ODEW Releases FY 2024 Student Wellness & Success Funds Impact Report

The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (ODEW) has released the 2024 Student Wellness & Success Funds Report evaluating the effectiveness of investments to support students’ physical and mental health needs.

The Department collected data from 1,001 districts and schools regarding their use of Student Wellness and Success Funds and Disadvantaged Pupil Impact Aid during the 2023-2024 school year. A total of 965 districts and schools reported spending funding. Key takeaways included:

• Districts and schools spent a total of $885,203,834 in state funding in the 2023-2024 school year on various initiatives to enhance student well-being.
• Districts and schools implemented a total of 3,244 initiatives (13% of these were newly established).
• Mental health services were the top expenditure category ($271,671,719 in state funding spent), an increase of $90,327,280 from FY23.
• Mental health services were the most frequently reported initiative category (1,026 initiatives implemented by 764 districts and schools).
• Districts and schools reported funding for more than 6,239 new full-time equivalent staff positions and more than 17,767 existing full-time equivalent staff positions.

As the top initiative category, a total of 1,026 Mental Health Services initiatives were reported by a total of 764 school districts and schools, impacting at least 1,260,385 students. The report identified that school districts used funds to partner with community behavioral health agencies to provide services, as well as to hire and retain school counselors, school social workers, behavioral health therapists, and school psychologists. Of note, the report did not specify what percentage of funding was used by districts for partnership versus school districts hiring their own staff.