When a proposed solution is not the right one

There is a massive shortage of psychological services for people in crisis in Indiana and across the country. The COVID-19 pandemic either exacerbated or highlighted this need. A huge part of that need affects young people, who often have even fewer resources available.

Fourteen states have been trying to fill in the gap for counseling services for students by proposing – and in some cases passing – legislation that allows volunteer chaplains to provide counseling service in schools. Bills to this effect in Indiana were in front of the legislature in the most recent session but did not pass.

Chris Hartig reached out to The Reporter to talk about that potential solution and why he stands against it. His reasons are not the ones you might anticipate.

In the interest of transparency, it must be noted that Hartig is the sole Democratic candidate for the Indiana House of Representatives District 29 seat. More important to this discussion, Hartig is a father whose child, Cam, committed suicide at the age of 21 on April 12, 2022.

“I understand there is a shortage of school counselors and the ratio right now of students per counselor in Indiana is 694 to 1,” Hartig said. “The recommended amount is roughly around 250 to 1. So there’s a huge gap right there and I understand trying to put in volunteer chaplains. They’ve done great work, but they are not crisis counseling trained.”

While Cam was not in school at the time, Hartig said his child had struggled with depression and other things while in high school. Hartig also said he had reached out to Catholic services for Cam’s assistance.

“This is a great volunteer resource and they do great services; however, they’re not crisis trained to identify our children at risk,” Hartig said. “My child spoke to two people the day prior to when they [Cam] committed suicide. Cam laughed and said all the right things to get them to leave. They were untrained on the trigger signals. ‘This is what to watch for with someone in crisis.’ They just were not trained. Chaplains have the best intentions and they do serve a very important purpose; however, our children in our schools need trained crisis counselors.”

Hartig shared with The Reporter that Cam had struggled with depression and trauma during high school and after, in part because of the view the modern world has of those who identify as non-binary.

“They would have sad days and had dealt with depression for quite a while and said, ‘I’m just really having a very difficult, challenging time,” Hartig said. “A couple people came over. They talked. They laughed. They watched a little bit of TV. They said all the things that signaled ‘yeah everything’s fine’ and got them to leave.”

Cam, like so many young people who struggle with depression and other issues, both needed help and wanted to live a more balanced life, but also was not comfortable accepting that help in good ways. Thus, many such people develop the defense mechanism of presenting the appearance that things are better when they are not.

And that too, is a thing that well-trained professional crisis counselors are much more likely to see than even the most well-intentioned volunteer who does not have the requisite years of education and experience to see beyond the surface.

Yes, teachers see their students for several hours every day, but they too are not crisis counselors.

“We have too much being put on the teachers for these children at risk, and our counselors have pretty close to three times the workload of what they should to protect our children,” Hartig said. “So a band-aid – similar to House Bill 1192 [a bill in the last session making allowance for volunteer chaplains as counselors] – is not addressing our children’s safety.”

While volunteer counselors are not the answer, it is not clear what the answer is.

Hartig said he knows while we would have to invest in order to reduce the student to counselor ratio from 694 to 1 down to the recommended 250 to 1 – which still seems like a rather large ratio – he admits that money alone will not solve the problem.

We have a greater need for psychological services, especially among young people, than we have ever faced in this country and in Indiana. Because of that, we do not have a mass of new psychologists ready to graduate from college.

Even if we did, that only addresses providing a kind of triage to what must be a far deeper problem underlying the swell in young people struggling with deep depression and choosing to end their lives.

Yes, many of them identify somewhere on the LGBTQ+ spectrum. Many more do not. It is a problem that crosses socioeconomic and class lines.

It should be noted that when asked directly, Hartig told The Reporter he is not running for office in order to try to fix this problem. He admits to not know what the whole solutions looks like. He is also firm in his position that chaplains as counselors are not the answer.

“Chaplains are really saying across the board. ‘Hey, we’re not trained to do this,’” Hartig said. “They’re willing to volunteer. Bless them for that. They’re trained for a different purpose and we need real crisis counselors. There are some children who may not feel comfortable going to a reverend or some form of a religious chaplain. When we start going this route, just Christianity alone has 40,000 different denominations, and there’s multiple other religions and non-faith as a choice. How do you provide comfortable service for every single possible faith? I don’t think it’s possible. I feel like students would be hesitant to get the help they need if they feel like it was just under one particular religion or faith.”

There are no answers in this article.

There is an explanation of a problem, a look at one possible solution, and an admission that we need to keep looking for better ones.

In the meantime, Hartig, as many parents who have lost children do, fills his life with symbols and reminders of both his own loss and the need to make the world better so no one else has to go through what he did.

Hartig told The Reporter that Cam had orange hair. Hartig drives a two-tone orange truck. He bought orange campaign signs. And he carries Cam’s name badge from work in his pocket, close to his heart.

He said he doesn’t “beat the drum about LGBTQ” but he does carry a deep awareness that those young people are even more at risk. And he is looking for better solutions for all the kids who need help.