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Parent asks Coatesville Area SD to allow in-school intensive behavioral health services; criticizes Care Solace follow-up
Summary
At the March 25 Coatesville Area School District meeting a parent described repeated delays and gaps in mental health services for her son, urged the district to allow intensive behavioral health technicians (BHTs) to work inside schools, and questioned the district's use of the Care Solace provider network.
At the Coatesville Area School District board meeting on March 25, parent Deb Willett told the board her seven-year-old son — who receives outpatient therapy, medication management and home- and community-based intensive behavioral health (IBH) services — could not be supported in school by a behavioral health technician (BHT) and instead the district assigned a one-on-one aide.
Willett said her son had been approved for 130 hours per month of behavioral health technician services but was told at an Individualized Education Program meeting that a BHT could not interact with him in school. "Since October, my son has had 3 1-on-1 aides, none providing stability," Willett said, adding that a recent aide was overheard using an inappropriate name for her child. Willett said the district had not implemented a March 2024 IEP-required one-on-one aide and that her son once eloped from the building while supports were not in place.
Willett said the district’s refusal to allow an in-school BHT practice has led families to seek approved private placements and questioned the district’s costs: "Why does Coatesville Area School District deny students access to a service that is free to the district and could keep the children in the least restrictive environment while instead spending $79,000 per year, per student, plus transportation for private placements?"
A community advocate, Lori Shannon Bailey, described a separate family’s difficulties using the district’s Care Solace referral service, saying she spent several hours on intake and that initial provider recommendations required in-person appointments the family could not meet. "We wasted about a month trying to get this family mental health services," Bailey said, and she urged the district to review Care Solace logistics and the contract to reduce delays.
A district staff member told Willett they would follow up after the meeting.
Ending: Parents and advocates asked the board to reconsider rules that restrict BHTs from working inside school buildings and to review the district’s use of third-party referral services to reduce delays for families seeking mental health care.
