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Willowbrook at Tanner partnership delivers school-based therapy; Tanner EAP shows rising utilization
Summary
District presenters described school-based mental-health services through Willowbrook at Tanner (399 students served, 3,628 on-campus sessions last year) and Tanner's employee assistance program with 4.8% utilization; the Willowbrook MOU was moved from consent to a separate business item for Thursday.
Carroll County Schools staff and partners briefed the board on two continuing mental-health partnerships with Tanner Health System: a school-based counseling program provided by Willowbrook at Tanner and an employee assistance program (EAP) for district employees and dependents.
Willowbrook—s director said the school-based program reduced transportation barriers to care and preserved instructional time. Staff reported the in-school partnership served 399 referred students last school year and delivered 3,628 on-campus sessions; that total was an increase of about 450 sessions over the prior year. The hospital—s financial assistance programs and Medicaid coordination remain available for families who cannot pay, the presenter said.
"The biggest impact of that collaboration ... has been the access to a therapist that has been provided for children between the ages of 4 and 17 throughout Carroll County," Kim Johnson, director of Willowbrook outpatient programs, told the board.
District staff said an MOU with Willowbrook to continue services is on the agenda and a board member requested that the Willowbrook MOU be separated from the consent agenda and handled as a standalone business item on Thursday so the member could abstain on that vote.
The Tanner EAP manager presented utilization data for the 2024-25 school year and said the program—s annual utilization rate was about 4.8%, which she described as high relative to industry benchmarks for vendor EAPs. Tanner staff described outreach strategies (on-site drop-in hours, a Villarrica office, a QR-code request link, principal referrals and leadership promotion) that they say have raised awareness and usage.
"Your annual utilization rate last year was about 4.8%," Rachel Walker, manager of Tanner—s EAP, told the board, and she noted that awareness and local, easy access help drive usage. Board members thanked the partners for services and commended the impact on students and staff.
The board was asked to place the Willowbrook MOU on Thursday—s business agenda rather than on consent; the MOU was not voted on during the work session.
