Mental health pilot program expands access in Seine River SD

Students in Seine River School (SRSD) schools have been getting extra mental health support through a pilot project since mid-February, and early results look promising as plans are made to continue it next school year.

The school division therapists and psychologists work with Shared Health in offering more mental health and addictions counseling to rural area students.

“It is designed for students in Grades 7 to 12 for mild to moderate health needs,” explained SRSD assistant superintendent of student services Teresa Hampton at the June 24 board meeting.

“This is not intended for students with significant mental health needs,” clarified Hampton.

She explained that the mild and moderate cases are in such high demand that there are waitlists of up to two years.

“So it’s really taking that pressure off our local Shared Health Services,” said Hampton.

Students each get seven to 10 sessions in their school through the Early Response System program.

The 35 students chosen were referred to the division’s social workers with families involved all along the way. Six students declined the program.

An assessment is completed when referred. After the sessions, a plan on next steps is shared with the school’s mental health team and families. So far, only one student completed all 10 sessions with SRSD being accepted into the program so late in the school year.

“The sessions happen during the school day,” said Hampton.

The anecdotal feedback on erasing the stigma among students around mental health care has been positive.

“That idea of not wanting people to know they’re going to a therapist – kids are talking to each other and saying, ‘Oh, I was in my therapy session today. You should sign up for this,’” said Hampton.

Students who do not normally get to meet the division’s mental health team are also getting a chance to connect through this program. Teachers are finding students that benefit are not the ones they’d expect.

“They’re finding students they may not have recognized as requiring that support but based on that screener that they’re doing as part of those sessions with our Grade 7 and 8 and high school classes, they’re giving those kids access to therapy that may not have been on anyone’s radar,” said Hampton.

“It’s kind of helped normalize the role of social worker a little bit more, too,” added Hampton.

The program is expected to be back in the fall.

“We’ve only been able to scratch the surface of a few schools at this point as it goes towards full implementation. We’re really excited to see where that goes,” said Hampton.

The program is a pilot project introduced by the current NDP provincial government and is intended to be rolled out in all northern and rural communities, according to Hampton.

It is similar to the Enhanced Mental Health and Addictions Team announced as a pilot project in Hanover, Portage and Brandon by the prior PC government in 2019.