By Philip Haldiman, Independent Newsmedia

Rae Hopf has been has been a mental health advocate for nearly 15 years, mainly because her youngest son has suffered from a dual-diagnosis of bi-polar disorder and substance abuse, as well as had frequest problems with the criminal justice system.

He is currentlhly incarcerated in an Arizona Department of Corrections facility.

Ms. Hopf said there have been many injustices to the mentally ill, but it was a teacher years ago, she said, who recognized the signs of mental illness in her son.

“I think that speaks to teaching our teachers what to look for in their classrooms,” Ms. Hopf said.

The sentiment was one of many shared during a forum covering a wide spectrum of topics about mental health presented March 13 in Scottsdale by the Arizona Mental Health Criminal Justice Coalition, a program of Chandler-based David’s Hope that aims to reduce incarceration and promote treatment for those with mental illness and addictions.

The subject of mental health was thrust to the national stage when Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. became the site of the largest mass shooting since Oct. 10, when 58 people died and 851 were injured in Las Vegas.

Nikolas Cruz, 19, was indicted on 17 counts of premeditated murder in the first degree and 17 counts of attempted murder in the first degree in the Florida school shooting.

Multiple reports have indicated Mr. Cruz had violent tendencies and struggled with depression.

The Peoria Unified School District uses School Resource Officers who provide security and crime prevention services to schools. In response to the Florida school shooting, the district took immediate action in creating a task force to enhance safety measures focusing on preparedness, intervention and advocacy. It is made up of district staff, local law enforcement officers, community organizations, parents and state officials to assess the district’s current safety model.

Peoria Deputy Chief Benny Pina, who spoke at the mental health forum, said the department’s command staff meets regularly with PUSD principals and their relationships with teachers are fantastic.

He said he advocates for Peoria officers to get either mental health first-aid training or police crisis intervention team training. Both can inform first responders on how to react appropriately to situations involving mental illness, developmental disability or emotionally disturbed persons.

Mr. Pina also recommends such training for teachers, who may know the children better than anyone else.

But teachers often times are so inundated with so many other issues they may have a hesitance to bring forward a child who is struggling, he said.

“Whether it is a discipline or mental issue, there is a strong component in that training of empathetic language,” Mr. Pina said. “We try to deal with problems before they become major issues. We recognize a child who may be bouncing from home to home, experiencing homelessness, and doesn’t have good stability or a good support system. We try to recognize the kids that are getting picked on, children that are struggling with grades and what is the root cause of that?”

One in five American children ages 3 through 17 have a diagnosable mental, emotional or behavioral disorder in a given year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Laura Hanish, professor in Arizona State University’s T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics, said in a phone interview it is important that people are talking about mental health. She said students’ well being in schools encompasses not only mental health, but also social and emotional well being, as well as other factors that go above and beyond academics.

She said weaving social-emotional learning into the classroom can go a long way in fostering the well-being and improving the overall function of students and the safety of schools.

She said teachers who use programs like these help students develop social and emotional skills, aid them in understating other people’s feelings, build empathy and communications skills, as well as help create effective relationships with others.

A number of schools use programs like these and in the past decades, support for them has increased.

However, it is hard to choose which programs are most effective and they take a long time to implement, she said.

“We know from research these programs can be effective,” Ms. Hanish said. “But they might not be enough for those with greater health needs. Some may need more targeted expertise. Some may need (an on-campus) therapist to manage students’ mental health needs ... I do think we need to think about how we can better initiate support for students, but we have to do it without over-burdening teachers and expecting more from them than what they are trained to do.”

In the days and weeks following the Florida mass shooting, students from Scottsdale, Phoenix and Parker were arrested for gun possession on their campuses. Additionally, 18-year-old Liberty High School student Michael Helt was arrested for having a gun in his vehicle while on campus, Feb. 21.

Scottsdale resident Joe Melone, who spoke at the forum, said it is unfortunate that police officers and teachers are forced to take on duties normally done by parents. Money needs to be budgeted to fund mental health issues in schools, he said.

“It’s sad we live in world where cops need to be counselors and teachers need to be cops,” Mr. Melone said. “We need to have budgets where we can pay our teachers like cops and pay our cops to be the multi-talented individuals they need to be within what our society has become.”

Ms. Hanish said school resources are finite, which becomes difficult when they get called upon to be everything for students.

“These aren’t simple issues. School shootings and mental health are not simple. We need to allow ourselves to think of the most effective solution, using research as our guide,” Ms. Hanish said. “Some might feel pressure to make a decision overnight, but that’s not always best decision. We owe it to our kids, our teachers, our administrators, our principals, our society, country and world to do it the best way we know how. That takes thought.”