Youth Policy

Megan Gunnar is a familiar face at the state Capitol. Already this session she’s testified three times before legislators to share research on early child development conducted by her and her colleagues at the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota.

School programs for students recovering from alcohol or drug abuse make up a small but important slice of alternative public education in Minnesota, but their future is in doubt, advocates told the House Education Finance Committee on Wednesday. In the past four years, six recovery schools have closed, leaving just seven operating this year, said Paul McGlynn, who directs Sobriety High Charter School. The enrollment capacity of those schools is 278 — far fewer than the number of young Minnesotans who are struggling with drug addiction, he said.

Saciido Shaie has long had a dream that her thoughts and actions would one day become a reason for Minnesota youth to excel in education and life. That’s why she’s spent many years of leadership and advocacy in building a better place for Twin Cities’ young minorities.

To treat more young people suffering from mental illness, advocates are pushing hard this session for one solution that they say is already working: Reaching children and teens at school.