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Farmington to pilot school-based mental health center at Farmington High School
Summary
The Farmington Board heard a proposal to pilot an on-site, insurance-funded mental health clinic at Farmington High School operated by Connecticut Behavioral Health to increase access to clinical therapy for students; no district funding required and rollout would start at the high school as a pilot.
Farmington Board of Education members on Jan. 13 heard a proposal to pilot a school-based mental health center at Farmington High School (FHS) that would be run by Connecticut Behavioral Health and billed to families’ insurance, officials said.
The proposal would colocate licensed clinicians on the FHS campus to provide individual clinical therapy, coordinate care with school staff and offer summer and after-school availability. Director of Special Services Wendy Sheppard Vanish said the goal is to reach students who face “deep and clinical” needs that school counselors and social workers are not staffed to treat long term. She told the board that national and state data show rising youth mental-health needs and that many families face barriers to outside care.
Principal Russ Crist described increased complexity of students’ needs since the COVID-19 pandemic and…
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