Regional schools working to improve mental health services

8 OUR REGION

REGION

Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022

Regional schools working to improve mental health services

BY KARAH WILSON

MESSENGER-INQUIRER

Several regional schools are taking action in improving their mental health services for students and staff within their districts.

Rhonda Welch, DCPS district mental health coordinator, said one way DCPS is taking steps in bettering their mental health services is by offering a Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) academy for staff to participate in.

“MTSS builds better social emotional learning at all levels,” she said. “This way students can have their unique needs serviced to them.”

Welch said in the last year, DCPS has increased its mental health team by 120% and has begun offering more individualized services. A new suicide prevention team has also been added.

“Every staff member is trained in trauma-informed care and youth mental first aid has been taught to staff in the middle school and high school levels,” Welch said.

For DCPS staff, there is an employee assistance program that has been implemented through Owensboro Health, along with safe spaces and staff wellness rooms within the schools.

“Everyday we strive to improve in the area of mental health,” Welch said. “As we encourage students and make it a part of everyday conversation, it makes it easier for them to ask for help.”

Julie Pendley, Muhlenberg County Public Schools director of special education and student support services, said along with counselors, the school district works with Mountain Comprehensive Care and Pennyroyal Mental Health Center to provide mental health support staff members who provide resources throughout the school day.

“We have also added an assessment piece through a computer-based software called Terrace Metrics,” Pendley said. “Those are given to students in grades 3-12, with parent permission, and it helps to assess factors such as depression and anxiety but also helps us determine the resiliency, grit and hope of the student.”

Middle and high school staff are required to participate in suicide awareness training, which discusses risks and warning signs to look at within a student.

“We still have students who hurt and who are struggling, and there is a lot we haven’t identified yet,” Pendley said.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic began, MCPS started a “Stop the Stigma” campaign to address how stigmas can affect those dealing with mental health issues.

“This past year we asked students to take a pledge and sign a banner showing they took the pledge,” Pendley said. “We wanted students to want to be a person that recognized these are issues their peers are facing and show them why this is an important topic.”

Christy Fulton, director of special education and school health coordinator at Ohio County Public Schools, said the district has a contract with a mental health entity for each school. Those agencies include River Valley Behavioral Health, Mountain Comprehensive Care, Mary Kendall Counseling Services and Family Options.

Along with the contracted agencies, OCPS has an assistance coordinator for the district that works across the district in seeking out students and coordination services.

“I think we are becoming more and more equipped as teachers receive training at the district and education cooperative levels,” Fulton said.

Staff go through trainings in suicide prevention and mental health first aid. At the middle and high school levels, Fulton said self-advocacy becomes a priority, whereas at the younger grade levels, parents make referrals based on student behavior.

“We are trying to reduce the stigma everyday by promoting emotional resources at different levels,” Fulton said.

Summer Bell, Owensboro Public Schools mental health coordinator, said the district has made “great strides” with mental health and supportive services over the last few years.

“We have almost doubled the amount of counselors and mental health support in the district in order to provide supportive services that focus on mental health and social emotional learning,” she said.

Bell said OPS’ mental health team consists of school counselors, student assistance coordinators, family resource coordinators, school psychologists and the Mountain Comprehensive Care counselors, who all work closely together to identify students who are in need of support and provide direct interventions.

“We continue in year four of the Project Prevent grant, which has a trauma-informed and mental health focus,” Bell said. “Within the grant, we have established mental health teams at all the schools.”

OPS has also put a focus on staff wellness, beginning an EAP within the last year where staff receive counseling services outside of school at an agency to focus on their mental health.

“Last year as a district we sponsored our first community wellness night, and that was an overall success, with many parents coming out for the night to meet our community partners, sign up for services and to learn all the resources available to support physical and mental well-being,” Bell said.

OUR REGION

Madison Avery, Heidi Wilson and Misty Sowders provide information about RiverValley services at the Daviess County Public Schools Mental Health Summit on Aug. 2.

Photo provided

REGION

Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022 9

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