Etowah County Schools prepare to meet mental health challenges head on with new initiative

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and over the last two years, the need for mental health services and therapists has sharply increased.

"More than 8 in 10 (84%) psychologists who treat anxiety disorders said they have seen an increase in demand for anxiety treatment since the start of the pandemic, compared with 74% a year ago," said a survey completed by the American Psychological Association, "Demand for treatment of depression is also up, with 72% of psychologists who treat depressive disorders saying they have seen an increase, compared with 60% in 2020."

Because of this increase in need, Etowah County Schools has decided to step up when it comes to the mental health of the system's faculty and students.

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"Two years ago, thanks to the state funding we received from COVID-19, we were able to hire a mental health services coordinator to focus on a mental health initiative within our schools," superintendent Dr. Alan Cosby explained.

This initiative, named "C-Squared" by Cosby, is focused on promoting "wellness and instills a readiness to teach and learn within the school system."

"We are living in a time where stress and anxiety are at an all-time high for all generations and all populations in society," said Tanya Ragan, the district's mental health coordinator. "There have been a number of stressors associated with the last two years for both students and faculty and staff, such as developmental delays, shifts in social norms, and exposure to trauma from lost loved ones, and a prolonged stay in an unhealthy environment."

Ragan explained that faculty and staff will be trained to identify concerns with a child through several professional development sessions that help them understand behaviors from trauma or diagnoses of mental and behavioral disorders.

"We also want to help teachers understand the importance of connecting to every child in their classroom, understand that every behavior is an unmet need and create a safe learning environment for children to have the most optimal opportunity to learn," Ragan said.

When those situations are identified, the school will "immediately reach out to that student's family and assess the needs."

"Based on the needs, we provide mental health support through our mental health providers," she said. "Within our community, there are a plethora of wonderful counseling services that we share with families if the families would like to privately seek treatment. We also have three school social workers who are instrumental in linking resources to meet the needs of our families."

The program also has a state collaboration with CED Mental Health, Quality of Life, UAB's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology and six other contracted licensed professional counselors.

"For specific counseling needs, we have a partnership with Shepherd's Cove for grief counseling and The Bridge for substance abuse counseling. We have additional support services through Family Success Center and Extended Family for Kids," Ragan added.

"It's pretty wide-ranging and includes things that address the needs of our students, especially those who are in need of counseling services," Cosby said. "It allows us to address things that we weren't able to address before within our system."

Reagan said the initiative not only focuses on taking care of students' mental health needs but puts a priority on staff as well.

"One of our short-term goals is that every administrator and teacher ... understand the importance of self-care so they can meet the needs of their students," she explained. "By taking care of themselves, it will keep them mentally and physically healthy. We know that stressed brains can’t teach and stressed brains can’t learn; therefore, we want to negate as much stress as possible."

As for the program's long-term goals, Ragan said that they want to create a "family" of support for students and faculty.

"We want to create a sense of community within each school where children are connected to the adults and their peers in a way that they feel a sense of safety and security," she said. "We hope through the next three years, the core values are instilled in our communities, and through this initiative the lives of young people are changed forever."

"We want to have an overall good mental health that overarches all of those involved with the Etowah County School Systems," added Cosby. "This initiative helps address those needs and lets us show everyone that they are not alone when it comes to dealing with their mental health."

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Etowah County Schools implements new mental health initiative