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Waxahachie ISD counseling staff report rising anxiety referrals; Care Solace, Mind Over Matter continue services
Summary
Counseling staff reported increased anxiety referrals, use of the Care Solace coordination service, 393 clients served by district licensed mental health providers with 2,534 sessions, and nine current Mind Over Matter intensive-treatment clients; staff also said summer programming will continue and nurse staffing turnover is a concern.
Ginger Robinson, Waxahachie ISD counseling staff, presented the district’s end-of-year counseling report during the committee meeting. Robinson said the district’s care-coordination service, Care Solace, logged 3,682 communications this school year, produced 68 active cases that led to help and resources, generated 30 confirmed appointments, and recorded 76 anonymous searches.
Robinson said anxiety was the highest referral need among students and families. She reported that the district’s licensed mental health providers had 393 clients this school year and conducted 2,534 sessions with them.
The district’s intensive after-school program Mind Over Matter, which serves students needing intensive outpatient (IOP) or partial hospitalization (PHP) level care, currently has nine clients and discharged 32 students during the school year. Robinson said the program accepts up to 10 students at a time, rotates students every six to eight weeks depending on their treatment plan, and will operate through the summer with adjusted hours.
Robinson also highlighted the new district position, Monica Taylor, described in the meeting as the district’s mental health and counseling coordinator. Robinson said Taylor has written 46 crisis intervention plans, 287 tier-1 prevention plans, and completed 39 tier-2 and tier-3 classroom observations to support general-education teachers in managing student behavior and preventing escalation.
On health staffing, district staff reported an unusually high turnover year for nurses: two left midyear and four will depart at the end of the year, representing about one-third of the nursing staff. The district said interviews to refill those positions are scheduled to begin next week.
Robinson noted a recent successful prescription drug take-back event and said the district’s nurses used the service to dispose of expired medications. She also thanked the counseling and security teams for coordinating supports that help reduce incidents tied to student mental health needs.
Direct quotes from the presenter included: “Care Solace…helps students, staff and their families, connect with mental health and substance abuse treatment,” and “The highest referral need…is anxiety.”
Staff and committee members asked a few operational questions about summer referrals, community-service placements for the drug-testing policy (discussed later in the meeting), and how parking/driving status will affect placement in the testing pool.
