NRVCS assists Pulaski County Schools with federal grant to address needs of middle school students

By Mike Wade, New River Valley Community Services
Pulaski County Public Schools has been awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Education in the amount of $266,159 to address the mental health needs of students at both Dublin and Pulaski Middle Schools. The grant is the result of a collaborative effort between the school system and New River Valley Community Services (NRVCS), the area’s public provider of mental health services.

The local project, which will primarily focus on improving student access to mental health services, is one of only sixteen in the nation to receive funding through the Integration of Schools and Mental Health System Program grants. In fact, the Pulaski County proposal was the only one funded in Virginia and one of only two in the Southeast region of the United States.

Mary Gaskill, Supervisor of School-Based Clinical Services for NRVCS and co-writer of the grant (along with NRVCS Child & Family Services Coordinator James Pritchett), points out that the purpose of the grant is not about providing direct services to children and families, but to streamline and enhance coordination of the processes utilized by local agencies that provide those services.

Gaskill noted that children’s mental health services are rarely one dimensional and often coexist with the mental health issues of their parents. Those circumstances, added Gaskill, may also mask or result in poor performance and attendance at school, substance abuse, and legal issues. The complexity of such issues often means that children receive services from multiple agencies or providers.

“Despite well-meaning intentions by individuals at these agencies, the landscape of service delivery can become fragmented and inconsistent, with children being shuffled between systems without coordination and collaboration,” explained Gaskill.

The local project calls for creation of an advisory council that will be referred to as the “LINK Team,” which will create a framework for mental health reform for children in Pulaski County. Gaskill noted that the LINK Team will include a representative from Pulaski County Public Schools, NRVCS, the 27^th District Court Services Unit, the Pulaski County Department of Social Services, a parent representative, a student representative, and a representative from a local private mental health provider.

“By offering a conceptual and practical framework for our local mental health, juvenile justice, education, and social service agencies to use when developing strategies to improve children’s mental health, we believe a blueprint for change will develop,” stated Gaskill.

The LINK Team has four key goals: 1.) Examine the significance of rural mental health reform (needs, services, and systems); 2.) Identify the best ways to respond to youth with mental health and substance use disorders at key points of contact; 3.) Encourage collaboration and a shared sense of responsibility among all relevant systems for the needs of youth with mental health and substance abuse issues; 4.) To create Student Assistance Program Core Teams at each of the county’s two middle schools – Pulaski Middle and Dublin Middle.

Gaskill said the development of the two Core Teams will be an integral part of the project. She further explained that middle schools were targeted in the grant proposal in order to provide a more direct, intensive effort for those children whose unique needs have not been understood or addressed in a targeted and comprehensive fashion. NRVCS is already coordinating a similar program at Pulaski County High School.