When the funding for Shannon Johnson's job as a school mental health counselor came to an abrupt end, two years into a five-year grant, she thought about the work left to be done.
Johnson taught elementary and middle-school students in rural Kentucky how to navigate conflict, build resilience and manage stress and anxiety before a crisis happens. Few districts, especially rural ones, can dedicate a full-time role to early intervention amid a national shortage of mental health staff.
