Children’s Wellness Initiative (CWI) School-based Counseling Program

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Franciscan Children’s believes that families need easy access to high-quality, comprehensive care for mental health issues. By addressing difficulties early on, youth can achieve their maximum potential for success. To fulfill that need, the Children’s Wellness Initiative was formed. The CWI program provides school-based mental health services in selected area schools. By partnering with schools, parents and youth have increased access to mental health services.  As full-time partners in each school, CWI clinicians are integrated into the school community, thus decrease in the stigma often associated with mental health.

The Initiative provides school-based behavioral health services that promote emotional, mental health and social wellness. The program’s interdisciplinary staff provides individualized care that involves families, teachers, pediatricians, and other significant caregivers.

Services Offered

Clinical Evaluations

A comprehensive evaluation is often the first place to start when a child is having emotional, social, or academic difficulties at school or at home. This evaluation will determine what services will best help a child, and will also help to inform parents about treatment choices. This evaluation can be done at the child’s school, home, or at the hospital.

School-Based Counseling

A parent may decide after an evaluation that counseling may help support a child. For instance, emotional and social stressors can often interfere with a child’s ability to maximize his or her potential for learning. Recognizing that children may need support for different reasons we offer treatment options that address a range of emotional, behavioral, and learning problems. This may include individual, group, family therapy and parent support. During the summer months, clinicians arrange with parents to meet with the youth at home or at camp to provide these services.

Child Psychiatry

A unique component of the program is the availability of a child psychiatrist, who can further evaluate a child’s emotional or behavioral difficulty. When indicated, the psychiatrist and parent can discuss how psychiatric treatment and/or medications might be helpful to a child. Ongoing follow-up treatment at the school site is part of the service. These services are covered by insurance.

Crisis Intervention

At times, a child or teen may have an emotional or mental health crisis that requires additional interventions. We are available to help the youth, families and schools manage the immediate crisis.  We also teach coping skills and support to help prevent future crisis situations.

Teacher Consultation

For each child who receives CWI services, consultation is offered to help teachers understand and address emotional, social, and family factors that may affect their students. Individual consultations are available to help teacher’s foster emotional wellness in a particular child

Parent Guidance, Family Therapy and Case Management Services

When there are difficult issues that impact a child’s social, mental health or behavioral issues, we offer both supportive individual meetings and/or family therapy to help parents manage their unique situations. We believe that parents are the expert on their child and as such, we work collaboratively with caregivers to set therapeutic goals and treatment plans.

Case Management: We help families connect with in-home services, summer camps, insurance coverage, and other community resources that may further assist the family.

Health Promotion

Our team provides a series of prevention workshops that are utilized in the classroom to enhance the physical and emotional wellbeing of the children we serve.

Advocacy and Case Management

Our team can assist parents in advocating for their child’s learning needs. We attend Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings, and are able to interface with the school and the parent. We also help families connect with legal aid, insurance coverage, and community activities that may further support them.

How The Program Works

To participate in the program, the youth must be a student at one of the participating schools. Either a parent or teacher can refer a youth for counseling services if the youth exhibits emotional, social or other chronic behaviors or emotions. The parent or teacher should contact the Site Manager who will schedule an intake session with the parent or guardian.   After that session, a diagnosis and plan of action is determined. Payment for services is handled through insurance and the therapist works to secure authorization prior to treatment. Depending upon insurance, some parents may have a co-pay. All services are provided regardless of the family’s ability to pay.

Staff Qualifications

Each school program is led by a Site Manager, a licensed clinician serving as the liaison between child, caregiver and the school. A child psychiatrist works with clients and their families in the schools to provide medication evaluation if needed. Clinicians are experienced in working with youths to identify their needs, and developing plans to make sure those needs are met. The team is committed to providing culturally competent services and offers interpreter services at no additional cost.

The Schools We Serve

  • Jackson Mann School, Gr. K-8 Allston, MA
  • Mildred Avenue School, Gr. K-8 ● Mattapan, MA
  • Brighton High School, Gr. l9-12 Brighton, MA
  • Boston Green Pilot Academy, Gr. 6-12 ● Brighton, MA

  • Mattahunt Elementary School, Gr. K-5 ● Mattapan MA
  • Higginson-Lewis School, Gr. 3-8 ● Roxbury, MA
  • Jeremiah Burke High School, Gr. 9-12 ● Dorchester, MA

For more information, please contact: Kristan Bagley Jones, LICSW, Program Director at 617-254-3800 ext. 3040 or KBagley-Jones@franciscanchildrens.org.

 

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