Carlsbad school district plans to allocate funds for student mental health

Carlsbad Municipal Schools planned to allocate $240,000 in relief funds to provide students and staff with mental health services.

School districts that receive funds from the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act, and the Elementary and Secondary School Education Relief Fund (ESSER III) are required to use a portion to provide mental health services and support.

The Carlsbad Community Anti-Drug and Gang Coalition found concerning levels of mental distress and suicide ideation among area youth after surveying 1,352 middle school students and 1,324 high school students from CMS in the Spring of 2020.

A Gallup poll found that 29% of parents say their children experienced harm to their emotional or mental health because of social distancing and closures.

A survey conducted by the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago found that 71% of responding parents believed the pandemic took a toll on their child's mental health.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) the trauma caused by the pandemic affected many young people's social, emotional and mental well-being, effects that may be long lasting. Changes in routine, breaks in learning and healthcare, missed life events and losses in security and safety are just some of the challenges children and young people have faced due to the pandemic, the CDC stated.

The Keiser Family Foundation (KFF) found that stay-at-home orders could lead to loneliness and isolation among children with known risk factors for mental health issues.

Families facing income insecurity, and LGBTQ children or children of color may be more vulnerable to negative mental health consequences caused by COVID-19.

While mental health issues have become a concern for parents, some children may not be getting the care they need. Data from the KFF showed a decline in pediatric mental health care services being utilized during the pandemic.

That Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services also found that Americans have foregone millions of primary, preventive and mental health care visits due to the pandemic.

Director of Special Education for CMS Justin Gossett said students faced mental health challenges prior to the pandemic. He said the district has support systems in place to address the social and emotional wellbeing of students, including having social workers in every school.

Last year the district implemented a system to help teachers identify students at risk and refer them to a social worker or counselor, Gossett said.

There are also procedures in place in case teachers or staff members learn that a students is feeling depressed or suicidal, Gossett said.

He said CMS social workers also took part in special suicide prevention training called QPR, which stands for Question, Persuade and Refer. QPR is an an emergency mental health intervention for people that are suicidal created in 1995 that teaches recognition of warning signs of suicide as a measure of prevention, according to the organization's website.

Gossett said the district worked with the New Mexico Department of Health to implement the School Health Assessment and Performance Evaluation System (SHAPE) to identify schools specific needs and improve their mental health services.

The SHAPE system was created by the National Center for School Mental Health (NCSMH) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and offers information and resources to support school mental health quality, according to its website.

"The SHAPE assessment will be used to identify areas of strengths and weaknesses to enable us to better support the unique needs of each school campus," Gossett said.

Gossett said the assessment would allow the district to look at ways to implement early intervention and treatment methods while allowing them to pinpoint exactly how funds to improve mental health should be spent.

He said the assessment will also allow the district to identify the specific needs of each individual school and the grades they teach.

"The reason I want to do this assessment first is I want to make sure we're getting bang for our buck," Gossett said. "We're putting the dollars where they're needed and we're seeing some long term effects."

The SHAPE assessment for CMS will begin on Sept. 15.

Gossett said the district has also tried to hire a school psychologist but a national shortage has left the position vacant. The district has hired someone to oversee the multilayer system CMS uses to address students mental health needs, he said.

Gossett said he also wanted to remind parents to reach out to the school if their child is struggling with mental health issues.

"We want the parents to make the teacher and staff aware so that we can get the student appropriate care," Gossett said.

If you or someone you know is in crisis contact National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

Claudia Silva is a reporter from the UNM Local Reporting Fellowship. She can be reached at [email protected], by phone at (575) 628-5506 or on Twitter @thewatchpup.

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