SchoolsPlus is a comprehensive and collaborative inter-agency approach to educating and providing services to the child and their family, with the school as the center of service. SchoolsPlus is a component of the “Our Kids Are Worth It: Strategy for Children and Youth” and supports the recommendation for improved coordination and collaboration in delivering programs and services for children, youth, and their families. The Focus of SchoolsPlus is to support referred students and families by helping them attain timely and effective services that meet their identified needs. Furthermore, we will work with the school admin, families, and students to identify the school's needs and work towards providing programs, groups, and services that meet the school’s needs as a collective.
Coordination of services for families
Referrals to community-based agencies
Advocacy for students and families
Anxiety prevention programs
Options 2 Anger
Grief Groups
Mentoring Programs
Parenting Programs
Classroom educational sessions
After school programming
Recreational Programs
March Break Camps
Roots of Empathy
Summer Camps
Self-Esteem groups
Transitional Programming and Planning
Brookland Elementary
Cusack Elementary
Harbourside Elementary
Malcolm Munro Middle School
Membertou Elementary
Riverview High School
Sherwood Park Education Center
Shipyard Elementary
Sydney Academy High School
Whitney Pier Memorial Middle School
Schools Plus Facilitator: Sarah MacArthur
Laura Delaney (SchoolsPlus Outreach Worker):
If you would like to make a referral to SchoolsPlus please contact your child’s school administrator or Lindsay Latham, SchoolsPlus Facilitator, at 902-563-4551 for more information.If you require school-based mental health, please call Child andAdolescent Services.
Parents
School Administration
Physicians
School Social Workers
Community Partners/Agencies•
Students can also Self Refer
Please Watch our SchoolsPlus Teaser Video http://ourtube.nspes.ca/watch_video.php?v=A5S215Y8AR5G
SchoolsPlus school mental health clinicians are members of theSchoolsPlus team who are employed by Child & Adolescent Mental Health & Addictions Services to provide mental health services to children and youth directly in the school community environment. These services may include the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of mood disorders (e.g., anxiety, depression), ADHD, and signs of serious mental illness. Treatment may be one-on-one or in group settings. In addition, school mental health clinicians strive to build capacity in schools regarding mental health by consulting with school staff about general mental health issues that students face and engaging in mental health promotion activities (e.g., speaking to groups about relevant topics).
1.The school program planning team meets to discuss the student’s needs. Determine if mental health services are required. The school mental health clinician can consult with the team about the appropriateness of a referral, confidentially (no identification).
2. Typically, the principal or guidance counselor makes the referral in consultation with the family. The phone number for Child & Adolescent Mental Health & Addictions Services is 902-567-7731.
3. Assuming the referral is appropriate, the family is given the option of seeing a mental health clinician in the hospital clinic or in the child’s school. If the family would prefer school-based services, the referral is sent to the school mental health clinician, who manages his/her own waitlist. The student does not have to be involved with the broader SchoolsPlus program to be seen by the school mental health clinician but they must attend a SchoolsPlus school.
4. The school is responsible for providing the school mental health clinician with a private, quiet space to meet with the student and their family, preferably not in the administration area. Information regarding the student’s involvement with the school mental health clinician will be shared only with the family’s permission.
Please Note: * School mental health clinicians do not provide emergency or crisis services. * Specific students may only be discussed with the informed consent of that student and/or their parents/guardians. * Mental health services are voluntary; families have the right to decline services.
Who are our School Mental Health Clinicians?
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