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EDUCATION

Manitowoc schools, Holy Family Memorial partner to provide mental health services

Patti Zarling
Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter
Manitowoc's Washington Junior High School (pictured) was one of four Manitowoc public schools to be recognized as a School of Recognition.

MANITOWOC – Manitowoc Public School District has partnered with Holy Family Memorial to provide mental health services to students who need them.

The program likely will be at either Washington Junior High School, Wilson Junior High School, or both, according to district Superintendent Mark Holzman. Under the agreement, HFM will hire a licensed counselor or therapist to spend three days a week at a branch office within a school, providing hour-long counseling services to five or six students each day.

The idea is to make mental health care available to students who might not have access otherwise, or who might find it difficult to get to an appointment outside of school hours at another location.

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“Our goal is to help our students get healthy,” Holzman said. “Our goal is not directly to improve students' grades, but their overall health. We know students who aren’t healthy and happy won’t perform well in school, but our goal goes beyond school work. We want to help improve their overall health.”

Mark Holzman

HFM will work with students’ families to fill out insurance forms or BadgerCare forms to cover costs of the service. The district provides the space, Holzman noted, and HFM provides the expertise in providing mental health care.

“We have social workers and guidance counselors,” the superintendent said. “But Holy Family will provide someone trained specifically to treat mental health issues.”

Wisconsin state law allows public or private behavioral health clinics or providers to, through a mutual agreement with a school district, locate a clinic within a school and provide direct mental health services to students through a licensed mental health provider and to bill families through Medicaid, private insurance or self-pay. Other mental health services must be provided by school personnel, according to state statute. School districts using this model say the sticking point is the costs insurance won’t pay.

But the 2017-2019 state budget includes about $6 million for the School Mental Health Initiatives to help improve access to mental health services in schools by increasing the availability of social worker services in schools, funding grants for school-linked mental health services, and helping to train school personnel in mental health first aid and trauma-informed care; and an additional $750,000 for community and school mental health collaboration grants, which could bolster programs such as the one kicking off in Manitowoc. 

Overhead costs for the Manitowoc district total about $8,000 a year, with the rest expected to come from insurance providers.

Holzman said he expects about 15 to 18 students will receive counseling each week. School staff would identify students they think would benefit from services, and approach parents about the idea. If parents agree, they would need to fill out paperwork with HFM before moving forward. If parents decline the program, school staff would reach out to another student and family.

The program may have a soft opening in spring but is expected to formally begin next school year. District leaders are determining whether it makes sense to provide services in one or both junior high schools. They also must find space students can access privately or with little notice to other students.

Holzman stands behind the idea.

“We have needs at all of our buildings,” he said. “You do have to determine what is a mental health issue, and what is a behavioral issue. But our staff definitely has concerns about the mental health aspect.”

District administrators have surveyed staff for the past three years about what they see as priorities within schools, and each year “mental health issues” goes up, he said, noting it moved from No. 7 in December 2015 to No. 5 a year later, to No. 4 this past December.

The district would allow HFM professionals to determine the length of time students would receive counseling, from one week to an entire school year, Holzman said.

“This partnership provides a great opportunity for the district and for our students,” he said. “We have great needs. The challenge is not, ‘Is there a need?’ but ‘How do we find people to help meet the need?’ There are more demands in our area than people available to help.”