Behavioral Health Clinicians to Provide Onsite Services at Salem Schools

From the Salem Public Schools

SALEM, MA — Starting this next month, three new, licensed behavioral health clinicians from North Shore Community Health (NSCH) will provide services onsite to students at three Salem Public Schools.

The five-year commitment by NSCH will support full time positions at Collins Middle School, Nathaniel Bowditch School and a shared full time clinician between Bates Elementary and Bentley Academy.

“The need for behavioral health services to our students is critical,” said Superintendent of Schools Margarita Ruiz. “We are working with a significant population of students who have been exposed to or experienced trauma in their young lives or are already combatting substance abuse tendencies. Having behavioral health clinicians in our schools before, during and after the school day will have such a positive impact for our children and their families.”

The behavioral health clinicians will be integrated into each school’s leadership team working directly with the principals, school nurses, school adjustment counselors and teachers to support families and students who would most benefit from onsite services.

“For students struggling with social, emotional and behavioral issues classroom learning becomes an even greater challenge. We know that by identifying and working with families, an early intervention program like this can be one of the keys to helping students progress and thrive personally and academically,” said Margaret Brennan, CEO of NSCH.

Providing behavioral health services in the schools will help by eliminating the need to travel to and from services, will allow students and their families to access services before and during and will provide the schools with specialized resources for students and their families. When school is out, during the summer months and school vacations and holidays, students and their families will have access to services at Salem Family Health Center on Congress Street. The three behavioral health clinicians are in addition to existing resources provided to students in need across the district.

The CMS, Bowditch, Bates and Bentley were selected for the opportunity based on a number of factors including enrollment levels, highest number of reported needs, and number of mobile crisis calls from school adjustment counselors.

Brennan noted that it is expected that by year five the initiative will be self sustaining. Working within the district’s current policies and procedures, NSCH will work to create pathways for parents at the four schools to access services which will be delivered in a private, confidential setting within each school and outside of the school, if needed. Funding for the initiative were provided from North Shore Medical Center via the Executive Office of Health and Human Services’ Determination of Need Program which resulted from the consolidation of their Salem and Lynn facilities.

Ruiz commented that the opportunity to have NSCH provide onsite services in schools with the highest need dovetailed with the work of the By All Means Children’s Cabinet which is working on creating a citywide, systematic response to issues related to children’s mental health.