HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — As the youth mental health crisis continues across the nation, Henrico County leaders announced a new comprehensive plan to better connect students with mental health resources.
The partnership, called Henrico Cares, is a partnership between Henrico County government, the school department and community partners to better provide mental health support to youth at school and at home.
“By strengthening access points and eliminating barriers to service, we are shaping a new era in mental health care,” Henrico School Board Chair Alicia Atkins said.
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“We are working to ensure that any potential barriers students and families may have to connect and link with the mental health care services and supports they need,” said Tyrone Nelson, president of the Henrico Board of Directors. I wanted to get rid of it.” Supervisor.
Henrico Cares is a multi-pronged approach to providing services in a county that has seen a 42% increase in student suicide risk testing over the past several years.
This is an impressive number, especially considering that Virginia ranks 48th in the nation for youth access to mental health resources.
According to Henrico officials, Henrico Cares includes:
- Partnerships with community and private mental health care providers to provide mental health care and services in schools
- Increase in School-Based Mental Health Providers in HCPS
- Free, short-term mental health teletherapy for middle school and high school students at home or at school.
- Increased clinical staffing to expand access to parent-child interaction therapy
- Supports HCPS staff in obtaining certification as a professional counselor or clinical social worker.
- Increased early and intensive interventions for mental health, substance use, and youth violence
- Expanding curriculum and training to strengthen mental health literacy for students, staff, parents, and caregivers
- A screening program to early identify students who may need additional social, emotional, and mental health care support.
- Increased coordination and information sharing between school-based staff and private or community providers
- A virtual mental health care coordination service that provides a federally and state-compliant referral system.24/7 access to a live, multilingual care coordinator and self-service tools to find verified providers
- Free treatment and support for students who do not have an existing mental health care provider or are discharged from an inpatient or residential treatment program.
Nelson said the plan will be implemented in phases over the next five years, but officials plan to begin the process now.
Henrico will need to invest $17.8 million over the next five years to fully implement these recommendations.
“We wanted to make sure we removed any potential barriers that students and families might have in order to connect and link them to the mental health care services and supports they need. ” said Liz Parker, HCPS Student Support Director. Mr. Wellness assisted the steering committee that developed the plan over the past three years.
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“We wanted to consider all potential blind spots and bring unique perspectives to the table, including the medical community, mental health providers, families, students, schools, community agencies, social service boards, and faith leaders. “We wanted to hear from everyone’s perspective on the health needs of our students and youth,” Parker said.
Sarai Kenya, a senior at Varina High School, said that while there is help to deal with the stresses of modern teenage life, she is well aware that many of her classmates do not have the same support.
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“God, my family, that’s how I deal with this situation, because I don’t know how I would have made it this far without these two people,” she said, adding, “Our voices It’s really important because it’s important and adults can talk about what they think we should do.” But when you actually are in the school and see what’s going on. ”
“In a school where there’s a lot of drama, a lot of gun violence, a lot of negativity, this program helped us grow mentally as students, and it helped the mental health of students in general,” Sarai said. Ta.
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