Knox County Schools expanding student mental health resources

The Knox County Schools (KCS) Department of School Culture is aiming to make stronger connections with students who access the district’s mental health resources.The department is receiving the Stronger Connections Grant (SCG) to put together structures within district schools that further support mental health and expand on the current mental health services students are receiving.“This was a grant that falls under Title IV so as we look to see how we could make stronger connections that’s all based on mental health. So, we had to look and see how we could put things together that would make stronger connections with community agencies or within our own resources that we have in the district,” said KCS Director of School Culture Janice Cook at Monday’s school board work session.The SCG is a subgrant of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) that’s awarded to high-need local school districts. Districts can use the grant to establish safer and healthier learning environments, to prevent and respond to acts of bullying, violence, and hate that impacts school communities at individual and systemic levels.In the past, KCS has employed both mental health clinicians and case managers but over the years the number of case managers has dwindled. The district’s Department of School Culture intends to use the SCG funds to add three more case manager positions along with two behavioral case managers.The department is also looking at other funding sources to hire additional behavioral case managers.Mental health case management will partner specifically with the clinicians to work on the mental health of students in a more clinical way than school counselors are able to do. Behavioral case managers will provide more direct services in the classroom by focusing on students that are struggling and ensure that the classroom staff are supported so the kids are able to get the services need.“We have a lot of children who are dysregulated right now, and we need to make sure that the staff are getting the support they need,” said Cook.The Department of School Culture is also looking to provide youth mental health first aid training to school staff, which will teach staff the signs to look for when students may be suffering from suicidal ideation and what to do until the mental health professionals can arrive.Additionally, the department is looking to have additional professional development for counsellors, district mental health workers, and provide bullying and harassment training to some principals and provide training to master’s level social workers to become licensed clinical social workers.The department also intends to use the grant to promote partnerships with places like the University of Tennessee for the Compassionate Schools Program to provide support in elementary schools.