Local District Weighs Partnership for Mental Health Program
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Chappaqua school officials are considering a partnership with Northwell Health and other districts throughout Westchester to increase resources and support for students experiencing mental health issues.
The program, which would launch for the start of next school year if enough districts sign up, would be similar to an initiative started about five years ago involving Northwell and districts on Long Island. The idea would be to help support students who need differing levels of services, including preventative care, and to remove the stigma for receiving help.
The model that has been used since the January 2020 launch of the effort in Nassau and Suffolk counties is to focus first on prevention, including early identification, professional staff development, and community education. However, there would be also be two additional steps or tiers of services available for students, one that would help identify students with elevated risk of mental health issues and another for students considered high-risk that are in most urgent need of assistance.
Gina-Marie Bounds, Northwell’s assistant vice president for pediatric services, said a key goal is to have students who may need help to feel comfortable stepping forward and have their needs met in comfortable surroundings.
There would be in-district psychiatric assessments and evaluations, guidance and treatment, if necessary. There is also a school avoidance component of the program.
“We didn’t want anybody to feel like they are going to a medical office or any type of clinical environment, but to be much more therapeutic,” Bounds said.
There are partnerships on Long Island with 54 districts with combined enrollment of about 220,000 students, she said. About 2,000 school staff members are trained every year and there are about 12,000 visits to the behavioral health center with about 2,500 school psychiatry consultations.
Northwell has identified a location in downtown Mount Kisco to open a behavioral health center to assist high-risk student from participating school districts who need the greatest services. In the five years since the program launched on Long Island, there’s been a 60 percent decrease in referrals to the emergency room, Bounds said.
“I think what’s unique about us is instead of giving someone a printed sheet that is often six years old with all of the various (health) providers in the community, we start to curate a very customized data base for that community,” Bounds said.
Chappaqua Superintendent of Schools Dr. Christine Ackerman said she and other district staff visited a site in Long Island and met with Northwell Health staff and superintendents there. Ackerman said she is optimistic that the initiative will have an immediate positive impact for the Chappaqua school community.
“(District) staff will have the opportunity to consult with Northwell Health mental health experts, gaining valuable feedback on specific issues to better support student needs,” Ackerman said.
School staff will also have access to professional development offered by mental health experts and families will be able to receive prompt mental health assessments and referrals for ongoing support, if needed, Ackerman said.
Bounds said that the initiative can launch in Westchester for the 2025-26 school year if enough districts sign up with combined enrollments of at least 20,000 students.
The estimated cost for Chappaqua based on its enrollment would be about $88,000, according to Ackerman. However, the district would contract for the service through Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES to make it eligible for state aid, she said. If the district would receive the state funding, it would reduce the cost to about $50,000.
Questions about funding and whether districts, including Chappaqua, and decisions would likely be made during the upcoming budget deliberations this winter into early spring.
Board members and a member of the public were initially receptive to the program. Board member Matthew Auerbach said as important as the treatment would be, being able to have students and families know there is no shame or stigma could even be more valuable.
PTA President Joelle Anderson said this could be a critical difference-maker in the lives of many students and their families.
“I am compelling you to get this off the ground as fast as you can,” Anderson said. “It will save lives.”
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/