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Board approves annual MAPS contract with University of Pittsburgh to fund on-campus mental‑health liaisons
Summary
The Franklin Regional School Board approved a renewed, grant‑funded contract with the University of Pittsburgh’s MAPS program to continue on‑campus liaisons who provide counseling-related services, parent engagement, truancy support and staff wellness activities.
Franklin Regional School District on Monday approved an annual contract with the University of Pittsburgh’s MAPS program to provide school‑based behavioral health liaisons, the district said during its Committee of the Whole meeting.
The contract is grant funded by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency and will support liaisons who work inside the district’s MTSS (multi‑tiered systems of support), crisis response, parent engagement and targeted counseling services, Superintendent Michael Perino said.
MAPS liaisons are not providing out‑patient therapy, Perino and the district’s presenter said; instead they provide counseling “as a related service” under students’ IEPs and run parent programs, staff wellness events and targeted groups such as vaping cessation. “There is currently no research conducted by our MAPS liaisons,” Dr. (name on transcript) said, adding the liaisons coordinate with school counselors and meet with a University of Pittsburgh supervisor quarterly.
Board members asked how liaisons are selected and supervised; district staff said the University of Pittsburgh hires the liaisons and the district sets daily guidelines and oversight. The district also explained the liaisons use built‑in intervention time (equivalent to a class period) so services typically occur during scheduled intervention/QRT blocks and with parent permission for group work.
The contract was presented as part of the consent agenda and approved by roll call vote. The district plans to continue monitoring truancy and other metrics and will provide data in its June safety report; staff cautioned that changes in truancy have multiple causes and cannot be attributed solely to the MAPS program.
Officials said the MAPS work is currently covered by grant funding from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency’s school safety and mental health grant; if the grant were to end, the district said replacing those services would likely require hiring one or more district social workers at higher cost.
The board’s approval continues a multi‑year relationship with the University of Pittsburgh liaisons, which district staff credited with supporting hundreds of parent and staff contacts and a range of student groups across elementary, middle and high school levels.
