Jackson County schools tout strong in-school mental health services, seek funds to sustain Project AWARE positions
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Summary
Jackson County Public Schools told the board it runs a six-clinician school-based mental health team with a 96% success rate for referred students but needs new funding sources to replace two positions tied to the ending Project AWARE grant; district also presented an updated MOA with provider HEIGHTS.
Megan Cruz, the district’s school mental health lead, told the Jackson County Board of Education in November that the district runs a team of school-based clinicians and is recognized statewide for its Project AWARE work, but faces sustainability questions as federal Project AWARE funding ends.
Cruz said Jackson County Public Schools (JCPS) maintains a high access model: “we have a 96% success rate of students who are referred to our JCPS mental health services who receive those services,” and that the district’s referral rate to outside community providers is about 62 percent. She told the board the district currently staffs seven mental-health positions (including herself) and that two positions remain funded specifically through Project AWARE.
The presentation framed the district as a regional model: Cruz said being a Project AWARE district has allowed JCPS to keep clinicians in schools and to support surrounding districts that seek to replicate the program. She also told trustees the district has completed at least 50 suicide-risk screeners and 21 threat assessments since August, signaling continuing student need.
On sustainability, Cruz said the grant was always five years and that the district is “still looking at different grants and different funding sources” to replace the Project AWARE portion. She added that county commissioners have provided funding for part of the team and that district-allocated local funds cover another portion, but did not specify dollar amounts or which exact positions remain at risk beyond the two tied to Project AWARE.
As part of the mental-health briefing, Cruz presented an updated memorandum of agreement with HEIGHTS (Helping Inspired Gifts, Hope, Trust, and Service). The MOA formalizes HEIGHTS’ role delivering outpatient counseling, case management, adolescent substance-use treatment, and an inside-out program that serves students during out-of-school suspension. The board approved the HEIGHTS MOA for the 2025–26 year.
The district also flagged an upcoming EdNC article that will profile JCPS’s development of school-based Medicaid reimbursement practices; Cruz said she would circulate the article when published.
What happens next: Cruz said the district will continue to pursue grants and local funding options to preserve clinical staff and to refine reimbursement strategies. The board did not take a separate funding vote at the meeting; trustees approved the HEIGHTS MOA and received the mental-health plans as information.