June 10th, 2023

Partnerships with community-based behavioral health professionals, mentoring programs, etc.

Even in a school where we have ample number of school counselors, we cannot adequately meet the mental health needs of students. We provide Tier 1 and some Tier 2 services, but we are most effective when we are able to connect our students with mentors and mental health clinicians. Wait lists are still long for youth so we have begun a partnership with a local clinic that received funding for school-based therapy. These services are ideal because families don't need to worry about scheduling appointments or transportation. Counselors can communicate with clinicians face-to-face. We also have a partnership with a mentoring program that was started by a former school counselor. They partner with local schools and provide school-based mentors. Students meet with their mentor twice a week (individually and in a group). We have seen amazing results from this partnership.

I believe that along with an adequate number of school counselors in each school, we also need school social workers (who's functions are different) as well as partnerships with community organizations.

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Comments (2)

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I agree access to mental health for both students and educators takes far too long. We need ways to streamline the process and get kids access. My college age daughter has been able to access free mental health services right on campus and this ease of access has made a tremendous difference. Access is key.

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Hi Rani:

Thanks for joining our conversation. That sounds like an interesting program at your school. Can you think of ways to scale that up to be statewide? What would it take to do something like that?

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