Plan finalized

District partners with Crossroads for mental health services

Willoughby-Eastlake City Schools has finalized an agreement with Crossroads that will allow the mental health center to provide the school district with more mental health service providers.

According to Eileen Bowers, W-E Schools’ director of pupil services, there is a need for mental health services in the schools.

Crossroads has worked with the district for more than 10 years providing support services. This began primarily in classrooms that served emotionally disabled students, but expanded over time.

The district started to re-evaluate those who needed services. Pupil Services worked with the school psychologists, counselors and family liaisons and identified red flags that could indicate if a student was at greater risk for mental health conditions and would be better served

by a Crossroads staffer, according to Bowers.

When the district began to see challenges with the plan they had come up with while trying to blend a clinical model and an educational model they learned they needed to marry those two professions, Bowers said.

This is when discussions with Crossroads leadership began. Crossroads and the school district agreed they needed more mental health professionals in the school buildings.

“If we are going to have this support available, we wanted our students to feel comfortable speaking with them,” Bowers said. “People in general feel better about talking personally to someone they have a rapport with.”

The district has made a commitment to Lake County ADAMHS to expand their partnership with them using Crossroads as the provider.

“Adults struggle to deal and cope with life, imagine being a kid today with all the increased pressures both real and ‘virtual,’” Bowers said. “Our schools are just a microcosm of

our society. One in every five youth will experience a severe mental disorder at some point in their life; we need to be prepared to help them.”

With the new plan, any staff member can make a referral to Crossroads for a student. Crossroads will then get parental consent and conduct an assessment before beginning treatment which could be delivered to the student during school hours in a setting they are familiar with.

Crossroads is working to hire the staff to place the additional mental health professionals in the schools.

According to Bowers, once the staffing needs have been met then every school in the district except Grant and Edison Elementary will have access to a mental health provider. Grant and Edison both already have a family liaison on staff.

Once referrals begin at the remaining schools, a Crossroads professional will have access to a private office and will develop a schedule of service.

Bowers notes that there are too many factors in play to predict a total cost. Such factors include not knowing how many referrals they may receive or the medical necessity of

the referrals and the frequency the services will be needed.

Medicaid does reimburse for the treatment but there is no way to know how many students who may need the service are on Medicaid or have a behavioral health diagnosis.

“The Lake County ADAMHS Board has always helped to offset these expenses and has agreed to continue to do so,” Bowers said.

The district’s goal is to have six full-time service providers in place for the 2018-2019 school year. They are not there yet as Crossroads is still hiring to fill these positions.

In addition to the Crossroads providers, the district has six full-time employees in their family liaisons department to assist students with emotional and behavioral needs.

“I just want to thank Crossroads and the Lake County ADAMHS Board for being so willing to enter into this partnership with us,” Bowers said “If a student’s basic needs are not being met, they cannot grow and thrive academically. We want to meet the needs of the whole child in an effort to support them in becoming a contributing, successful member of our society.”