Working together for mental health | News, Sports, Jobs - Marshall Independent

Photo by Deb Gau From left to right, Marshall High School Principal Brian Jones, Director of Teaching and Learning Jeremy Williams, and Sen. Tina Smith joined in the conversation at a roundtable on mental health care needs on Thursday afternoon. This year, Smith introduced legislation aimed at funding mental health services for schools.

MARSHALL — Supporting kids’ and teens’ mental health is a team effort — that’s the approach that Marshall Public Schools and area mental health professionals have taken. But even with schools and community organizations working together, it’s hard to get counselors and mental health workers to come to rural Minnesota.

Participants in a roundtable discussion Thursday brought that concern, and others, to U.S. Sen. Tina Smith. Smith said she wanted to hear from schools and mental health workers about how to help make sure students can get access to the services they need.

“To me, this is such a fundamental issue,” Smith said. While about one in five young people struggle with severe mental health problems, they can’t always get the help they need.

“I hear so often that there is a shortage of mental health care providers … especially in rural areas,” Smith said Thursday.

This year, Smith introduced legislation aimed at strengthening school-based mental health services. The Mental Health Services For Students Act would provide $200 million in funding to educational agencies, tribal schools and community-based organizations. That funding would help schools and community organizations build partnerships to help students get mental health services at school, and to train teachers, families and community members to recognize when a student is having a mental health crisis.

“I want the bill to be useful to you,” Smith told a group of Marshall area residents, educators and mental health providers gathered at Marshall High School. Smith said she was looking for feedback, and wanted to hear about concerns in southwest Minnesota.

Marshall High School Principal Brian Jones said part of the need for educators is to be proactive about supporting young people’s mental health. Over the past couple of decades, he said, there has been less emphasis on students’ social and emotional development compared to meeting academic standards. At the same time, students are “constantly bombarded” through technology and social media, which can contribute to anxiety and pressure.

“In the bill, I would hope there would be something to help with a proactive approach,” Jones said. And often it takes more than educators alone to get involved.

Part of the approach Marshall Public Schools has taken is to work together with area health providers, roundtable participants said. In one example, MPS contracts with Greater Minnesota Family Services to have counselors in each school building. And at Park Side Elementary, social and emotional learning teacher Gayle Chandler regularly meets with classes to teach social skills.

“We’re making sure we start with the very basics,” like helping kids to talk about how they’re feeling, Chandler said. When mental health workers are able to get to know students in schools, it also helps make it easier for kids to talk with a counselor if they’re having problems, Chandler and other roundtable participants said.

Having mental health services available in the schools helps make it more of a normal part of students’ lives, and makes it easier for kids and families to get the kind of help that works best for them, said middle school counselor Krista Bjella. Planning and traveling to outside appointments for mental health care can be tough for families, and it can also take time away from school.

But while partnerships between mental health providers and Marshall schools have been fruitful, providers like Greater Minnesota Family Services and Western Mental Health said recruiting staff is challenging.

“It’s very difficult for Greater Minnesota to find qualified people,” said Nicole Stulz, school and family mental health coordinator for Greater Minnesota Family Services. Some job applicants go to the Sioux Falls area, rather than more rural communities in southwest Minnesota, she said.

Incentives like tuition forgiveness might help more mental health workers come to southwest Minnesota, roundtable participants suggested.

Funding to help support mental health services is another major need for schools, Jones said.

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