MDUSD increases focus on Mental Health in schools, including Wellness Center support

Since the pandemic, students in MDUSD and across the country have shown a higher level of needs for mental health supports than before COVID shutdowns, the District's mental health administrators say. To help meet these needs, MDUSD is expanding mental health support services throughout the District and at some schools, including Concord HS.

"Every high school has an outpatient therapist on their site working in conjunction with a Wellness Center," said Jessica Pozos, Assistant Director of MDUSD's Mental Health Programs. At Concord HS, increased support includes Wellness Center Administrator Miriam Rubel along with a therapist trainee and two social work interns. This allows for more "holistic" case management including student check-ins and Wellness Center support, Rubel said.

Rubel splits her time between Concord HS and El Dorado MS, which is across the street and feeds into Concord HS. She opened the Wellness Center at El Dorado last year and has taken on leadership of the Concord Wellness Center this year. She works at El Dorado Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and at Concord on Tuesdays and Thursdays. After the trainees and interns are in place, the Concord HS Wellness Center will be open five days a week, offering general support to all students, and more intensive supports to those who need it.

Pozos is excited that the District has been able to hire more Mental Health Clinical Specialists and therapist trainees than ever before this year, in part with funding made available through the California Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI). Because the number of students who are struggling to attend school due to mental health needs has increased, Pozos and the Mental Health team are working with the Attendance Department to reach out to families whose students are chronically absent to help students "self-regulate" their social and emotional needs to be able to focus on their schoolwork in the classroom.

Nationwide, roughly 70% to 80% of children and teens who receive mental health services access them exclusively in a school setting - through counselors, social workers and school psychologists, Rubel said, noting that low-income students and those without insurance rely almost entirely on school staff to for these services. The CYBHI program allows the district to be reimbursed for services through students' insurance at no cost to families, if parents/guardians agree to this.

Wellness Centers at MDUSD's five comprehensive high schools, Olympic Continuation HS, and El Dorado, Oak Grove and Riverview middle schools provide a variety of services from lunchtime activities and drop-in checkins and organized support groups, to consultations with students and referrals to outside agencies, if necessary. "We had about 30 referrals last year that we could not serve," Pozos said, "so we increased the number of therapists this year to be able to service all students." Issues they are addressing include anxiety, depression, concerns related to social media, self harm and suicide risk assessments, ADHD, trauma - including intergenerational trauma related to immigration, and psychosis, which means losing touch with reality. 

"Ultimately, we are building a culture of support across Mt. Diablo, breaking down barriers, whatever that may be for each student, to access their education," Rubel said.

Sometimes, students with mental health needs stay home and avoid coming to school. But at school, they can get the support they need in a safe place where they can connect with trusted adults and learn to navigate school routines, which will ultimately help prepare them for college and careers, Pozos and her team members said.

Every school has a CARE team that meets regularly to discuss students who need mental health support and strategize about how to meet their needs. CARE team members include school administrators, counselors and/or psychologists and special education teachers, if needed, as well as outside service providers and Child Welfare and Attendance (CWA) workers. Anyone can refer a student to the CARE team, including staff, parents/caregivers or students themselves. Last year, more than 1,000 students received social-emotional, behavioral, academic and mental health supports through Wellness Centers, and about 1,080 received more intensive support including counseling, and support for anxiety, grief, building healthy relationships, anger, newcomer support and peer connections. Nearly 70 students received crisis support for urgent needs.

The District provides a "continuum of care" that ranges from prevention and early intervention for mental health needs to intensive mental health and crisis response. It offers a mobile clinic based at Pleasant Hill MS that visits all schools and more intensive support provided by mental health clinical specialists through Social Emotional Educational Collaborative (SEEC) programs for some students who have Special Education Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). The District is also partnering with the Sandy Hook Promise to offer a variety of programs and services including "Start with Hello" (see the Organizational Update).

Students and families are encouraged to use the District's Say Something program to report concerns and to read Mental Health highlights in future Friday Letters related to monthly themes such as Suicide Prevention Awareness in September. In addition, the District plans to offer Parent information nights related to mental health starting next month. Also, the Contra Costa County Office of Education is offering a free three-part Parent webinar series: "Supporting Your Children’s Mental Health," starting Sept. 3.