In every school I visit, I hear the same quiet alarm: our multilingual learners are carrying an invisible weight that is slowing their academic recovery and silencing their voices.
A recent Century Foundation commentary I authored, “English Learners Are Increasingly Struggling with Mental Health Challenges,” confirms what educators have been whispering since campuses reopened—English learners (ELs) are showing higher levels of anxiety, depression, and trauma-related stress than their English-proficient peers. Yet, they have the least access to culturally and linguistically affirming care.
Chronic absenteeism has tripled for ELs in California alone, a stark proxy for mental-health distress and disconnection. Nationally, the average counselor load has ballooned to 376 students, well above the recommended 250, and few of those counselors speak the languages our students trust. With ESSER relief dollars expiring on September 30, 2024, districts risk losing the very funds now paying for bilingual psychologists and tele-therapy platforms.
If we do not act, the unfinished business of pandemic recovery will become a generational divide.
What I’m seeing in classrooms
When I shadow teachers, I no longer wait for a student to tell me they feel anxious because I watch their body language.
Even confident dual-language students hesitate to raise a hand or turn on a camera. The CDC’s 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey echoes those observations: 40 percent of high-schoolers reported persistent sadness, and rates are higher for students who identify as Latino or multilingual. Emerging research finds ELs score significantly higher on anxiety and depression scales and report a less welcoming school climate than non-EL peers.
In Houston, one counselor now serves an average of 476 students, leaving more than 30 campuses with no on-site mental-health professional at all. That gap grows wider for newcomer families who fear stigma or cannot navigate English-only referral forms.
Language is both a bridge and, too often, a barrier.
Why English learners feel the strain more deeply
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Acculturative stress. Many newcomers juggle translation duties for family members while navigating anti-immigrant rhetoric. The UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools links that stress to skyrocketing absenteeism.
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Interrupted services. During remote learning, bilingual counseling and small-group SEL were often the first supports to disappear—services still not fully restored in some districts.
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Workforce shortages. National counselor ratios mask an acute shortage of bilingual clinicians, a problem the American School Counselor Association flags as urgent.
Four actions we can take now
1. Screen every student—in their home language
Universal mental-health screeners must be translated and normed for cultural context. When Somerville, MA introduced newcomer screenings within 30 days of enrollment, EL attendance rebounded 12 points and crisis referrals fell by a third.
2. Build a multilingual mental-health workforce
States can braid the last tranche of ESSER with Title III and workforce grants to scholarship bilingual counseling candidates and extend tele-therapy contracts. Without that planning, the funding cliff will hit EL services first.
3. Integrate social-emotional learning with language development
Vocabulary lessons become healing spaces when students practice naming emotions across languages. The CDC notes that SEL tied to language growth improves both attendance and academic engagement.
4. Partner with families as co-designers
WhatsApp hotlines, translated workshops, and parent ambassador programs demystify U.S. mental-health systems.
When families recognize early warning signs and know where to turn, students get help faster. Community-based research shows stigma declines sharply once parents access information in their first language.
What success will look like
Imagine a campus where every newcomer sits with a counselor fluent in their language within weeks of arrival, where counselor caseloads approach the new Texas target of 300:1 by 2033, and where attendance data moves in the right direction because students feel seen, safe, and supported.
That is the goal!
Houston ISD’s pilot to devote 80 percent of counselor time to direct services is an encouraging model—but only if we can scale it before the funding window closes.
A personal call to action
As a former dual-language teacher and now executive director of the Sullivan Family Charitable Foundation, I know that bilingualism thrives when mental health is nurtured.
Our grants support organizations that weave language development with wellness, yet philanthropy cannot fill a systemic gap alone.
I urge district leaders, advocates, and fellow funders to read the full Century Foundation commentary for practical templates, budget worksheets, and district spotlights. The ideas are actionable today, not “someday.”
Then share one concrete step you’ll take—whether translating a screening tool or lobbying to protect ESSER-funded counselors—and tag us so we can amplify your work.
Read the commentary: English Learners Are Increasingly Struggling with Mental Health Challenges
Our multilingual learners are ready to learn, dream, and lead in two languages. Let’s make sure their mental-health needs are not the reason they fall silent.
