As part of Mental Health Awareness Month, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is running guest essays this week about mental health in schools. This is the fifth of those essays.
Sources of Strength, a national suicide prevention model, began in several Cobb County schools over 15 years ago and has expanded steadily, with new schools joining each year.
One in five students has a current, diagnosed mental or behavioral health condition. Georgia's student-to-school counselor ratio is 386:1, far above the recommended ratio.