Highlights Mental Health Awareness

By Gregory Stevens

Communities In Schools of Houston (CIS), an educational nonproft, celebrates this year’s Mental Health Awareness Month in May, part of a national campaign by Mental Health America (MHA), around the theme “Look Around, Look Within.”

MHA’s mission is to promote mental health and prevent mental illness through advocacy, education, research and services. In May, CIS team members will be raising awareness across campuses about the importance of good mental health, including coordinated activities.

For the past 43 years, supporting students’ mental health and well-being has been at the core of what CIS does. CIS of Houston, which continues to celebrate 10 years since the launch of its Mental Health Initiative (MHI), is the largest provider of mental health services for schools in the Harris County area.

With the MHI, CIS has been able to implement targeted eforts to collectively address the growing mental health needs on CIS’s 173 campuses in six school districts across Greater Houston. At least one fulltime CIS staf member (Student Support Specialist) on each campus ensures basic needs are met, delivering direct services, providing mental health services, and connecting students and families with muchneeded community resources. During the 2021-2022 school year, CIS facilitated mental health services for more than 6,000 students across 94 campuses.

“A true mental health crisis exists among students in Harris County, Texas and across the nation,” says Shubhra Endley, LCSW-S,

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CIS of Houston’s director of mental health & wellness. “Many factors contribute to this, including lingering problems from the pandemic shutdown, bullying at school and on social media, poverty, lack of community resources, joblessness, loss of a loved one and domestic violence.”

“CIS mental health staf and our mental health partners fll in the gap by working with students and their families in developing strategies for living healthier lives,” Endley continues. She notes that CIS of Houston has made it a priority to ensure all campus-based staf members are trained in

trauma-informed practices, Mental Health

First Aid and suicide prevention strategies every year.

Statistics paint a picture of a growing problem in mental health, which is exacerbated by a lack of services in under-resourced communities. For example:

Communities In Schools

https://www.cishouston.org/ mental-health-initiative

• Mental Health America notes that one in six children experience a mental health disorder each year. It is estimated that 20% of Texas youth have a mental illness or addictive disorder that causes at least some level of functional impairment, while 5% have a Serious Emotional Disturbance (SED) that can signifcantly impact the child’s ability to thrive at home and in school.

• In 2020, Te Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD reported a 24% increase in mental health related visits to hospital emergency rooms for children ages 5-11, and a 31% increase for youth ages 12-17. In 2021, new requests for mental health outpatient services for children and youth in Harris County increased by 13% from the previous year.

“Mental Health Awareness Month reinforces the need for mental and behavioral health services from elementary school through college,” says Endley. “Since we are able to reach students and ofer early support within the school environment, they may be less likely to develop serious mental health conditions later in their lives.”

Endley says according to the Texas Education Agency, school is the primary space where mental illness and social-emotional challenges are identifed and addressed, outside of a student’s home. Nearly 70% of students who receive mental health interventions access these services at school. CIS urges students and parents to reach out to counselors and mental health specialists in their schools when the need arises or to seek out community resources.