School-Based Mental Health Services Grant - 2016

Family Service Association of Greater Elgin Area Is Awarded $600,000 Grant to Expand School-Based Mental Health Programs in School District U-46 and D#300

In 2008, Family Service Association of Greater Elgin Area (FSA) was awarded a $50,000 planning grant from the Illinois Children's Healthcare Foundation to plan for how to integrate mental health services with primary health care providers and schools. Our collaboration with Greater Elgin Family Care Center and School District U-46 led to starting a pilot program at Elgin High School, Larkin High School, Abbott Middle School and Ellis Middle School. At each of these schools, Master's level therapists were placed on site at the school to offer a full array of mental health services to children, adolescents and their families. The population of students that FSA has worked with since then is students that are at risk of hospitalization due to mental health needs.

Two years ago, we added two D#300 Schools to the project. The two schools are Dundee-Crown High School and Carpentersville Middle School.

Our outcomes for this pilot program have shown that the School-Based Mental Health Program has served to stabilize these youth and families as evidenced by increased mental health functioning, reduced stigma for the student receiving mental health services, increased school attendance and increased school performance.

In January of 2015, the Illinois Children's Healthcare Foundation issued a request for proposal to build a mental health system of care for children and adolescents that FSA responded to. In November of 2016, FSA was notified that the proposal that was submitted to the Illinois Children's Healthcare Foundation to expand the School-Based Mental Health Program in School District U-46 and D#300 was going to be funded. The grant award is for $600.000 over two years.

The grant monies will be used to:

• Hire one licensed Master's level therapist to supervise the program.
• Hire 9 full-time Master's level therapists.
• Expand the program to include a total of 18 schools in U-46 and D#300 to provide a full array of mental health services to students that are at risk of being extruded from the school community due to unmet mental health needs.

FSA will begin working on the School-Based Mental Health Program expansion in January, 2017.

FSA is very grateful to the Illinois Children's Healthcare Foundation for their support!