VITAL POLICY – Jefferson County Schools Not Advising Parents That District’s Mental Health Contractor is LGBTQ+ Affirming Before Students Are Counseled
Two questions were presented to Jefferson County Director of Schools.
QUESTION: “Are parents advised BY THE JEFFERSON COUNTY SCHOOL SYSTEM that Allied Behavioral Health Solutions is fully affirming of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning (+) BEFORE they consent for their children to be counseled by Allied Behavioral Health Solutions?”
ANSWER by Director of Jefferson County Schools: “No”
(Link to Director’s Email Response and Other Supporting Documents)
Allied advertised on its job openings page in June 2023 with Glassdoor that applicants for employment should be “fully affirming of the LGBTQ+ community” plus other requirements. A copy of their (job openings) employment advertisement is pictured below. See text in red boxes.
Student mental health services are initiated after a referral is made by Jefferson County Schools personnel and parent consent is given. After parent consent is given, Jefferson County Schools takes a hands-off approach as evidenced by the following Q and A.
QUESTION: “Are parents advised that Allied Behavioral Health Solutions is fully affirming of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning (+) before they consent for their children to be counseled by Allied Behavioral Health Solutions?”
ANSWER by Director of Jefferson County Schools: “I cannot speak for Allied and do not know what goes on between Allied and a parent who consents for mental health services for their child. I have not seen the referenced statement or disclosure on any paperwork from Allied to parents. JCS is not involved in the process once mental health services are started by a parent for the child.”
Allied has also published many other references to LGBTQ+ affirming ideology on their webpages and social media pages over the past few years. Those images were featured in previous news reports, many of which have been removed from Allied’s web and media pages since the March 2023 Jefferson County School Board Meeting in which concerned citizens advised the Jefferson County School Board of Allied’s LGBTQ+ affirming posts.
“As a parent, I would want to know if my child was about to be counseled by a school-based mental health liaison that is transgender affirming. If parents don’t know to ask, their children may be in a confidential counseling session with an LGBTQ+ affirming practitioner without their knowledge. All parents across Tennessee should ask a lot of questions before they consent to school-based mental health counseling for their child.” – Alicia Bonora, Jefferson County Resident
For additional background information, a link is provided here indicating that Jefferson County Schools has no formal process in place to notify parents if a student expresses the desire to “gender transition” at school. VITAL POLICY – Jefferson County School System Providing No Answer on Parental Notice of Student “Gender Transition” | The Jefferson County Post
To see copies of the Allied LGBTQ+ images, a link is provided here.
The Jefferson County School System started its business relationship with Allied Behavioral Health Solutions in 2019 with Allied counseling a handful of students for a myriad of psychological conditions. School system data, obtained under Tennessee’s open records law, shows that the number of students counseled by Allied has grown considerably. For the 2022-2023 academic year, 511 students were counseled out of 762 referrals made to Allied. Additional Allied LGBTQ+ images linked here. Allied Images Provided by Jefferson County GOP | The Jefferson County Post
Allied is provided with free office space within Jefferson County School buildings as part of their contractual agreement to accommodate at least 10 behavioral health liaisons. Jefferson County Schools report that Allied has logged 19,811 hours of behavioral health service to students since 2019. Additional supporting documents linked at top of page.
David Seal is a retired Jefferson County educator, recognized artist, local businessman, 917 Society Volunteer, and current Chairman of the Jefferson County Republican Party. He has also served Jefferson County as a County Commissioner and is a citizen lobbyist for the people on issues such as eminent domain, property rights, education, and broadband accessibility on the state level.
