A state panel on Wednesday endorsed a request from the Arkansas Alliance for Boys & Girls Clubs for $6.3 million in federal coronavirus relief funds to 23 Boys & Girls Clubs at about 50 sites in Arkansas to support at-risk youth.
Arkansas' 15-member American Rescue Plan steering committee -- appointed by Gov. Asa Hutchinson in May to recommend the best uses of $1.57 billion in federal American Rescue Plan funds -- voted to recommend approval of the request, without any audible dissenters.
Seventy-one of Arkansas' 135 state lawmakers signed an April 21 letter to Hutchinson, writing they supported funding the Arkansas Alliance for Boys & Girls Clubs' request that totaled $6.5 million at that time to continue serving some of the state's most at-risk youth
"We believe many of their needs can be addressed through COVID Relief Funding and should be made priority in providing assistance across the state," the lawmakers said in their letter to the Republican governor. "These clubs are in the unique position to serve their students, but will not be able to do it without the proper resources."
In March, President Joe Biden signed into law the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act that is designed to help the United States' recovery from the economic and health effects of the pandemic.
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Elaina Damante, chief executive officer of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Diamond Hills, told the steering committee that "we need to this grant to ensure that our children have the best chance at success that our clubs and our state can give them."
The $6.3 million request from the clubs would provide evidence-based academic support in after-school and summer programs that supplement school efforts to address lost learning; strengthen social-emotional and behavioral skills for children who have struggled with issues exacerbated by covid-19; and secure more opportunities for career development among teens who have been set back by the pandemic's economic impacts, according to an executive summary of the request presented to the steering committee.
The request also would supplement feeding programs that ensure better nutrition for youth in communities experiencing health inequities; improve ventilation upgrades and changes in clubs' facilities for covid-19 mitigation; and support the costs of personal protective equipment, cleaning supplies, health professional screenings and related costs for ensuring safe environments for children, the executive summary states.
State Sen. Ron Caldwell, R-Wynne, questioned providing $1.1 million of the $6.3 million request to support mental health services at the clubs because mental health services are provided in public schools and by the state Department of Human Services.
"Are we putting another layer of the same services out there through Boys & Girls Clubs that they already have?" he asked.
Damante said she is looking to provide mental health services at her club "because the schools are so overwhelmed and understaffed in this area."
"That is no disservice to the schools, because they are doing the best they can with the resources they have," she said.
She added that the club has contracted with colleges to bring in counselors for children who do not already have one as well as provide family counseling that the public schools do not provide.
Chris Richey, CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Saline County, said "we have some other programs -- like Smart Girls, Passport to Manhood -- that deal with issues that the kids are dealing with and not necessarily bringing in a mental health professional."
"They are character-development programs, but they also touch with mental health issues, and we run those type of programs in our club," said Richey, who is a former Democratic state representative from Helena-West Helena. "I think that covers part of that mental health, emotional social health well-being programs that we are looking at, so it is not just about mental health professionals."
State Department of Education Secretary Johnny Key said "Senator Caldwell, I can tell you for sure that the demand for mental heath support right now is far outstripping the availability of resources" in the schools.
"Our schools are doing what they can in ramping up," mental health efforts, he said.
Schools still don't have the number of people trained in the mental health first aid program that are needed in the state, Key said.
"It's that first layer to help understand where the kids need to be referred to next or the possibility of what resources they need to made available," he said.
Prior to the arrival of covid-19 in Arkansas, the state Department of Education had been getting ready to start a significant mental health initiative, he said.
"We are launching that now, and we will make sure that the Boys & Girls Clubs are included in that work to make sure that it is all coordinated so there is no overlap of services," Key said. "There are many gaps in services right now that I don't think the overlap is really a concern."
Rep. Jeff Wardlaw, R-Hermitage, said there are no Boys & Girls Clubs in his district. However, there are YMCAs, so he asked if those groups were contacted about making a proposal similar to the proposal submitted by Boys & Girls Clubs.
Steering Committee Chairman Larry Walther, who also is secretary of the state Department of Finance and Administration, said he doesn't know if anybody had contacted YMCA officials.
But he said if the YMCAs wanted federal American Rescue Plan funds "we would consider their request by all means."