A new initiative from the University of Vermont hopes to address the shortage of mental health professionals available to support the state鈥檚 youth.

Known as the Catamount Counseling Collaborative for Rural Schools, the program plans to train and place 52 school counselors, social workers and mental health clinicians in rural schools throughout Vermont for the next five years.

 from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have found rising levels of depression and anxiety among Vermont middle and high school students. 

Despite this, Vermont lacks an adequate number of . In 2023, the state鈥檚 Workforce Development Board estimated a need for 230 more providers to meet growing demand. 

The new Catamount Counseling Collaborative for Rural Schools aims to address the gap. 

Through the program 鈥� funded by a $3.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education 鈥� University of Vermont graduate students are expected to contribute at least 25,000 clinical hours annually to support rural communities.

鈥淰ermont mental health needs are pervasive and complex and they鈥檙e currently underserved and this is a way to reach them,鈥� said Anna Elliott, associate professor of counseling.

Elliott, the principal investigator for the grant, has experience running a similar initiative in Montana, where she spent five years developing a program to support rural communities with mental health professionals. 

A key part of the program, Elliot said, is to encourage graduates to continue working in rural schools or mental health facilities after completing their training. She said she tailored the program to Vermont鈥檚 unique needs. This included analyzing various statistics from community needs assessments on issues such as suicide rates, substance use disorder and the stigma associated with seeking mental health services, ensuring the program aligns closely with the landscape of Vermont鈥檚 mental health needs.

鈥淥ne of our primary goals in setting up the training program was attending to students鈥� reports that they often didn鈥檛 feel prepared to go and work in a rural environment,鈥� she said. 鈥淗aving an intensive and intentional training program that sets them up to really understand what they鈥檙e walking into and how to be prepared and how to ask for support incentivized students to stay, so we鈥檙e hoping to replicate that here.鈥�

The program offers a stipend to those who remain in their assigned schools for at least one year, helping to ease potential barriers like securing a full-time job or finding affordable housing.

In Montana, Elliott said she noticed some graduate students couldn鈥檛 stay in rural schools due to limited funding for permanent positions. Other challenges, including housing and job security, also made it difficult for them to remain in these high-need areas.

鈥淚鈥檓 taking the model that I did in Montana and integrating that in with the community schools model to not just say, 鈥榟ere鈥檚 a couple graduate students that will be here for a year鈥� but let鈥檚 actually take a systemic look at what鈥檚 happening in the school 鈥� what are the needs, resources, barriers and strength,鈥� Elliott said.

To address these challenges, the program focuses on recruiting graduate students who already come from rural areas. By offering low-residency options, the program allows these students to complete much of their coursework remotely. This means they can stay at home rather than moving to campus, making it easier for them to balance their studies with their existing commitments.

鈥淭his grant provides significant opportunity to bring students into the helping professions who might not otherwise have access to this kind of specialized training,鈥� said Danielle Jatlow, a co-principal investigator and social worker who coordinates UVM鈥檚 bachelor鈥檚 of social work program, in a press release from the university.

UVM faculty, including program co-leaders Robin Hausheer and Lance Smith, both associate professors of counseling, are starting outreach to rural schools. They hope to place graduate students in schools as early as this semester, according to the release.

鈥淭here are people and kids that are getting served this year that might not have been otherwise,鈥� Elliott said in the release. 鈥淪o that feels like everything.鈥� 

This was originally published on .

Kids were grieving for the first time 鈥� more than Baldwin Union Free School District counselors, teachers and administrators had ever realized. 

鈥淚 don’t think we鈥檝e ever seen 鈥� or maybe we weren鈥檛 attuned to before 鈥� the number of students who have lost a parent for one reason or another,鈥� said Shari Camhi, the New York district鈥檚 superintendent, reflecting on the 2023-24 school year. 鈥漌e see a lot of cancer. We鈥檝e seen just a lot of death.鈥�

Baldwin is far from the only district tasked with supporting grieving students. As of spring 2022, nearly 250,000 children across the country lost a parent or caregiver to COVID alone.  

Perhaps, as Camhi conceded, it鈥檚 always been like this. Perhaps kids have been grieving quietly. And now, only after concerted efforts to boost family connections and prioritize students鈥� emotional well-being, were they opening up. 

Now, Baldwin was ready to support them: By the time counselors flagged the stories they鈥檇 been hearing from kids, a new, free wellness center had just been built 鈥� the home base from where they could launch bereavement groups. 

Their creation illuminates the thread that unites Baldwin鈥檚 wellness initiatives: family relationships. Camhi says the approach is old-school, a throwback to a time decades ago, before cell phones pushed kids into introversion and became a hotbed for bullying, when neighbors really knew each other and what was going on in their lives. 

After all, most schools do not monitor family deaths, information only discerned through building 鈥渞apport and trust,鈥� said Gina Curcio, health, wellness, and community director for the district on Long Island.  

Serving kids across all grades, homed at the middle school with a separate entrance for privacy, the wellness center is open late each weeknight, staffed by child therapists and psychologists. Established through a partnership with PM Pediatrics and a 4-year grant from former House Representative Kathleen Rice, it opened in the fall of 2023 without common hiccups districts often face, like having to take on hiring hard-to-staff behavioral health positions. 

In the calm-colored space adorned with student artwork, bean bags and infographics about how the mind works, two peer bereavement groups hosted 11 children for six, weekly sessions during the school year; another ran this summer, with children meeting for 90 minutes weekly grouped by age. 

Beyond the stages of grief, they have learned coping skills through mindfulness, art and music therapy, and forged friendships with peers they had no idea were dealing with similar feelings. All things previously out of reach due to a combination of stigma, financial strain, and not having a comparable resource in their community. 

The bereavement space and 鈥渢ransition鈥� groups they inspired, for kids making the leap into pre-K, 6th and 9th grade, and college, are just some of the many initiatives Baldwin has taken in recent years to address childrens鈥� emotional and physical well-being, which impacts their ability to show up at school ready to learn and feel safe.  

鈥淲e still suspend kids for doing things that make it unsafe for other kids鈥� [but] we will reduce the suspension in exchange for weekly counseling for students, because we believe that if you are exhibiting behavior that way 鈥� something’s going on,鈥� Camhi added. 

In ways big and small, Baldwin looks for ways to forge strong connections between children and their community. 

At game days this summer, parents were pushed to participate with their kids 鈥� no electronics allowed. By third grade, all students have had lessons on wellness tools, like grounding and breathing techniques to manage and express hard emotions. Each year high school seniors in AP Photography interview second graders about their dreams, their hopes and faces printed and exhibited around campus, in a local hospital and family courthouse. 

As national reports emerge that only 29 and 37% of Black and low-income families report their child鈥檚 school offers counseling and other support services compared to 52 and 59% of their white, more affluent peers, Baldwin鈥檚 wellness center and connection with families provides a strong contrast.  

From January through March this year, the wellness center hosted over 600 sessions for the predominantly Black and Latino district 鈥� ranging from peer conflicts 鈥� which psychologists say have been more difficult for children to navigate after pandemic isolation鈥� to divorce, cyberbullying and symptoms of anxiety and depression. 

In groups and in individual therapy, often art-based, kids have learned how to set goals, compromise, and practice role-playing interactions with mean people or conflicts with friends. 

鈥淚 think you can make me happy again,鈥� one six year old told a clinician, who had started sessions by saying they were sad and 鈥渄epressed.鈥�

Having the wellness services available to families on-campus, without the hassle of waitlists or insurance run-arounds, has been a game changer for families 鈥� even in times of extreme uncertainty. 

Last school year, one Lenox Elementary School mother got a call that her ten year old blurted out in class that he wanted to kill himself. 

鈥淚t stopped me in my tracks,鈥� she told 社区黑料, recalling immediately leaving work to hug her son and talk with the school social worker. She learned he felt behind and left out socially, and knew he was quicker to outbursts than her other children, but did not know he had been hiding suicidal thoughts because he didn鈥檛 want to make her sad. 

The Jamaican family, whose name has been withheld for privacy, became one of the first served at the wellness center. Initially scared to start, with an image in mind of being forced to talk on a couch to a stranger, her son changed tune after the first of about 20 therapy sessions where he used drawing as a way to express harder emotions.

鈥淚 love it. It鈥檚 not like the movies. It鈥檚 nice.鈥�

Today he is sleeping better, has fewer intrusive thoughts, knows now how to notice and talk through bad feelings when they arise. He brought some of the tools home, like Legos, plush toys, drawings and stickers. Within his friendships, he鈥檚 not taking things as personally, or overreacting.

In 2019, in the district where more than a quarter are considered low-income, the graduation rate was 95%. By 2023, it grew to 99% 鈥� . The number likely has something to do with Baldwin鈥檚 emphasis on how students feel while at school 鈥� reflecting whether kids feel connected to each other, their work, and the place. 

like drug use and violence. 

In a first grade classroom just before the end of the school year, a group of Baldwin elementary students sat crossed legged, intently listening to each other recap one wellness skill that they 鈥渓oved or learned鈥� from the year. Together they held a 鈥渂reathing ball鈥� 鈥� taking a low, deep breath as they picture a ball filling up with air in their hands, expanding and contracting slowly. 

One said quietly when he got upset at home, he recalled the 鈥渟ound bowl鈥� 鈥� metal, sometimes filled with water, that when hit with wood released a calming frequency 鈥� and would feel better. 

The wellness educator encouraged him to craft or visualize his own version at home, urging: 鈥渞emember, you can go anywhere in your imagination.鈥�