Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Student Mental Health topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Lamar County board approves multiple MOUs for school-based mental health and university field placements
Summary
The board approved memoranda with Choices Coordinated Care Solutions, Canopy Children's Solutions, MAP, Pine Belt Mental Healthcare Resources and a William Carey University partnership outlining school-based mental health services, confidentiality and referral protocols for 2026–2027.
The Lamar County School Board on June 8, 2026, approved several memoranda of understanding to expand school-based mental health services for the 2026'2027 school year and a partnership agreement with William Carey University for field placements.
The board approved an MOU with Choices Coordinated Care Solutions that specifies a range of services to be provided in schools between June 1, 2026, and May 31, 2027, including school-based outpatient therapy (individual, group, family), crisis intervention, community support services, psychiatric/physician services by appointment, targeted case management, formal assessments (including DLA-20/CAFAS where noted), limited day-treatment programs, wraparound facilitation, staff training, and MYPAC coordination for eligible Medicaid-enrolled youth. The MOU requires parental consent before services are provided in school and commits both parties to comply with HIPAA and FERPA; it also references mandatory reporting to Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services and cites Sections 43-21-105 and 43-21-353 of the Mississippi Code.
The board also approved MOUs with Canopy Children's Solutions, Mississippi Action for Progress (MAP), and Pine Belt Mental Healthcare Resources covering similar school-based service frameworks. Separately, the board approved an MOU with William Carey University that governs field placements, supervision, orientation, liability, and incentives for cooperating teachers (tuition waivers) for the 2026'2027 school year.
Board members voted on each MOU by recorded motion; all were approved by the members present (Yea: 4, Nay: 0, Absent: 1). The Choices MOU contains detailed referral and communication protocols requiring a school representative to contact parents for consent prior to referral and to provide written summaries within 48 hours of an initial assessment when parental consent is provided.
The approvals are procedural authorizations to contract with providers; specific schedules, therapist assignments, and any fee arrangements were not included in the public transcript and will be implemented according to the MOUs' communication sections and school designees.
