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Early intervention is key: How South Woods Elementary is reaching more students through mental health counseling

The St. Augustine Record - 3/12/2018

With mental health such a focus following the Parkland massacre carried out by a troubled 19-year-old expelled from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, one elementary school in St. Johns County is expanding its early-intervention efforts.

Working in conjunction with the Children's Home Society of Florida, South Woods Elementary has tripled its on-site counseling in the 2017-18 school year to better address students' mental health needs.

In a Feb. 23 address, Gov. Rick Scott said the state would invest nearly $500 million in school safety, including more resources for "youth and young adults with early or serious mental illness by providing counseling, crisis management and other critical mental health services."

South Woods is in Elkton, but the K-5 school draws students from Hastings, Flagler Estates and parts of St. Augustine. Over 80 percent of students are considered economically disadvantaged, qualifying the school for Title 1 funding.

As Community Partnership Schools under CHS, both South Woods and The Webster School in West Augustine work to build bridges between students, their families, the school and the larger community so that children with challenges might have better outcomes. One of those ways is through mentoring and counseling.

In recent months, South Woods has increased its capacity to serve students by adding a full-time clinical counselor as well as an innovative after-school program, both with the help of Children's Home Society.

"It was obviously a good fit with us already having that partnership," said Chris Stone, the school's community partnership director.

So far in the 2017-18 school year, nearly 40 students have received counseling; that number was less than one-third of that the previous year. And the numbers are expected to grow, especially with the summer program administrators hope to implement.

Stone said that barriers to access, such as lack of health insurance or transportation from rural areas of the county, can stand in the way of children getting the support they need.

"Most of the families are extremely receptive to receiving support," said Stone.

The St. Johns County School District is also working to ramp up the counseling it offers students, especially at the middle and high school levels. Administrators are considering the option of contracting with an outside vendor who would provide "motivational coaches" to children identified as benefiting from them.

Approximately 8,000 students in the St. Johns County schools are estimated to have some sort of mental health issues, with 75 percent of them not receiving counseling, according to data collected by the district. More than 238 students were involuntarily hospitalized through the Baker Act in 2017. Another 300 or more were referred for mental health services.

Many of the kids South Woods sees are referred by teachers who notice them acting out in class, avoiding work or drawing inward.

Cristina Chinchilla, a clinical outpatient counselor with CHS, then reaches out to parents to get their consent and also to learn more about a child's home environment. The issues she deals with include domestic violence, sexual abuse, parents' substance abuse or repeat visits by the Department of Children and Families. Sometimes, she sees several siblings in the same family.

Chinchilla will develop rapport with a child first, building trust and then dig deeper when they are ready to open up more about the trauma they may have experienced. She will see most kids for about six months to a year in one-on-one sessions.

An after-school program provides group therapy, but all the kids know is that it's fun. The school has linked up with Jacksonville startup company HeroMe, which produces 12-inch, custom-made action figures with special superhero powers. Each student makes his or hear own creation picking, say, a bionic leg or a helicopter-propelled arm.

Stone said working with the figures helps students develop a positive self-image, build confidence or solve peer conflicts.

'It's just very empowering," said Chinchilla.

Chinchilla said children have more control over their lives than they may think they do.

"I don't want anyone to moan and grown and be a victim of their life," she said.