RICHMOND, Va. — ChildSavers, a nonprofit that offers school-based therapy services for students in Richmond, Hopewell, and Colonial Heights public schools, says it saw a 20% increase in the number of children needing support between 2022 and 2023, with a growing number of students being placed on waitlists for school-based help.
“We see really high levels of anxiety, really high levels of grief, we see a lot of high levels of depression,” said Bob Nickles, Director of Mental Health Services at ChildSavers.
WTVRNickles said leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual school systems were not reporting accurate data on the number of students either utilizing or in need of mental health services, referring them to “invisible years.”
The spike in reported cases of students needing services came when the pandemic put a spotlight on mental health…