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There are many wings in a school. Most are decorated to reflect current study tracks or grading period themes. School wings are places of pride, especially for department heads.
You can visit the Science wing and watch a robotics competition, while the Language Arts wing is the place to hear open mic poetry. And a school without a Foreign Languages wing with the obligatory string of country flags just wouldn’t be democratic.
Each school wing has its vibe when you open the double doors and enter.
PARIAHS
But within these halls are students not feeling the vibe at school, let alone in their lives. And many of them are labeled EBD students and given a wing of their own. There is no sign on the front, but it might as well just say “Losers” or “Outcasts” on the doors, which open to dark halls with no artwork or flags on the walls.
A few years back, I spent a few days subbing in that EBD wing. I thought what a terrible waste to merely house these students rather than giving many the mental health services they needed. I figured if you could have a Science, Language Arts, and Foreign Language wing – why not have a Wellness wing?
IF EVERYTHING IS A PRIORITY, NOTHING IS
I shared the idea with an EBD teacher who laughed and commented, “until mental health is a real priority, and not one of many, the school day for these kids will be going from point A to B until it’s time to get on the bus to return home to unmotivated lives.”
With student mental health deemed a national crisis and depression, self-harm and suicide rising among American adolescents, innovative thinking is needed right now. And it needs to happen where students spend most of their time, at school.
So for a moment, imagine a prayer answered and school as a center of wellness and healing for students AND families.
THE EBD WING BECOMES THE WELLNESS WING
The Wellness wing is non-institutional and a place kids enjoy being in and feel welcomed and supported. Costs are covered chiefly by other agencies, not the schools or districts.
It is divided into three sections:
1. A full-time day treatment facility for acute mental health care
2. An area with less intense mental health services where educational instruction is introduced
3. A section where students focus on their studies while also receiving mental health services.
Through agreements with nonprofits and government health agencies, schools offer psychological services, primary medical care and other services to help families navigate mental health challenges.
School districts hire more counselors, psychologists, and social workers. A staff member at district level will coordinate the services and agencies. Still, the cost of the essential services is paid by local health agencies or nonprofits that bill the government’s health insurance plan for low-income residents.
Licensed family therapists and social workers, working at schools, supplement the school counselors, psychologists, and social workers already on campus.
Licensed clinicians handle more serious mental health and behavior problems. They can visit families at their homes, make diagnoses and refer students or their families to other specialists within the county health department, such as medical doctors or addiction counselors.
PARIAHS NO MORE
The goal is to provide a seamless connection between schools and public health agencies, which advocates say is convenient for parents and allows staff to easily follow up on families’ care.
In many ways, the health and education systems are doing the same work, but (In) a wing and a prayer.
This column is by Ritchie Lucas, Founder of The Student Success Project and Think Factory Consulting. He can be reached by email at ritchie@thinkfactory.com and on Facebook and You Tube as The Student Success Project.
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