Cass Health tells Atlantic board mental health remains top county priority; presents Hope Squad and Thrive Iowa plans

Megan Roberts, a public-health worker with Cass Health, told the Atlantic Comm School District board on March 11 that mental health continues to be the county’s top health priority, and she described how Cass Health is partnering with local schools on prevention and referral work.

Roberts said the community health assessment showed cancer and healthy-living concerns but that “what we’re here to speak most about tonight is the mental health priority.” She described work to track emergency-room suicide attempts, re-attempts and downstream connections to care, and asked board members and community volunteers to help with local work groups to analyze referral barriers (transportation, wait times) and close gaps.

Grace Backus, Cass Health’s wellness coordinator, gave details about Hope Squad, a student peer-to-peer suicide-prevention program now in all three Cass County school districts. Backus said Hope Squad trains staff and student leaders to notice warning signs and guide students to adults and services, and called the model “the leading suicide prevention program in the nation.” She described an advisor training in November and said Hope Squad will be funded for up to three years while outcomes and fit are evaluated.

Roberts and Backus also described Thrive Iowa, a state-backed initiative the county will serve as backbone organization for in the region. The program will provide multi-disciplinary case coordination and a portal for care-team communication and referrals: “it will show you referrals that have been made, so you know what services are being accessed and maybe where some gaps are,” Roberts said.

Presenters told trustees the Hope Squad rollout and Thrive coordination were funded through a mix of private foundation support and local opioid-settlement funds. Roberts said the initial Hope Squad training and curriculum cost about $30,000 for preschool-through-high-school startup and that year-two funding is expected from opioid-settlement money and potential grants.

The presenters closed by outlining a volunteer-capacity pilot developed with Volunteer Iowa and Healthy Cass, offering 12 hours of training and a subsequent service day; organizations completing the cohort will receive unrestricted grants (roughly $3,000–$4,000 depending on cohort size) to support volunteer recruitment and retention. Applications were announced with an April 1 deadline.

The board thanked the presenters and said it expects more data and progress reports in future meetings.