that helped expand services to include group therapy, a five-session mental health and wellness training for middle school students, and services focused on substance abuse, trauma and grief.
The clinicians can also help families navigate to other resources or the next point of care for more serious problems or in cases in which a child has trouble getting help through a screen, Williams said. Parent surveys show that more than half of the children served by the program were doing a lot better and a third were doing a little better after the sessions, according to the consortium.
Wilson quickly realized that the student needed more help than she was equipped to provide. Instead, she connected the student and her family to virtual appointments with a therapist and psychiatrist. That level of care that may have otherwise been out of reach for the low-income family, Wilson said.
The program also offers support, education and training to counselors and other school personnel involved in the program. Wilson plans to implement some mindfulness activities that she learned at a recent training to help students cope with stress. The slow-burning mental health crisis has been building for decades in the U.S. due to under-resourcing and stigma, Williams said, noting that she is glad to see more attention now focused on the issue.