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(ABC 6 News) -Rochester Public Schools (RPS) is in its final phase of its strategic plan for mental health, as providers continue to screen students across each school, but district leaders are hoping to get to a point where they are screening all students.
It’s all part of a larger goal to address the mental health crisis in young people. The most recent data, from the Minnesota Department of Health, found that 29% of students in the state experience long-term mental health issues.
RPS director of student well-being, Koni Grimsrud said these alarming numbers are among the many reasons why district staff are doubling down on improving mental health access.
“This is something that we haven’t done in the past at this type of level or reach quite this many children before, and we’re doing so in line with best practices and universal school mental health,” Grimsrud said.
Through the RPS pilot program, parents can opt-in to allow their students to be screened to see if their student may need help, but the program in no way serves as a diagnostic tool for student mental health.
“It’s just a universal screener, we’re not identifying mental illness, we’re not identifying any sort of disability, we’re just screening for social/emotional challenges or difficulties that a student may be experiencing in that moment,” Grimsrud said. “A screener is just a snapshot in time and does not tell us a story, it just gives us a starting point to inquire.”
All the steps to expand care come as Olmsted County identified mental health treatment to be one of its main priorities in this year’s community needs assessment.
According to Katherine Driskell, director of school-based mental health at Family Service Rochester, narrowing in on kids helps to address and minimize the issue.
“Early intervention with children’s mental health prevents recurrence of mental health issues later, reduces the strength and amount of mental health issues there are,” Driskell said.
While several schools across Southeast Minnesota have screeners, Driskell said they often have limitations, hence the need for expanded care.
“Maybe they can only be there one or two days a week, or maybe they’re available but they’re not being used during the school breaks or during the summer,” Driskell said.
Earlier this year, RPS had $1.9 million in federal funding slashed after the U.S. Department of Education denied the district’s appeal to keep a federal grant.
RELATED: Department of Education denies RPS’ appeal to keep grant for mental health program
The money from the grant was used to license district staff to provide mental health services. Grimsrud said the pilot program is not serving as a replacement for what was funded through the federal grant.
