School-Linked Mental Health Services Creating Direct Access to Care
March 5, 2020
School-Linked Mental Health Services is a pioneering program that began in 1998 to bring community mental health directly to students and their families. With your help and support, we’ve grown this program to include 25 schools in four districts, including Robbinsdale, Osseo, Anoka-Hennepin, and Intermediate District 287 (a trauma-sensitive, collaborative district of 11 combined school districts in the west metro). This growth includes being one of the only agencies in the Twin Cities metro to embed therapists at least half time in each school (most are full-time), enabling us to reach more students in need of mental health supports.
This program cooperates with districts overwhelmed with the demand for social and behavioral health services. With therapy onsite, it’s also more accessible for busy families, taking away many of the barriers and logistics a family faces in receiving care. In addition, therapists connect families to resources to meet other needs such as insurance programs, food shelves, and more.
Therapists collaborate with school staff to identify students who might be experiencing mental health concerns with their mental health, and also provide resources and advice on how to best support the student’s success in the classroom. Children and youth may be experiencing a wide variety of challenges, including anxiety, low self-esteem, and depression.
You can help us continue to expand our school-linked mental health services to where our students are in our community, ensuring quality care is accessible to everyone.
“We always have an ongoing conversation with the schools about what their needs are and if expansion opportunities exist,” Sara explained. “There’s always the desire to continue to have a school served in the best possible way.
