeed.”
May is Mental Health Awareness Month and, as part of the President’s Unity Agenda, President Biden announced a strategy to address our nation’s mental health crisis.
The half-day, virtual summit will occur on Monday, May 23, at 12:30 p.m. ET and will bring together education leaders, disability advocates and coordinators, special education professionals, and others to discuss issues affecting students with disabilities and students with mental health needs as our nation continues to emerge from the pandemic.