Triad Local Schools will soon have a full-time employee focused on bolstering its students’ mental health.
Superintendent Vickie Hoffman said during Thursday’s Board of Education meeting that the district was recently selected for a pilot program sponsored by the Mental Health, Drug and Alcohol Services Board of Logan and Champaign Counties and TCN Behavioral Health.
“This is going to be a great asset to our community,” Hoffman said Friday morning.
Through the School Navigator Program, a case manager position will be 100% funded at a Champaign County and Logan County district. Riverside Local Schools was selected along with Triad.
Hoffman compared the position to a “home-school liaison” working in some districts.
The employee’s roles include “screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment and school outreach.”
Hoffman said the employee will ultimately ensure students and families are connected to appropriate resources.
“We have a lot of need in our district and we know that,” Hoffman said. “But sometimes, we don’t know how to reach them.”
For instance, she said the employee may range from assisting a student whose family is in need of help paying their electrical bills, to providing alcohol screenings for a student struggling with substance use.
“They’ll keep track of what kids are getting what resources,” Hoffman said during the meeting.
She said the program is closely based on a partnership between the Mental Health and Recovery Board of Union County and Union County school districts.
Hoffman said she has been meeting with MHRBUC Executive Director Phil Atkins to model her district’s program.
“We’re trying to bring what they have (in Union County) to Champaign and Logan counties,” Hoffman said.
The superintendent said Triad will partner closely with the Mental Health, Drug and Addiction Services Board of Logan and Champaign Counties and TCN, including during the hiring process.
She said she would ideally like to hire someone who is already embedded in the Triad community and is familiar with the resources available.
Once the employee is hired, Hoffman said the “first thing” will be ensuring they are well-connected in the area and equipped to assist others.
The employee will be paid through MHDAS and TCN, but will work within the school district every day and report directly to Hoffman, she said.
Together, the three entities will collect data over the year to evaluate the success of the program.
Hoffman said the goal is to eventually fund a similar position at every district between the two counties.
During the Board of Education meeting, Hoffman said she believes the fact that Triad does not have a social worker contributed to MHDAS and TCN selecting the district for the program.
MHDAS Executive Director Tammy Nicholl agreed with Hoffman’s evaluation, adding that Triad collaborates well with local mental health service providers.
She described Triad as “a small district with significant need.”
“One position can really touch at all three levels, at the elementary school, middle school and high school,” she said Friday morning.
Using state funding, Triad previously partnered with Mechanicsburg Exempted Village Schools to split a social worker between the two districts.
However, Hoffman said Mechanicsburg offered the employee a full-time position and she will work solely there next school year.
The superintendent said the new case manager can help fill the void, as he or she will likely have some experience with social work and crisis management.
In the meantime, the social worker vacancy has freed up funding from the state’s Student Wellness and Success Fund, which must be used to provide non-academic supports like mental and physical health services.
Hoffman said she plans to use the money to increase counseling services available to Triad students.
She explained that has been talking with TCN for the past several months and the two are working to offer additional hours of counseling available at the district.
“We want to make sure (students) are still getting what they need,” Hoffman said.
Nicholl said their goal is to have the case worker hired and in place by the beginning of the upcoming academic year.