The PACES’ School-Based Therapy Program, that puts mental health therapists in Wyandotte County schools to deal with student behavioral and emotional issues, ended the 2016 school year with more than 500 children being served by clinicians.
The service deals with classroom problems, conflicts with peers, problems following directions, poor attention span, anxiety, irritability, anger management, depression, disruptive behaviors, childhood trauma, and grief and loss. School-based therapy enables children to receive counseling directly in school as many families have difficulty attending a traditional outpatient clinic.
Nationally, it is estimated that fewer than 20 percent of children and adolescents with diagnosable mental health problems receive the treatment they need.
Angela Dunn, senior director of clinical and specialty services at PACES, Wyandotte County’s designated mental health provider for children, started the program in 2014 after recognizing that 70 percent of kids referred from local schools were not getting services. “That wasn’t OK,” she said.
Of children receiving services, 73 percent showed stabilization through improvement in functioning.
“Of the children who did not score better, there were ongoing psychosocial stressors such as continued trauma, unstable living environments, a change in schools, or parental disconnect,” Dunn said. “Of the children experiencing PTSD symptoms, 75 percent saw a reduction in symptoms after participating in therapy.”
Another indicator of success is that none of the students participating in the program were suspended from school.
Dunn got the program running with funding from a REACH Healthcare Foundation grant for two therapists. In its first school year, her team served 216 clients and provided services in 18 different Wyandotte County schools.
“Our clinicians have not only provided intakes and therapy in the schools, but they have been training school staff on how to be better informed about the trauma their students are experiencing and skills on how to deal with that in a school setting,” Dunn said. “That piece is essential if we are going to see systematic changes in how we are addressing trauma in schools.”
The school based therapists will stay busy through the summer seeing children for therapy in their homes or at PACES’ Washington West location.
– Story from Wyandot Inc.
