Medway Public Schools gets money to address mental health. How they plan to spend it.
MEDWAY — The town's middle and high schools will soon have access to a new clinician to help students tackle mental health challenges, thanks to a new grant from the state.
Medway Public Schools was selected to receive more than $60,000 in state funding to support a program aimed at the effects of gun violence, particularly the associated behavioral health impacts of such incidents. The state Department of Public Health announced the grants, selecting those to receive funding based on the merits of submitted proposals, the community's level of gun violence and the specific needs of a community's schools.
In Medway, money will be spent on preventative measures to provide mental health support for students who need it most. This includes the hiring of a clinician to work with students.
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Medway Public Schools Wellness Director Ryan Sherman, who wrote the grant application, said the school district will hire a new master's level clinician to help middle and high school students. The goal is to help students with mental health issues that are often tied to school violence.
"We're really excited about this," Sherman said. "MassDPH is really in support of violence prevention and improving supports in order to prevent violence. Luckily, Medway does not have high incidents of violence, but there's a need for better support."
New mental health clinician will work with students on waiting lists
In addition, despite a growing demand for pediatric mental health care, most young people who seek help spend an average of 15 weeks on waiting lists, while a majority of youth in need receive no mental health services. Sherman said the new clinician is expected to work with students stuck on these waiting lists and will work with so-called tier-2 students — those who need more intensive mental and behavioral health services — in group settings.
Medway is among eight school districts to receive the state funding. Others include Fitchburg Public Schools, Veritas Preparatory Charter (Springfield), Springfield Public Schools, Fall River Public Schools, Ayer Shirley Regional School District, Haverhill Public Schools and the Northshore Education Consortium (Beverly).
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Recipients will each receive three-year grants ranging from $35,000 to $100,000 annually to implement strategies to prioritize mental health, well-being and resilience in the wake of gun violence and related trauma. The total allocated for the program is nearly $2 million, or about $650,000 annually over three years.
The money comes from a reserve established in 2022 — the Behavioral Health Supports and Resources in Schools to Respond to Gun Violence and Related Trauma grant opportunity — and is administered by the DPH in consultation with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Department of Mental Health.
Funding will run through December 2026.
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Besides landing the state grant, Medway Public Schools has been selected to participate in a mental wellness collaborative that aims to support students throughout the country.
The collaborative, started by the School Superintendents Association, formerly called the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) is meant to help identify various best practices and strategies, which will be shared with AASA's members to support, bolster and develop mental wellness for students and the adults who serve them.
The AASA is expected to visit Medway and hold focus groups with middle and high school students to understand more about student experiences with mental wellness.
Medway's new clinician is expected to start work later this winter from Medway High School and Medway Middle School.
This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Medway receives mental health grant to hire clinician, help students
