Ralston expands school-based mental-health services; Arbor Family reports 82 referrals and full acceptance

The board received a semiannual utilization report from Arbor Family, the district's contracted family-counseling partner. Melissa Stoney (Arbor Family) reported 82 referrals for the June'December period; Arbor accepted and served all referrals during that period, the contractor said.

Stoney told the board that a portion of referrals come from employees and families as well as students, and that intake patterns typically peak around fall breaks and the November period. "In that first part, we had 82 referrals, but 100% of them were accepted and seen," Stoney said.

District leaders described on-site counseling and an expansion funded by a School Mental Health grant administered through ESU 3. The district added a bilingual mental-health therapist at Mockingbird and a therapist at the middle school in April. Administrators reported that the two new therapists began work shortly after spring break and are serving about 20 additional students in the first three weeks.

Staff and the Arbor team described presenting concerns as primarily anxiety and depression; trauma and relationship-related referrals also appeared more frequently in the recent reporting period. Stoney and district staff emphasized early intervention and partnerships with non-district providers to reach families who face scheduling and transportation barriers.

District officials said the Arbor partnership includes onsite evaluations, staff training and parent resources; for some disciplinary-related substance incidents the district can refer students to Arbor in lieu of more punitive discipline when families agree to services.

Provenance Topic introduction: "Let's discuss some, our our family counseling with Melissa Stoney." (meeting transcript) Topic finish: Board thanks and discussion of expansion and grant funding (meeting transcript)