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District presents iCare student‑support data: tens of thousands of tiered encounters, parental consent required for clinical services
Summary
District staff presented data from the iCare and student support services area showing large volumes of universal and targeted student contacts and described how parents can access services; the board discussed a May 3 tax renewal that funds the program.
District student support staff presented the board with a summary of iCare and related student-support activity on March 20, reporting tens of thousands of contacts across tiered supports and explaining how the program coordinates crisis response, small-group interventions and clinical services.
Erin Bradford, introduced in the presentation as director of iCare (eye care/school prevention services), said the programs encounters to date included roughly 27,000 tier‑1 (universal) contacts, about 31,000 tier‑2 (targeted/small-group) encounters and more than 2,000 tier‑3 (intensive, one‑on‑one) interventions. "In tier 1 ... we have served 27,000 students to date," Bradford said. The program also serves as the district-level crisis team and provides training for staff in suicide intervention and other prevention skills.
Dr. Bridget Webster, director of mental health services, described the districts clinical work and emphasized parental consent requirements for school-based therapeutic services: "We are required by Louisiana law to obtain written consent from the parent or guardian," she said. Webster said clinical providers in the district are licensed (LPC/LCSW or similar) and that the frequency and duration of services are determined by the provider and the student's needs. When a student requires inpatient or outside treatment, staff provide parents with vetted external resources and follow up when students return to school.
Beverly Tate, director of counseling, summarized how counselors use SEL (social-emotional learning) screening and an early-warning checklist to place students in tiers and monitor needs at elementary, middle and high school levels. Staff reported that some students identified for services are not served because parents do not provide consent; Dr. Webster said staff can provide families with a vetted list of community providers in those cases.
Board members asked implementation questions. Board Member Soule said she recently attended an eye-care advisory committee meeting and noted an upcoming May 3 tax renewal that will ask voters to renew funding for the program; Board Member Goeday and others clarified that the tax is levied within the East Baton Rouge Parish School District and that charter and private schools within the district boundaries may opt in for services. Board Member Russ asked whether iCare is a district program or a separate nonprofit; district staff replied that it is a dedicated millage-funded program administered by the school system.
For parents or students seeking information, staff said the district website lists contact information under the Student Support Services department and provided a staff contact on the record. The presentation materials and a flowchart were linked for board members to review.
The board thanked staff for the presentation and pressed for follow-up data on: the number of students identified for services but not served because of parental nonconsent; DBE/outreach questions (raised elsewhere in the meeting); and allocation of tax revenues if the May 3 ballot measure proceeds.
