Habersham schools outline mental health support network

CLARKESVILLE, Ga. — Habersham County Schools has a network of mental health supports designed to serve students at every level of need, from prevention and education to crisis intervention, district officials told the Board of Education Thursday.

Mental health specialists and school counseling staff presented an overview of the district’s services during the board’s Sept. 10 work session, emphasizing that support is not limited to students who seek individual counseling.

The district’s mental health department works with school counselors and other staff to support more than 7,000 students, Mental Health Counselor Angie Kerr said.

“When you hear the words school mental health, I think it’s easy to picture an individual student sitting down with a counselor,” Kerr said. “That’s absolutely part of what we do, but our work is much more broader than one-on-one support.”

Kerr described the district’s approach as a continuum that includes prevention, trusted adults, student check-ins, mentoring and small groups, as well as suicide risk assessments, threat assessments, crisis response and referrals to community providers.

“The simplest way to think about this is mental health support in our schools is not one program,” Kerr said. “It is a network of supports designed to reach students at different levels and different needs.”

Prevention starts before a crisis

Mental Health Counselor Kelsey Ondriezek said universal supports are available to all students, regardless of whether they have been identified as having a mental health concern.

All students in grades 6-12 receive some form of suicide prevention education, she said.
Depending on the school, that may include classroom presentations, assemblies or schoolwide wellness initiatives.

Ondriezek said the presentations generally last about an hour and cover three primary areas: recognizing signs of depression and other mental health challenges, knowing how to respond when a student is concerned about themselves or a friend, and developing healthy coping skills.

Students are taught how to identify trusted adults and how to approach those adults when they or a friend need help.

The goal, Ondriezek said, is not for students to solve a friend’s problems themselves, but to help connect that student with an adult who can provide assistance.

The district also trains teachers, administrators, counselors and other staff members to recognize potential mental health concerns and connect students with appropriate resources.

“The goal with that is not necessarily to turn those teachers into mental health professionals,” Ondriezek said. “But we want to help the adults who are already in our students’ lives recognize when a student might need additional support and what is the next step for them to take.”

Mental health information also is shared with parents and caregivers through meetings, newsletters, educational materials and direct communication.

Ondrieziek said high schools provide information to students through newsletters weekly, while the frequency of classroom presentations and other programming varies by school level. Elementary students receive classroom guidance lessons more frequently, she said.

Counselors serve as a connection point

Daphne Penick, who retired as principal of South Habersham Middle School in May and now works with the district’s mental health specialists, said school counselors have remained busy with both traditional counseling duties and expanded responsibilities.

Elementary counselors are implementing the Monique Burr Child Safety Matters curriculum, conducting at-risk student check-ins and responding to safety concerns, Penick said.

They also meet with students referred by school staff, work to intervene before concerns escalate, build relationships with students and families and connect families with outside agencies.

Counselors also coordinate teletherapy and face-to-face counseling provided in schools.

Penick said those services can be especially important for students who cannot access counseling outside school hours.

She summarized the counselors’ role as identifying, connecting, referring, coordinating and following up.

“Relationships, number one,” Penick said. “Don’t let a child hide.”

She said teachers and other school employees can make a difference through simple interactions with students, including speaking to them, smiling and letting them know they are seen.

Targeted and crisis support

Mental Health Counselor Miriam Duncan explained that students needing more individualized support can receive check-in/check-out services, small skill-building groups and mentoring.

When students need counseling beyond what can appropriately be provided at school, district staff help connect them and their families with school-based or community providers.

“Our role is not to replace community-based mental health providers or function as a student’s outside counselor,” Duncan said.

The district’s specialists also respond to significant events and crises through suicide risk assessments, threat assessments, crisis response, reintegration following significant concerns, parent meetings and coordination with outside providers.

Duncan said the district also provides grief and bereavement support and can connect families with organizations including Northeast Georgia Hospice and Kate’s Club.

Peer support, 988 and anonymous reporting

The district is expanding peer-led support this school year, with clubs beginning in middle school and continuing through high school, Duncan said.

The district already had peer-led programming at Habersham Central High School and Success Academy.

Duncan also discussed efforts to make students aware of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

She said information about 988 is being posted in places students will see it, including bulletin boards and areas such as bathroom stalls.

Penick noted that 988 can be accessed by phone, text or online chat.

Board member Doug Westmoreland asked whether students have a way to report concerns if they notice a friend struggling.

Superintendent Patrick Franklin said the district has multiple avenues, including 988, trusted adults and the Sandy Hook Promise program, which the district is currently implementing to allow students to make anonymous reports.

“Every child needs a trusted adult,” Franklin said.

Board member calls for greater awareness

Westmoreland said he was surprised by the breadth of services presented and urged the district to do more to make parents and the broader community aware of them.

“I know now how much we’re doing, but I don’t think our community knows,” he said.

Westmoreland said he has received calls from concerned parents and referenced what he described as three or four student suicides during the past two years.

He also questioned whether suicide prevention education occurs frequently enough to reach students who may be reluctant to ask for help themselves.

Ondrieziek said the district uses multiple methods rather than relying solely on classroom presentations and acknowledged that the district could examine ways to increase the frequency of its outreach.

Parent asks for more coping tools

Jennifer Deform, a Habersham County Schools parent and former 911 employee, was invited by Westmoreland to speak to the board.

Deform said she appreciated the work being done but urged the district to continue strengthening connections among students and to provide young people with practical coping skills they can use when they are struggling.

“Community matters the most, and having these kids make connections not just with their teachers but with one another is probably one of the most viable things that can happen,” Deform said.

She suggested incorporating more coping-skills instruction into schools, including approaches based on dialectical behavior therapy, or DBT.

Ondrieziek responded that the district already offers a school-based dialectical skills group incorporating components of DBT. The group is generally used at the secondary level but has been modified for elementary students when appropriate.

The program addresses skills such as distress tolerance, emotion regulation and healthy relationships.

Ondrieziek said the feedback about families not knowing what resources are available was valuable.

“I think it’s like the feedback that I’m hearing is a lot of people don’t know that these resources exist and are available to them,” she said.

The presentation ultimately emphasized a system built around connecting students with the appropriate level of support, whether that means a trusted adult, counselor, teacher, family member, community provider or a team responding to a crisis.

“The level of support changes, but the goal stays the same,” Duncan said. “Connect the student with the right support at the right time.”