Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Mental Health topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Dayton schools review mental-health contracts and community partnerships, staff note hiring shortfalls
Summary
District leaders updated the board on mental-health providers and programs serving students, citing provider shortages and that services range from in-school therapy to telehealth and family therapy.
Dayton City School District staff told the board on Sept. 9 they are in the early stages of bringing together several mental-health providers to expand services for students and families, but that hiring shortages are limiting capacity.
Dr. Dismore (OEC) briefed the board that the district currently has clinicians contracted from multiple providers: “we have 6 Samaritan therapists. We have 7 from South Community. But I think only 1 has been officially hired,” she said, and noted additional providers include telehealth partner Hazel Health and other community organizations.
What services are available Administrators said the providers offer a range of services: individual and family therapy, trauma-informed interventions, school-based clinicians for students with IEPs that specify mental-health related services, day-treatment style programming and telehealth. Dr. Dismore said the district is assessing which vendors “give us the biggest bang for our buck and be most beneficial for our students.”
Programs and screening Staff described district use of screening and brief-intervention programs including SBIRT, an executive-functioning coaching program and a PROTECT program run by NCCJ that provides ACE assessments and 30-day follow-up and coaching. A district staff member said EFC services are under contract through Adamus in parts of the district.
Capacity and coordination concerns Board members and staff repeatedly raised the supplier-side problem: several speakers noted local shortages of therapists and the resulting difficulty in fully staffing services across all schools. One board member, who identified herself as a Samaritan Behavioral Health employee, asked whether services were school-based or required travel; staff replied providers are both embedded in schools and operate day-treatment programs where appropriate.
District follow-up commitments Staff said they will email the board a full district map of which schools have which providers and will circulate a comprehensive schedule of weekly assessments and program deployment. They also said the district will clarify which contractors are providing which screenings and follow-up services and will provide the equity report recommendations the board previously commissioned.
Ending: The board urged continued attention to aligning community partners, insurance-billing strategies and internal coordination to expand mental-health supports for students and families while acknowledging limits from provider shortages.
