A new law went into effect at the beginning of 2022 that will allow students in Illinois to take up to five mental health days each year.

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They are listed as excused absences, without the need of a doctor’s note, but will have to be designated as mental health days when parents or students call off, WICS reported.

The days off can be taken at one time or spread through the year and students should be able to make up work missed during that time.

But students say the new rules are causing problems at schools because not everyone knows that they’re entitled to the days off.

Araha Uday, a member of the Illinois State Board of Education’s Student Advisory Committee, recently spoke out about the challenges the students are facing not knowing about the new rule.

“The most important step is to make sure students know what resources are available to them because they can’t use it if they don’t even know about it,” Uday told WICS.

Districts though said they’re having a tough time informing students about the new policy because of the pandemic and the other challenges schools are facing, especially how to support students who are taking days off for mental health.

“After the second day, the school has the right to call the family or the student and just ask what supports they might need, or concerns they might have, so we can help them,” Jennifer Gill, superintendent of District 186, told WICS.

Other schools have similar policies.

They also have to track why and when students are absent and whether it qualifies as chronic, excused or not excused, which all go into a rating system for schools.

One concern in the weeks before the law went into effect was whether the students would use the days as intended.

“My hope is that our families will understand what the intent was behind this and use it for the benefit for their student and their family,” Ilini West High School District 307 Superintendent Jay Harnack told KHQA December.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that mental health emergency department visits increased 24% for kids aged 5 to 11 in 2020 compared to 2019. For kids aged 12 through 17, the increase for the same period was 31%, WQAD reported.

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