Simplified: A new partnership between the Sioux Falls School District, Avera Health and the Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation will embed licensed therapists in local schools to help address kids' mental health needs.
Why it matters
- School counselors are spread quite thin in Sioux Falls, though they're in every school building. For each counselor, there are about 356 students – significantly more than the recommended ratio from the American School Counselor Association, which is 250 students to one counselor.
- The Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation worked to secure funding to support the new partnership – several details of which will remain a mystery at this time, including the total amount given and the name of the now-anonymous donor.
- To start, the partnership will bring embedded mental health counselors from Avera Family Wellness to five schools for a three-year pilot program. The idea is the counselors will take over a caseload of 125 students for those three years.
"We see this also as a way to provide that early intervention and support that whole student with their social, emotional, and mental health and wellbeing," said Heidi Thomas, a social worker with Avera Family Wellness.
Tell me more
The program will start this year at five schools, including:
- Cleveland Elementary,
- Rosa Parks Elementary,
- Terry Redlin Elementary,
- Whittier Middle School,
- and Washington High School.
The idea is that by providing this program through these schools, kids who are benefitting at elementary or middle school will continue to receive embedded counseling services when they move up to a new building, said Kim Sharping, coordinator of student support for the Office of Indian Education.
By having therapists working in the schools, they'll be able to get a sense of school culture, collaborate with teachers and provide consistency for students.
"The therapist is rooted there – part of the community, part of the culture, gets to know students, staff, families," said Dody Otten, mental health program officer with the community foundation. "The intent is that the students will grow deeper roots of resilience as part of this program with one more caring adult 'rooting' for them."
What happens next?
More details about the specifics of the program are expected to be revealed in the coming weeks.
