Moving the needle on mental health

The alarm started ringing years ago. America, being true to her ways, hit the snooze button again and again before she kicked the clock across the room. Paying attention isn't something she's known for, exactly. Not even last week, when a phalanx of leading pediatric health organizations — including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association — declared a national emergency for children's mental health. It's not as if our leaders arose en masse at the five-alarm fire that's threatening the country at the ground level, its children. One would think if we were adults surrounding a building full of kids and a five-alarm emergency sounded inside, we would rush to the scene, but, since Uvalde, can we really think that about ourselves any more? Mental health advocates in this country have been warning of looming mental health crises in this country for decades, across all age groups and an often byzantine process of accessible or affordable care. Before the pandemic, experts warned of steadily rising rates of mental health disorders in school aged kids. But physical isolation, fear and, for 200,000 children nationwide, the grief of losing a parent or guardian to COVID-19 have brought us to a breaking point. States are reporting unprecedented numbers of children dealing with depression and anxiety, and hospitals are overrun with juveniles in need of beds in psychiatric units — only to find none. One local school district is moving the needle forward on helping kids that need help. This year, the Vermilion Schools added two full-time mental health therapists to its staff to work with its 1,800-student body after seeing escalating need, said Karen Blackburn, director of pupil services. "I didn't know there were all these issues until I started working in schools," Blackburn, who has spent more than two decades attending to behavioral needs, said. "I was seeing too many kids in need not getting the services they need because either families couldn't navigate the system or they couldn't get services because of lack of transportation or money or time. And there was a huge increase in need. They needed services and they weren't getting them." She came to Vermilion in 2016 and immediately saw its unique problem: Straddling two Lorain and Erie counties, students were too often at the mercy of how good their respective counties' services were. "The mental health and behavioral health systems are broken in so many ways," she said. But Vermilion also has a funding source, built in by voters following the shock of the Parkland, Florida, massacre when 17 students and staff were shot to death on Valentine's Day 2018. Voters approved a levy specifically earmarked to raise money for safety and security measures, one of the first districts in the state to do so. Until now the district contracted with other agencies to provide some counseling services, which was not ideal. Backlogs of months just to process applications only to result in students being turned away due to insurance was not uncommon. Part of the money raised by the levy pays for the therapists and other steps the district is taking, said Superintendent Dave Hile. The new therapists will meet students at all three buildings, at no cost to students, cutting out barriers like transportation or scheduling issues, and cost, Blackburn said. The district also plans to continue the coverage during summer so no one's care is interrupted and the therapists will fluctuate evening hours to accommodate schedules. "My mission here at Vermilion is to try to remove as many barriers as I possibly can to get them help," Blackburn said. Resources were marshaled through grants from the Erie County Board of Health, services from the Mental Health Addiction and Recovery Services Board of Lorain County, and other agencies to provide ancillary skills, like group sessions for skill-building and good decision making for kids with substance abuse in the home. "The good thing is, though, if we get them the right support, the kids who are really struggling, we can help them manage it," she said. Hile said the move is permanent for the district. "It's probably something schools should have done a long time ago," said Hile, who assumed leadership of the district this summer. He credits officials for progressively pursuing funding to provide for mental health resources. "It's been widely recognized in public schools across the country that students who are experiencing mental health issues are significantly affecting their ability not just to do schoolwork but to live their lives productively. The effect of childhood trauma on their brain physically changes their brain. If students are ever going to be able to learn, they have to be healthy to begin with," Hile said. When he started the job in August, he conducted entry interviews with a cross-section of the community to find out what their priorities were in the district, and mental health was on top of many lists. "I knew educators were aware of it, but I didn't know the broader public was aware of it. They feel it, and the schools are aware of it," he said. It's time the rest of the county — and the state — follows Vermilion's lead. Contact Chronicle-Telegram columnist Rini Jeffers at rinijeffers@gmail.com.