Driscoll, Corpus Christi ISD partner to bring more mental health staff to schools
A new mental health pilot program will benefit kids at six Corpus Christi ISD schools.
Thanks to an $800,000 grant from the Coastal Bend Community Foundation, Driscoll Health and CCISD are partnering to bring additional mental health staff into Moody High School and Mireles, Montclair, Travis, Shaw and Berlanga elementary schools.
The pilot program, which officials announced in a news conference Tuesday, will run for three years. Six licensed mental health professionals on staff at Driscoll, including clinical social workers and licensed professional counselors, will work directly in the schools to meet student mental health needs.
Driscoll will also provide an evidence-based parenting program for families at these schools to help improve parent-child relationships and to help families cope with stressors.
The specific schools were chosen based on student need, as the district assessed factors such as levels of anxiety, CCISD Chief Instructional Support Officer Jennifer Arismendi said.
Karen Griffith, CCISD's deputy superintendent for business and support services, said that CCISD has a team of mental health counselors, but not enough to handle the number of students with needs across the district.
Driscoll said in a news release that elementary-aged children in Corpus Christi make up:
21.8% of all reports for ideations of self-harm.
26.57% of reports for ideations of making harmful threats toward another.
34% of all social work referrals, which can be made for anxiety, depression, family issues and violence.
The partnership aims at increasing access to high-quality mental health resources in school before children reach a crisis point, said Mary Dale Peterson, Driscoll Health vice president and chief operating officer.
"Every night, we see children and adolescents coming to our emergency department with suicide attempts or other severe behavioral and emotional disturbances," Peterson said. "Anxiety and depression in our youth is an epidemic. The families come to us seeking help."
The mental health professionals can assess the needs of students, provide short-term therapeutic interventions and assist with community referrals, Peterson said.
Montclair Elementary School will close at the end of this year, and students will join those from Meadowbrook and Woodlawn elementary schools at Cullen Place Elementary School. Next year, the program will continue and serve more students at Cullen Place.
Funding for the grant comes from donations from an estate and a local family foundation.
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This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Driscoll, Corpus Christi ISD to bring more mental health staff to schools
