Woburn School Officials Act on Mental Health Issues

WOBURN, MA—The issue of mental health among young people is a growing concern across the Commonwealth, and one Woburn school official has decided to take action.

Woburn School Committee member Ellen Crowley proposed that the school system sign on for the mental health referral program, Interface Referral Service, at a Jan. 26 School Committee meeting, according to a report by Wicked Local Woburn.

According to the Youth Risk Assessment Survey conducted last spring. 14 percent of Woburn Memorial High School students had seriously considered suicide during the previous year.

Linda Kush, who broke the story on Wicked Local Woburn’s website reports:

She proposed signing on for a mental health referral program, Interface Referral Service, developed by William James College, a psychology graduate school in Newton. The program pools mental health resource information in a participating community and sets up a hotline for residents to call for referrals and information. It would cost the city about $12,000 to set up.

“It’s a citywide program, not just for the students,” said Crowley.

According to the Interface website, interface.williamjames.edu, the service provides specific, community-based referrals in a way that a simple directory cannot. Trained counselors take information from callers and refer them to mental health professionals and services, offering advice that connects them with providers and agencies quickly.

The website lists 17 participating communities, including Chelmsford and Boston. The site also lists resources by topic, such as depression, suicide, substance abuse and obsessive-compulsive disorder, and offers general information for each topic.

According to Kush’s report, an Interface representative is scheduled to present at the Resource Utilization Subcommittee meeting on Feb. 12.

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Patch file photo.