Start of (online) psychological support for students: 250 euro voucher for up to five sessions

The inter-ministerial decree (Education and Merit and the MEF) is ready, which kicks off the psychological support service for students envisaged by the 2025 budget. The service, which is starting on an experimental basis, is provided electronically and is aimed at students enrolled in the last year of secondary school and the first two years of secondary school in schools throughout Italy. There are no Isee thresholds, as there are for other bonuses linked to psychological support.

The decree, seven articles in total, provides that the service can be accessed through a specific application on MIM's Single Platform called 'AscoltaMI - Psychological Support Service', which allows the request and provision of the service to beneficiaries and the accreditation of psychologist professionals, also through interoperability with the management system of the Cnop, the National Council of Psychologists Order.

At the beginning of each school year, schools will inform students and parents about the service. Parents (or those exercising parental authority over the child) must then log onto Unica and make a request, giving informed consent. Once the request has been completed, the student is awarded a voucher (usable once during the school year), the value of which is 250 euros and corresponds to a maximum number of five meetings.

The service is provided on an individual basis by a professional psychologist, identified by the Cnop from among the professionals meeting the following requirements: a) registration on the register for at least 3 years; and b) experience in the school environment and in projects for the age of development for at least 3 years in total. The applicant through the application selects, among those accredited on the platform, the professional psychologist for the purpose of providing the service. The educational institution, through the platform, receives notification of the start of the provision of the service and its conclusion.

The psychological support service consists of a listening and counselling activity aimed at the prevention and development of psychological wellbeing, in order to foster the growth and formation of students' personalities, prevent risk factors or situations of discomfort, and help overcome developmental fragility in school contexts, also with reference to situations of social and cultural disadvantage that hinder the processes of socialisation and participation in the life of the school community. The service, as mentioned, consists of a maximum of five meetings, lasting sixty minutes, except for the first meeting, which lasts an additional ten minutes for the purpose of agreeing on the service delivery methods.