by Victoria Manning

A Virginia school district has spent precious educational funding on a controversial outside mental health counseling program for students—without parental knowledge or consent. One of the largest districts in the Commonwealth recently announced a $255,000 contract with Uwill Mental Health to provide online counseling to 35,000 students in grades 6-12. Uwill’s ideology is in clear opposition to the tenets of many faith groups, likely unknown by parents.

Telehealth provider “UWill”

Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS) spends over a half million dollars on outside mental health counseling for students — over and above more than 100 full-time school counselors employed by the division.

Uwill, the contractor used by VBCPS, brags that 25 percent of their counselors identify as LGBTQIA+ and some of their top therapists specialize in sexual identity counseling. Yet they don’t offer support based on a student’s religious beliefs, a central tenet of mental health treatment for many Christians and other faith traditions.

In addition to the Uwill contract, VBCPS spends over $227,500 annually for another mental health organization to provide outside treatment for students. Care Solace is the district’s provider that helps families navigate the mental health care system “to find community-based providers and secure appointments as quickly as possible.” The district hired Care Solace under a sole-source, non-compete contract even though school board policy and state law requires competitive bidding for contracts over $200,000.

Justin Mendoza is a leading Uwill counselor and promotes himself as “a queer-identified psychotherapist and coach with a clinical focus on LGBTQ+ issues.” Mendoza applies “queer, feminist, anti-oppressive, and body/sex-positive lenses” to his treatment practices. Uwill hosted a pride month webinar led by Mendoza that focused on “supporting LGBTQIA+ students.” Mendoza’s social media account is filled with LGBT activism and Uwill honored him as a “Hero of the Month” for his work “to increase access and support [for] LGBTQ+ students.”

Jessica Edwards is another Uwill therapist presented with their top counselor award in 2023 and 2024. She provides counseling “in an LGBTQIA+ affirming space that’s welcoming to all identities.” Nicole Reyes has been honored by Uwill as a top counselor and promotes being “LGBTQ affirmative.”

Conflicting information

Documents obtained by Restoration News include contract provisions submitted by VBCPS to the state’s behavioral health department for approval for telehealth grant funding. VBCPS agreed to provide, within their schools, infrastructure, and technology to support telehealth including locations where telehealth meetings would take place. 

The Uwill memorandum of understanding (MOU) specifies that parental consent is only required for students under the age of 14. According to the MOU, Uwill and VBCPS collaborate and “coordinate care” with regular check-ins—indicating school staff, not parents, are collaborating with Uwill on the student’s care plan. The agreement doesn’t specify that parents must be a part of the collaboration.

VBCPS told Restoration News that “students under the age of 18 must have parental or legal guardian consent on file” and “telehealth services referenced in the released records are not provided during the instructional school day.” Further inquiries asking why those statements conflict with the grant funding document and the MOU with the therapy provider received no response.

The phrase “instructional day” doesn’t rule out telehealth taking place at school—before, after, or during lunch. State law requires school boards who approve telehealth mental health counseling to adopt policies regarding the specifics of implementation. The policies are to include parental consent provisions, creating private spaces for students to receive treatment, and more. VBCPS told Restoration News that their policies require parental consent to be on file, but no such policies could be found. The response to follow up requests for copies of the relevant policies consisted of documents not related to the topic.

It seems VBCPS is creating their own rules without adhering to school board policies or state law.

Parental rights and religious liberty

Extremists are determined to permanently dismantle the traditional American family. Government schools impose their secular religion and advocate for raising children from “cradle to career.” Schools even push telehealth counseling in school for all ages through radical providers who espouse LGBTQ+ ideology. Big government is usurping parental rights and responsibilities—and establishing ownership over your kids.

Across the nation—even in conservative school districts—public schools spend substantial sums on mental health counseling. It often happens without parental consent. Schools routinely utilize third-party providers that rely solely on secular frameworks, potentially disregarding the deeply held religious convictions of families who believe faith should play a role in counseling.

Jesus says in Matthew 11:28-29, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Yet these important tenets of healing for Christians are absent in school telehealth counseling. All while sexual ideology conversations are not prohibited.

Public schools struggle with their primary purpose—educating children. How do they have the time and money to also provide healthcare?

School staff burdened

Restoration News spoke to a VBCPS employee who was required to attend training on Uwill’s telehealth services. School staff are encouraged to provide referrals for students to Uwill. The employee said it’s just another task added to their plates—extra burden placed on the staff.

In a statement to Restoration News, school board member David Culpepper said the board had no knowledge of the implementation of Uwill telehealth and he has concerns about the program. “Schools must focus on academic achievement,” Culpepper said, “not providing medical care. We already have approved resources in place to help families get priority mental health treatment through Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters, at a heavy cost to taxpayers.”

There are many unanswered questions regarding telehealth counseling in schools. While mental health problems across society undeniably persist, is it the job of government schools to provide medical therapy? Counseling can be very emotional and traumatic. What happens if a child has mental health crisis during their appointment at school? What procedures are in place to ensure the privacy of these sensitive medical records?

And, perhaps most importantly, who decides what ideological perspective is most important when providing counseling to vulnerable students?

Victoria Manning is a Senior Investigative Researcher for Restoration News specializing in education freedom, immigration, and military issues. This column has been republished with permission from Restoration News.