Mental Health

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BRIEF SUMMARY

One in five youth have a mental health condition, with half of mental health conditions developing by age 14. Yet, less than half of youth with mental health conditions received any kind of treatment in the past year. Undiagnosed, untreated, and inadequately treated mental illnesses significantly interfere with a student’s ability to learn, to grow, and to develop. Since children spend much of their productive time in educational settings, schools provide a unique opportunity to identify and treat mental health conditions by serving students where they already are. (NAMI)

KEY POINTS

  • Up to one in five kids living in the U.S. shows signs or symptoms of a mental health disorder in a given year.
  • Most children — nearly 80 percent — who need mental health services won’t get them.
  • With large caseloads, school counselors are usually not able to provide enough resources to all students who suffer from a mental illness.
  • Experts say that a comprehensive approach, families and school professionals working together, is the best approach to identifying and dealing with mental health issues in schools.
  • Whether treated or not, children with mental health issues go to school.
  • The problems that students with mental health issues face can tie into major problems found in schools: chronic absence, low achievement, disruptive behavior and dropping out.

SHARED WISDOM

  • Question: I like to know the process of setting up therapeutic services in my school.

    • Responses:
    • I contacted the Bowen Center. We have one about 20 minutes from our school. They are very helpful and willing to come to the school to help.
    • We have connected with a couple of mental health providers in our area. One services primarily our students with medicaid — providing school based therapy and school based case management.
      We also found there was a need for our students with private insurance and lack of providers. The second provider was contacted to service our students with private insurance. They only provide school based therapy services.  Each provider gave us referral forms to use. I meet with the child’s parents and discuss counseling services outside of the school. Parents are usually looking for a provider but do not know where to begin. I discuss providers in the community and the ones who come to school. Parents decide if they want their child to have therapy services and how they want them to receive them. I make a referral after I have obtained their permission. Once I refer, the mental health center arranges the intake, sets up appointments and the billing process.
      Parents sign releases allowing the provider to communicate with the school.
    • Our process is nearly identical to (the above).  The only difference is that parents have us set up the initial intake appt.  Also the intake appt takes place at school.
  • Indiana has been selected as 1 of 9 states to be a part of the National Coalition for the State Advancement of School Mental Health, through Center for School Mental Health (CSMH). CSMH will provide technical assistance to Indiana schools with use of the SHAPE System, a school performance and mental health assessment system. A benefit of this assessment system is that it will help to expand the capacity for schools and districts to meet the social, emotional, and mental health needs of their students and staff. For more information, please contact Jeff Wittman or Kristan Sievers-Coffer.

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This post was created by MNOP ContentManager on August 7, 2016.