Starting in 2020, The Center is partnering with the South Side and East Central ISDs to offer clinical counseling and emergency response training for students and faculty alike. These programs will focus on enhancing assessment and prevention, and will provide ongoing treatment of mental health concerns.
The schools are a critical place to raise awareness of the effects of childhood mental health, and treat any concerns. Schools don’t always have the funds to keep a counselor, social worker, or school psychologist on staff. So collaborations between mental health agencies and school districts have become necessary to address the emotional and behavioral needs of school-age children.
Academic personnel have limited time, resources and training to help a student who might have diagnoses such as oppositional defiant disorder, anxiety disorder or depression. We want to bring clinical knowledge and services to the child and intervention support and training to the educators. This treatment could lead to lower suspension and expulsion rates for students, as well as lower burnout rates for educators.
This partnership is exactly the kind of community collaboration The Center strives to achieve. By building relationships of trust in the community, we can create meaningful change for children’s mental health in the comfort of their school environment.