Eau Claire schools services for mental health needs gain recognition

Oct. 04--Eau Claire school district staff and administrators knew they needed to do something different to meet the mental health and emotional needs of some students.

Those students' behavioral problems frequently got in the way of their learning in the classroom. School counselors and other staff did their best to intervene, involving students' families in attempted solutions.

Often it wasn't enough. In many cases, students were referred to counseling services from licensed providers. But, for various reasons, they and their families often didn't show up for appointments, and the students' behaviors continued to affect their school work.

So in 2011 district officials began researching how to better serve those students. They decided to bring licensed providers into schools and partnered with two of them to provide selected students with better mental and emotional health services.

"We saw the need there and wanted to do more for our students," said Robyn Criego, director of special education and student services who coordinates the district's school based mental health services (SBMH), part of the district's multilevel support system for students.

Since then those services have expanded. Last school year the district added two more mental health providers, and this school year the program is available in all district schools, Criego said.

Other school districts in Wisconsin are using Eau Claire as a model for providing mental health programming to students, district Superintendent Mary Ann Hardebeck said. Madison schools base their service model on what Eau Claire has done, and Criego also has worked with schools in Barron County.

Schools typically provide counselors or other staff to help students with mental or emotional health needs. But state regulations prohibit school therapists from providing mental health therapy, so bringing those more complete services into schools helps improve mental health for students who need it, Criego said. Last school year about 90 students were involved in individual or group therapy as part of the program, she said, and she expects that number will double this school year.

"These kinds of services fill a real need in schools," she said.

Efforts spreading

Eau Claire isn't the only district in Wisconsin and elsewhere bringing mental health providers into schools; providing school based mental health services is a national trend. Such programs are viewed as a way to reach students and their families who need such services but, for various reasons, aren't getting the help they need, or at least not enough of it.

The Menasha school district in eastern Wisconsin began such a system eight years ago, and similar efforts have sprung up elsewhere around the state as districts with such a program work with others interested in starting one. In addition to Eau Claire, Waukesha, Oshkosh, Superior and others have set up SBMH programs.

Efforts by the Barron, Cameron, Chetek-Weyerhaeuser and Turtle Lake school districts to partner with mental health providers to better serve students began two years ago after a Barron County health assessment study found that mental health concerns were a top priority. A health action team formed to address the issue in the four school districts.

A pilot project to test the program in those school districts started this school year, although the Barron district had operated its own version for the past 18 months.

School based mental health services in Barron County schools were patterned on the Eau Claire district's approach, said Chris Crowe, director of Northstar Academy, a charter high school in Cameron.

"This is at the heart of what we do as educators," Crowe said. "We want to address the underlying mental health issues so these children can succeed. If we don't, those kids are going to continue to have problems over and over."

Ongoing challenges

Criego, Crowe and others said the school based mental health effort is a step in the right direction. Research shows students receiving those services in school generally improve in the classroom.

But much remains to be done, they said. Most school districts still use the traditional counselor model. Many districts haven't been fully educated about the topic, while others struggle to find providers willing to come into schools.

"There is a lot of good that can come from this approach," Crowe said, "but there is a lot of work left to do."

Among those challenges is finding a way to reach all the students who need help. Currently, providers in schools bill families for those services, meaning children from families who can't afford it don't get the help they need.

Criego said she is seeking grant money to pay for more students to receive that help.

"Our goal is that all children who need them have access to these services," she said.

Emerson can be reached at 715-830-5911, 800-236-7077 or julian.emerson@ecpc.com.

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