Caring for the whole child

June 24--In the same sense that individuals around children are trained in CPR, area educators are seeking to also be trained in mental health and psychological first aid.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one out of five children living in the U.S. experiences a mental disorder, including depression, anxiety and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Michael Flaherty, the Daviess County Public Schools student assistance coordinator, has seen first-hand an increase in such disorders during the 19 years he has been with the district. The increase in frequency of mental health issues is a local, national and global issue, he said, and it is something area districts are working to counter.

Daviess County currently has 28 educators trained or certified in counseling, and therapeutic and support services. The district approved Thursday hiring an additional therapist to specifically address mental health issues, including psychological first aid for guidance counselors, family resource coordinators and in some cases, teachers.

Flaherty said these positions don't necessarily provide therapeutic intervention services, but they help with identifying issues that need further assessment or intervention.

"It's a preventative approach, an early intervention approach for identification," he said. "So you can get them to the right services as soon as possible."

Owensboro Public Schools has 15 educators trained or certified in counseling, and therapeutic and support services. The district is not looking at hiring different positions at this time to address student mental health, but they are continuing to provide what Kim Johnson, OPS director of special education, called psychological first aid.

Those services and trainings are provided through RiverValley Behavioral Health, the Green River Regional Education Cooperative and Court Appointed Special Advocates and often regard response to trauma.

However, responses to trauma are not all OPS is doing.

"We have also added in the last couple of years a therapeutic program for elementary students," Johnson said. "For kids with the most intense needs."

Johnson and Flaherty say they not only see upward trends in mental health issues in children, but those issues also often lead to violence, whether it's against themselves or other individuals.

"We are seeing a lot more children with mental health needs, and with needs related to trauma that we are trying to serve within the schools," Johnson said.

She suspects the reason why is a combination of things: agencies are getting better at identifying trauma and mental health concerns, and there is more of a focus on such issues.

"Irregardless of why it's happening, we are seeing a great need," she said.

Nancy Bertuleit is the crisis recovery director for GRREC, and she and her team typically arrive in a district once a crisis has occurred. A district superintendent or principal contacts her to help student mitigate the effects of that trauma.

The GRREC Crisis Recovery Team is available for whatever the district needs, whether it's organizational help dealing with whatever trauma is impacting students, or talking directly to students.

"That's the whole benefit of the team, that the people who have had the tragedy sometimes can't think about details," Bertuleit said. "You need someone else to think about some of those things. And that's what we try to do for them."

What they don't do is go in and take over. They are only there to assist districts, not run the show, she said.

Once they get to the children they provide psychological first aid, she said, from helping a child stabilize the situation, to assisting in acknowledging their pain and sorrow.

Bertuleit and her team help students figure out how to feel better.

"What they are thinking of is they're hurting, they are in pain, they are sorrowful," she said. "We don't kick that away. We try to just help them cope and help them to do the best that they can with whatever tragedy has happened."

Wanda Figueroa, president and CEO of RiverValley Behavioral Health, said Mental Health First Aid is a national, evidence-based training program that is offered free of charge for the seven counties the health services association serves. She has met with Owensboro and Daviess County superintendents to discuss how any person affiliated with schools and education can better equip themselves to handle situations in which students need mental health assistance.

"We are planning how we are going to be responsive to the emotional needs of our students," Figueroa said.

Deborah Bradford, a licensed psychologist and nurse practitioner with RiverValley Behavioral Health, said Mental Health First Aid is a way to train the layperson to recognize signs and symptoms of mental health, and help an individual into treatment.

There are a lot of people with mental illness, and often people don't recognize those signs and symptoms, especially in children. It might even take 10 years from the initial onset of a child's symptoms before they are treated, Bradford said.

And the longer mental illness goes untreated, the worse an outcome can be.

"They can drop out of school, end up in the juvenile court system, commit violence," she said.

Seventy percent of children in the juvenile court system have mental illness, Bradford said. Others who have mental illness experiment with drugs or commit suicide, which is the third leading cause of death in teenagers.

"So you can see how important Mental Health First Aid can be," she said. "It's a teaching tool to get your everyday person to learn the signs and symptoms. It's all about early intervention."

Figueroa's recommendation is that every person be trained in Mental Health First Aid, and especially individuals who are around children, including cafeteria workers, bus drivers, principals, teachers or parents.

"We believe that it is very important that everyone who sees them is trained, so you can develop that safety net and a caring environment for the kids," she said.

Daviess County and Owensboro school officials feel much the same way, which is why employees are undergoing such training.

There is an increase of frequency in identifiable anxiety and depressive disorders, Flaherty said, but by and large, schools are still safe places to be.

"Daviess County and the other school systems believe that being prepared is still a worthwhile endeavor," he said. "Just like you would prepare for a fire or tornado. You can't predict those things happening, but you have a response plan in place if they do."

And Johnson agreed. She said, in essence, education is always about the whole child, including their mental and physical well-being. Nowadays in a classroom, that could mean preparing what mental health looks like, and how to handle times of crises.

"So as schools, we are becoming better equipped to address those needs so then we can also address their educational needs," she said.

Bobbie Hayse, bhayse@messenger-inquirer.com, 270-691-7315, Twitter: @BobbieHayseMI

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