This was originally posted on the King County School Health blog.
In May we celebrate Mental Health Awareness Month. This month offers us space to reflect on how our school-based health centers (SBHCs) support the mental health and wellbeing of King County students. As part of this, today we highlight the work of four partnerships funded by Public Health–Seattle & King County (PHSKC) to enhance existing SBHC services.
As young people across the nation face unprecedented mental health issues, King County is expanding mental health enhancements in SBHCs through 2025 with an investment of more than $2.4 million. In Spring 2023 King County awarded funds from the Best Starts for Kids Levy renewal and Ballmer Group to four partners to:
- Advance health equity, social justice and anti-racism practices/policies and systems among SBHC staff to improve health outcomes for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC); Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual (LGBTQIA+); and other historically underserved students/communities.
- Expand SBHC efforts to increase access to mental/behavioral health and related supports, including substance use prevention and treatment and strengths-based, inclusive, community-based services.
- Embed and implement culturally-responsive healthcare and hiring practices in SBHCs to increase language access, referral for services, trauma-informed approaches, and person-centered healthcare.
Clinics in Seattle Public Schools, Bellevue, and Highline school districts will be reached with these additional services and supports, with leadership from the following organizations:
Boys and Girls Clubs of King County’s Southeast Network
Through this investment and in partnership with the PHSKC-operated Rainier Beach High School SBHC (Seattle Public Schools), Boys and Girls Club provides:
- Training, consultation, and delivery of equity-driven restorative approaches including youth-led Peace Circles to provide social emotional support and aid in conflict resolution for Rainier Beach High School students
- Wraparound supports/case management for Rainier Beach students to expand the network of supports to address needs in the SBHC
King County Sexual Assault Resource Center (KCSARC)
In support of first- and second-generation Latine students at Highline High School, KCSARC partners with HealthPoint Community Health Centers to provide the following at HealthPoint’s brand new Highline SBHC (Highline School District):
- Support for Latine Youth Leaders to survey mental health needs at Highline High School, increase outreach about SBHC services, train SBHC providers/school staff, and explore healthcare careers
- Expanded Spanish-language mental health therapy and wraparound services
- Increased awareness of sexual assault services and resources
International Community Health Services (ICHS)
To address health disparities in the two SBHCs they operate (Highland Middle School [Bellevue School District] and Seattle World School), ICHS is partnering with Neighborhood House and Eastside Youth Coalition to:
- Assess and reduce health disparities among their patients by implementing service improvements and staff training on culturally-appropriate approaches to healthcare
- Launch the Sources of Strength peer mental health promotion and prevention program to benefit youth resilience and coping strategies
Neighborcare Health
To advance efforts towards healthcare equity in their SBHCs, Neighborcare is working within Seattle Public Schools to:
- Improve their SBHC staff training to implement clinical interventions that center health equity, anti-racism, and social justice, while providing graduate internship opportunities for historically marginalized students in the mental health/social work field
- Launch an SBHC mental health patient intake process to increase clinical access for historically marginalized students
Each of these partnerships highlights creative approaches to enhancing SBHC mental health services. We are thrilled to be working with each of these projects as they explore new and innovative efforts to address the youth mental health crisis in King County.
