‘A lot of need.’ Richland parents want more crisis aid for students. Help is on the way

A $600,000 grant will help Richland School District strengthen its response to suicide prevention and mental health resources — and parents will be leading the charge.

Ty Beaver, Richland’s director of communications, said the funds are a significant investment for the district and will help in ongoing efforts to improve outreach for students struggling with depression, anxiety, and mental health issues.

The money will do two things for Richland: continue parent-led suicide prevention work through University of Washington’s Asking is Caring program in Eastern Washington, and pay for training for district employees to identify and help address student stresses.

“There’s a lot of need, and the more people we have that can engage with our students one on one, or help them find resources or help them have a conversation, is immeasurable,” he said. “We’re definitely not done. This is a focus area for us.”

The grant was awarded by UnitedHealthcare to the school district in partnership with the UW’s School Mental Health Assessment Research and Training (SMART) Center.

“This interconnected approach will increase participation and active engagement of community partners, educators, families and youth, with an emphasis on suicide prevention, supporting the mental health strengths and needs of more than 15,500 students across the two school districts,” said a news release.

Last May, Richland parents convened training session for the Asking is Caring program. With guidance from SMART Center experts, parents learned — and led discussions — about how to identify, safely engage and support children in crisis.

About 140 parents with children in elementary, middle and high schools showed up.

“The goal is to build a network of parents that can support each other,” said Michelle Sorensen, a wellness coordinator at the Richland district.

Beaver said that Richland “families have been clamoring for these kind of resources and support, but it’s such a difficult subject.”

The training is being led by Dr. Jennifer Stuber, an affiliate faculty member at the SMART Center. She’s also a co-founder of the Forefront Suicide Prevention innovation center at UW.

“The grant will strengthen upstream approaches to youth mental health, such as suicide prevention and family, community and youth partnerships that are essential to creating a full continuum of behavioral health supports and services in schools,” she said in a statement.

Richland and UW plan on offering more training sessions this fall. Though no dates have been set yet.

Mental health awareness training also will help district staff members engage with students they see in crisis, as well as educate them on resources.

Other grant recipients

Three other organizations also received grant funding through UnitedHealthcare’s Empowering Health fund, totaling $1 million in investments that will benefit Eastern Washington residents.

• The American Indian Community Center, Goodheart Behavioral Health in Spokane was awarded $150,000 to hire a mental health clinician who specializes in intervention for Native American community members, which will increase the number of patients served.

• Seattle-based Perinatal Support Washington will receive $162,500 to train and employ therapists and interns to address gaps in perinatal mental health care for Medicaid-eligible and pro bono clients who have difficulty finding providers. These programs will benefit patients statewide.

• The National Alliance on Mental Illness in Yakima will receive $87,500 to expand its “Ending the Silence” mental health awareness program and ensure it is culturally relevant and responsive for Native American and Hispanic high school students enrolled in Yakama Reservation school districts.

“Social and economic factors have a profound impact on achieving and maintaining good health,” Genevieve Caruncho-Simpson, UnitedHealthcare Community Planning of Washington CEO, said in a statement.

“We’re working with local organizations in the state to provide Washington residents with an interconnected system of clinical and social services that can produce better health outcomes and make the health system work better for everyone.”

Struggling kids

Youth depression and anxiety rates already had been steadily increasing for several years by the time the COVID-19 pandemic came.

The social isolation that followed as schools closed their physical buildings and businesses shuttered only worsened things, experts say.

Nationwide about 37% of high school students reported experiencing mental health challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, a survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found.

Rates of mental health stresses during that time were also higher among LGBTQ+ students; almost two-thirds of gay students (76%) said their health was not good for most of the pandemic, compared with 30% of heterosexual students.

Emergency room visits for suspected suicides also spiked among teen girls during the pandemic.

Suicide is the second-leading cause of death for children ages 10-14, and the third-leading cause for people 15-24, recent CDC data shows. And rates among youth in Washington state remain higher than the national average.

Schools recently have taken a more active approach to suicide prevention in the classroom and hallways.

Pasco School District earlier this year announced an immediate partnership with a telehealth business to offer free licensed therapy to its 17,600 students.

Need help?

Here are some places to turn for help and advice:

• Lourdes Counseling Center at 509-943-9104.

• Comprehensive Healthcare crisis line 509-792-1747.

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK or 800-273-8255 for English and 888-628-9454 for Spanish.

• Crisis Text Line: text “START” to 741-741

• Trevor Project for LGBTQ youth: 866-488-7386, or text “START” to 678-678.