Through a variety of state and local administrative arrangements, Expanded School Mental Health (ESMH) programs have been developed in nearly 119 Baltimore City schools over the past decade. These programs augment existing services provided by the school and help to ensure that a comprehensive range of services (assessment, prevention, case management, treatment) are available to youth in regular education.
Hope Health Systems’ Expanded School Based Program strives every year to be the best clinical Program serving Public and Charter Schools in Baltimore City and Baltimore County. Our goal, for each school that we service, is to strive for excellence in service, promote academic success, establish and develop students’ personal assets and capabilities; and, provide high quality services that will incorporate evidence-based practices and practice-based evidence interventions, continuum of care, authentic parent/family engagement, meaningful youth involvement, culturally and linguistically competent service provisions, training, consultation services, and, data-driven planning, evaluation, and quality improvement. For additional information please call 410.265.8737.
Licensed clinicians are available to provide a wide range of SEL classroom lessons at assigned schools from Bullying to Suicide Prevention. Topics are identified by school staff and administration, or suggested by the clinician. The goal of these services is to provide mental health awareness to all students in an effort to improve social emotional functioning.
The licensed clinician assigned to your school can create small groups for identified students in a wide range of topics from anger management, grief and loss, and self-esteem.
The licensed clinician assigned to the school will regularly meet 1:1 teachers, attend staff meetings, and provide trainings on mental health related topics, including trauma, mental health basics, behavior management, suicide prevention, etc.
These services are provided by licensed professionals such as Clinical Therapists and Social Workers. Therapy generally occurs weekly until sufficient progress has occurred to decrease the frequency of sessions. Anger and stress management, coping and problem-solving skills, social skills, improved self-esteem and self-control, improved familial relationships, and behavior management are among some of the common treatment goals worked on within the therapy sessions.
All clients who are new to the school based clinic receive a diagnostic evaluation by a Board Certified Psychiatrist, a Psychologist, or a Clinical Social Worker or Counselor, all of whom are licensed and trained to complete such evaluations. The face-to-face screening assesses the individual’s strengths, available resources and treatment needs
Medication services are provided as needed and if requested by guardian. These services include providing prescriptions, monitoring and patient education.