August 11, 2022
Program supporting school-based staff to expand
If you’re walking through Vivien T. Thomas Medical Arts Academy, you might find students practicing nursing skills on life-like mannequins, groups heading to internships with partners like the University of Maryland Medical Center, and an immersive EMT training center guiding students on crucial skills that save lives.
The school lives its motto of Healing Ourselves, Our Community, and Our World, which is why you’re just as likely to find students accessing robust and holistic supports, mental health professionals to speak with, and spaces to understand and express themselves. City Schools’ Expanded School Behavioral Health Program (ESBH) is helping make that a reality at Vivien T. Thomas - and at 131 other schools across the district.
Launched in 1989, ESBH brings mental health therapists, counselors and practitioners into schools to identify and address students' needs. Therapists, grief counselors, and behavioral health specialists offer treatment to students and staff, classroom observations for students at risk, and group activities for dealing with anger, bullying, anxiety, and grief. They also conduct family outreach and lead professional development workshops. Partnering organizations include University of Maryland Baltimore, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Associated Catholic Charities, Hope Health System, and Time Organization.
The results are clear: students working with ESBH are improving their attendance and finding school more enjoyable. Students suffering from ADHD are making the grades to avoid summer school for the first time in their high school careers. And students working with ESBH are showing improvements in organization, self-advocacy, and academic confidence.
At another city school, an ESBH counselor organized a weekly grief group for 7th and 8th grade students who had experienced loss. Said the counselor, “I’m so proud of how the students shared their thoughts and feelings and came together as a group; they convinced me to have us keep meeting regularly instead of ending at the planned time because they found the camaraderie so helpful. I’m grateful to be a witness to their healing process as they will continue to use what they’ve learned in the group as they go forward.”
Since July 2021, the program has reached more than 9,000 students. And this coming year, it’s set to expand.
ESBH currently assigns 73 full-time-equivalent clinicians to schools as part of their existing Student Wellness Support Teams. Next year, ESBH will expand by 25% to approximately 92 full time equivalent clinicians, and it will add two new partners: C&C Advocacy and Family Services, Inc. These ESBH clinicians partner with and bolster City Schools clinicians, which are a part of the Office of Special Ed/Related Services.
To learn more about City Schools’ Expanded Behavioral Health Program, contact Ashley Collins at ALCollins01@bcps.k12.md.us.