By Adam Swift
On Monday, the Healey-Driscoll Administration announced the awarding of $5,540,875 in grants to 60 school districts, educational collaboratives and charter schools across Massachusetts to improve student access to behavioral and mental health services and support.
Winthrop received $50,000 in those grant funds to help improve mental health access and programs for its students.
That grant money will help fund existing programs in the schools, as well as to potentially expand some contracted services with community health partners such as Massachusetts General Hospital and North Suffolk Community Services, according to Lori Gallivan, the district’s assistant superintendent and director of curriculum, instruction, and accountability.
The funding will also help the district expand on work it currently does in all the schools with the DESE-supported Systemic Student Support (S3) program which takes an integrated approach to student support, she said.
“This grant is a way to segue from what we want to do and better support the kids and have the support they need,” said Gallivan.
By working with community partners, she said the district can better support students and their families, even when the students are outside the school buildings.
“Another big piece is capturing family engagement to make sure there is support for the whole family, and not just the students,” Gallivan said. “When they are not in the classroom, the struggle doesn’t go away.”
In addition, the district is looking to establish a pilot program for mental health screenings. Gallivan said there is still work to be done to determine what grades will be part of the pilot program. The information from the pilot program will be studied by teachers, counselors, and psychologists to determine if it will be a useful program moving forward.
Governor Maura Healey said there is a mental health crisis for students that was only made worse by the pandemic.
“That’s why improving students’ access to behavioral and mental health care is a priority for our administration,” said Healey. “These grants will help districts connect students with the services they need to be safe, healthy and successful today and into the future.”
This funding can be used to help strengthen skills to recognize and respond to mental and behavioral health challenges, establish cross-system coordination to improve integration of behavioral and mental health supports and ensure seamless transitions between schools and communities, and improve data systems to track efforts and impact. These grants also promote piloting universal mental health screening systems.
“The Healey-Driscoll Administration is focused on healing, stabilizing, and transforming our education system that is still recovering from the lasting impacts of the pandemic,” said Education Secretary Patrick A. Tutwiler. “These grants are providing our schools, from North Adams to Dennis, with the funding they need to foster environments that support healthy social and emotional development in their classrooms and beyond.”