Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Student Mental Health topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Granite Falls approves MOU with Fairfax Behavioral Health to expand student mental‑health services
Summary
The board added and approved an MOU with Fairfax Behavioral Health to provide outpatient intensive mental‑health services on campus or virtually; the provider will require parent permission and follow Washington State law, and officials hope to have services on-site in January.
The Granite Falls School Board voted to approve a memorandum of understanding with Fairfax Behavioral Health after adding the MOU to the agenda.
Superintendent Dr. Giesland described Fairfax as a provider working with rural districts in the educational service district region to offer outpatient intensive services for small groups of students. "We know that there aren't enough mental health services for our kids," she said, and described Fairfax's plan to provide confidential in‑person or virtual services, with devices supplied by the provider and parent permission required.
Dr. Giesland said the district could become the first to move forward with Fairfax in the region if the board approved, and the district hopes to have providers on site by January. The MOU passed on a voice vote; board members were supportive and noted the need to expand access to mental‑health care for students.
The superintendent emphasized that services will follow "Washington State law" and that the arrangement is intended to remove barriers to care by delivering services at school or virtually. Details about caseload size, session scheduling and billing were not finalized during the meeting and will be addressed in follow‑up planning.
