WRAP can be a bridge to navigate school and mental health

Schools are in the business of educating students. But a student’s mental well-being can interfere with that learning process. A lot of things in their personal lives can spill into their educational life --  for instance, if they are finding it hard to keep up with the curriculum, no matter the age, and they don’t have access to the books they need, as well as tap into free educational assistance online. Again, this doesn’t cover the root of the problem and kids need to know that they are supported throughout school if they are suffering from mental health issues regardless of whether they attend state-funded schools or private schools.

That’s what was happening with Amy Sachse’s daughter, who was a seventh-grader at Eudora Middle School. Her distracting behaviors were seen as she was unable to emotionally regulate, in a state of crisis and at risk of harming herself. This raised concern for her peers as well. At times, the student was able to utilize her coping techniques and de-escalate within the classroom setting, but more often than not, she wasn’t. Teachers were seeing this happen while trying to teach to their class. Students were seeing this happen while trying to learn.

“I would say the school year started off with a bang, and not in a good way,” Amy said. “There were immediate issues. Then, about a week after school starts, I get a call that she is hurting herself.”

A difficult situation would have been even more difficult if school personnel – from the teacher to the school counselor to school administrators to the superintendent – as well as WRAP therapist Alisa Galvin hadn’t stepped up to help.

WRAP (Working to Recognize Alternative Possibilities) is a Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center program, in partnership with Douglas County schools. The in-school therapy program began in 1997 and was expanded to include more schools last year, thanks to funding from the Proposition 1 initiative approved by voters in 2018.

Alisa’s assignment at Eudora Middle School was one of those new positions. Her role was instrumental in coordinating services for Amy’s daughter.

“Everybody has worked so well together,” Amy said. “Alisa has spearheaded the whole thing, getting the school and Bert Nash working together.”

Communication was key to coordinating efforts to provide services for Amy’s daughter and doing what was best for her and her classmates.

“This is a kiddo who every day was having a struggle. But she’s a very good communicator and a very good advocate for herself,” Alisa said of the student. “We set up meetings where she started to come see me regularly.”

“Alisa has been great with her communication with us and with the parents,” said Assistant  Principal Ty Pattison. “We wouldn’t have been able to do this without her.”

Alisa reached out to Amy and told her that she thought her daughter would benefit from outside services. Those services included attendant care through Bert Nash, where a case manager would sit with Amy’s daughter during class. Prior to attendant care services being implemented, the student would be removed from the classroom if she was struggling emotionally. There were concerns of self-harm and, from a safety standpoint, more intensive supervision was needed.

Attendant care was utilized over Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks for continuation of care while school was out, which was critical for the student and parents.

However, there was a time during the school day when an attendant care case manager wasn’t available to be with the student. That’s when Eudora School Superintendent Steve Splichal stepped up to help.

“Steve was like, sign me up,” Alisa said. “He said I got this.”

“Our goal is to provide the best opportunities that we can for kids,” Steve said. “Sometimes that’s supporting the students, sometimes that’s supporting the staff. In this example, I got an opportunity to do both. As a staff, we all wanted her to be successful. But, more importantly, we wanted her to be safe. This gave me an opportunity to help. I’ve never asked somebody to do something that I wasn’t prepared to do myself. I don’t know if the student got much out of my time with her, but I got a tremendous amount out of it.”

The collaboration between the school and Bert Nash was particularly gratifying, Steve said. He is a member of the Bert Nash Governing Board. This situation gave him an opportunity to see firsthand how the school and mental health services can work in tandem to benefit the student.

“For us, having Alisa gave us the bridge that we needed to help navigate the world of mental health and school,” Steve said. “We really rely on our WRAP workers to help us navigate things to make the best decisions for the student. We rely on the expertise of our professionals to tell us what we need to do.”

“Everybody at the school has been great,” Alisa said. “And how much her parents advocate for her, that’s been a big piece of this.” 

In the case of Amy’s seventh-grade daughter, there was a level of teamwork and collaboration between the school, mental health providers and the student’s parents that hasn’t always happened in the past.

“That’s the exciting part,” Steve said. “Through the leadership of Judi Rodman (Bert Nash Child and Family Services director), we’re looking at things differently from where we did five years ago or 10 years ago. And it’s not just her, but also Patrick (Schmitz, Bert Nash CEO) and Stephen (O’Neill, Bert Nash COO) and the entire organization. We’re not so stuck in this model that if you don’t fit in the box … we’re prepared to look beyond that. Are there barriers? So here are the possible solutions. We’re thinking outside of the box, and that’s exciting, and we’re serving our students better.”

Amy’s daughter, even with attendant care services, continued to struggle emotionally at school. She wasn’t able to manage being in class all day so her schedule was adjusted to half days.

Eventually, even that was too much. Amy’s daughter was admitted to a residential psychiatric  treatment facility, where she is receiving the round-the-clock care she needs.

“It’s where she needs to be for now,” Amy said. “I can’t express enough how amazing everyone has been. This is a wonderful example of teamwork between the school and community resources to provide necessary supports for a child with unique needs.”

WRAP services -- including communication and treatment reviews -- continue with the parents, as well as letters from students and staff to the student.

Alisa is looking forward to when Amy’s daughter is able to return to school.

“She is dearly missed,” Alisa said. “I’ll be excited to have her back.”